• Bernard Matthews needs to get consumers to reappraise the brand
• It revamps its product range and focuses its message around “proud” farmers
• Early signs of positive consumer response to the campaign

The challenge

Bernard Matthews had issues to deal with, having been hit by some seriously bad news.

In 2005, the Bernard Matthews Turkey Twizzler was held up by Jamie Oliver on Jamie’s School Dinners as an example of everything that was wrong with kids’ food.

In February 2007, a Bernard Matthews Farm was hit by the UK’s biggest outbreak of Avian flu and the coverage revealed that some Bernard Matthews products were sourced from outside the UK, hitting brand trust.

At the worst point of the avian flu crisis, sales were down 40%. A YouGov survey rated the company as the UK’s worst brand.

The challenge was to rebuild trust.

The first step was to make the commitment to use only 100% British turkey in its products.

Then came the new brand positioning of “Simple Norfolk Goodness”, and an updated brand name in “Bernard Matthews Farms” which highlighted the company’s pride in its farms and the British origin of its turkeys.

Out went products that did not fit the brand’s new positioning and in came new, higher quality products including free range. New, fresher packaging communicated to shoppers the changes the brand was making.

The TV solution

The challenge now was to communicate these changes to the wider consumer audience. Qualitative research showed that the brand’s farmers were the ideal spokespeople to convey the company’s farming roots and the pride they felt, forcing consumers to think again about BMF.

The new message was initially launched as a corporate poster and press campaign to get opinion formers to sow the seeds of a revival before TV and posters took the message to the key audience of female grocery shoppers.

The ads showed BMF workers setting up a tent and feeding a group of campers interspersed with key brand messages held up by staff. The ad ends with a group of farmers holding up a placard that reads: “We are proud to work at Bernard Matthews Farms.

TV was used in two-week bursts using a mix of 40-second and 20-second creative in the launch phase before turning to the 30-second execution in the second burst.

Results

Millward Brown scores for the TV ad showed a clear reappraisal of the brand, with 55% saying the ads made them feel differently about the brand compared to a UK norm of 33%.

Among those who had heard good things about BMF, the TV ad was the major driver with 27% of those questioned by Millward Brown crediting the campers’ feast for their change of heart.

Awareness among female shoppers with kids was up from 28% to 46% and key image scores also improved markedly with high single digit percentage point increases on issues such as 100% British, changing and treating animals humanely.

The range now appeals to a healthier shopper than in the past, edging ahead of key competitor Birdseye on questions such as “I Try To Give My Children Healthy Meals”.

The campaign delivered 82% cover at 4.9 OTS.

Sales of Golden Drummers rose 25% in the first two weeks of the TV campaign.