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Promotion Boosts U.S. Beef Sales, Promotes Sustainability in Korea

Published: May 04, 2021

Pairing in-store promotions with social media to broaden the reach, USMEF and Korean retailer Lotte Mart launched a campaign in early April to boost U.S. beef sales while also sending eco-friendly messages about sustainability and the U.S. beef industry.

Lotte Mart, the third largest hypermarket chain in South Korea, operates 111 stores across the country. Sponsored by the Oklahoma Beef Council and the Beef Checkoff Program, the effort included USMEF insulated cooler bags given to customers who purchased U.S. beef. For its part, Lotte Mart offered up to a 50% discount on U.S. beef items.

In addition, inside the USMEF cooler bag was a barcode that offered an additional 5% discount on U.S. beef until the end of 2021.

The barcode discount is intended to encourage consumers to return to the store with the bag to purchase more U.S. beef. The bags served another purpose, too.

“The promotional cooler bags align USMEF and U.S. beef with sustainability and the effort to cut down on the use of plastic bags,” explained Jihae Yang, USMEF director in South Korea. “Encouraging shoppers to bring the cooler bags with them each time they go shopping is a positive message. At the same time, the additional discount that comes with use of the bag for the rest of this year reminds consumers to purchase U.S. beef for home cooking.”

USMEF featured companion activities on social media. Visitors who left a comment or “tagged” others about the cooler bags were eligible for prizes. The social media reach of the campaign approached 200,000 people.

A USMEF news release about the unique discount promotion resulted in media coverage and social media shares through new and traditional media platforms. Insight, one of the most influential online new media platforms in Korea, sent staff to a Lotte Mart store to cover and photograph the event.

Twitter and NAVER posts quickly shared the Insight coverage.

A unique cooler bag campaign to promote U.S. beef and sustainability in South Korea has attracted media and social media attention