DES MOINES, Iowa — The National Pork Board has launched a rebranding campaign and, at the same time, has revamped its website, making it easier for retailers to access data and to order newly designed POS materials.
The rebranding campaign, “Pork — Be Inspired,” targets a particular segment of the population, those who already are consumers of fresh pork and who frequently prepare it at home.
“This is just the sunrise on a whole new branding program,” NPB's assistant vice president of channel marketing, Jarrod Sutton, told SN last week. “Starting in April, we'll run national television ads. A new quarterly newsletter comes out this month.
“Then there's the website, www.porkretail.org, which has had a complete overhaul. Previously we just had the basics on there, but now it will be the one-stop place, housing all our information, including research data and trend analysis, that retailers and packer-processors can use. Plus, it's easy to use.”
Sutton said some retailers have already voiced their appreciation of the website's user-friendliness.
Indeed, one retailer told SN that now he'll visit the website more often.
“I hadn't used it much until they added the new links and tabs that make it easy to find the information I want. I can move through it quickly and easily,” said Craig Watkins, meat manager at 14-unit Remke Markets, Erlanger, Ky.
“It's very informative. Tells me what's going on in the protein world, in addition to everything about pork. You can go in and pull off recipes and use them at the case or in ads.”
Watkins said he likes the new brand slogan, “Pork — Be Inspired,” too. He said the slogan has a warmth to it and fits the target market well.
The NPB has spent the last 18 months surveying consumers in different ways, including focus groups, and then “testing and tweaking” the website and promotional materials, Sutton said.
“In focus groups, consumers often used the word ‘inspired,’ as they explained they want to get more into preparing and serving pork,” he said.
“This brand, we think, is bold, optimistic. We're using in-your-face photography showing images of people preparing pork meals, and up-close shots of the meal itself. ”
Results from the NPB's recent consumer segmentation research spurred the new campaign. A major finding was that while “flavor-seeking pork lovers” make up just 28% of U.S. households — they account for roughly 68% of all in-home fresh pork consumption and 50% of all away-from-home fresh pork consumption.
“While our new target represents our biggest fans, we believe we can help them enjoy pork even more often — and inspire their friends to do the same, especially as grilling season gets here,” Sutton said.
“Our goal is to increase fresh pork consumption 10% by 2014.”
The NPB's new brand was kicked off with a grilling message this past weekend.