Back in 2009 Mike King was the frontman for New Zealand Pork. He quit after breaking into a crate farm where he found pigs were so badly treated they were screaming and frothing at the mouth.
Well, it seems that enough time has passed – New Zealand Pork has a new front man – Simon Gault from top class restaurant Euro, and currently the chubby judge on New Zealand Masterchef.
NZ Pork chairman Ian Carter is talking it up, calling the Extraordinary Kitchen campaign the boldest marketing campaign seen within the industry for years. Conceived and realised by OgilvyAction the glam advertising campaign utilises Facebook and YouTube to entice viewers and readers to buy pork and to cook it using Simon Gault’s recipes.
From now on the 100% New Zealand Pork rosette will be complemented by The Extraordinary Kitchen label on all New Zealand-farmed pork, which will identify the type of cut and direct consumers to a new website which offers the best way to cook it.
“We’re going on the front foot, promoting the quality of New Zealand product and ensuring shoppers can easily identify 100 percent NZ pork in the chiller,” says Carter.
He says the labels are part of a drive by the New Zealand pork industry to “up the ante” within the industry.
“Forty-five per cent of all pork is imported – and we think that’s way too much.”
A series of online videos, hosted by celebrity chef Gault and rising young chef Nick Honeyman, will be released as part of the new campaign, demonstrating how to create pork dishes at home.
“New Zealanders are great experimenters in the kitchen, but our research shows that they’re not especially confident and have some outdated perceptions when it comes to preparing pork dishes,” he says.
“New Zealand pork is a world-class product and our research clearly shows that when consumers have confidence preparing it, there’s massive room to grow market share. We aim to do just that.”
