Scotch Lamb PGI Campaign Succeeds in Driving Sales

The value of retail sales of fresh lamb in Scotland was boosted by over eight per cent as a result of the recent Wham Bam Scotch Lamb marketing campaign, by Quality Meat Scotland.

The increase, driven by a high impact QMS advertising campaign, lifted demand for lamb over the two month of the promotional push, out-performing sales of fresh lamb across GB in the same period. The campaign targeted 3.7 million consumers - over 90% of Scottish adults – and built on last year’s very successful campaign.

A key objective of the 2015 campaign, which took place mainly in August and September, was to encourage consumers to understand that lamb is versatile and simple and quick to cook.

The campaign harnessed a range of marketing activities to drive Scotch Lamb sales including 115 days of sampling in retailers, 112 outdoor poster sites; a month-long radio advertising campaign and extensive on-line and social media activity.

“The good news is that the average retail price for fresh lamb retailed in Scotland held firm and even strengthened by 1.5% year-on-year to £9.25/kg during the course of the campaign, compared with the GB-wide price which went down by 0.5%,” said Laurent  Vernet, Head of Marketing with QMS.

“Our research also clearly indicates that the strong results were not triggered by reduced retail prices. The campaign resulted in shoppers increasing the number of occasions they purchased lamb and also the volume of lamb purchased on each shopping trip.”

Another very encouraging aspect of the campaign results, he said, was a lift in the retail value of fresh lamb purchased by more affluent consumers. The campaign helped to reverse the long-term trend of decline of lamb purchased by ABC1 shoppers, from 12.3% down year-on-year to a 7.3% year on year increase during the 12 weeks prior to 11 October 2015 (source: Kantar WorldPanel - 11 October 2015).

“During the campaign we also saw an increase of Scottish shoppers aged under 45 years old purchasing fresh lamb, with a welcome lift in the number of Scottish families with children purchasing lamb. We believe that our general message resonated with these younger consumers.

“The frequency of lamb purchased by urban families also saw a very encouraging 55% increase during the campaign,” added Mr Vernet.

Pic caption: BBC Masterchef host Gregg Wallace was reunited with Masterchef:The Professionals winner Jamie Scott at the launch of this year’s Scotch Lamb campaign. The pair cooked quick, simple dishes with Scotch Lamb together.

Note to editors: The key components of the Wham Bam Scotch Lamb 2015 campaign included:

• 112 outdoor poster sites
• 34 press adverts + free collateral media as part of purchase*
• 4 weeks of radio ads
• 2 months of digital advertisement
• 2 months PPC Google Advertisement
• 500,000 recipe inserts
• 25,000 recipe leaflets
• 3,000 Recipe books distributed
• 320 retail outlets distributing branded POS
• 115 days sampling
• 140,000 twitter impressions (1,566 twitter followers)*
• 1,8 m Facebook reach (2m Facebook impressions)*
• Consumer emails targeting 84,000 consumers*
• 2 Bloggers events