Following a competitive pitched between Scottish Government marketing communication roster agencies, Merle has been appointed the handle a new brand campaign for Quality Meat Scotland.

The campaign, relating to the Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and specially selected Pork logos will also highlight their official guarantees of quality and origin and aim to enhance consumer understanding of the benefits of the three brands and that by being produced under the QMS Quality Assured scheme they are of the highest standards.

Laurent Vernet, head of marketing for QMS, explained: “This campaign will give our consumers a greater insight into the quality assurance behind our brands. Our beef and lamb products are the only ones allowed to use the provenance descriptor of ‘Scotch’ and we need the consumer to understand why that should be important to them. The campaign will also link in our pork production standards.”

John Morgan, CEO for Merle, added; “Research shows that the individual brands of ‘Scotch Beef’, ‘Scotch Lamb’ and ‘Specially Selected Pork’ have good levels of awareness, but there is less understanding of what makes the meat produced under the quality assurance scheme different from other meats on sale claiming ‘Scottish’ provenance.

“QMS starts from a position of strength, with the QMS labels resonating superbly with today's more discerning and demanding consumer - especially at a time when other messages such as ”organic” and “natural” are challenging for mind space.”

The previous QMS campaign (pictured) was handled by The Union, which has worked extensively with the brand over previous years.