Smithfield Foods has a robust portfolio of pork brands—leaders and challengers, national names and regional favorites, premium products and value lines. But years of competing on price alone had blurred their distinctions, weakening sales velocity, trust, and customer retention. To break the cycle, Smithfield partnered with Elevation to rebuild brand equity, drive interest, and forge deeper consumer connections across the portfolio—including Farmer John and Carando.

Farmer John:
So California

For decades, Farmer John has been a preferred pork brand for West Coast moms. But the quintessential California brand was facing a mix of category-wide challenges and mounting pressure from deep-pocketed competitors.

To solidify Farmer John’s leadership in the West while expanding its appeal to growth audiences, we needed to re-envision its unique tie to place: from being a known California brand to representing a California lifestyle. Elevation refreshed the brand with a new platform—So Fresh. So Flavorful. So California.—repositioning Farmer John not just as a product, but as a brand deeply committed to California’s attitude, flavors, and traditions.

 

 

We brought this campaign to life across every customer touch point, from paid media to packaging. Elevation launched an integrated creative campaign spanning TV, digital display, shopper marketing, and social media—focusing on California-inspired content that resonated across core and growth audiences alike. We also expanded Farmer John’s mental availability through brand activations, including a signature sponsorship with Los Angeles Football Club, which helped the brand earn relevance among Hispanic consumers, and launching the California Kindness grant initiative, a community-driven program supporting neighborhood-level projects as part of a broader California Commitment Tour CSR initiative.

 

 

This integrated approach revitalized the Farmer John brand, helping it regain its position as Smithfield’s top-selling brand in the West. By blending cultural authenticity with creative storytelling and smart investments, Elevation ensured Farmer John remained a staple in California households while continuing to grow its reach across the West Coast.

 

 

 

Carando:
Life is Delicious. Savor it.

As a mid-range brand in the Smithfield portfolio, Carando faced the challenge of breaking through a crowded category and embedding itself in consumers’ consideration set. With a limited marketing budget and fragmented distribution, the brand needed a strategy that not only made it top-of-mind at the moment of purchase but also built an emotional connection that kept consumers coming back—despite competing against bigger, more recognized names.

To position Carando as the go-to premium Italian meat brand, Elevation developed a refreshed brand platform, integrated campaign, and a robust social strategy designed to drive awareness, engagement, and purchase intent on a lean budget.

Elevation refined Carando’s positioning to emphasize its authentic Italian heritage, premium quality, and versatility for all occasions. The brand narrative highlighted Carando as not just a meal ingredient, but a way to elevate everyday moments with the rich flavors and artisanal craftsmanship associated with Italy.

Elevation launched an integrated campaign spanning TV, streaming video and radio, digital display, and shopper marketing. The creative assets emphasized Carando’s superior taste, premium ingredients, and the ease of creating Italian-inspired meals at home—creating connection and inspiring interest.

 

 

While paid media got Carando on our audience’s radar, creating an irresistible brand experience on social media made it part of their routine, amplifying the effectiveness of the campaign. We built a content-first social strategy around a four pillar framework: recipes, Italian culture, cocktails & pairings, and promotions. With a newsroom-style bench of creator partners, our in-house social team managed a steady stream of authentic, high-quality content that not only featured Carando products but showcased opportunities to elevate everyday experiences.

This approach organically grew Carando’s Instagram following from 21 to over 12K, with an average monthly growth rate of 5% that outpaced the competitive benchmark. Through a combination of strategic positioning, integrated campaign execution, and a social strategy that created engagement and community beyond the shelf, Elevation successfully revitalized Carando’s brand presence. And our focus on cultural authenticity, premium storytelling, and smart media execution has positioned Carando to take on established players as the trusted Italian meats brand for every occasion.