Ketchum Food B2B Helps Beef Get More Value From the Same Cash Cow

 

Challenge 

With steak prices at an all-time high, the beef industry realized it needed to find new ways to give restaurateurs lower-price alternatives to popular, expensive cuts like tenderloin and rib eye before losing menu share to cheaper competitors such as chicken. It also needed to bring more value to underutilized areas of the carcass to increase profits for beef producers. 

Solution 

The Beef Checkoff and Ketchum embarked on an aggressive, integrated marketing campaign to create awareness for a new family of steak cuts that would typically have gone into the grinder for hamburger meat. Ketchum promoted these new “Value Cut” steaks through a strategic mix of trade advertising, public relations, direct mail and event marketing – all designed to reach the top chain restaurants and high-volume independents with the good news of alternative ways to menu steak. “BEEFlexible” advertising showcased beauty shots of the new beef products in trendsetting applications; the “50 Ways Beef Menu Inspirations” collateral book featured innovative recipes (developed via the Ketchum Food Center kitchen); and educational seminars and key industry functions got the “BEEFlexible” word out to menu decision makers, including top R&D chain and supplier chefs and chain restaurant executives.

 

Results 

BEEFlexible advertising was cited as one of the top 5 trade ad campaigns with 12 million impressions in 2005 alone. The campaign won two 2004 first-place-in-nation “Best of NAMA” (National Agri-Marketing) awards for single-page ad and campaign, as well as a Bronze ADDY Award by the American Advertising Federation for print advertising campaign in 2006. Through the annual Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators (MUFSO) Conference, the BEEFlexible message reached more than 500 leading C-suite foodservice executives representing over $88 billion in sales potential, and Ketchum received a first-place Western Region NAMA award in 2005 for Single-Day Event. The "Beef. It's What's on the Menu" program at CIA/Greystone targeted 36 top R&D chefs and won a second-place-in-nation NAMA. Trade media impressions in 2005 alone numbered 32 million, and the “50 Ways” booklet earned a Regional Gold NAMA award. Tangibly, partnership promotions were achieved with major chains including Quizno’s, Boston Market and Domino’s Pizza, and the “Value Cuts” were featured on thousands of menus across the nation with a combined sales volume in foodservice in 2006 totaling 169 million pounds – a 63-million-pound increase over 2005.