Richmond, part of Pilgrim’s Food Masters, is investing £1.1m in a multichannel campaign spanning digital Out of Home (OOH), VOD and social media, to drive awareness and trial of its Meat-Free range.

The campaign is currently running across 921 billboards and digital screens across the UK, as well as VOD, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. Marking Richmond’s first foray into digital OOH, the strategy has been developed to target Richmond’s key audiences and aims to deliver 41m impressions, reaching an estimated 13.7m people.

Leveraging the trust and popularity of the Richmond brand, the campaign looks to reassure shoppers trying meat-free for the first time, telling shoppers to “Relax, it’s Richmond.” The campaign, developed with Saatchi & Saatchi and Dentsu X, positions Richmond as the gateway brand for the meat-free category; a recognised name that consumers can trust. “Relax, it’s Richmond,” is a nod to the brand’s reputation for making great-tasting meat and meat-free products. Since its expansion into the meat-free category in 2019, Richmond has grown to become the third biggest player in meat-free sales, according to IRI.

The campaign is built on the insight that consumers want to make the switch from meat but are not confident meat-free products will taste as good as their meaty counterparts. To challenge this perception, Richmond is putting mouth-watering imagery of family favourites front and centre, providing shoppers with inspiration and confidence to switch to meat-free options when cooking their favourite family meals. The brand is also bringing this to life through engaging content and partnerships on social media, to show consumers how easy it is to make meat-free swaps.

Social ads leverage close-ups of lasagne and burgers with voiceovers echoing the insight that consumers are worried that meat-free products may not be as tasty as meat options. Richmond is also collaborating with social media influencer Sevda on TikTok and Instagram to bring meat-free recipe inspiration to her 1.2m followers.

“We’re putting our Meat-Free range centre stage for this fully integrated 360-degree campaign, because we truly believe that the products taste fantastic and because we know that Richmond plays a crucial role in recruiting customers into the category,” said Chris Doe, Marketing Controller at Pilgrim’s Food Masters. “The significant investment in this food-first campaign is evidence of our belief in the range; we want to encourage even more shoppers to try meat-free this year and trust that it can taste great.”