Laura's Lean Beef Unveils New Look

After 25 years, Laura's Lean Beef is getting a makeover. The Lexington, Ky.-based company, which bills itself as the country's leading lean and natural beef brand, will debut its new look in more than 7,000 grocery stores nationwide in September.

Elements of the brand identity refresh include an updated logo, packaging, point-of-sale materials, website design, digital and print advertising, and a new tagline -- "smarter beef."

For more than a quarter century the smiling face of the brand's founder and namesake, seventh-generation Kentucky farmer Laura Freeman, has been the focal point of the brand identity being prominently displayed on all of the packaging and advertising.

"As Laura's continues to grow, we're attracting a new generation of consumers that are both health conscious and eco-conscious," noted Chris Anderson, marketing director for Laura's Lean Beef. "Our research showed this audience is not only interested in purchasing great tasting, low-fat foods; they want to support brands that demonstrate responsibility in the areas of sustainable farming, chemical-free processing and humane animal husbandry practices.

"Since Laura's has adhered to that philosophy since the beginning, it was a great opportunity to highlight how we can meet consumers' needs on both fronts," Anderson continued. "Our core strengths are more broadly reflected in the new look and the new tagline, 'smarter beef.'"

The new ad campaign aims to score more than 300 million impressions among consumers in print and online media venues, including Good Housekeeping, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Family Circle, Weight Watchers and Cooking Light.

Laura's Lean Beef started out in the early-1980s, at a time when many Americans were giving up red meat. Beef had developed a reputation for being high in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. Fish and chicken became the prescribed proteins for people who were trying to lose weight. Founder Laura Freeman believed that health-minded shoppers wanted to keep beef on the menu, if only it could fit into their lifestyles.

The Laura's Lean Beef approach of raising naturally lean breeds of cattle like Limousin and Charolais, utilizing sustainable farming techniques and eliminating the use of antibiotics and growth hormones was practically unheard of in the beef industry at the time.

Results from the brand's focus groups showed consumers seek out Laura's image because they've come to trust her for high standards and doing things the way nature intended.

"We're continuing to leverage the great brand equity we have in Laura; her vision and commitment is the reason we've been so successful in building passion and brand loyalty," said Chris Boudinet, co-president of Laura's Lean Beef. "She lives on in the new campaign, but in a unique way. We portray her to customers in much the same way that we see her in our own offices -- as an icon of brand trust."

The brand is retaining its hallmark green and yellow packaging, although in brighter hues to reflect today's graphic color palette preferences. The typeface on the Laura's Lean Beef logo has been updated as well. New product photography conveys appetite appeal and third-party endorsements from Good Housekeeping and the American Heart Association (AHA) are prominently displayed. The AHA's heart-check mark identifies products that meet the association's criteria for saturated fat and cholesterol.