Brands get patriotic for Jubilee celebrations

Hovis, Heinz, Mcvitie’s and Schweppes are launching separate marketing campaigns for their flagship brands in a bid to exploit the patriotism that will swell from this summer’s Jubilee celebrations.

Heinz

Premier Foods is introducing a premium British Farmer’s loaf to its Hovis range later this month, which aims to celebrate ‘Britishness’ and British farmers.

The food company will back the launch with a £3.5m TV, press and PR campaign running alongside in-store promotions and sampling from May to September.

Matthew Hunt, brand director of Hovis, says the brand is designed to “stand-out on shelf and highlight the premium quality and uniqueness of the product.”

He adds: “Hovis has the potential to be a much bigger player in the premium bread sector. The new Hovis British Farmers Loaf has all the right ingredients to deliver this – it not only heroes our farmers and British credentials, but offers a unique, quality product with a home-baked feel that is set to deliver strong sales for the category.

Meanwhile, Heinz is launching limited edition vintage labels for its Heinz Beanz and Heinz Spaghetti brands next month.

The labels, which reflect the designs used in 1952 – the year of the Queen’s coronation, will feature the slogan ‘Celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.’

Elsewhere, United Biscuits (UB) is redesigning the packs for its McVitie’s Digestives brand to promote its ‘Proud to be British’ positioning.

Sarah Heynen, marketing director of sweet biscuits at UBUK says: “Our Britishness pack redesign is all about giving retailers the right products to allow them to tap into the wave of patriotism which will sweep the country this year, growing from the Royal Wedding last year, to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the summer of sport.”

The design will feature in packs from May to September.

Schweppes has partnered with Diageo to promote drinking Schweppes with Pimms and Gordon’s gin.

It marks the third year running the brand has teamed up with Diageo and will include outdoor, on-pack, radio and PR campaign to promote the brand’s British heritage.

Consumers will be directed to a campaign site at the Daily Telegraph to nominate themselves or friends to take part in a competition to win a photoshoot with Royal photographer Hugo Burnand.

The campaigns come despite industry experts warnings against jumping on the ‘brand Britain’ bandwagon without it building it into a deeper strategy.

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