Dive Brief:
- Butterball, known for its line of poultry products and holiday turkeys, has appointed Carmichael Lynch as its agency of record for creative, social media and media planning and buying efforts, according to a Feb. 18 announcement shared with Marketing Dive.
- Carmichael Lynch will be tasked with helping the brand maintain relevance year-round, not just during the holiday season, with a focus on cultural relevance, brand purpose and reaching new consumers.
- Butterball is one the largest producers of turkey in the U.S. and sells more Thanksgiving turkeys than any other brand.
Dive Insight:
Butterball, a 70-year-old brand, is looking to shake up its brand image and expand awareness beyond the holiday season with the support of new agency of record Carmichael Lynch, which is being tasked with driving year-round cultural relevance for the brand’s range of turkey products, including ground turkey, turkey bacon and sausages.
The new partners will focus on developing marketing that can help bring to life Butterball’s brand purpose of helping people pass love on, per press details. Until now, the brand’s marketing has largely been centered around the holidays, such as a 2020 effort with Ibotta to help lower the costs of Thanksgiving amid the pandemic.
“In our search for a new partner, we were looking for an agency that could help us build on our incredible brand equity and translate it for today’s consumer,” said Kyle Lock, vice president, retail marketing at Butterball in press materials.
The appointment of Carmichael Lynch comes after a turbulent few years for the brand, including the closure of the an Arkansas turkey plant, which saw the layoff of 180 workers. Butterball’s 2025 sales totaled $2.09 billion, according to a 10-K form filled by Seaboard, which owns 52.5% of the company. Sales in 2024 were $1.88 billion and $2.03 billion in 2023.
Carmichael Lynch was integrated into Omnicom late last year following the holding group’s acquisition of IPG.
“This is a brand that lives in the heart of American culture, and we are so happy to partner with them to create its next chapter and connect with people in new and meaningful ways,” said Carmichael Lynch CEO Stacy Janicki, about Butterball.
