Jo Leah
Turkey giant Bernard Matthews of ‘bootiful’ fame, has appointed Weber Shandwick Manchester to lead the brand’s consumer marketing.
The agency will work with the company’s marketing team to drive awareness of the company’s product range to families through an integrated consumer campaign.
Rachel Copley, marketing director at Bernard Matthews, said: “We spoke to a number of consultancies but Weber Shandwick showed depth of understanding of our market, strong digital capabilities and a clear strategic approach.”
Bernard Matthews reintroduced its famous strapline “bootiful”, which ran for more than 25 years from the early 1980s, using Joe Cocker’s famous track You Are So Beautiful.
Matthews and his thick Norfolk accent catapulted the “bootiful” slogan into the national consciousness fronting his firm’s TV ad campaign for decades.
The slogan was launched in 1980 and “retired” 27 years later in 2007 to be replaced by the rather less catchy “Turkey for Today”. The company rebranded in 2008, to Bernard Matthews Farms and launched a new TV campaign before ‘bootiful’ got a revamp in 2010.
Jo Leah, managing director at Weber Shandwick Manchester and chair English regions and Wales, said: “Bernard Matthews is an innovative company with an incredibly strong and long heritage. Our food & drink team will deliver a digital and media strategy to support this iconic brand in its business goals.”
Headquartered near Norwich, Bernard Matthews operates 56 farms which rear nearly seven million turkeys per annum.
