Tulip starts £3m Danepak relaunch

Danepak distributor Tulip International is investing &£3m in a marketing campaign, including new advertising and packaging, to recapture market share from own-label lines.

Consumers’ bacon-buying habits were recorded with hidden cameras in shops and supermarkets as part of a ten-month research project to relaunch the brand.

Miriam Janssen, Tulip International marketing manager, says: “The changes will be supported by a new ad codenamed ‘Baconation’ which breaks on September 13 and shows various scenes of people eating bacon at different times of the day.”

Janssen says the latest campaign uses a zany approach in the style of Britvic’s Tango and Van den Bergh’s Peperami advertising to attract a younger consumer base. It has been created by Underground.

The ad also differentiates Danepak from other brands by highlighting a curing process unique to the product.

Janssen adds that changing eating patterns and the increase in own-label bacon has put Danepak’s market share under threat.

She says the brand’s market share has fallen to about seven per cent compared with about 20 per cent at its height of popularity ten to 15 years ago.

The branded bacon will no longer come vacuum-packed but will be packaged in a controlled atmosphere square-based plastic container for easier storage. Acetate labelling on the base of the pack carrying a recipe suggestion also forms part of the new packaging which is being introduced from next month.