Developing a creative campaign

The next step was to create a strong and distinguishable brand identity. Brand identity is the outward expression of a brand, including its name, communications, and visual appearance. It should reflect how a business wants the consumer to perceive the brand, i.e. embody the brand values. The recognition and perception of a brand is highly influenced by its visual presentation – the overall look of its communications. Effective brand identity is achieved by the consistent use of particular visual elements to create distinction, such as specific fonts, colours, and pictures. At the core of every brand identity is the logo.

The designer’s brief was very clear: the logo should stand for quality, be identifiably Australian, and ensure that the name ‘Steggles’ was distinguishable. The result was a design that incorporated a blue ribbon, the traditional prize given for first place – representative of both quality and Australian. The picture of a chicken on the ribbon, which is placed on the top of a barn, communicates leadership and enables the consumer to immediately make the link between Steggles and its core product, whilst the colour and shape were vastly different from the major competitor’s logo. Most importantly the Steggles script was maintained, with slight modifications to make the look more modern. The strength in the Steggles logo exists within the script, which has attributed to the growing recognition of the Steggles brand over the years. As a result the major changes that were made, outside of the script, were made with calculated risk.

The next stage of the revitalisation was to communicate the brand values to the customer through a marketing communications strategy. Baiada invited bids for tender for the creative, eventually awarding the business to M & C Saatchi. The campaign showed how quality is an integral part of every process in the business and introduced the line ‘We’re Stegglers for quality’ – with ‘Stegglers’ being a play on the word ‘stickler’. The new communications strategy incorporated the following elements, which were implemented between January 2010 and December 2010:

• New product packaging
• The rebranding of 100 Steggles trucks
• Television and print advertising campaign
• New website
• 12 month public relations program
• Sponsorship of the Sydney Roosters, including an innovative charity focus.

The TV campaign was set on Steggles chicken farms. This integration of the essence of Steggles’ business was essential as:

• The farms showed the brand’s commitment to Australian farming
• Baiada recognised that farming was the sole reason for their existence – an important message for consumers and beneficial for the entire poultry industry
• Showing chicken farming helped to address the misconceptions that exist around the poultry industry
• The visual images of Steggles farms and chickens produced a highly emotive response with consumers.

The campaign differed from traditional communications in that rather than advertising specific products, it focused on promoting the Steggles brand, the category (fresh chicken) and educating the consumer about the poultry industry (clearing up misconceptions about sustainability, environmental practice and animal welfare). Incorporating the farms as the backdrop for the TV campaign provided customers with a direct insight into poultry farming practices and the people who work in the industry.

The ‘We’re Stegglers for quality’ campaign further enhanced Steggles leadership role in the poultry industry. This in turn increased demand, and strengthened relationships with business customers (e.g. chicken shops, butchers) as there was an opportunity for these customers to leverage the ‘quality’ message within their own businesses.