Shear consistency / MLA exemplifies the benefits of consistency in marketing with its nearly two-decade run of summer lamb campaigns tied to the message ‘Nothing brings Australians together like sharing lamb.’ According to 2024 System1 data, brands that maintain a cohesive creative approach earn an average creativity score of 3.3 stars, compared to 2.6 for those that frequently shift strategies.
Over a five-year span, System1 found that brands that stick to a clear brand platform, see a steady 0.2 per annum rise in creativity scores, while inconsistent advertisers stagnate. This undercuts the notion of ad wear-out by demonstrating that good creative actually gains effectiveness through familiarity, better memory encoding, and more efficient resource deployment – ultimately making a lasting impact on both brand perception and sales. To find out more behind MLA’s marketing strategy, read of deep dive into the summer lamb campaign in our Brand Spotlight.
Cultural truths, not too close to the bone / When Contagious interviewed the agency behind last year’s campaign, they explained that MLA’s biggest focus for 2024 was to build new relevance and ensure it was appealing to younger Australians. The way MLA has done that with the both the 2024 and 2045 summer campaigns is to draw on cultural truths and real issues dividing Australians. However, MLA has learned not to lean too heavily into politics as its 2018 Lamb Side Story campaign was deemed too contentious, alienating some consumers. As Christopher Lansdell, business strategy director at The Monkeys, told us: ‘We’re very conscious that we need to ensure that we’re bringing people together. Things like whether you’re on the left or the right of politics, you’re not going to drop that, which was a lesson we learned in the past.’
Carving out consumption / Creating a new consumption occasion can be challenging, as it requires reshaping ingrained consumer behaviour. Still, MLA has effectively reframed eating lamb in summer as a culturally significant tradition, transforming the historic slow summer period into a prime sales window.
In 2024, MLA’s summer campaign amassed over 21 million views, with YouGov reporting that 32% of viewers were more inclined to purchase lamb. By tying lamb to national pride and tapping into Australians’ desire to come together in the warmer months, MLA offers both functional and emotional reasons to buy – reinforcing brand loyalty while driving category growth. This strategy highlights how repositioning a product around an overlooked time or occasion can ignite new demand, even in categories where consumption patterns seem difficult to change.
Read more about how to create a consumption occasion here.
