Cheese on toast. Cheesy chips. Cheese scones. Cheese and crackers. Cheese omelette. Cheese sauce. Cheese and pickle. Cheese straws. It may have been around since 8000 BCE, but, for fans of the coagulation of the milk protein casein, it is still as gorgeous today as it was back then.
Enter one of the UK’s leading cheddar brands, Pilgrims Choice, which has launched a new marketing campaign to get Brits to buy more, more, more.
According to the official blurb: “The brand’s disruptive ‘Taste Matters’ campaign signifies a bold new strategy which is set to aggressively target greater market share by adapting to changing market dynamics and consumer behaviour.
“Pilgrims Choice’s strategic vision will be focused around five creative executions that will be focused on the product’s taste credentials, which the brand claims is the key driver of purchases in the cheese market.”
As you may know by now, we are not great fans of the official blurb.
In a nutshell, there are five different ads, all designed to show how much our main protagonist loves nothing more than tucking in to cheese, and they are not going let anyone else ruin their enjoyment.
For instance, in one spot a man is seen scoffing cheesy pasta straight from the pan when a voice off-screen pipes up: “Dad, is there any more?” He looks around rather sheepishly but then carries on regardless, stuffing in the last mouthfuls while responding “Er, no!”
In a second execution, a woman is seen eating a cheese toasty while seemingly working when up pops a voice from her laptop: “Jenny, are you there?” She then looks decidedly guilty as she closes the screen, responds “Sorry” and takes another bite.
The Ornua-owned brand has invested £2m into the six-month campaign, which features a combination of digital channel sponsorships, video-on demand and social media activity.
It has also struck a TV partnership with a takeover of the Food Network’s daytime programming with 10-second sponsorship idents appearing eight times an hour, while ads will also appear across the wider Discovery+ online food portfolio.
Ornua Foods UK brand director Kerry Alexander said: “Our new ‘Taste Matters’ campaign is all about owning the key driver when it comes to cheese purchase, namely great taste.
“Pilgrims Choice has always been known for its superior taste and we’re focused on dialling this up by making the brand synonymous with individual, indulgent, pleasure-focused ‘me moments’.
“In leveraging emotional taste-related connections, rather than the functional uses that other brands’ marketing tends to fall back on, Pilgrims Choice is again determined to disrupt and drive forward the category.”
If you say so Kerry…
So, what is the consensus around the Decision Marketing office?
Well, once again the ad is so much better if you don’t have to read the official line. After all, it’s about cheese not rocket science.
Whether you are a caseophile, a turophile (apparently they are the same) or just a lover of a slab of cheese on toast, chips, scones, crackers, omelette, in sauce or straws, this ad will get you running to the cheese board.
We’re already there…
Decision Marketing Adometer: An “it’s cheese, Gromit” 8 out of 10
