“Project Myriad”: Engaging Chinese Australians with Beef and Lamb

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) aimed to increase household consumption of beef and lamb among younger Chinese Australians, a growing and affluent audience segment. While Australian meat enjoys a reputation for quality, lamb in particular is under-utilised due to perceptions of a “gamey” taste and unfamiliarity with how to prepare it at home. MLA engaged CulturalPulse to:

• Understand cultural attitudes and behaviours of Chinese Australian consumers with respect to beef and lamb through in depth cultural research, store visits and focus group interviews with consumers, butchers and restaurants in areas with high populations of Chinese in Sydney.
• Undertake trusted, in-language and culturally resonate campaign activations to drive awareness and engagement of beef and lamb. This informed MLA’s future CALD strategy to increase household penetration and consumption of lamb and beef cuts beyond special occasions.

The Approach

The campaign unfolded in two phases:

Phase 1: Cultural Discovery

• Focus groups and in-depth interviews with Chinese Australians across regional and generational segments.
• Visits to Chinese butchers and restaurants.
• Interviews with food influencers.

Findings informed campaign development and validated key assumptions such as differing lamb familiarity between Northern and Southern Chinese populations and the critical role of visual appeal and in-language messaging.

Phase 2: Beef & Lamb Campaign Activations

Beef Activation – “Try it with Beef”

• In-store butcher-led activation in Hurstville featuring bilingual promotional assets, recipe cards, branded gift bags, and a Westfield gift card competition to drive consumers to replace chicken, pork, and more regularly integrate beef into their family meals.
• Influencer-led campaign content promoted on trusted Chinese lifestyle social platform – Little Red Book/Rednote targeting young Chinese families and households.
• In-language creative that was simple and easy to understand with key messages such as ‘Try it with beef’ and ‘Your favourite recipes reimagined with beef’.

Lamb Activation – “Join the Lamb Trail”

• A curated food trail promoting the benefits of lamb across five culturally relevant Sydney suburbs, featuring restaurants and dishes that hero lamb.
• Influencer-led video content showcasing lamb dishes as flavourful, fresh, and not “gamey.”
• CulturalPulse community digital media campaign via Facebook, Instagram, and RedBook, with in-language creative further promoted the ‘lamb trail’ and the fresh, tender and balanced flavour of lamb to combat the perception that lamb has a strange smell.

The Outcome

The ‘test and learn’ campaign indicated clear potential to influence perceptions and habits around lamb and beef among younger Chinese Australians. 

The culturally tailored creative, trusted influencer content, and community-led media channels laid a strong foundation for relevance and trust. Campaign results included:

Beef Activation:

• The campaign achieved 95,000+ views and 7,600+ engagements from RedBook influencer content.
• Butcher store orders increased with positive sentiment from Chinese Australian consumers regarding the messaging, the recipes and the in-store promotion.

Lamb Activation:

• The campaign achieved 47,000+ views and 2,700+ engagements from RedBook influencer content.
• Lamb dish sales increased during the promotion by 30% in Burwood and 11% uplift in Haymarket.
• Restaurants reported high satisfaction with the use of influencers promotional signage to drive attention and trial.
• Spring Lamb messaging resonated, especially when paired with tastings and influencer storytelling.