Premier Foods to bring back ‘Oxo Mum’
Premier Foods, whose stable of brands include Hovis and Oxo, will be bringing back Lynda Bellingham, making an emotional return to the Oxo brand for the first time in more than a decade. But this time she’s playing herself.
Pitch, Centaur Media’s new site for agency news and comment, reveals that Bellingham will be one of the many celebrities being lined up, including Coronation Street actress Liz Dawn and TV sports presenter Kirsty Gallacher, as Premier Foods gets ready to launch its £10m ad campaign that unites all its brands under the ’Great Little Ideas’ tagline.
The campaign, created by MCBD, will include a series of TV personalities in a new teaser ad format. It will break during the first episode of the new series of Britain’s Got Talent returning to ITV1 this spring.
The campaign is an attempt by Premier Foods to fight back against the rise of supermarket own-brands, and is intended to get consumers using its array of 16 food brands, including Bisto, Oxo and Sharwoods in recipes.
Great Little Ideas ’teasers’ will be aired in the run up to the series and they will take the form of two and five second ’blipverts’, where the Great Little Ideas star logo and web address (www.greatlittleideas.com) will appear after adverts for Britain’s Got Talent. The ’blipvert’ is a first for Premier Foods and the first for an FMCG advertiser on ITV.
Teresa Arbuckle, head of marketing – strategic projects at Premier Foods, says: “As the UK’s No.1 food manufacturer we are constantly looking for innovative new ways to reach consumers. Working with ITV and Britain’s Got Talent to launch our first ever blipvert campaign will quickly establish our Great Little Ideas brand with millions of housewives across the nation.
“It is the UK’s second biggest TV programme with last year’s series averaging 13.3m individuals and we believe there is great synergy between Britain’s Got Talent and Great Little Ideas. As part of our ad campaign, this activity alone will reach at least 40% of our target housewives.”
Other celebrities lined up to appear in 20 and 30 second ads for Premier Foods portfolio of leading brands will include ex-Corrie star Tina O’Brien and last year’s Britain’s Got Talent winners, dance troop Diversity.
Celebrities taking part in the launch stage of the Great Little Ideas campaign include:
– Diversity Duo Ashley Banjo and Perry Kiely giving a young office worker a tip in making a perfect Sweet Chilli Mayo Chicken Wrap
– Liz Dawn, aka Vera Duckworth from Coronation Street, will star in an ad for Ambrosia where she gives a mum a helpful hint to make an easy Banana Brulee
– Tina O’Brien in a Homepride ad with a Great Little Idea for Beef Burritos
– Kirsty Gallacher comes to the rescue of a couple looking for a fantastic Italian dinner – Lloyd Grossman Al Forno Chicken
– Lynda Bellingham helps a mum with a sizzling sausage idea using Oxo
Football legend Terry Venables and Strictly Come Dancing Judge Craig Revel Horwood will front ads for Batchelors Pasta ’N’ Sauce and Branston during the height of World Cup fever in July, in addition to 10 second Great Little spots for Sharwoods and Cadbury’s Mini Rolls.
This story first appeared on pitch
