NEWSWORKS PLANNING AWARD UM London

“BURTON’S FISH ’N’ CHIPS – BACK WITH A BANG!” Executive summary Burton’s Fish ‘n’ Chips had won a vote in The Sun newspaper for the top 1980s snacks readers would like to see back in shops. Burton’s Biscuits heeded the public’s demand and the tangy, savoury snack was relaunched. We combined closely with The Sun across the newsbrand to announce the news to the world and get the bags in hand. A week-long print partnership was backed up by online content, videos and interviews with 1980s celebrities and opportunities to win prizes. We also collaborated closely with The Sun’s editorial team to reach into relevant conversations happening across social media. Since the relaunch back in January 2014, sales of Fish ‘n’ Chips have already hit £7.3m, a staggeringly successful outcome.

UM London – Best Use of Content — Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips

How classic newsbrand The Sun helped us relaunch a classic snack, Burton’s Fish ‘n’ Chips, generating huge sales of £7.3m! BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES – ‘Sign ‘O’ The Times’ The Sun newspaper asked its readers in a tongue-in-cheek 2012 feature what 1980s brands they would like to see back in shops again. Fish 'n' Chips by Burton’s Biscuits was the overwhelming winner. Burton’s heeded the public’s call to bring Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips out of retirement and charged The Sun and UM London (ourselves) with the challenge of sharing this news with the public. The objective was to a) make a huge noise at launch and b) stir emotion, provoke a smile, encourage sharing and drive sales. Everyone wanted to continue this unfolding story, with the brilliant exposure The Sun had already provided. It was clear we should keep up the momentum to drive excitement and awareness with The Sun newsbrand as our key partner. INSIGHT – ‘(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life’

We knew that our audience fell into two camps: first, the section of the public that enjoyed Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips in the 1980s, before the snack was discontinued; and, second, the new, younger generation that hadn’t heard of or tasted the snack before. Our strategy would have to accommodate both groups if the relaunch was to be a success. To grab the attention of the older generation, we hit on the idea of nostalgia as a theme, a perfect match since the product was originally from another decade. We aimed to trigger positive childhood memories by creating valued and engaging content around nostalgia, while linking to modern interests.

To reach the younger generation, we would use social media as a key channel to systematically reach existing conversations around the product.

Online

THE PLAN – ‘Stand and Deliver’ We wanted to harness the scale and reach of The Sun to get our message out to the public. To this end, we sought to leverage our relationship with the newspaper beyond simply buying ad space. Moreover, it was vital to imbue the brand with bags of personality to keep up the momentum The Sun had already created. We planned a week-long commercial and editorial campaign around ‘What We Miss About the 80s’, involving key pieces of content around the 1980s as a cultural and social reference point. The content was underpinned with the Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips message ‘We’re Back’ across print, tablet and online. The sponsored editorial that ran from 17-21 February represented a media-first: it was the first time the format had been used by The Sun, who made an exception to their normal approach due to the strength of Burton’s partnership with them. Also, to give our sponsored articles a tanginess and flavour to match the biscuits themselves, the editorial was written by Tommy Holgate, the well-known Sun journalist and all-around cheeky chappy. Tommy interviewed 1980s celebrities and sports stars, and riffed off the nostalgic memories of all things ‘80s’.

Each editorial page carried the Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips branding with ‘in association’ logos and the strip advertorials. Each page focused on a different 80s theme: TV and film, sport, fashion, gaming and music. The Sun and UM ran a competition with a selection of fun and aspirational 80s-themed prizes, including an arcade game, American Apparel vouchers and cases of Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips snacks, supported by online video interviews and competitions outside of The Sun’s pay wall. Leader and double MPU banners ran on the logged-in video and competition pages linking through to the Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips Facebook pages.

Celeb involvement

Week-long print editorial

Strategic social media campaign Our campaign also involved a strategic social media push, managed through our specialist entity Spring Creek, using real-time listening technology. Our research had shown that there were many social communities currently active, campaigning to bring back this legendary snack. We were confident that there were enough potential advocates on social channels that would find content about the brand interesting, engage with it and shout about it to other people. In this way, we could appeal to the younger generation and avoid the industry-wide slump in the efficacy of organic reach. We got involved with relevant conversations and grew our fan base organically through pro-active conversation. The Sun tweeted twice per day during the campaign, while teasers to the video interviews and competitions appeared on The Sun’s Facebook page on a daily basis.

THE RESULTS – ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop us Now’ Since the relaunch in January, sales have hit £7.3m. A staggering comeback for Burton’s Fish ‘n’ Chips! (AC Nielsen to 13.09.2014) Business

• Only 2% of FMCG launches exceed £5m in their first year • No. 1 selling snack within savoury convenient category in ASDA and Tesco • The brand has grown its presence in a huge variety of places, with distribution in petrol

forecourts, train stations, and pubs and clubs Social

• 267,328 people reached via The Sun’s Facebook account • 6,471 competition entries to The Sun • 17k ‘likes’ on the ASDA Facebook page for Fish ’n’ Chips

Research by The Sun revealed • 138% increase in ad awareness • 125% brand awareness increase

Social media

The Sun supported us all the way and even threw in a few freebies, including co-branded advertising to drive consumers through to Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips editorial on The Sun website. In fact, the content was appreciated by readers so much that The Sun ran a follow-up feature, ‘90s Week,’ and garnered even more celebrity involvement. Burton’s was side-by-side with us too, even adding the campaign Twitter handle to the Fish ’n’ Chips packaging. CLIENT VIEW Mandy Bobrowski – Head of savoury, Burton’s Biscuits “We challenged UM London to help us make a splash to bring back Burton’s Fish ‘n’ Chips to the nation’s shops. Using The Sun as the newsbrands partner was the logical choice given the great exposure created by the initial article. But the way the UM team adapted their plans around The Sun’s editorial voice was very impressive. Also, their close relationship with The Sun enabled us to leverage every part of The Sun newsbrand – from print, to social, to web. The exceptional sales figures we’ve had since the relaunch speak for themselves.”