Throw Another Steak on the barbie
Meat & Livestock Australia
Issue 28 | September 2013
Agency
BMF
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director: Carlos Alija, Laura Sampedro Art Director: Trent Hendrick Copywriter: Andie Graham Interaction Design Lead: Nev Fordyce
Production Team
Digital Project Manager: Rachel O'toole Director Exit Films: Stephen Carroll Producer Exit Films: Tobias Webster Post Production House: The Editors Agency Producer: Mel Herbert
Other Credits
Managing Partner: Stephen Mcardle Planner: Christina Aventi Client Director: Rebecca Morton Account Director: Jonny Bucknall Account Manager: Ciaran Miller-Stubbs Account Executive: Rose Flowers Media Agency: UM
Date
November 2012
Background
Rather than barbecue steak, Australians were starting to grill seafood and chicken in summer.
The agency’s task was to halt the decline in steak sales and increase loyalty to beef.
Idea
In 1984, a TV commercial had run around the world promoting Australia Tourism with the line “Throw another shrimp on the Barbie.’
Aussies hated it. For starters, they didn’t even call them shrimp. They called them prawns. And they didn’t barbecue them.
So the idea was to get Aussies to sign a petition to get the much-disliked ad re-made but this time with the more truthful line, “We’ll put another steak on the barbie for you.’
A movement was created that turned consumers into steak advocates.
A TV commercial and radio spots directed people to Facebook to sign the petition and download the supporter’s kit.
The campaign hit a cultural nerve and people stickered their cars, hung posters in their windows, shared photos on their walls. More than 53,000 people signed the petition and were rewarded when the tourism ad was re-made (in a tongue-in- cheek way). They shared it with friends in 124 countries to set the record straight, telling the world that when Australians barbecue they barbecue steak.
Results
Sales were not merely stabilised, they increased by 4.9% during the November - January (summer) period. That amounted to sales revenue of $393.9m, an incremental $18.4million above 2012.
The Facebook fanbase tripled from 27,023 to 83,345 without incentive.
Facebook content was liked, commented and shared over 850,000 times Facebook fans generated 19,000,000 impressions via interactions with the page. The campaign was shared with people in 124 countries as Aussies set the record straight.
Our Thoughts
Yet another ‘newsjack” (see pages 7-12 and the digest of Grant Hunter & Jon Burkhart’s book) when a brand doesn’t just report the news (new, improved) but makes the news (You’ll never believe what they’ve gone and done now...)
It’s a fundamental shift made possible only through social media.
In the old days when advertising was based on product benefits, this may well have ended up a rational campaign based on the nutritional advantages of meat over seafood. But today, recognising that we human beings are fundamentally irrational, rather than cajole us into buying their clients’ products, BMF have got thousands of people to laugh in unison and millions to share the joke.
The net result, sizzling sales figures.