Resistance is futile
Food: The new MetzgerLehner campaign aims to set Coop subsidiary Bell apart from the competition by highlighting its «enjoyment» dimension.
Food The new MetzgerLehner campaign aims to set Coop subsidiary Bell apart from the competition through its competence dimension "enjoyment". "Buying meat is a matter of trust," says Davide Elia, Head of Marketing at Bell. Whereas the butcher used to advise the consumer, today the brand on the packaging has to take on this role. And depending on the region, this accounts for 40 to 60 percent of meat sales in the retail trade. The acceptance of self-service packaging has risen in the diametrically opposite direction to the number of butchers. In the last twenty years, the number of butchers has shrunk from 4,000 to around 1,000. In contrast, expectations of meat have risen significantly: in addition to the best quality, consumers expect animals to be kept and fed in a manner appropriate to their species. Stagnating consumption (2003: 52 kilos per capita or -1.2% compared to 2002) contrasts with a more conscious consumption of pre-processed meat.
This trend, as well as Coop's dynamization process in recent years, has benefited Bell due to its awareness of tradition, quality and innovation: in 2003, Bell shares achieved a double-digit performance of 17.6 percent - their value has increased eightfold since the IPO. However, brand management was neglected in the 1990s due to the strong brand personality. The meat competence brand is now making up for this at Markom level. The timing seems favorable, as the current financial year presents Bell with new challenges such as positioning itself as a full-service supplier in the B-to-B sector.
Profiling brand value Enjoyment
The prerequisite for the uniform brand presence was developed a year ago with the new brand strategy for the Bell Group. This provides for a concentration and promotion of the Bell brand as the corporate and umbrella brand of the brand drivers Meat, Poultry and Charcuterie as well as Bell Catering and Bell Gastro Service. As a first step, Bell had the new logo developed in 2003, which was gradually introduced with the new CD. The adaptation of the product packaging, which was all changed within a new concept, was particularly challenging. By the end of the year, over 400 products in total will bear the new look.
A single claim
After a good three almost "meatless" years in traditional advertising, this alone contributes to the increased visibility of the Bell brand. In sponsorship, on the other hand, Bell supports highly resonant projects as an exclusive caterer and sponsor in the areas of sport and culture. The Erlenbach-based advertising agency has chosen the profiling consumer benefit of enjoyment as the platform for Bell's new image campaign.
Because only quality guarantees enjoyment and only innovation guarantees enjoyable discoveries, according to consultant Andreas Meier. AD Susanne Gehrig: "We dramatize this in two ways: on the one hand, by illustrating the popularity of Bell products that are so good that they are eaten as soon as you see them. On the other hand, the two TV and cinema commercials show how irresistible Bell meat is." In one film, for example, a piranha crashes into the aquarium glass three times and with an ever greater "run-up". The reason only becomes clear when the camera reveals the plate on which a fillet of beef is lying. Alternating tag-ons show various Bell products on it, which immediately disappear from the plate again. In the final shot, the piranha leaps out of the water. Like the basic idea integrated into all Markom instruments, a single claim is now used for the first time: 'Bell - Irresistible'. "We didn't have a single overarching claim before, but about a dozen claims," says Davide Elia. The objectives of the campaign, which was planned with high GRPs and targeted at the Swiss household population, are to increase awareness, communicate the brand values and anchor the main product groups.
Tradition and quality In 1869, Samuel Bell-Roth opened a small "Ochsenmetzg" butcher's shop in Basel, laying the foundations for what is now Switzerland's largest meat company. In 1907, the sole proprietorship became a public limited company, which expanded rapidly thanks to innovative processing and logistics as well as acquisitions.
One year before the alliance with the VSK in 1913, Bell AG was already the largest meat producer in Switzerland, surpassed only by large American and British companies. The company had its largest distribution in 1962, when it owned 172 branches. Due to the growing importance of the major distributors - Migros and Coop now control almost 80 percent of the Swiss meat market - this fell to 19 specialty stores, which were spun off in 2003 by means of a management buyout.
In two tranches, Coop floated 40 percent of the shares in its subsidiary Bell on the stock exchange in the 1990s and retained a majority stake of 60 percent. According to its own information, Bell has a supported brand awareness of around 80 percent and is the best-known brand for meat and meat products.
Meat products in Switzerland.
In 2002, the Bell Group broke through the CHF 1.5 billion sales barrier for the first time. In 2003, all group companies merged to form the
Bell Ltd, which also launched a new logo with the new CD. Today, the Bell Group employs around 4000 people. (la)
Irresistible meat from the Bell butchery: the piranha in the aquarium is magically attracted >> page 7
Irresistibly good: there's no stopping the piranha in the aquarium when it sees Bell's beef fillet on the plate.
Luca Aloisi
This trend, as well as Coop's dynamization process in recent years, has benefited Bell due to its awareness of tradition, quality and innovation: in 2003, Bell shares achieved a double-digit performance of 17.6 percent - their value has increased eightfold since the IPO. However, brand management was neglected in the 1990s due to the strong brand personality. The meat competence brand is now making up for this at Markom level. The timing seems favorable, as the current financial year presents Bell with new challenges such as positioning itself as a full-service supplier in the B-to-B sector.
Profiling brand value Enjoyment
The prerequisite for the uniform brand presence was developed a year ago with the new brand strategy for the Bell Group. This provides for a concentration and promotion of the Bell brand as the corporate and umbrella brand of the brand drivers Meat, Poultry and Charcuterie as well as Bell Catering and Bell Gastro Service. As a first step, Bell had the new logo developed in 2003, which was gradually introduced with the new CD. The adaptation of the product packaging, which was all changed within a new concept, was particularly challenging. By the end of the year, over 400 products in total will bear the new look.
A single claim
After a good three almost "meatless" years in traditional advertising, this alone contributes to the increased visibility of the Bell brand. In sponsorship, on the other hand, Bell supports highly resonant projects as an exclusive caterer and sponsor in the areas of sport and culture. The Erlenbach-based advertising agency has chosen the profiling consumer benefit of enjoyment as the platform for Bell's new image campaign.
Because only quality guarantees enjoyment and only innovation guarantees enjoyable discoveries, according to consultant Andreas Meier. AD Susanne Gehrig: "We dramatize this in two ways: on the one hand, by illustrating the popularity of Bell products that are so good that they are eaten as soon as you see them. On the other hand, the two TV and cinema commercials show how irresistible Bell meat is." In one film, for example, a piranha crashes into the aquarium glass three times and with an ever greater "run-up". The reason only becomes clear when the camera reveals the plate on which a fillet of beef is lying. Alternating tag-ons show various Bell products on it, which immediately disappear from the plate again. In the final shot, the piranha leaps out of the water. Like the basic idea integrated into all Markom instruments, a single claim is now used for the first time: 'Bell - Irresistible'. "We didn't have a single overarching claim before, but about a dozen claims," says Davide Elia. The objectives of the campaign, which was planned with high GRPs and targeted at the Swiss household population, are to increase awareness, communicate the brand values and anchor the main product groups.
Tradition and quality In 1869, Samuel Bell-Roth opened a small "Ochsenmetzg" butcher's shop in Basel, laying the foundations for what is now Switzerland's largest meat company. In 1907, the sole proprietorship became a public limited company, which expanded rapidly thanks to innovative processing and logistics as well as acquisitions.
One year before the alliance with the VSK in 1913, Bell AG was already the largest meat producer in Switzerland, surpassed only by large American and British companies. The company had its largest distribution in 1962, when it owned 172 branches. Due to the growing importance of the major distributors - Migros and Coop now control almost 80 percent of the Swiss meat market - this fell to 19 specialty stores, which were spun off in 2003 by means of a management buyout.
In two tranches, Coop floated 40 percent of the shares in its subsidiary Bell on the stock exchange in the 1990s and retained a majority stake of 60 percent. According to its own information, Bell has a supported brand awareness of around 80 percent and is the best-known brand for meat and meat products.
Meat products in Switzerland.
In 2002, the Bell Group broke through the CHF 1.5 billion sales barrier for the first time. In 2003, all group companies merged to form the
Bell Ltd, which also launched a new logo with the new CD. Today, the Bell Group employs around 4000 people. (la)
Irresistible meat from the Bell butchery: the piranha in the aquarium is magically attracted >> page 7
Irresistibly good: there's no stopping the piranha in the aquarium when it sees Bell's beef fillet on the plate.
Luca Aloisi
