Metcalfe’s Food readies debut TV push for popcorn brand
Metcalfe’s Food Company, the business founded by former Pret a Manger owner Julian Metcalfe, is bringing its Skinny Topcorn popcorn brand to TV screens for the first time as part of a major push to become more mainstream.
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The popcorn brand had limited media support since launching in 2008 but is set to play a key role in its owner’s plans to generate sales of £50m by 2015. To achieve the goal, it says media support for Topcorn popcorn’s debut campaign will amount to ‘more than double that of any UK popcorn producer to date”.
It launches next week (14 July) with a series of primetime TV spots, pushing the “fun, light hearted” values of the brand. The 20-second Quiet Storm-created black-and-white ad shows people dancing wildly before one woman explodes into a flurry of popcorn, revealing the strapline “lighten up”. The ad will also run across VOD, cinema and gym TVs with the brand looking to push the low calorie range to health conscious consumers.
Social media activity will support the creative alongside in-store promotions in Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda, Waitrose and Boots.
The brand has also been on the hunt for a celebrity ambassador after seeing awareness in the UK peak following its appearance on the Beyonce documentary “Life is But a Dream” in 2013. It has previously said it wants to replicate the scope and success of drinks brand Vita Coco’s tie-up with singer Rihanna.
Metcalfe’s Food Company expects £20m in sales to be generated by Skinny Topcorn sales and the remaining £25m of its £50m target to come from its Itsu brand, and extensions of the Japanese restaurant chain.
