Beef brought people together this holiday season as families and friends gathered around the table to reflect on fond memories and create new ones. In addition to being the centerpiece of holiday dinners, beef was the perfect ingredient for festive side dishes, brunch favorites and appetizers.
A unique blend of excitement and apprehension filled the air this past holiday season with persistent concerns about rising prices and inflationary pressures casting a shadow over planning and preparation. Despite these challenges, consumers enjoyed moments together and cooked up holiday memories with beef.
Knowing that value and price would be top of mind, NCBA, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, developed
Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. holiday promotions that highlighted the continuum of versatility, price points, and value. Iconic stories showcased how beef transforms gatherings into meaningful moments and how “together we bring more.” Holiday-themed Tips & Tricks videos and a new “How To” series educated consumers on how to simply and easily prepare a winning holiday beef roast and other beefy meals.
Social media was a primary driver of beef’s message with holiday entertaining posts on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Consumers joined in the fun on social channels with Friendsgiving and Hanukkah content capturing their attention. The 12 Days of Holiday Sweepstakes returned to social media in December, giving beef fans the opportunity to share their favorite beef moments and win cookbooks and
Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. promotional items. The sweepstakes content alone reached nearly 1 million consumers and generated more than 31,000 engagements.
Influencers were also hard at work sharing beef recipes and cooking tips with their followers. NCBA, on behalf of the Beef Checkoff, partnered with nine different influencers and content creators. There was amazing content like a Cranberry Glazed Tenderloin from Savory Experiments and a Ricotta Meatball Skillet from Grilled Cheese Social chef MacKenzie Smith. The content reached 5 million consumers and generated 293,000 engagements.
With an exceptionally high video view rate of 72% - meaning that over 7 in 10 consumers found the holiday videos engaging and attention-getting – the 2023 videos outperformed previous popular holiday spots. Consumers viewed ads running across YouTube, Connected TV, Google, streaming audio platforms and on some of their favorite webpages. Videos were seen on BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com and YouTube, streaming services such as Paramount +, Disney, DirecTV, Hulu and CTV channels as well as NBC, ABC, Discovery, Fox News, CBS News, CNN, NFL Network, ESPN, and HGTV. More than 12 million video views generated 60 million impressions and 207,000 website clicks.
No matter how families celebrated this past holiday season, beef was part of the conversation, creating meaningful moments, both big and small.