Ginsters new TV advert starts with a slightly unsteady camera focusing on a framed photo of a proud-looking farmer embracing a cauliflower and staring earnestly into the camera lens.
It’s only a split-second frame – before, in true mockumentary style, the film’s main character, Merryn, introduces herself to us. But it’s enough to set the stage for what’s to come.
Ginsters latest advert takes a light-hearted look into the quality of the brand’s ingredients, through the lens of this new character, who can only be described as This Country’s character Daisy Cooper’s long-lost twin dumped in the middle of Jeremy Clarkson’s namesake farm show.
The viewer accompanies Merryn on her daily rounds – such as ‘tucking’ the onions into bed with individual baby monitors – which she approaches with an amusing and earnest sincerity.
When the 80-second film ends it’s easy to forget you were even watching an advertisement at all. Instead, it feels like you’ve just savoured a delightful series of Merryn’s latest adventures on her Ginsters supplier farm.
Yet, after a conversation with the strategy and client team behind the ad, it’s clear that this sense of anticipation for more of Merryn’s journey is precisely what they aimed to achieve.
Ginsters’ marketing director, Emma Stowers, and TBWA\London strategy partner, Jess Smith explain why the brand needed a new direction and the innovative strategies they employed to bring it to life.
The campaign and brand character
“We wanted to be in a farm environment and showing the sourcing of the freshness… but the problem with that strategy, it’s a well trodden path,” began Jess.
She explains that, “presenting quality perceptions in a traditional, factual way, is like wallpaper now.”
She is referring to the many recent “farm to fork communications” brand campaigns, like McDonald’s food-quality drive, M&S Food’s ad featuring Tom Kerridge and Waitrose’s Supplier Stories.
Jess emphasizes that they wanted to “break away from tradition” and “disrupt the norm”. And so in came the idea for Merryn emerged, signalling a new direction for the Cornish pasty brand; comedy
“We decided to invest in a farm character who is an embodiment of the passion and quality of Ginsters – albeit an exaggerated one.
“We thought it was going to be a much stronger creative strategy to entertain and ‘seduce’ our audience with humour”, she added.
The team’s decision aligns the sector’s current shift towards comedy. Earlier this year, WARC revealed in its key insights into the winners of this year’s Cannes Lions creative affective awards, that it is comedy, currently, that is driving commercial success.
It was this need to incorporate humour and a human face to the brand brought about Merryn.
“We know that brand characters are highly effective in terms of distinctive assets. And they’re great storytellers, that can form strong emotional bonds with consumers as well,” she explained.
“We hope that she becomes instantly recognisable, and a much loved part of Ginsters.”
Brand positioning and the need for a new direction
Speaking to both Emma and Jess, they identified the biggest challenge they were facing was a “huge brand barrier relating to quality perceptions”.
Emma discussed their journey in understanding what the Cornish pasty brand represented to their new target consumers—women, often seen as the ‘gatekeepers of the family.’
She explained, “when we dug into it, it was all about trusting the ingredients and what went into it.
“And the reason that perception was there was a long legacy of how we built the Ginsters, which was genius back in the day.”
Emma is referring to how Ginisters historically built its brands using distribution networks of out home. Over time, the pasty brand garnered more connotations of a ‘quick and easy’ snack for people to eat on the go or ‘on motorway service stations’.
Emma elaborated, “There was a perception that it was almost desperate fuel, as if you must be desperate to eat it on the go, rather than sitting down to enjoy it.
“This is what we spoke about with the brilliant guys at TBWA – how do we overcome this? Because a lot of care and dedication goes into making our products.”
Jess expanded on their campaign’s goals, saying, “A lot of consumption is perceived. Ginsters was perceived to be the thing to have on the go.”
“This advert aims to see it become a bit more of a planned meal in a home where you all sit down.
“It has the potential to be consumed like that” Jess said, with Emma adding, “We’re prepared to invest in this in the long-term – it might take up to give years, just depends on how quickly perceptions start to change”.
“I believe it will be a pillar of our strategy forever – something you always need to talk about.”
A new target audience and the channels to reach them
Returning to the importance of changing perceptions of family meals in British households, Jess delved into the new target audience for Ginsters: women.
“If you can convince this particular audience that we’re great quality, then its going to enter the home environment. That’s our focus area.”
Emma reiterated that Ginsters’ challenge isn’t about entering the market but rather shifting perceptions. She noted, “We’re already a national brand, present in almost a third of all households.”
“So the challenges we’ve had is making sure we have a duality in our consideration of our targeting in terms of channels that we’re using, because we do need to reach the nation, but people currently not buying Ginsters is our core heartland,”.
So far the multi million pound campaign has showcased across TV, out–of-home, social and other traditional channels that, Emma highlights “work very effectively together”.
Speaking about further campaigns, and what the future could hold, she added “as soon as we start to demonstrate that, you know, this is working for us, we’ll expand the channel plan probably.”
So those already waiting for the next adventures of Merryn needn’t wait too long: it appears, just like Ginsters’ new brand positioning, the merry farmer is here to stay.
1 Comment. Leave new
The only way to eat a pasty is from one end to the other.Cornish miners would never eat it any other way.The miners and their families would never be in a position to leave any part of it as that would be the main meal of the day.Any 2 year old or any untrained monkey would eat from end to end.A very small piece was left for the “knockers”.To find out the real story of the miners and their struggle to work and feed their families you should get the book the Cornish Miner by Hamilton Jenkin out of the library.Then find someone to read it to you.