The pork industry adopts a new ad slogan
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Kai Ryssdal: Today’s episode of adventures in risky marketing moves is brought to us by the National Pork Board. They of the fabulously successful “The Other White Meat” campaign. That success was the result of millions of marketing dollars, and a slogan that’s been hammered into our collective psyche for nearly a quarter century.
Today, though, pork’s getting a new slogan. Marketplace’s Stacey Vanek Smith has the story.
Stacey Vanek Smith: The new tagline for everybody’s favorite other white meat?
Cesi Snyder: Our new brand is “Pork: Be Inspired.”
That’s the National Pork Board’s Cesi Snyder. She says they’ll spend about $25 million on “Pork: Be Inspired;” everything from TV spots to a social media push.
Branding expert Rob Frankel’s take on the the new slogan?
Rob Frankel: Not inspired at all. I can say, motor oil, be inspired. It doesn’t say anything about the actual brand.
Frankel says “The Other White Meat” taught people something about pork when it was rolled out in 1987.
Frankel: There was a lot of press about how red meat was bad for you and a lot of people thought that pork was red meat. So that old line pushed pork into a more positive perception.
Darren Tristano is with food research firm Technomic. He says relatively inexpensive pork gained market share against beef during the financial crisis.
Darren Tristano: It’s now time to look at some emotional drivers and really pull at the strings of consumers to get them to not only use pork, but use it more frequently.
And inspire people to get creative and try new recipes. Again, the National Pork Board’s Cesi Snyder.
Snyder: With “The Other White Meat,” we tried to convey a lean message, really to light users — add it to your diet. But right now we’re talking to pork-lovers.
Snyder says the focus will be on getting pork-o-philes to eat more pork, with new recipes and appearances on cooking shows to get consumers to find new ways to prepare that other white meat.
I’m Stacey Vanek Smith for Marketplace.
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