In January 2015, Weetabix launched a £5.5m multi-channel push featuring 'Weetabuddies' characters to encourage more families and kids to the breakfast cereal brand. This case study looks at how the food brand created a fun interactive campaign that got parents onside while encouraging kids to play with their food (in a good way).
Case study summary:
• Cereal brand embarks on multi-platform new year camapign to promote healthy breakfasts in a fun way
• Amplified message by targeting .mummy blogger' to push message to key parent audience.
• Encouraged kids to share their fun creations online with parents help, getting valuable marketing data and customer loyalty as a result
• 200,000 views in 3 weeks for online element to support national TV campaign, with plenty of social media interaction.
The challenge
As the new year began, the cereal brand aimed to tap into health conscious parents with a new campaign designed to encourage children to eat the recommended ‘five a day’ with a fun and digtal twist.
"We know from our research that as kids get older and experience new tastes and flavours they’re increasingly looking for more exciting, varied breakfasts," said Weetabix senior brand manager Claire Canty.
"However, we know mums still want to be reassured that their families are making healthy choices in the morning which is why we have launched the Weetabuddies campaign."
The solution
Created by BBH London the campaign will run on TV, on-pack, in-store, social and online as well as engaging ‘mummy bloggers’
It aims to encourage children to eat fruit with their cereal, through an on pack promotion featuring ‘Weetabuddies’ characters including "Tropicolin, Senor Sultana & Blue Barry."
The campaign was supported by in-store activity and POS. Selected retailers, including Asda, will sticker fruits with "Weetabuddy stickers" to encourage kids to try the fruit with the cereal.
On-pack activity reminded kids that Weetabix is a fun and appealing way to start the day will run for six weeks from January and introduces a series of distinctive and memorable characters, the Weetabuddies, who also featured in the brand’s TV ad series, featuring 16 different creatives.
In addition to showcasing the variety of breakfast options available with Weetabix the campaign invited consumers to get involved and create their own Weetabuddy which can be shared via a dedicated site throughout the campaign.
The results
The campaign took the old game of 'playing with your food' and gave it a smart digital twist. By helping families to get creative and encouraging them to make their own Weetabuddies, the cereal brand reminded kids that a bowl of Weetabix can be a lot of fun, while parents could be reassured that they are still getting a nutritious breakfast.
Within three weeks of launch, the ads have so far racked up over 200,000 YouTube views collectively, with around 720 accepted entries into the Weetabuddies competition.
