Dairy Crest revives 80s Buttermen for Country Life brand

The Country Life Buttermen are back on pack for the first time in more than a decade as part of a renewed push to drive in-store preference.

ButtermenAd-Campaign-2013
The much-loved Buttemen return after 12 years away from Country Life’s ads.

The updated packaging for the Dairy Crest brand features a modernised version of the much-loved cartoon characters who take centre stage in the summer “Luvverly Lunches” campaign.

Shoppers can take part in an on-pack promotion to win a picnic kit and radio and in-store promotions will also be used. Additionally, Facebook and online activity features the Buttermen emphasising the goodness of the butter.

Tania Roberts, group brand manager for Country Life, says the decision to revive the characters follows research that revealed people still have a “considerable fondness” for them”. Famed for their “you’ll never put a better bit of butter on your knife”, the Buttermen were used in TV ads during the 80s (see video). They were last seen in advertising for the brand in 2001.

Roberts adds: “We are really looking forward to the return of the Buttermen, who bring their humorous take on life back to the brand and offer a refreshing perspective on modern lunches by bringing back taste.”

The move marks the start of a bigger focus on shopper marketing with Country Life looking to grow volume sales beyond 2012’s 4 per cent growth figure. Previously, its marketing activity has been heavily weighted towards a traditional advertising including its most-recent TV ads starring former Sex Pistols singer John Lydon.

Earlier this year, Dairy Crest merged its food and dairy brand marketing teams into one integrated division as part of a wider corporate-wide restructures aimed at saving £5m a year.

Dairy Crest developed the campaign in partnership with Grey London, Dialogue and Social Partners.

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