Bleiker’s Smokehouse has appointed MCG to work on its brand re-launch campaign, helping raise awareness of its award-winning range of smoked salmon, created in Yorkshire.

MCG will work with Bleiker’s on a campaign of social media advertising to build brand awareness and drive purchase to support new listings. MCG will also execute a press office campaign to secure coverage about Bleiker’s in both the trade and consumer media and will also work with the brand on a content generation brief.

Following significant investment in market research and category analysis during 2019, the new Bleiker’s brand has been created to meet the demands of younger food lovers who value provenance and authenticity as well as looking for healthy, sustainable proteins that offer versatility and convenience.

“Our focus groups showed that younger consumers are frequently buying smoked salmon despite its presentation rather than because of it,” says Charlie Andrew, Managing Director of Bleiker’s. “Consumers told us that they enjoy smoked salmon and value its role as a healthy protein, but the current category offering feels old fashioned and lacking in relevance to their lifestyles.

“We know that our products compare very favourably in tastings and as one of the more traditional brands in the marketplace we saw this insight as a huge opportunity to shake up the category by repositioning our brand to appeal to the age demographic that is driving category growth.”

The new Bleiker’s branding takes its cues from other areas such as craft brewing, artisan bread making and flexitarianism to create a vibrant new contemporary identity for this much-loved and respected product – promising ‘no one does smokecraft like Bleiker’s’.

Bleiker’s is a family business with more than 25 years’ experience curing and smoking fish over hand-lit and tended wood fires in North Yorkshire. The operation combines the skill and knowledge of artisan food production with the operational capabilities of a business that is well-versed in the needs of major retailers

The core range of six Bleiker’s smoked fish products including smoked salmon, gravadlax, smoked trout and roast smoked salmon flakes will be available to consumers from late January.