Weetabix has launched a £10m campaign in a bid to re-engage its core audience and stem volume declines.
‘The Weetabix discovery’, which premiered this week, links Britain’s recent societal and sporting struggles with falling consumption of the cereal.
It depicts an emergency meeting, called by a scientist who wants to share his “discovery of national importance” with an audience of state officials.
“In recent times, Britain’s economical, societal and sporting performance has dropped,” he says, pointing to a chart that depicts how each has declined.
“Meanwhile, the country hasn’t been eating enough Weetabix,” the scientist adds.
“These charts follow the same pattern, which suggests Britain hasn’t been so great of late because it hasn’t had its Weetabix,” he concludes.
The scientist then points to data that shows “where Weetabix eating increases, crossword guesses and bodybuilders per kilometre sharply improve”.
Running until the end of 2024, the campaign will span TV, radio and social media.
“This multimillion-pound investment in our core brand is sure to drive overall category growth as well as reminding our loyal shoppers why Weetabix is the way to get themselves ‘ahead of the day’,” Weetabix head of brand Lorraine Rothwell told The Grocer.
“We think of our brand as a national treasure. It’s bought in eight million households annually, and it’s very trusted.”
Despite this, Weetabix was facing “headwinds”, as shoppers were “moving from traditional supermarkets into discounters and own label”, Rothwell admitted.
Indeed, Weetabix saw volume sales decline 8% – or 5.2 million packs – in the 52 weeks to 31 December 2023, according to NIQ data. The brand’s value remained more or less flat due to an 8.5% rise in average price per pack.
Rothwell admitted the brand had “lost connection with its core heartland of shoppers aged 45-plus”.
In a bid to claw back volumes, it had conducted “a lot of consumer listening” and asked shoppers “how it might become more relevant”.
Weetabix has already managed to slow its volume declines – units were down by 4% in in the first eight weeks of 2024 [NIQ, 8 w/e 24 February 2024].
“We’re extremely proud of this latest campaign, which has been many months in the making,” said Rothwell.
“This multimillion-pound investment in our core brand is sure to drive overall category growth as well as reminding our loyal shoppers why Weetabix is the way to get themselves ‘ahead of the day’.”
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