AdMiration feature: Weetabix’s "The Weetabix Discovery"

For this week’s AdMiration feature, we researched Weetabix’s "The Weetabix Discovery" ad. 

Weetabix faced some volume challenges last year with an 8% decline in sales compared to the previous year. The campaign this ad is part of aimed to address the recent decline in a humorous and cheeky way that is very characteristic of the brand. 

Read on to get our 3-2-1 snapshot of the ad (3 facts, 2 learnings and 1 reflection) and learn how their ad was received based on our data. And don’t miss our special video with one of the creative directors from the Weetabix team!  

The ad opens to an academic addressing UK leaders with a tone of urgency to share “a discovery of national importance.” Using charts, he brings to light that Britain’s economical, societal and sporting performance has dropped over the years; and at the same time, the country hasn’t been eating enough Weetabix. As he points out, the trends in the charts follow the same pattern, causing the leaders to gasp in disbelief. 

He makes it clear that the reason why Britain hasn’t been “so great of late” is because it hasn’t been eating its Weetabix, to which one of the leaders responds with, “Makes sense… I’ve been eating croissants.” Enthusiastically, the academic urges the leaders to rebuild Britain “bix by bix,” adding that previous data shows that areas where Weetabix eating increases, crossword guesses and bodybuilders per kilometer sharply improve — suggesting Weetabix improves intelligence and strength. 

He encourages the delivery of Weetabix to where it’s needed most, like to the people in charge of fixing potholes, VAR and drivers who don’t respect parking spaces. As the leaders start to get on board, he finishes with a rallying cry saying “To Britain we must say, ‘have you had your Weetabix?’” while raising a box of Weetabix. The leaders all rise and cheer and the ad concludes with a box of Weetabix on a yellow background and the tagline “Have you had yours?”

3 facts

• The ad scores in the top 10% of all UK ads in potential to drive both immediate and long-term sales as well as build brand equity.

• People found it highly distinctive and easily recognized it was an ad for Weetabix given the strong presence of both audio and visual brand cues. 

• The storytelling is excellent, posing a nation-wide problem and offering a solution in a humorous and relatable way that puts the brand at the forefront.

2 learnings

• Self-aware humor can be highly impactful in captivating an audience, driving an emotional response and making a brand more relatable. 

• Stories that position your brand as the “problem solver” can be extremely effective in communicating product benefits and driving sales.

1 reflection

How well do you understand your consumer beyond how they interact with your brand? Understanding your consumers’ world beyond that can be pivotal in shaping your communications strategy and helping your brand feel more relatable where appropriate.

Despite being considered a “national treasure” and being bought by 8 million households in the UK, Weetabix faced some volume challenges last year with an 8% decline compared to the previous year, which the campaign addresses in a humorous way. 

The brand has also been losing connection with its target audience, adults over 45 years old, and conducted research with consumers to understand how it can be more relevant. All of this fed into the campaign which will continue to run until the end of the year.

Check out what Christine Turner, Creative Director at BBH, had to say about the campaign:

The ad scores in the top 10% of all UK ads in potential to drive immediate sales (Sales Impact: 94) and in potential to drive brand equity and long-term sales (Brand Impact: 91). 

It was highly effective among younger and older audiences, but in different ways. The ad was more emotionally impactful and effective in driving purchase intent among adults under 45, and it was more effective in grabbing attention, conveying brand distinctiveness and driving equity among adults over 45.

Viewers found the ad to be highly attention grabbing (Claimed Attention: 3.9 vs 3.7 norm) and distinctive (Ad Distinctiveness: 4.0 vs 3.6 norm), making the brand stand out when compared to others in the category (Brand Distinctiveness: 3.8 vs 3.5 norm). 

Despite only revealing the brand after a quarter of the ad had passed, it was incredibly well branded. The brand name was mentioned audibly a number of times, the use of the color yellow (which is iconic for the brand) was very prominent, the logo was flashed and the product packaging was showcased. All of these assets contributed to a significant outperformance in unaided brand recall (80% vs 72% norm) and uniqueness of brand impressions (4.0 vs 3.7 norm), with almost half of the audience saying it could have only been an ad for Weetabix. 

Overall, the ad was thoroughly enjoyed (Enjoyment: 3.8 vs 3.6 norm) eliciting an emotional response significantly higher than the average UK ad (Overall Emotion: 50 vs 41 norm). 

The tongue-in-cheek nature of the ad makes it absolutely hilarious for the audience, who reacted to it with more laughter than usual (Laughter reaction: 22% vs 6% norm). Moments in the ad — such as when one of the leaders recognizes he is fueling the nation’s issues by eating croissants, and the call out of people in charge of fixing potholes, VAR and bad drivers as the ones who need the most Weetabix — are particularly effective. 

While not significant, the ad did drive slightly more of a love reaction than the average UK ad (Love reaction: 22% vs 18% norm), which was predominantly driven by the end frame with the rallying cry for Britain to have their Weetabix and the affinity towards the brand as the product is displayed.

There were so many elements that people loved about the ad, including the humorous nature of it, pacing of the story, relatability and the product information it conveyed. 

Here’s what some respondents had to say about what they liked most:

• "The comedy was very clever and very apt for today's world. I liked the pot hole scene, how very relevant considering the roads are a mess. I liked the way we can get Britain great again by eating our Weetabix."

• "I liked that the ad showed real people in their homes and in their places of work. I also like that the ad talked about how these people can eat Weetabix and get the most out of their activities."

• "I liked the comedy parade linking the state of the country related to consumption of Weetabix and the short video clips of people who have had Weetabix."

• "The humor and the way it was presented in a serious way. I liked the way it described being able to influence VAR and potholes! Making Britain great again with a rallying cry."

• "I liked the initial formalities and how things switched so quickly into entertainment. At the same time the ad remained funny and informative till the end."

As some comments mentioned, while being playful with the narrative, the ad was quite successful in landing a number of product benefits. It scored significantly above the norm in portraying the brand delivers on attributes that are highly important when buying the category (Category Drivers: 34 vs 29 norm). The attributes respondents most associated Weetabix with after seeing the ad were “gives you energy that gets you going,” “is a perfect way to start the day” and “provides health benefits.” 

Conveying strong brand association to key category drivers, it is no wonder the ad also significantly outperforms in driving a sales uplift for the brand (25% vs 15% norm). Before watching the ad, only 15% of respondents would have chosen Weetabix the next time they shop for cereal, granola or other grains; after watching the ad, 40% of respondents said they would choose Weetabix.

By truly taking the time to understand their in-market challenges, Weetabix was able to turn a negative brand story into a really powerful and positive one in the form of this campaign. What an incredible way to approach a new creative idea while still keeping with the brand’s cheeky and playful tone of voice consumers know and love. 

What did you think? Let us know by interacting with our coverage of the ad on LinkedIn.

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