The Chicken Farmers of Canada have selected a new agency of record, tapping LG2 to lead a creative refresh for the brand as it seeks to build greater awareness.

The move follows the appointment of J.J. Hochrein as the national organization’s director of brand marketing in January. LG2 was selected by Hochrein because “they were a good fit” for the work he is hoping to do, which entails “a little bit of a brand reset.”

“Our core consumer brand is ‘Raised by a Canadian Farmer,’ and that’s key for consumers in Canada today, who want to know where their chicken comes from,” he tells strategy. “We need to get our brand foundation reset and be tighter on our guidelines – how we speak and what we say – and build from there.”

This is especially true among younger audiences – Gen Z and Millennials – because “the way they approach proteins is different,” Hochrein says.

“There are differences in what they expect of it, and they have concerns about how it was raised,” he notes. “We need to communicate with them differently, and I needed an agency that was going to help me with that.”

LG2’s expertise in both English and French markets was also a key point in their favour, Hochrein says, because the Quebec market in particular responds better to creative that is unique to it.

Additionally, the agency brings a wide array of expertise to the table, which will enable it to work across all of the brand’s aspects, he notes, delivering a clear voice and consistent strategy across all channels, especially social.

“When I came on as director, we had a lot of agencies that were helping us out. There were so many that it was tough to work with them all and keep them all aligned,” he adds.

As far as creative is concerned, the brand will release some adapted work from previous campaigns in the fall before LG2’s first fresh creative appears in market in 2024. While in the past, much of the brand’s creative has focused on recipes, future efforts will involve more storytelling – especially about the farmers producing Canadian chicken.

“With 90% of our farms in Canada being family-run operations, there’s a lot of pride in raising chickens in Canada. We want to tell that story, as well as the effort, protocols and safety measures that go into raising chicken,” Hochrein explains. “This isn’t a short-term thing, it’s something we need to build over the years.”