The Ethical Butcher: Disrupting the meat industry
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT / BRAND CONSULTATION / SEO / PAID SEARCH / PAID SOCIAL / COPYWRITING / PHOTOGRAPHY
The Ethical Butcher is on a mission to reconnect people with nature and lead the regenerative food category. It makes eating better simple by delivering regeneratively farmed, British meat right to your door. By partnering with forward-thinking farmers across the UK, who take a sustainable and regenerative approach to agriculture, The Ethical Butcher is able to provide its customers with meat that is better for humans, better for animals and better for the environment.
They are radically transparent and they know what they stand for. And whilst we are amidst a cultural shift towards eating less meat and a growing trend in veganism, The Ethical Butcher is changing the narrative and answering important questions.
We started working with The Ethical Butcher back in 2019 when they were launching their first crowdfunding campaign. We joined forces to help tell their story on social media and then, following a successful crowdfunding round, we took on all of their digital marketing.
We didn’t have crazy budgets for big campaigns or time for a long brand strategy process so we had to think on our feet and get things moving quickly. Here’s what we did…
our strategy
Start with one or two channels and own them before moving on.
Animal agriculture has taken a lot of blame for climate change over the past few years, but most of those studies are largely based on factory farming, not regenerative agriculture. With growing consumer concerns around the environment, our job was to highlight the misinformation and challenge the ‘all meat is bad’ narrative. We needed to inform, educate and ignite conversations around the benefits of regenerative agriculture for humans, animals and the planet.
We broke social media content down into core pillars and worked closely with The Ethical Butcher’s knowledgeable team to tell stories and share facts in an easy-to-digest manner. We used their confidence and incredible expertise to answer difficult questions and challenge mainstream thinking. This resulted in industry experts and individuals quickly joining the regenerative movement and sharing our content regularly.
The results: a loyal and engaged community ready to purchase once the brand launched in 2020.
Raising awareness at the beginning
We needed to show investors that The Ethical Butcher was a great business idea. To do that, we needed to prove there was interest in what we had to say. We harnessed the power of storytelling, using a combination of organic and paid tactics, to increase brand awareness for The Ethical Butcher and drive conversation around regenerative agriculture, and their crowdfunding campaign. These efforts, combined with the founder’s passion and determination, meant they raised over £350,000. The next challenge was to maintain momentum whilst they built their website and prepared for the big launch, followed by driving sales once it was possible.
Building a brand on social media
Growing a social-first brand around a controversial topic has to be done with care. We made sure The Ethical Butcher came across as both confident and approachable. The imagery we used and the way we spoke about serious topics was targeted at an ever inquisitive, younger audience by combining the beauty of nature with the urban reality of modern London life. Building solid brand foundations was not about proving they were right, it was about starting important conversations and not shying away from difficult questions.
The team behind The Ethical Butcher are fiercely passionate about using business as a force for good. A big part of our work with them has been educating people on what it means to eat good meat as well as encouraging people to ask more questions about where their food comes from. We did this by not shying away from the truth, always being 100% transparent. We worked closely with the team to help simplify complicated messages and broadcast important learnings. The Ethical Butcher’s tone of voice is friendly, confident and most importantly, open to discussion. This approach to social media has built them a loyal community of individuals who consistently praise what they do and stand up for their efforts.
Through the use of well-shot imagery from both our team and theirs, as well as graphics which have been shared hundreds of times, we developed a narrative that brings their expertise and passion for what they do to life.
£350k
Raised on Crowdcube
30k+ followers
Audience growth in the first two years
3.4X
Return on Facebook ad spend
1000+
Website visits on launch
“I really liked the way they approached their potential clients. (hug) have been helping us to promote our Crowdfunding campaign through social media as well as advising us on how to tell our story and the work they’re doing is awesome!
(hug)london is exactly what it says on the tin. They are one of the most caring businesses I have ever come across. When dealing with them you never feel that you are being pushed by any kind of sales pitch or tactic and they definitely get really deep into the subject so what they deliver is guaranteed to help your business.”
