Television

Nicola Brookes, mediaweek.co.uk, 10 November 2009, 10:00am

Messino unveils oblong Jaffa Cake

Challenge - German confectionery company Bahlsen wanted to raise awareness of its brand of Jaffa Cakes, known as Messino. McVitie's had the lion's share of the market, but Bahlsen wanted to offer a premium alternative that would capture the right target audience. The campaign needed to make a lot of noise in a short time, so Loud focused on devising a message that would grab people's attention.

Messino: premium alternative

Client
Bahlsen
Agency
Loud
Planners
Louise Esplin, Nicola Brookes and Jack Melling

Strategy
Loud decided on "The Future is Oblong" message, highlighting the Messino's shape. The campaign included a "The Future is Oblong" microsite, which revealed the brand. Following the reveal, the team sent sample boxes of Messinos - branded "Oblong Jaffa Cakes" - to 750 national and regional media across the UK, as well as influential online voices. Recipients were either prolific confectionery commentators, bloggers or creators of large Jaffa Cake groups on Facebook.

Activity
Loud executed live activity at the fifth Ashes test at the Brit Oval and at the Reading Festival. Volunteers carried signs around the venues carrying the message "The Future is Oblong" alongside the address of the microsite URL. Loud then introduced the Messino brand to the public through sampling activity over three consecutive weekends at three major shopping centres. The experiential activity involved handing out samples and vouchers, as well as inviting the public to take part in taste-tests between the Messino and the regular round Jaffa Cake.

Results
More than 60 articles ran online and in the national and regional press, with an overall readership of 30 million. The oblong Jaffa Cake story also featured on 25 regional and national radio programmes, reaching more than 10.5 million listeners. In addition, discussions took place in more than 20 online forums, with 100 references to the campaign. In the shopping centres, 34,000 Messinos and 14,000 discount vouchers were handed out to members of the public.

Nicola Brookes, Account manager, Loud