Feeling autumnal yet? As Keats would have it, it is “the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, close bosom-friend of the maturing sun”. All very wordy of course, but for us – like many – autumn means the simple pleasures of Sunday roasts with lashings of blackberry and apple crumble for “afters”.
Naturally, this is also the perfect time for Premier Foods brand Bisto to get in on the act. For some reason, it has not run a new TV campaign since 2015, but it is aiming to put that right with this spot designed to celebrate the powerful role of the roast in keeping friendships alive, with a new song by London musician Ben Cocks.
Created by McCann London, “Sticking Together” tells the story of two women’s friendship over the course of 30 years and many shared roasts, from Sundays spent at each other’s houses, to student digs, to boyfriends, to break-ups, and finally to having families of their own; although there is no sign of “Bill and Maree”, the original Bisto kids.
Ultimately, it is designed to champion the humble Sunday roast as a timeless bonding ritual; that keeps their friendship strong when everything else around them is changing.
Devised between lockdowns, the activity was inspired by the Covid narrative around friendships; the strain placed on them by lockdown, and the realisation that we could all put more effort into them.
The campaign marks the first time the brand has moved away from focusing primarily on families, in a bid to appeal to younger audiences and recruit a “new generation” of gravy buyers – whoever they are.
Premier Foods marketing controller for Bisto Savan Sabharwal said: “We’re extremely proud of the heritage Bisto carries and that it continues to bring people together over delicious, home cooked food. Our latest campaign helps us continue to strengthen our brand equity and top of mind awareness, whilst delivering relevancy and consideration of Bisto Best for a broader repertoire of meals, particularly among a new generation of gravy consumers.
“This beautiful creative was vital in achieving this and with Christmas this year set to be extra special, the ad is set to really resonate with our target audience. Given the challenges and restrictions of the last year, being together with our loved ones over the seasonal period will be more important than ever before.
“We know that comforting and familiar meals with gravy, and Bisto at the heart of, shared across generations to be very true to who we are as a nation, and consumers are emotionally connected to that idea.”
So, what is the consensus around the Decision Marketing office?
To be fair, we’re not too sure where the “beautiful creative” is or even how the spot will drive “consideration of Bisto Best for a broader repertoire of meals” but we do quite like the ad, even though it is not exactly ground-breaking.
Then again, it’s for gravy, so anything other than showing how easy it is to make, simple it is to use and how good it tastes, what choice did they have? Whether it was worth the five-year wait is another matter.
In fact, we prefer to make our own gravy from scratch, but we are not “Food Nazis”, and sometimes, just sometimes, you can’t beat the ease of gravy granules. Now, where’s the pud…
Decision Marketing Adometer: A ‘pour it over the Yorkshires first’ 7 out of 10
