How Ginsters made us all 'Taste the Effort'

One of the most enjoyable and impressive campaigns in recent years. With all the research and results to prove it. 

 

🪂 Today we’re proud to announce the second winner of The Chutes is Ginsters with ‘Taste The Effort’. 

 

[ICYMI, The Chutes uses sales data, System1’s creative testing and Tracksuit’s brand tracking to identify and celebrate ‘work that works’. Aka real audiences and real reactions in the real world.]

 

Here are a few reasons why this work worked so well:

 

• Proper Research: This revealed a challenge: many consumers saw Ginsters as a low-quality, emergency snack. This perception needed a major shift to showcase Ginsters’ commitment to quality, care, and craftsmanship. As Ginsters Marketing Director Emma Stowers explains, “Taste and quality is a higher order benefit than where you originate from”.

 

• Brilliant Briefing Approach: “We took them (agency TBWA\London) down to the farm... because they needed to see for themselves some of the benefits that underpin our great quality” – Emma Stowers

 

• Perfect Positioning: The positioning hit the nail on the (potato) head. While other British food brands often dive into the farm-to-table narrative to suggest quality, Ginsters did it with a wink. 

 

• Breaking Category Norms: Instead of the conventional farmer interviews, they introduced Merryn – a “farmer” who goes all in on the effort, from scarecrow outfits to onion baby monitors to worm interviews, with a playful passion for her produce. Good authentic Cornish food with a dollop of self-mockery.

 

• Humour: Brought to life in a brilliantly funny, right-brained way by TBWA\London, Merryn feels refreshingly human, adding personality to Ginsters’ Cornish heritage. It’s no wonder the ad scored an impressive 4.0 Stars on System1's Test Your Ad and nailed a strong Brand Fluency rating.

 

• Entertainment: The uplifting humour and authenticity are a big emotional win, powering brand recognition, recall & engagement. 

 

• Merryn: As fluent devices go, she’s spectacular. It's hugely entertaining, likeable, and a brilliant asset for Ginsters to use again and again. “She helped us judge our Scarecrow making competition that we had as a team recently." – Emma Stowers

 

• Results: Within the first 12 weeks, the campaign drove a huge value sales uplift and added over 1.5 million households to the brand, with resounding support from consumers and staff (more results revealed on the podcast).

 

Congratulations to everyone involved, including the agency partners Truth, Kantar & TBWA.

 

To hear more about how the work that worked was made, Emma Stower joined Joe Glover and I for a 25 minute masterclass. We hope you enjoy!

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Let’s judge advertising the way you’d judge a parachute.

Does it work, or does it hit the ground with a thud?

Does it only float in the agency bubble?

Does it chase gongs instead of change minds?

Does it leave the customer out of the conversation?

Welcome to the industry award the industry doesn’t get to give itself. The Chutes measures the real impact of marketing and advertising on real people in the real world – and hands the prizes to the ideas that work best, wherever they come from.

The Chutes is for agencies and marketers of all shapes and sizes, no matter the brand, the budget or the brief. Our awards have no price tag. If your work does its job in the real world, that's all that matters.

It’s more than awards. It’s a celebration of agency and client partnerships. And a platform for the winners to share their story of the work that worked.

It’s no secret that the people who roll up their sleeves to make the work have longed to see the kind of awards that are judged on impact, not inkling.

So the folks behind The Marketing Meetup, System1, ...Gasp! and Tracksuit decided to make it. Awards that are awarded every month, championing effectiveness above everything else. And a celebration that’s been missing from the marketing world for too long. If you feel the same way, and want to get involved as supporter, sponsor or even partner, we’d love to hear from you.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• No. of episodes: 2
• Latest episode: 2024-11-06
• Business Entrepreneurship Marketing

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