In its regular look at the work of Red Tractor, Farmer finds out more about the impact of the assurance scheme’s latest advert

EVERY day, millions of people tune into the UK’s most popular TV shows. If you’re one of them, you might have spotted this year’s Red Tractor advert during an episode of The Chase, Coronation Street or Gogglebox.

The animated advert, which follows a woman shopping for her family and discovering the values that underpin the Red Tractor logo, launched on Monday, March 22 and ran for eight weeks.

In total, an estimated 45million viewers saw the advert, with as many as 7.3milllion learning more about what makes Red Tractor standards world-leading during Saturday Night’s Takeaway alone.

But did the advert achieve its aim to increase awareness of the logo and encourage shoppers to purchase Red Tractor products?

Survey results certainly seem to suggest so.Independent market research shows that more than half of shoppers were more likely to buy Red Tractor products after seeing the advert.

“Red Tractor is the most trusted assurance scheme in the UK, with 77 percent of shoppers aware of the logo seeing it as an independent source they can trust,” said Red Tractor CEO Jim Moseley.

“That figure has increased from 65 percent in 2018, showing that our three-year TV advertising campaign has made a marked difference in how many shoppers recognise the logo. Red Tractor is by far the most recognised food assurance marque in the UK.

“While this is clearly fantastic news for our farmers, it’s also great news for British agriculture as a whole. Increased trust in Red Tractor means British is the first choice for most shoppers. We have seen some great results from our advertising campaigns in the past. But we want to keep growing recognition and understanding of the scheme and the logo.”

The survey results also show that 69 percent of respondents felt more positive towards Red Tractor as a result of the advert. Only two percent reported feeling negative.

Last year, 37 million people in the UK watched Red Tractor’s TV advert, and they saw it an average of six times. In 2021, they viewed it an average of nine times, according to the scheme’s marketing experts.

“While compared to spend of the massive global brands our advertising budget is extremely small, we featured in some of the most watched programmes of the year and were still able to reach around 45 million people,” said Mr Moseley.

“That’s more than two thirds of the UK population.”

“We want to keep growing recognition and understanding of the scheme and the logo, and so the campaign covered as many of Red Tractor’s sectors as possible, demonstrating how we cover a vast array of products found in shops,” said Mr Moseley.