Healthy weeknight meals drive double digit growth

After nearly 20 years of success, a leading chicken sausage brand was facing slowing sales and growing competition from newer entrants and private-label copycats. The product hadn’t changed, but the category had. Instead of a full rebrand, we evolved the strategy.

Insight

• Our target audience, women with families, were eating chicken multiple times a week, but only buying chicken sausage a few times a year.

• Consumers already believed: that chicken is a healthy, everyday protein.

Messaging Shift

• We shifted the frame of reference from “better than pork sausage” to “a better way to eat chicken.” A quick, flavorful upgrade to plain chicken, not just a sausage alternative.

• We leaned into what consumers already believed about “chicken.”

• By emphasizing that our product was made from chicken, we were able to tap into the appeal of healthy convenience without ever having to say the words.

• More importantly, it broadened the product’s usage occasion from the occasional grilling meal to something that could show up in weeknight dinners year-round which would drive stronger repeat and increased purchase frequency over time.

Integrated Plan

• We introduced a new, emotionally resonant message that put “CHICKEN” center stage.

• This came to life across refreshed packaging, influencer campaigns, digital media, radio, in-store shopper programs, and a reimagined website that showed consumers how to swap chicken sausage into familiar meals with less prep and more flavor.

Result
Double digit growth in key markets and a revitalized role for the brand in everyday dinner routines.