At first glance, the BC Egg Marketing Board is in an enviable position. It’s product has universal brand recognition and awareness (who doesn’t know what an egg is?) and 97% household penetration. The ongoing challenge, says Bill Baker, founder and principal of BB&Co Strategic Storytelling, is to get people to look at the story behind the industry, the farmers and the hens.
The BC Egg Marketing Board has hired BB&Co to help develop a strong insight and platform for future advertising. The board has used TBWA\Vancouver as its creative agency for the past couple of years, but an agency review is expected at the completion of BB&Co’s assignment. (TBWA\Vancouver has filed for creditor protection and apparently rebranded as Trees and Rocks.)
“The egg farming industry in B.C. faces some unique challenges ahead – challenges that can’t necessarily be solved through advertising,” said Al Sakalauskas, executive director for the BC Egg Marketing Board. “We realized that we needed to take a step back and look at our industry from the outside in with a more objective, more critical eye.”
The BC Egg Marketing Board represents about 140 egg farmers in the province.
“Their challenge is not about consumption,” said Baker. “We are trying to figure out what sort of story should exist beyond the product itself. People know that eggs are good for them, and they eat eggs because they taste good, but we want to make sure that people feel good about the eggs that they are eating.”
The BC Egg Marketing Board has an annual marketing budget of around $1 million.
