Kerrygold: From Cult to Culture

...that time we turned a butter brand into a cultural icon. Tattoos, knife drops and queues down the block.

The tattoo

Through social listening we noticed something: Kerrygold fans didn't just like the brand, they joked about getting it tattooed. So we asked: what if they actually did? We posted a flash sheet of butter-inspired tattoo designs on Kerrygold's Instagram with a single prompt: tag someone who should get a KG tattoo. The community did the rest. Tattoo artists started creating their own Kerrygold flash designs. Superfans showed up and actually got inked: Kerrygold tattoos appearing on arms, legs and ankles across the internet.

That one post outperformed an entire year of Kerrygold content. 87x more engagements than average. 170x more shares than average. Shared 3x more than all of Kerrygold's Instagram posts from the previous year combined.

The knife drop

Next, we partnered Kerrygold with Allday Goods — a London-based maker with a cult following for handcrafting knives from repurposed materials. Together they created 50 limited-edition butter knives, handcrafted from recycled Kerrygold butter packs. Part kitchen tool, part art piece, entirely irresistible.

We launched them like a streetwear drop — teaser content in Allday Goods' hand-drawn illustration style, slick hero video, a one-day-only pop-up at De Beauvoir Deli in London. Fans queued from 6am. All 50 knives sold out. Coverage landed in Hypebeast and TrendHunter. 8x more social engagement than Kerrygold's already-strong benchmarks. 88% lift in earned conversation among tastemakers. 1.1 million earned reach.

The bigger picture

Both moments were part of a longer game. Kerrygold had a secret: chefs, food obsessives and everyday shoppers were quietly devoted to it. But the social presence looked like everyone else's: recipes, flat lays, hands and pans. It was swimming in a sea of same.

We rebuilt everything. New social identity: Be Bold About Butter. New content strategy, From Cult to Culture, across Instagram and TikTok. Out went polished recipe content. In came relatable memes, lo-fi reels, a viral butter coffee table, a Butter Club with actual members, and a creator roster that stretched into fashion, music and culture.

7x year-on-year increase in organic reach. 3x growth in social following across all markets. 120% increase in recipe saves despite publishing less recipe content. And the one that matters most. Kantar reported a doubling of unaided brand awareness among a younger audience. Firmly driven by social.

BIMA: GOLD, SILVER, BRONZE. The Drum: GOLD + Grand Prix Shortlist.