The National Pork Board announced the tagline of its new pork campaign, “Taste what pork can do,” before a crowd of pork producers at the National Pork Industry Forum on March 13.
One message stood out to marketing advisory committee members Jennifer Tirey, Rob Brenneman and Gordon Spronk as they discussed the new tagline: I’m not the target. Likely, neither are you.
Here’s why that’s good news.
When Jennifer Tirey, executive director of the Illinois Pork Producers Association, first heard the final tagline, she admits it took her a minute.
“I had to sit with it. I had to say it a couple times,” Tirey says. “At first, I thought it was a little uneventful, that we were trying too hard. But as I thought about the consumer who is not in our lane every day, I was sold. Consumers need to hear this tagline the way it’s presented because we know they are not thinking about our product like we are every day.”
This is Tirey’s tenth year working for Illinois pork producers. Quite frankly, she says recent campaigns felt more like a rally of the home team.
“What’s different about this campaign is that it’s looking beyond the pork producer that already loves our product,” she says. “That’s where I feel like we’ve not hit that home run in the past. A lot of outside perspective was brought in, which is important to play at that level we’re hoping to play. Producers can have confidence that this campaign is being built around what consumers say they want about pork.”
Iowa pork producer Rob Brenneman wasn’t sure what to think at first either.
“The tagline isn’t meant for pork producers, though. We produce the product and then we want somebody to eat it,” Brenneman says. “We already know what it tastes like, and we don’t need a tagline to eat it. But we have to draw the attention of millions and millions of people who have not experienced raising pigs or being in agriculture.”
Taste Leads the Way
Brenneman stands behind the tagline because it emphasizes the most important thing he produces: tasty pork. Data shows taste and flavor matter to consumers of all ages.
Gordon Spronk, a veterinarian with Pipestone, says he was pleased with the final choice. He values the hard work, research and data that the National Pork Board used in determining the final tagline.
“Do you know what our agency did when they started the process of this campaign?” Spronk asks. “They had a barbecue. They came up with a number of things, and settled on “Taste what pork can do,” because they actually tasted, cooked and ate the pork. I was like, ‘OK, you got me there.’”
He believes the whole industry should pay attention because this is a key moment for the pork industry.
“Old guys like me and the generation coming up with our family farm are in a generational transfer. I’m really more excited for them than me when it comes to this tagline,” Spronk says. “I think they can ride this brand for a long time. It has great potential for a number of reasons.”
Using Pork to Sell Pork
The industry has not had a recognizable campaign stick since the tagline, “Pork. The Other White Meat.” established decades ago, Brenneman says.
One of the biggest reasons he’s excited about this new campaign is that it will use pork to sell pork. It sounds simple, but “Pork. The Other White Meat,” straddled the line between trying to be a little like chicken and a little like beef, Spronk says.
“That was a strategy we learned from,” he says. “We are unapologetically pork. We start at bacon, then go to sausage, pepperoni, ham and on from there.”
It’s Different This Time
This pork campaign will look different than past campaigns for two reasons, Spronk says.
“First, it’s not going to be about billboards, it’s going to be about swipes and clicks and screens that pop up,” he adds. “Second, the National Pork Board has a long effort in collecting the data of who’s actually eating pork. We know consumption for Gen Zs and Millennials is much lower than Baby Boomers. We need to speak to them. This tagline has been thoroughly tested by professionals, it’s not for me. I’m going to eat my 55 lb. regardless of what the tagline says. I’m probably not going to change my eating habits, but they may.”
Chad Groves, CEO of Seaboard Foods and a director on the National Pork Board, says the younger generations love the processed side.
“They love bacon, sausage, ham, and we view that as the gateway to fresh pork,” Groves says. “I go back to my childhood, growing up in central Indiana, a pork loin was a part of our meal at least two to three times per week. My kids don’t have that same experience. The younger generations are not being exposed to the fresh pork category like we used to be.”
In the consumer segmentation research, the National Pork Board asked individuals who are not the prime pork audience how they feel about pork.
“A lot of the messaging and promotional campaign items they’re working on are going to be targeted to what those consumers said,” Tirey adds. “It’s not going to be geared to your traditional pork producer that loves making a great pork chop on the weekend on the grill. It’s going to be that consumer that doesn’t have as much knowledge about our product and how they can start adding it into their daily menus. That’s what makes me excited – the research behind the decision making that we are making today.”
Cultural Differences
The “can do” part of the campaign builds on the concept that the ways to add pork to every meal are unlimited. Pork’s 111 flavor profiles baffled Spronk at first.
“The cultural opportunities and ways pork is used globally are astounding,” he says. “I just returned from Cuba and have Cubano sandwiches on my mind. I love pork dumplings in noodle soup and cooking tonkatsu for my friends and family. I promise my grandmother didn’t even know what tonkatsu meant. We have not even scratched the surface of what pork can do in our blended U.S. culture.”
The pork industry doesn’t have the marketing budget to hit everybody, Tirey explains, so being strategic is key. That’s where the consumer segmentation data will help guide efforts to “fish where the fish are.”
“The campaign won’t use a shotgun approach. We’re not going out to all consumers like some of the campaigns in the past,” Groves says. “This will be very targeted to identify younger consumers and speak to them in a way that resonates with them, whether it’s taste, flavor, convenience or something else, to pull them into the category. This is not an investment for next year. This is an investment into the next 25 years of pork production and beyond.”
Read Next:
What’s The Risk of Doing Nothing About Pork Demand?
We Need a New Playbook in the Pork Industry
