Slovo Myasnika: brand renewal in the Rusagro portfolio

Slovo Myasnika (“The Butcher’s Word”) is the key meat brand of the Rusagro group of companies, one of the leaders of the Russian agro-industrial complex. The brand offers chilled pork and semi-finished meat products, which are produced according to high world standards.

 

Over the past two and a half years, along with Mildberry, the Rusagro meat division team has been working on updating the Slovo Myasnika brand and relaunching its product portfolio to keep in line with the trends, as well as to create additional value in the meat category through the culinary direction and expanding consumption. In 2020, the basic line was updated, and the company developed the Grill and Homemade lines. In 2021, a packaging design was developed for the innovative Healthy Meat line and the Breakfast line.

 

The main rebranding objectives were to achieve a significant increase in the chilled pork and meat products market share, as well as to increase brand’s on-shelf visibility through a more compelling visual differentiation – key for a young brand.
The Slovo Myasnika mission is to simplify the life of the cook as much as possible – from the meat selection at the store to the cooking process, demolishing the stereotype that Russian semi-finished products and marinated meat products can lose in quality. What unites all of the brand products is the quality control at all production stages, as well as an environmentally friendly Tambov region location.

 

In accordance with the brand strategy, it was important that the design package focuses on the product’s characteristics: savouriness, freshness, genuineness, as well as expresses the brand’s personality as an honest, caring and competent helper. Each line has its own product and consumer features:
 
Grill — a line released ahead of the summer, includes fresh and marinated meat and semi-finished products for grilling.
 
Main — a line of semi-finished products and fresh meat, which allows to save cooking time.
 
Homemade — competent help for the cook in the kitchen includes several types of minced meat made from high-quality beef and pork.
 
For Breakfast — a line for a hearty breakfast, which includes bacon and pork loin.
 
Healthy Meat — a line that is the new word in the meat category, it’s not just semi-finished meat products, but a healthy mix of meat, vegetables and fiber, designed for those who care about the health of the entire family.

 

Over the past 5 years, the brand’s sales volume has shown a seven-fold increase. According to the 2021 financial results, Slovo Myasnika has been growing steadily on the market of chilled pre-made foods and reached a market share of 8.5% due to comprehensive support and distribution development, as well as the introduction of new visual solutions in communication design. Tracking data from MillwardBrown suggests that the Slovo Myasnika brand strength has gone up from 4.1% (in Q1 2020) to 7.8% (in Q4 2021). The level of brand recognition in the Central Federal District, according to Millward Brown, has increased to 85% (+11 p.p.), and across Russia to 73% (+15 p.p.).
 
Brand products in updated design, as well as new culinary lines, have already been placed on store shelves throughout Russia.