After a long year of prepping and getting ready, the National Pork Board’s new campaign, Taste What Pork Can Do, is doing exactly what it was intended to do – surprising people.
“Consumers have been incredibly receptive and surprised,” says Patrick Fleming, vice president of demand development for the National Pork Board. “They haven’t thought of pork in the way we’re presenting it. From the imagery, the color, the vibrance and the photography, people are saying, ‘I never thought about pork that way.’ And that’s the whole point of this campaign.”
Pork is important to many consumers, Fleming explains. But many consumers don’t realize all the pork they consume. Not only does the campaign celebrate flavor, versatility and nutrition, but just as importantly, it encourages consumers to rethink pork.
“When it comes to the processed side of the business, consumers are saying, ‘I never knew that was pork,’ that’s really that ‘aha’ moment we’re looking for,” Fleming says. “We’ve put our flag in the ground, and we’re starting the conversation in a new way.”
A New Take on New York City
To kick off the new campaign launch, Pork Checkoff organized a media tour in New York on May 6 complete with a ‘New Pork City’ bus designed to create attention and get some social buzz started.
“On our bus, we had a chef and culinary influencer, Joshua Weissman, who had prepared different pork dishes,” Fleming says. “We wanted to start capturing attention from the younger generation and make a media impact in New York. It was an event to get the campaign going as we launched our social and digital platforms.”
Speaking of which, there are many exciting things happening in the new advertising efforts, both in a digital platform and a social platform designed to connect younger consumers on an emotional level. While these efforts are designed to engage younger consumers, Fleming says no one is forgetting about pork’s current consumer base.
“We don’t want to forget about the people who are buying pork today,” Fleming says. “We are reminding them that you can do a lot of things, but you can’t forget the flavor that pork brings to all the meal occasions.”
This is the first time a pork campaign will focus both on fresh and processed pork. From pepperoni pizza to ribs on the grill to pork as an ingredient, the new imagery reveals how pork shows up everywhere.
“We want to help shift consumers’ perception of pork,” Fleming says. “We want to change the way people think about us when they’re looking for flavor, when they’re planning a meal.”
Building a Bigger Base for Pork
There’s a lot of excitement around the launch, but Fleming reminds everyone that this is a journey.
“We’ve taken the first step, and now we have to keep going. Winning hearts and minds, especially of younger consumers, is something that we must engage in long term, and we must have that conversation long term,” he says. “We have to build a bigger base for pork, so we have more pork consumers in the future.”
The results will be about reaching short-term sales goals but also making long-term attitudinal changes. That’s one of the reasons why the campaign went to market in May – it’s an excellent time to talk about pork, Fleming points out. But a big part of the campaign will focus on pork’s relevance in all seasons.
“No matter what time of year, pork shows up,” Fleming says. “We have flavor for all occasions. As people become more comfortable with pork, we become more relevant to more consumers and we’ll an impact on pork sales too, which is also the goal.”
Pork’s new message is being amplified across the supply chain, engaging channel partners (food service and retail), packers, processors and suppliers, while making sure they have everything they need to inform and equip their sales forces as they go out and talk to customers.
How Will They Know It’s Working?
“We want to make sure we’re measuring the right things,” Fleming says. “Our goal is to become more relevant by building a larger consumer base and increasing the frequency at which these consumers buy pork. It’s also about growing the value consumers attribute to pork and their willingness to pay for the true value of pork.”
Fleming values the support of U.S. pig farmers who have provided the Pork Checkoff with the opportunity to put a new marketing campaign in front of consumers.
“This has been a long time coming,” Fleming says. “We haven’t had a total consumer campaign in the field for many years, and now is the right time. We’ve done all our homework, we’ve done the research, we’ve done the consumer work, and now we have something that is right on point at the right time with the right message playing to the success of pork.”
At the end of the day, Fleming says it’s simple. Pork owns flavor, versatility, and is a product that provides great nutrition.
“When you look at what we’re playing to, it’s a campaign that is unapologetic about pork,” Fleming says. “It plays to our strengths, and to the emotional connection of flavor. The products that people love – pepperoni, bacon, ham, sausage, pork chops, pulled pork, ribs, ethnic cuisine – are uniquely pork. That is something that when we do lean into it, we will build a bigger appetite for pork, and we will taste what pork can do.”
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