BACKGROUND

In 2022, we created the ‘Nothing Special’ brand platform for McCain. It was grounded in a universal problem: cooking a meal for your family is a universal love language; naturally, you want it to be perfect.

Unfortunately for McCain, the world’s largest frozen food company, Australians saw frozen dinners as an imperfect, albeit convenient solution. We needed to change how people perceive frozen food. Fortunately, research shows that the memories that stay with you might, in the moment, seem nothing special. But in hindsight these are the true special moments; the best dinners shared with loved ones are a little imperfect. Little moments of ‘messy togetherness’ that we call ‘nothing special’.

The platform launch was a huge success, with consumers wanting to act as a result of having seen the TVC, and we saw strong shifts in purchase intent for those who saw the advertising vs those who didn’t (79%+ vs 62%). The new brand positioning was having the desired effect, where it matters most… at the checkout. And it taught us that McCain brand comms produce a ‘halo’ effect across the whole brand.

For 2023 we wanted to build on this winning formula - with a stronger link to the product.

OBJECTIVES

With a proven platform, ‘Nothing Special’, and brand territory of ‘messy togetherness’, we now had the opportunity to hone in on a hero product. In this case it was crispy, yet fluffy, perfectly seasoned, McCain Pub Style chips that became the campaign centrepiece.

The 2023 masterbrand campaign had a number of core objectives:

●      Build brand advocacy for McCain, by resonating with Aussies’ ‘special’ moments, for our current customers and for those in our future.

●      Drive Aussies to reassess frozen chips, to stop thinking they’re all the same… McCain Pub Style chips are as good, or maybe even better than those you’d get at the pub

●      Increase Pub Style share of volume in retailers

STRATEGY

Aussies love hot chips. Like, a lot. 1.5 million Aussies have admitted to asking a stranger for hot chips, and a quarter of Aussies say the ‘hot chip smell’ is their number one favourite food smell. The problem was, many of these chips were being enjoyed at the pub. Our research identified that there is an almost universal moment of joy the moment a bowl of chips arrives at the table.

So how do we get Aussies to view a bag of frozen chippies made and enjoyed with loved ones in the home, as being just as good as enjoying them at the pub?

Leveraging the ‘Nothing Special’ platform, we needed to highlight the moment of joy when the bowl of chips arrives, but now, rather than in the pub, this moment of togetherness unfolds in the home. Because it’s not about where you are, the true catalyst for joy is when everyone around the table unites around the joyous delivery of a bowl of delicious, crispy chips.

CREATIVE
Ultimately our 2023 film campaign was championed through TV, with our hero film highlighting once again that some of the best moments in our lives are those we might call ‘nothing special’.

However, with our aim of maintaining current customers, while growing our future base, we needed to look beyond TV.

We extended the campaign across YouTube and social to broaden reach beyond our traditional customers, with a suite of creative assets that were tied to, but not directly cut from, our hero film.

The campaign launched across TV, OOH,  BVOD, in-store, social and digital starting from July 16, 2023.

RESULTS

The campaign is currently in market, but has already reached a significant number of people, with digital channels driving a large portion of this. Youtube has reached 1.8mil people in Australia, and a further 1.3mil in NZ. The Fluffy Chips creative has also proven to be very successful as a cut-down, in particular on social where it is the top performing creative among all demographics. Digital channels have also had an impact beyond reach, with a YouTube brand lift study indicating an 11.5% lift in Ad Recall above the baseline result of 25.6%.

The performance of the campaign was further built on by the activation of a last minute out-of-home deal turned around in under 48 hours, demonstrating the universality of the “Nothing Special” platform and insight. The success of the outdoor campaign was significant, with a national reach of 3.2mil people between the ages of 25 and 54.

Performance at checkout:

The 2023 ‘Nothing Special’ campaign is still in market, and while we don’t yet have final results, McCain has already seen Frozen Potato reach a massive 48.9% volume share; the highest level in at least eight years, alongside a +3.6ppt acceleration in value share.