Initial plans were to introduce the brand to three key development markets, California, New York and Shanghai but Beef + Lamb market development general manager Nick Beeby decided it is important to use one as a pilot to get it right before broadening the focus.
California was chosen as the market with the greatest awareness of grass-fed meat and a high proportion of Conscious Foodies, the prime target consumer group identified by research. There is a lot riding on the programme and scarce resources must be invested carefully to achieve the maximum positive impact.
Working towards this much-anticipated launch B+LNZ has had huge support and input from both meat exporters and farmers.
It is working deliberately with three meat exporting and marketing companies already heavily involved in selling red meat to retail and food service customers in California: First Light, Atkins Ranch and The Lamb Company whose shareholders are Alliance, Anzco and Silver Fern Farms.
Because of the low awareness of NZ red meat, particularly beef, it is considered very important to launch in a market where the product is readily available.
As Beeby says, NZ is not even on the radar yet so the programme has three main objectives: to increase awareness, promote customer preference and tell consumers where to buy the product.
To achieve these goals a digital strategy works best, providing a cost-effective option of marketing to the identified Conscious Foodie target group in a specific radius of a retail outlet where NZ grass-fed beef and lamb are available. When consumers enter the supermarket they will be able to find NZ products under the individual Lamb Company, Atkins Ranch and First Light brands. The Taste Pure Nature campaign will support the company brands.
The launch to Californian retail partners went extremely well in the last week of March, producing more than 160 articles about Taste Pure Nature and potentially 125 million media impressions. The rolling multi-media release strategy comprises a five-minute video of interviews with Conscious Foodies and 30-second commercials promoting the naturally raised and grass-fed properties of NZ beef and lamb.
The interviews provide a fascinating snapshot of the extent of both the challenge and opportunity for Taste Pure Nature. Reaching the target consumers in a market as competitive and crowded as California demands a totally focused media strategy supported by visible product availability and quality that meets or exceeds consumers’ expectations. From the opportunity perspective the Conscious Foodies are numerous and divide into two groups – taste-driven and health-seeking – both receptive to the same message about the benefits of a grass-fed and naturally raised product.
Exporters are very positive about the way B+LNZ has developed Taste Pure Nature, listening carefully to concerns about crossovers with company brands and to feedback about individual market and brand strategies.
Anzco sales and marketing general manager Rick Walker emphasises the need to be completely aligned with company brands while taking account of commercial realities such as the appropriate level of investment in relation to the budget and target markets.
Walker sees the programme launch in Shanghai as the next priority but not until California has developed to the point where it can run as business as usual. The United States, while highly competitive and resource hungry, is a much more stable market than China, which is dynamic and likely to change constantly before it settles down.
However, the massive growth potential for red meat in China illustrates the chance to leverage the Taste Pure Nature brand when the time is right. And there are other market priorities for meat exporters but they might not be appropriate for the origin story.
First Light founder Jason Ross sees the brand as very positive, citing the success Australia has had with its Aussie Beef programme. He agrees California is the right place to start despite huge competition from all types of protein and different sources of supply. First Light has been trying to raise awareness of high-quality, grass-fed beef with Californians for 15 years and can see only benefits from Taste Pure Nature, which was developed in a practical way, ensuring tight alignment of both generic and company messages.
First Light, as the only 100% grass-fed producer of Wagyu in the world, is a great example of benefiting from an aspirational approach to the market. Ross says the company has the advantage of flexibility because it has no processing facilities and farmers from Kaitaia to Bluff supply product under all conditions and soil types. Any farmer could elect to take a similar, single-minded approach and reap similar benefits. But for Ross the essential component of a successful campaign to lift the market value of NZ’s red meat supply is investment in a country of origin brand to provide the umbrella under which companies can operate.
Taste Pure Nature, with its link to the Farm Assurance Programme, promises to be the catalyst that will lift the quality and value of all NZ’s prime beef and lamb.
