Beef and Lamb New Zealand is switching its promotional focus for New Zealand lamb in the United Kingdom.
The change from mass media marketing to a more targeted programme that aligned with the individual commercial needs of exporting companies was in response to extensive consumer market research in the UK and Europe, chief executive Dr Scott Champion said.
Alongside investment from meat companies and with the assistance of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Beef and Lamb completed research which highlighted some interesting consumer insights.
Lamb was the most expensive of all proteins in UK supermarkets and research highlighted that producers and exporters needed to directly support the premium position of the New Zealand lamb brand.
The work Beef and Lamb (and previously Meat and Wool NZ) had done with generic marketing in the past had been very successful in keeping New Zealand lamb "top of mind" with UK consumers. That work resulted in a 90% brand awareness of New Zealand lamb, Dr Champion said.
It was now time to switch focus towards encouraging consumer preference for New Zealand lamb, operating closer to the point of purchase.
That had resulted in the major exporting companies investing their own funds alongside farmer levies into programmes that were customised towards consumer and retail needs.
Beef and Lamb was now leading the development of similar research looking at important beef markets.
The UK is New Zealand's largest sheep meat market, with exports worth $29 million (2009-10 season). New Zealand lamb makes up 30% of retail lamb sales in the UK.
