Scotch Beef Campaign Targets Scotland and Greater London.

The latest phase of Quality Meat Scotland’s Scotch Beef marketing campaign was unveiled today (Thursday 9th February) by Quality Meat Scotland chief executive, Uel Morton.

Speaking at the Council for Awards of Royal Agriculture Societies (CARAS) Annual Conference in Edinburgh Mr Morton said in such a crowded and complex modern market place it was vital to carefully differentiate products and target consumers.

Accordingly, the focus of the £535,000 “Great Quality of Life, Great Quality of Taste” Scotch Beef campaign rolled out this week continues to be the key markets of Scotland and Greater London.

“The campaign is set to reach 89% of the target market in Scotland and 67% in London.  A variety of media will carry two versions of the advertisement which includes 436 outdoor poster sites, 61 press adverts and targeted online advertising,” said Mr Morton. 

“QMS also believes it is important to measure the success of our campaigns as well as the strength of the brand’s reputation and this is where independent research is important. 

“In January Kantar Worldpanel, a leading research agency, announced that Scotch Beef was the largest selling Scottish food and drink brand in Great Britain and, with sales totalling more than £247 million per annum, it is ahead of many other leading brands,” he observed.

The Scotch Beef advertising campaign from October to end November last year targeted Scottish consumers and to measure its effectiveness, QMS commissioned research which was carried out by IGD.

The results were encouraging as awareness of the Scotch Beef PGI label remained high with 96% of those questioned recognising the label.

“Consumers within the target groups in Scotland had increased their perception of the label with 85% agreeing that Scotch Beef is produced to higher standards and 82% agreeing that Scotch Beef is the best available,” said Mr Morton.

In the current economic climate many consumers are looking to make cut backs in order to manage increasingly tight household budgets.

“Recognising the increasing price of beef, there is a need to continually work to reassure consumers the Scotch Beef they buy is worth the premium paid – of excellent quality and reared to world-leading animal health and welfare standards.

“With this in mind the Scotch Beef phase of the ‘Behind the Label’ campaign is also running during February and, to encourage consumers to look for the label when they shop, the campaign has been designed to give consumers a deeper understanding of the standards underpinning the label,” Mr Morton added.

The advert, featuring Morayshire-based farmer Mike Gibson, will appear at 200 poster sites in London as well as the national press. This week also saw the launch of QMS’s new butcher specific promotional kit which will run in tandem with the Scotch Beef advertising campaign.

The promotional kit was sent to all 300 members of the Scotch Butchers Club and is designed to help members promote the provenance and quality of the Scotch Beef they sell, while encouraging sales of grilling and roasting cuts.