MLA is targeting younger shoppers in ad designed to mimic tech brands

Lamb meat is being promoted as a device that can connect humans to each other — parodying ads from big tech brands. Watch it here.

A new spring lamb marketing campaign has been launched this week, as the sector sees record levels of lamb produced on Australian farms.

It comes as producers face falling prices for lambs, rising costs and declining profitability margins.

The industry’s research and development corporation, Meat and Livestock Australia, is tasked with helping to market lamb here and to overseas customers, and this year the job of selling all the lamb produced is bigger than ever.

Slaughter numbers are forecast to lift on last year’s record levels to reach 27.7 million lambs processed to feed people, here and overseas.

This represented a lift of 11 per cent, or 2.7 million more lambs, and would position this year as the biggest year on record for lamb slaughter numbers.

MLA’s new campaign again draws on the age-old theme of how sharing of food can connect people. The ads parody the advertising style of technology brands by introducing a “device that actually facilitates in-person connections: Lamb”.

WATCH THE AD HERE

MLA marketing general manager Nathan Low said the campaign targeted younger shoppers.

“Appealing to younger demographics is important to foster the next generation of lamb consumers and forms a part of Australian Lamb’s brand vision of making lamb the go-to for bringing friends and family together,” Mr Low said.

“The majority of frequent lamb buyers skews older in Australia, but in the last year we’ve seen positive brand growth from younger segments off the back of retail price decreases and the Generation Gap summer campaign.”

The ads will run for four weeks on digital television, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and skyscraper style billboards close to retail centres,

Mr Low said the campaign coincided with 2024 being the largest lamb production year on record, resulting in a record supply of lamb available in the domestic market.

It comes as lamb prices received by farmers have fallen in the past month. The national Trade Lamb Indicator is down 40c/kg in a week, to sit at 799c/kg on Monday. However, this remains 361c/kg better than at this time last year.

MLA recently released their latest sheep industry projections, in which analysts predicted a slight softening in prices to the end of the year.

The aggregated analyst’s price estimate to the end of the year, pointing to a 3 per cent drop, to 782c/kg for trade lambs.

The report also pointed to rising costs and the harm they were causing farm profitability.

MLA said council rates, particularly were a concern, and for some producers were the “fastest growing cost”. “Rate rises can impact producers significantly and impact land holders by affecting operating costs and business profitability,” MLA reported.

It also pointed out that high interest rates – the highest since 2011 – placed “pressure on agricultural businesses through land values and loan financing”.