Challenge scores marketing 'first’ in United Kingdom for New Zealand with launch of branded meat

Press, 9 October 1987, Page 28

Challenge scores marketing 'first’ in United Kingdom for New Zealand with launch of branded meat

Challenge Meats set a first for New Zealand meat marketing in the United Kingdom when it launched its Pastons brand prime lamb cuts advertising campaign there in July. It is the first time that a New Zealand branded meat product has been marketed in the United Kingdom, and signifies Challenge’s commitment to international marketing of its products. The s3m campaign uses dramatic “high-impact” advertisments on television and in selected magazines, promoting “Pastons perfectly prepared Lamb.” Susan Tulloch, product manager for the Red Meats Team in Welling-

ton, said the slogan, “Pastons Perfectly Prepared”' was designed to show the company’s taking of the finest lamb which is hand boned, trimmed and fresh frozen in New Zealand. “Everybody in Britain knows about New Zealand lamb, but 75 per cent of the people have a recall of it as being a cheap product that is not very well presented,” said Susan. Melanie Lillie, of Challenge’s United Kingdom advertising agency, developed the campaign in conjunction with the Red Meats Team. She said the emphasis was on consistent supply of lamb in the form that the consumer required. “Lamb is still the most popular red meat with all

the family in the United Kingdom, but it must be presented and packaged to a consistently high quality — lean, tender, delicious meat, welltrimmed and prepared so it is quick and easy to cook” Melanie told Challenge’s management conference in Masterton recently. “Each individual product leaving Challenge plants in New Zealand must look like every other — rows of pristine little soldiers ready to proclaim the Pastons quality lamb message in the supermarket,” she said. She explained that British consumers had changed. Sixty per cent of British housewifes now worked; they had a greater dispos-

able income than ever before and they wanted to make the most of their leisure time. “The result is that women are now less prepared to slave away for hours in the kitchen. They want food which is quick and easy to prepare and which will be popular with their families,” she said. People were much more likely to "graze” on a range of convenience foods than sit down to a formal family meal. Even the traditional British Sunday roast was disappearing. The Pastons marketing campaign is geared to those upper market busy consumers in the 22 to 55 age group. The advertisements

portray Pastons as a versatile product which can be used for a host of meal ideas from dinner party to barbecues. They show busy women with time to "prepare” exciting lamb dishes without hours needed in the kitchen. The expenditure on the campaign reflects Challenge’s commitment and confidence in, the marketplace, and in the future success of the Pastons brand, said Susan Tulloch. “Already, since the campaign started in July, the feedback from retailers has been very positive with sales increasing significantly.

“And that market confidence is spreading,” she added.