Forget Disruption: Market growth is often found in what others dismiss.
While the world was chasing the sizzle of plant-based alternatives, one Melbourne-based startup quietly took a different path and backed the cow! MEQ didn’t just buck the trend; it uncovered and developed a market that others dismissed as tired, mature, traditional, and fully developed.
This isn’t just a story about innovation. It’s a masterclass in marketing strategy, specifically, the power of market development through identifying overlooked opportunities. In crowded, mature categories, brands often default to squeezing margins, running endless price promotions, or stale category tactics.
At FEENEY, we always ask: Can we find growth where no one else is even bothering to look? All too often, we come in after the fact and see an endless list of promotional marketing, price discounts, noise, déjà-vu campaigns, social media campaigns, and storytelling video solutions that have been sold in and dressed up as a marketing strategy. Let's face it: the path of least resistance is the promotional bucket; it's easily understood, and it's easy to sell it in as 'strategy': slash prices, copy competitors, do more social media, hope for the best.
This is why I love that MEQ actually embraced marketing strategy. They identified pain points within a system, notably that meat grading was manual, subjective, and inconsistent. They tapped into technology to add value. With AI-powered hardware, MEQ offered data precision where only a gut feel had existed before. They didn’t change the product; they changed the experience, making it easier. It was not a new protein source, but it found a smarter way to measure, deliver, and communicate meat quality.
In my world, this is classic market development and a 'proper' strategic approach to marketing. Marketers often fast forward - creating a new product for a new market, but enhancing an existing product to serve new customers can solve a problem and sometimes do so more effectively. So, here are some of my key strategic insights I’d like to share.
Reframe the market, don’t give up on it
Too often, marketers are trained to chase disruption or jump into emerging categories. But there’s immense value in reframing existing markets by solving deep-rooted friction points. MEQ didn’t need a new audience; they elevated the expectations of an existing one (producers, processors, retailers, consumers). By shifting focus from replacement to improvement, ask yourself: How can your brand modernise or simplify a legacy process?
Use innovation
MEQ turned meat quality into a measurable differentiator, opening up the potential for premiumisation, new pricing tiers, and data-driven marketing within an existing category - red meat. Suddenly, meat wasn’t just “wagyu” or “grass-fed”, it had quantifiable, verified marbling scores powered by machine learning. Applying technology to unlock new product narratives or subcategories that enable targeted, premium offers can yield serendipitous rewards.
Build the market you want to serve
Market development isn’t just about finding demand; it’s about creating it. MEQ’s AI hardware enabled retailers and foodservice providers to tell better stories about meat quality, sustainability, and provenance. They gave the supply chain new language and tools for marketing the product differently, turning specs into selling points. Equip your downstream partners with tools, content, and proof, and you'll create a rising tide that lifts every part of your value chain.
Remember, mature markets are well established and often have the deepest moats
Because others assumed the red meat industry was resistant to change, MEQ encountered little competition in its early years. While others were rushing into plant-based alternatives, perceiving them as the next big thing, MEQ had time to invest in R&D, earn USDA certification, and create a product that not only reframed a process but also embedded itself into operations, making it hard to displace. Mature categories may appear dead, but is that a flatline or just lazy marketing? Perhaps no one has had the courage to look behind the curtain, dig a bit deeper and develop a genuine marketing strategy.
For the Forbes article, click here