Why Enfield ads make loadsamoney

I’d like to respond to Martin Glenn’s Advalue review of the current Hula Hoops campaign (MW January 26) and provide some further evidence of its clear success.

Firstly, the Hula Hoops campaign has been remarkably effective, both in terms of sales and tracking. According to Nielsen, Hula Hopps total volume sales are up over 30 per cent year on year since the campaign was first launched. This represents a growth rate three times faster than the total market.

Over 85 per cent of eight to 15-year-olds already recognise the campaign, and of them 95 per cent correctly attribute the ads to Hula Hoops, and 91 per cent find it enjoyable. “Around forever” already has the highest endline recall in the market. Only the Walkers campaign comes close in terms of salience and appeal, but with three times the advertising spend.

The second point is the use of Harry Enfield. It is true that there is a danger that a personality can sometimes overshadow the brand and its message. All our tracking shows that this is not the case. On the contrary, the campaign has been an excellent vehicle for communicating what makes Hula Hoops so distinctive – over 80 per cent of those recalling the ad play back “shape” as the main message. As long as Enfield is able to do this effectively for Hula Hoops, and with obvious commercial success, it matters little that he is able to do the same for other non-competitive brands.

I look forward to seeing Enfield’s teenager in the next Persil ad…

Stephen Meade

Group account director

PublicisLondon W1