The Sauce – 26/03/2024

Welcome to ‘The Sauce’ – your weekly dollop of marketing news.

By Ashleigh Morris, our Content and Comms Lead.

This week we’re talking about Asda’s Easter Egg-stravaganza, Kahlúa’s St Paddy’s campaign, and why more brands are outsourcing elements of their marketing requirements.

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Asda’s Easter Egg-stravaganza!

Asda has launched its Easter campaign ‘Come for the eggs’ which features a fantasy farm where the chickens lay chocolate Easter eggs!

The ad, created by Havas London, is a 30-second film which starts with a couple being woken up by an Asda delivery driver and running out to ‘deliver’ and collect the chocolate eggs before returning home for a family feast of Asda treats.

It will feature across TV, radio, out-of-home, social media, in press and online, supported by a PR influencer campaign.

We’re big fans of the new ad. It’s fast-paced (there’s a lot going on in 30 seconds), it features numerous brands from Maltesers to Twirl, and Crème Eggs to Aero, and it’s designed to appeal to both adults and children.

The narration pushes the boundaries with a direct comparison to M&S: “Come for the eggs, and stay for the hot cross buns, as tasty as M&S”.

We’re seeing a lot of brands, particularly supermarkets, featuring direct comparisons with their competitors, either on price or quality. It’s a bold move which can backfire in some cases.

What are your thoughts on benchmarking against competitors in your marketing? We’d love to hear your views – drop us a message on the Awesomesauce Marketing LinkedIn page.

We’re seeing a lot of brands featuring direct comparisons with their competitors, either on price or quality. It’s a bold move which can backfire in some cases.

Kahlúa’s Bold St Paddy’s Stunt

Liqueur brand Kahlúa stirred up St Patrick’s Day celebrations with a cheeky stunt taking aim at the day’s traditional drink, and urging consumers to instead indulge in a Kahlúa espresso martini.

With the day usually linked to stout, Kahlúa took the opportunity to place branded vans outside key London pubs, with billboards featuring espresso martinis cleverly designed to look like pints, accompanied by the line “St Patrick’s Day called. It’s bored of stout.”

Why do we love this campaign?

For a start, it’s humorous and a little bit cheeky so it’s sure to catch people’s attention. It’s pushing boundaries without overstepping them or taking aim at a specific competitor brand.

It’s also research-based – according to a survey by the brand, 60% of Brits would prefer an espresso martini to a pint of stout and 22% would be willing to make the switch even on St Paddy’s Day. So it’s likely to resonate with consumers.

It’s been an effective campaign for Kahlúa, which has attracted a lot of PR without the use of the big budgets required for TV or billboard campaigns.

We love a PR stunt – last year we turned heads with our ‘Does size matter?’ campaign for our client Sarcoma UK, with strategic positioning in men’s toilets in service stations! In case you missed it, you can check it out here: Does Size Matter?

We’re seeing a lot of brands think outside the box when it comes to their marketing recently. Are you looking to mix things up? Email me at ashleigh@awesomesaucemarketing.co.uk to find out how we could help with your next campaign.

It’s humorous and a little bit cheeky so it’s sure to catch people’s attention. It’s pushing boundaries without overstepping them or taking aim at a specific competitor brand.

Is Outsourcing the Answer?

Is your business outsourcing some or all of its marketing requirements?

Research from Marketing Week has found that almost half (46.2%) of those surveyed have outsourced an element of their marketing to an agency, specialist or consultancy in the last year.

The results come from their Career & Salary Survey which found that outsourcing has become more popular due to smaller marketing teams, a lack of in-house skills and attempts to reduce costs and full-time employees.

It found the use of external marketing expertise was higher in B2B brands, where 53% have outsourced an element of their marketing. The most sought-after skill was digital marketing, which over a quarter of those surveyed said they had outsourced over the past year.

We’re seeing this trend reflected in our clients at Awesomesauce Marketing. We work with a number of B2B clients, many who have a small internal marketing team which requires extra resource at busy times of year, on certain projects, and when needing specific skill sets.

Looking for a flexible option to outsource any elements of your marketing? From strategy to social media, copywriting, digital marketing and design, we can help.

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Same time next week? In the meantime, Happy Easter from all at Awesomesauce Marketing!

Brought to you by Awesomesauce Marketing – a full-service marketing agency serving UK and international clients.

You can check out previous editions of ‘The Sauce’ here.