Iceland is leaving its famous Kerry Katona- style advertising style behind it in a bid to portray a ‘classier’ image.
The frozen discounter is gearing up to launch its key Christmas ad campaign on 7 November. It will continue from last month’s new creative, the story of lovebirds Ben, an Iceland delivery man, and Gemma, who are hosting a Christmas party together.
Set to a soundtrack of Michael Bublé’s cover of ‘Jingle Bells’, the 40-second advert will include the men taking part in a meat carving competition and the women ‘indulging’ in desserts. It will be accompanied by three separate 20-second ads each focused on party food, frozen meat joints and desserts.
“The days of Kerry Katona are behind us and we feel this year’s mature romance, plus the appeal of Michael Bublé, gives us a real class and mainstream appeal reflecting a bigger focus on product quality,” said Nick Canning, Iceland’s executive director for people.
“We are trading ahead of this time last year where sales were flat and expect a big momentum push through October to January.”
With Marks & Spencer set to debut frozen ready meals next year, Canning insisted the introduction of Iceland’s new Posh Grub range wasn’t a move into premium.
“While it is certainly our most expensive range, we are definitely not occupying the premium space with Posh Grub and more looking to show our customers that we offer the best quality on budget frozen lines.”
Canning said 65% of this year’s Christmas party food range will be new - including Fish, Chip and Mushy Pea stacks - and the retailer will look to take on 3,150 more temporary staff to cope with rising demand.
Iceland hit a 12-year market share high of 2.2% for Christmas 2012, with total sales up 5% over November and December.
3 Readers' comments