Meat & Livestock Australia Case Study

MEAT & LIVESTOCK AUSTRALIA – THAILAND

Vivaldi won a competitive pitch in early 2021 to be the PR agency of record for Meat & Livestock Australia and raise awareness for quality Australian beef in the Thailand market. 

Beef is not the first protein of choice in Thailand, so our challenge was to win over the hearts, minds, and appetites of discerning Thai consumers and give them a reason to either consume more beef or make it a new consideration and add it regularly to their diet. 

Australian beef is positioned as a premium beef option available to Thai consumers so we needed to ensure they had a good reason to add it to their shopping lists.

Our insights and research showed that people would pay more for quality beef.

To achieve this goal for MLA (Meat & Livestock Australia) we had to create communication opportunities that told the story of why Australian beef is considered some of the best in the world and position the True Aussie Beef brand firmly in the mindset of consumers. 

Our overall communications goal:

Integrate Australian beef into the Thai diet by showing how easily Australian beef can be used in a number of favourite Thai dishes and why Australian beef is better due to the uncompromising standards that exist for raising cattle and beef production in Australia. 

How did we do this?

Our messaging would always focus on – quality, taste, and provenance.

We developed an integrated communications strategy through Online/Offline events, traditional media activities, and campaign activities to build a constant press presence, and leverage the power of KOLs & Influencers with our messaging always focused on quality, taste, and provenance.

  • We invited key media to taste the quality of Australian beef at innovative dining experiences.
  • We crafted effective & customized stories & content through press releases across digital, social, and traditional media channels.
  • We focussed on the taste and quality of the beef and the pristine farming environments it comes from in Australia to tantalise the tastebuds of food lovers and the healthy diet concerns of Thai consumers.
  • We educated Thai consumers on the benefits of eating quality beef by helping them understand why Australian beef is considered some of the best in the world.

To achieve the best results for all of the above:

  • We enlisted the help of a top Chef, Chef Pam (from Smoked, Potong, and Table by Chef Pam) who just happened to be Thai-Australian and who is a master of beef cooking, we appointed her as the first-ever official True Aussie Beef Thailand Ambassador for 12-months.
  • We created a Virtual Chef’s Table event for media and a Virtual Chef’s Table event for top chefs to connect with the food service industry.
  • We also engaged with numerous beef-loving KOLs/Influencers to leverage their loyal audiences.
  • We shared easy-to-follow recipes, tips from our True Aussie Beef Chef Ambassador, and via our KOLs/Influencers who all shared their Thai cooking ideas with Australian beef.
  • And, with travel being restricted we launched The Great Steak Escape – Thailand, a regional campaign running across SEA,  taking tastebuds on a culinary beef journey to Australia without leaving Bangkok.

Dining Experiences To Tantalise Beef Loving Media, KOLs, and Influencers.

  • VIP Chef Table events media: This concept in itself presented challenges when a new wave of COVID hit Bangkok, so we pivoted to a completely new approach – we had what we believe to be the first-ever ‘Virtual Chef’s Table Event’, where our Chef Ambassador (Chef Pam) cooked a delicious beef menu and we had a fleet of riders waiting to deliver the meals to our invited media guests at their homes, once they had their food they logged onto a Zoom with Chef Pam where she took them through the tasting menu she had created. It was a resounding success.
  • Virtual Chef’s Table Event for top chefs: Following the success of our Virtual Chefs Table Event for media for replicated the concept to connect our client’s product with key representatives and chefs in the food service industry.
  • The Great Steak Escape campaign: In partnership with the Hyatt-Regency, Bangkok we created a VIP media dinner event at the hotel combined with a ‘Steakation’ (staycation) at the hotel. This was then opened up to the public to book their own ‘Steakation’ at the hotel which included an exclusive Australian beef dinner.
  • Constant KOL & Influencer campaign:  We employed an ‘always on’ approach with KOLs/Influencers where every month we would have them cooking beef dishes & sharing them with their audiences. 

The results.

  • Total coverage for Meat & Livestock Australia: 607 clippings
  • The above included 394 clippings from PR news releases / Feature article distribution, 193 KOLs/Influential page product seeding, 3 influential Facebook page Live Cooking Show posts, 14 brand ambassador posts and 3 exclusive interviews.
  • TOTAL PR VALUE = 92,806,752.00 Thai baht – Tracked on from May- 2021 to December 31, 2021.
  • Equivalent PR Value : $2,854,494 USD
(Chef Pam – True Aussie Beef Thailand Ambassador)
Date: October 26, 2022
Client: Meat & Livestock Australia - Thailand
Category: Food & Beverage