MLA’s marketing of beef and lamb acknowledged with industry award

Meat & Livestock Australia’s (MLA) effective marketing of beef and lamb has been recognised at the annual Effie Awards held in Sydney last night.

The Effie Awards – hosted by The Communications Council – are prestigious and unique within the marketing industry as they recognise ‘ideas that work’ in campaigns based on their effectiveness in achieving their goals.

The ‘Operation Boomerang’ Australia Day campaign, developed by independent media agency The Monkeys, was awarded the Grand Effie – the top award on the night.

‘Operation Boomerang’ was also awarded Gold in three categories – Food, Confectionery & Snacks; Short Term Effects; and Most Original Thinking.

MLA’s beef marketing also received recognition, with the ‘You’re better on Beef’ brand campaign awarded a Bronze in the Food, Confectionery & Snacks category.

This year’s Australia Day lamb campaign featured prominent Australian newsreader Lee Lin Chin and a host of Australian icons, on a mission to save Australians abroad from going without lamb BBQ on Australia Day.

The campaign generated significant coverage, delivering a cumulative audience in excess of 423 million worldwide.  The campaign also generated record lamb sales for that period, with a 36.9 per cent sales increase across the two weeks of the campaign.

MLA’s “You’re better on Beef” campaign was designed to address barriers to beef consumption, particularly in a climate of worldwide decline in beef consumption driven primarily by the relative price of other proteins and nutrition concerns.

The campaign was about giving Australians permission to eat more beef and reminding them of its benefits.  The first phase of the campaign targeted time poor families, in particular women, and drove home beef’s key nutrition credentials of protein, iron, and zinc by demonstrating that you’re quite literally better on beef.

Post-campaign survey results from the first 12 months were strong – meeting and exceeding its key targets.  For example, claimed per week consumption of beef amongst the target audience (mums) rose 0.2 to 1.75 serves a week.  There was also a 20% reduction in the number of mums who said they were limiting red meat consumption due to health concerns.

MLA Group Marketing Manager Andrew Howie said the recognition of the effectiveness of these beef and lamb marketing campaigns was particularly positive for MLA’s entire body of marketing work.

“MLA’s marketing activities all share the same strong focus – driving demand for Australian red meat and in turn delivering returns back to farm gate,” Mr Howie said.

“We continue to be informed by the latest consumer insights and data in developing our campaign messages, themes and target audience – and are continually looking for improvements.

“Our domestic market is increasingly competitive, with significant challenges around key purchase drivers such as price and nutrition.

“We will continue to be relentless in our pursuit of effective marketing programs that are guided by consumer data and research and deliver returns to producers and the broader red meat industry.”

Awards:

• Grand Effie: WINNER: ‘Operation Boomerang’ by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) & The Monkeys
• Gold: Food, Confectionery & Snack category - ‘Operation Boomerang’ by MLA and The Monkeys
• Gold: Short Term Effects category – ‘Operation Boomerang’ by MLA and The Monkeys
• Gold: Most Original Thinking Category – ‘Operation Boomerang’ by MLA and The Monkeys
• Bronze: Food, Confectionery & Snack category – MLA’s ‘You’re better on Beef’ campaign