Scotch Lamb Advertising Campaign Delivers Strong Results

The recent Scotch Lamb advertising campaign undertaken for the Scottish industry by Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) has delivered strong results.

According to findings by food and grocery research charity, IGD, the “Wham Bam Thank You Lamb” campaign succeeded in raising lamb’s profile as an easy-to-cook ingredient and a great mid-week meal.

The high-impact campaign aimed to change shoppers’ perceptions about lamb and establish lamb’s credentials as simple, versatile and ideal ingredient for Scots’ weekly shopping lists.

Figures from IGD reveal that following the campaign 61% of the target audience believed that lamb was easy to cook with, compared with 57% before the campaign. Additionally, 54% viewed lamb as great mid-week meal - an increase of six per cent.

The Scotland-wide six week campaign included prime-time radio adverts as well as print advertising and a new microsite - www.whambamlamb.com – which featured six “how to” videos showing how quick and easy cooking with lamb really is.

Among the “cook in under 30 minutes” dishes featured in a 16 page recipe leaflet were lamb meatballs, kebabs, biryani, burgers and stir-fry. The campaign also saw extensive use of new media, including Facebook and key websites.

The campaign was financed through a combination of QMS levy, EU grant funds and money provided by the Scottish Government, by way of additional support to help strengthen consumer awareness of the Scotch brands.

Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said the success of the campaign should prove a source of optimism for the industry.

Mr Lochhead said: “I’m fully committed to the future of Scotland’s meat sector and increasing awareness of the high quality branded products that they bring to the marketplace.

“QMS is soundly investing the £1 million additional support we provided last year on a range of activity to strengthen the Scotch brands, and I’m delighted to see the very positive results of this campaign, proving investment is yielding benefits for the sector and the brand.”

Speaking at Quality Meat Scotland’s marketing conference in Edinburgh today (January 21st 2014) Laurent Vernet, QMS Head of Marketing, said: “Encouragingly, after the campaign the research found that 75% of the target shoppers agreed that Scotch Lamb is ‘produced to a higher standard’ and 61% agreed it is ‘the best available’.

“With awareness of the Scotch Lamb logo by target shoppers standing at 81%, the results of this campaign are very positive.”

However, Mr Vernet emphasised that Scots still eat much less lamb per capita than elsewhere in the UK, saying there is still plenty of work to do.

“It is essential that over the next few years we continue to communicate to Scottish shoppers that lamb is a quick, easy, versatile and modern meal solution. By doing this, we aim to attract new shoppers who will count lamb as a staple ingredient when planning their family meals.”

Caption: Eve Muirhead, who will skip the Great Britain women’s curling team at the Winter Olympics in Sochi in the coming weeks, pictured at the launch of the successful “Wham Bam Thank You Lamb” campaign.