Last week, leading retail and shopper marketing agency, Savvy, revealed new research on Easter spending plans for UK shoppers. The survey (of 1,000 household shopping decision makers) had indicated that 64 percent will celebrate the event and that they’ll see a spending increase of 6.5 percent on 2018 figures – to £877m.

Alastair Lockhart, Insight Director at Savvy Marketing, said: “Easter fell late this year, giving shoppers extra time to prepare for the holiday weekend. This combined with better online inspiration and retailers’ scaling up investment in the event boosted Easter spending by 6.5 percent to reach £877m. Easter Eggs accounted for £188m in sales, reflecting a continuation of the trend to more premium eggs that we’ve seen over recent years. That said, many of us were also on the lookout for bargains. 70 percent of Easter shoppers told us they knew where they could find the best value eggs this year and almost half of shoppers were headed to a discounter to shop for food and Easter eggs.”

Key research findings from the shoppers who celebrate Easter (64 percent of UK shoppers):

• Attitudes towards the event:
  • Fewer men were involved in celebrating Easter than women – 60 compared with 67 percent respectively.
  • Shoppers in the midlands were the least likely to get involved in marking the occasion – 62 percent. Those residing in the South East were most likely to get involved – 68 percent.
  • 75 percent of Easter shoppers looked forward to the event and 73 percent say that they looked forward to spending time with their families at Easter. 74 percent also viewed it as a special occasion.

• How did shoppers who were planning to celebrate Easter, spend?
  • 37 percent spent more on Easter goods this year.
  • 70 percent said they knew where they could find the best value eggs.
  • 57 percent said they didn’t mind spending more to make the Easter weekend special.
  • Planning in advance what they’d be buying for Easter weekend appealed to 56 percent of shoppers – though 16 percent admitted that they left things to the last minute.
  • 49 percent headed to the discounters for eggs and dinner ingredients.
  • Trading up to purchase more expensive food and drinks for the Easter weekend was on the cards for 44 percent of shoppers.
  • Buying personalised gifts for Easter was of interest to 39 percent of shoppers.
  • 32 percent went away at Easter this year.

• Changes afoot with younger shoppers?

• Shoppers aged 18-34 were less likely to buy Easter Eggs than other age groups, but were most likely to purchase chocolate or Easter cake. Likewise, where many shoppers looked to buy ingredients for a roast dinner, this age group were more interested in a different meal.
• Younger shoppers looked forward to Easter (84 percent) and most likely went away for the occasion (66 percent).
• Young shoppers were also seeking out inspiration for ideas from social media than any other age group.

• What were Easter shoppers planning on buying?
  • Easter eggs topped the list – with 79 percent of Easter shoppers making purchases.
  • In second place (31 percent) was chocolate and in third place (26 percent) was the ingredients for a roast dinner. An Easter cake was to be purchased by 23 percent of shoppers.
  • In terms of drinks, 23 percent said they would purchase wine to mark the special occasion and 19 percent said they would be buying soft drinks. Beer (13 percent), spirits (11 percent) and champagne/sparkling wine (10 percent) were also on shoppers lists.
  • Outside of food purchases, 19 percent of shoppers said they would look for Easter cards and 12 percent would be purchasing cuddly toys. Games, such as egg hunts at home, baking kits and making kits e.g. bonnets and bunting also featured on shoppers lists although less frequently.
  • Just eight percent said they wouldn’t be buying any products to celebrate the occasion.

• What did Easter shoppers expect from retailers?
  • Topping the wish lists this Easter with 46 percent, was instore food sampling.
  • Instore egg hunts tied with new ideas to try (recipes etc) to take second place – both with 30 percent of shoppers excited seeing this. This was of particularly interested by those aged 18-34 – twice as many as any other age group (44 percent).
  • A chance to have a selfie with an Easter bunny instore got the vote from 23 percent of shoppers.
  • 19 percent of shoppers said they liked some inspiration on things to do with the kids closely followed by badges and stickers for children instore (18 percent).
  • Online games and competitions was of interest to 17 percent of shoppers.

• Where were Easter shoppers looking for inspiration this year?
  • Supermarkets were the most listed place for ideas – with 55 percent of shoppers hunting for inspiration here. In second place with 22 percent, was Google. Facebook came in third place – 20 percent.
  • A grocery retailer’s website and Pinterest was the go-to place for 18 percent of shoppers and word of mouth (e.g. friends and family) was how 15 percent were getting ideas.

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Two of the nation’s most-loved brands, Heinz and Cadbury, have joined forces to create a unique Cadbury Creme Egg and Heinz [Seriously] Good Mayonnaise concoction. 

To create the curious concoction, Heinz’s chefs have blended Heinz [Seriously] Good Mayonnaise – made with quality ingredients and free-range eggs – with the gorgeous goo of a Cadbury Creme Egg and crème patissiere.

Finished with chunky pieces of delectable Cadbury chocolate from Cadbury Creme Egg shells, the unusual union of the nation’s most popular sauce with everyone’s favourite Easter-time chocolate treat has resulted in a scrumptious spread.

Heinz [Seriously] Good Cadbury Creme Egg Mayo works beautifully dolloped onto waffles or crumpets.

Over the weekend, Heinz X Cadbury set up a unique Creme Egg installation at the Truman Brewery for passersby to try the delicious concoction.

Martina Davis, Brand Manager at Heinz [Seriously] Good Mayonnaise, said: “In Heinz’s 150^th anniversary year, we want to take every opportunity to celebrate and Easter has always been one of our favourite times of the year. So we set out to create the most Easter-y mayo we could. And who better to partner with than Cadbury Creme Egg – the kings and queens of Easter and another of the nation’s most loved brands! We’re delighted to launch the world’s first-ever Creme Egg Mayo, just in time for Easter. And very happy to report that it’s absolutely DELICIOUS. A real taste adventure. The only question we’re asking ourselves is why we haven’t done it sooner?!”

Raphael Capitani, Brand Manager at Cadbury Creme Egg, said: “We’re excited to finally announce our partnership with Heinz to create this gloriously gooey, crazy combination and dream collaboration for so many Cadbury Creme Egg lovers. We couldn’t think of a better partner to make this spread. The surprising taste is so, so delicious!’

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Mondelez is again partnering The National Trust and The National Trust of Scotland for a series of Cadbury Easter Egg Hunts at iconic Trust properties. This will be the 11th year the event has run, and the fifth year that experiential agency RPM has managed the activities on behalf of Cadbury.

Cadbury points out that Easter is an important time of year for it commercially, and also as a brand. Delia Metral, Junior Brand Manager, Easter, says: “We know how important Cadbury is at Easter and this year, we want to take it to the next level by bringing a smile to the whole nation with Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt – a season of celebrations where Cadbury Easter bunny will bring families together around the ritual of egg hunts. We are very excited to partner with National Trust and National Trust for Scotland again and, with RPM’s great support, organise more than 300 Cadbury Easter Egg Hunts across the UK. We expect again several 100,000s of families to take part.”

Dom Robertson, Managing Director of RPM, adds: “In 2017, we achieved fantastic results, with over 1 million people attending a hunt over the Easter weekend and an enjoyment rate of 97%.  We plan to continue to improve on these results in 2018 and to build on the association Cadbury has with Easter.”

Cadbury will be providing properties with the support to activate their own personalised egg hunt themes, linking back to each of the properties unique stories, all leading to a Cadbury treat as a reward at the end.

RPM has created and is leading on all experiential elements of the campaign.  This includes roll out of the successful 2017 strategy and creative concepts.  The agency is also managing the National Trust partnership kit and signage production, staffing and logistics.

The hunts will be taking place at 305 National Trust properties across England, Scotland and Wales on the weekend between Friday 30th March and Monday 2nd April (except for Northern Ireland, where activities will also happen on Tuesday 3rd April).

Easter egg hunt participants are asked to either pay a small fee or make a donation to take part in a hunt, with all proceeds going back to conserving the properties.  The campaign has raised over £4.1 million over the past 10 years.

Consumers can visit the Cadbury website to find a nearby Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt.

The Cadbury brand is owned by Mondelēz International, the global snacking company with 2016 net revenues of approximately $26 billion. Mondelēz is a world leader in biscuits, chocolate, gum, candy and powdered beverages, with power brands including Oreo and belVita biscuits; Cadbury Dairy Milk and Milka chocolate; and Trident gum.

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Confectionery brand Kinder is re-running its award-winning trade competition this Easter, offering retailers the chance to win one of five packs including everything they need to host an in-store Easter Egg Hunt for their local community, including posters for store windows, branded goods and free stock.

This year, retailers will also have access to bespoke social assets to drive further excitement in their community ahead of Easter.

Kinder was a key driver of growth for brand owner Ferrero over Easter in 2017, with its Kinder Seasonal range being the fastest growing brand amongst the top 10, reaching almost £20m. Kinder attributes this success at least in part to its Kinder Easter Egg Hunt is back.

To enter the competition, retailers must complete the form online at https://www.yourperfectstore.co.uk/  Entries opened from 9th March and winners will be announced towards the end of March, ahead of the activation of the Kinder Easter Egg Hunts between March 30th and April 1st – over the Easter Weekend.

Levi Boorer, Customer Development Director, Ferrero, says: “We’re keen to help our retailers give back to their local community, especially during the Easter period. Last year’s Easter Egg Hunt activity was a great success as retailers saw an increase in their Easter sales year-on-year, as well as increased basket spend compared to the previous week of trading. We are looking forward to seeing the results achieved this year and to spread a little joy this Easter.”

Ferrero is a leading family-owned global company and is the fourth-largest player in the global confectionery market. Its brand portfolio includes: Nutella, Ferrero Rocher, tic tac, Kinder, Kinder Bueno, and Thorntons.

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Mondelēz-owned confectionery brand Cadbury is again partnering the National Trust and National Trust for Scotland for the Cadbury’s Great British Egg Hunt campaign. The annual Easter egg hunt, which launches on Friday 14^th April and runs nationwide over the Easter weekend, forms part of Cadbury’s wider seasonal campaign.

The activation was put together for Cadbury by independent creative agency, RPM.

Building on the natural association between the brand and the Easter holiday, the activation is designed to encourage direct participation from families across the UK, with the ultimate aim of establishing Cadbury as ‘THE Easter Treat’.  The partnership plays a key role in cementing the idea of Cadbury as owners of the Easter egg hunt into the minds of the British consumer.

Participating families are invited to join the egg hunts at National Trust and National Trust for Scotland properties across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. For the 10th year running, Cadbury will be providing properties with the support to activate their own personalised egg hunt themes, linking back to each of the properties unique stories. Themes range from knights tracking down dragon eggs to a 1950s vintage-style Easter egg hunt, all leading to a Cadbury treat as a reward at the end. All money raised goes back into conserving the locations.

RPM has created and is leading on all experiential elements of the campaign. This includes roll-out of the successful 2016 strategy and creative concepts. The agency is also managing the National Trust partnership, kit and signage production, staffing and logistics.

Hortense Foult-Rothenburger, Senior Brand Manager – Easter at Cadbury, says: “We know how important Cadbury is at Easter and this year, we want to take it to the next level by bringing a smile to the whole nation with Cadbury’s Great British Egg Hunt – a season of celebrations where Cadbury Easter bunny will bring families together around the fun ritual of egg hunts. We are very excited to partner with National Trust and National Trust for Scotland again and, with RPM’s great support, to organise more than 300 Cadbury egg hunts across the UK. We expect 100,000s of families to take part.”

Laura Keates, Business Director RPM/ Mondelēz, comments: “We are really excited about Easter 2017. This year is very much about building on the incredibly successful year we had in 2016, where we had over one million people engage with the Easter Egg Hunt campaign though National Trust properties. We are working closely with Cadbury, the National Trust and National Trust for Scotland for the fourth year to deliver best in class activation, which will be live across the UK for 1,104 days over the Easter weekend period.”

Mondelēz International is a world leader in biscuits, chocolate, gum, candy and powdered beverages, with 2016 net revenues of approximately $26 billion. It owns global ‘Power Brands’ such as Oreo and belVita biscuits; Cadbury Dairy Milk and Milka chocolate; and Trident gum.

RPM is an independent creative agency, with brand engagement at its core, which aims to deliver purposeful brand experiences that change consumer and shopper behaviour. Clients include Diageo, Mondelēz, Heineken and Sky.

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Cadbury is again partnering the National Trust and National Trust for Scotland to organise Easter weekend experiences at more than 300 properties around the UK. Cadbury says 2016 will be the biggest year yet for the Easter activities, which include tailored egg hunts for different venues.

These Easter events are the culmination of Cadbury’s £6 million ‘Bunny’s Been Busy’ Easter campaign which has seen the classic Cadbury purple egg pop up at famous landmarks surprising locals all over the United Kingdom.

Creative marketing agency RPM is working with Cadbury for the third year running. RPM has developed all experiential elements of the campaign; kit design, production, staffing, and digital integration, including the co-management of cadbury.co.uk/easter. The wider campaign will be supported by social media with the hashtag #eggseverywhere

The creative concept has been delivered to ensure each National Trust and National Trust Scotland location is able to design its own personalised Easter Egg Hunt taking into account the unique stories of each property.

Offering themed hunts to encourage a personalised, educational and engaging experience for visitors is intended to encourage patrons to visit more than one of the sites over the weekend. Themes include waking Sleeping Beauty from her slumber at Stowe and discovering the secrets of gravity and light with help from Sir Isaac Newton at Woolsthorpe Manor.

Last year saw over 270,000 people partake in a Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt, with over 3 million people visiting National Trust places over the Easter weekend. Cadbury, National Trust and National Trust for Scotland hope for similarly impressive attendance figures this year.

Pawel Ozierski, Senior Brand Manager – Easter at Cadbury says: “We are very pleased to be working with RPM for a third consecutive year. The partnership between Cadbury, National Trust and National Trust Scotland is a very important part of our Easter campaign. It has reinforced Cadbury as the leader of Easter egg hunts and the brand of choice for this time of year.”

Dom Robertson, Managing Director at RPM, adds: “We are delighted to be working with these two much-loved British brands for a third Easter in a row. It’s hard to think of a brand that is more synonymous with Easter; therefore to bring its brand purpose to life across the UK is a real privilege. Creating great experiences is at the heart of what we do and we hope this year’s event continues to build on the great success of previous years.

There will be 319 events at National Trust and National Trust for Scotland properties around the UK over Easter weekend (25th to 28th March). Details about what is on where can be found at cadbury.co.uk/easter.

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Shoppers expect to see retailers putting on a show over Easter, with in-store egg hunts, recipe ideas, sampling and activities for kids, according to new research from leading retail and shopper marketing agency Savvy.

Easter has become a major shopping occasion for UK shoppers, the survey of 1,000 household shopping decision makers found, meaning spending around the occasion is expected to reach £775m, with the dicounters likely to get a significant share of the spend.

Alastair Lockhart, insight director at Savvy Marketing, comments: “Sales of chocolate eggs are set to outperform this year, contributing to overall Easter market growth. While the core mid-market for eggs remains incredibly competitive on price, especially as value retailers continue to scale up their Easter offers, demand for premium eggs looks set to build on the momentum set by the likes of Marks and Spencer and Hotel Chocolat last year.”

Lockhart also points out that shoppers are planning specific visits to the discounters this Easter. Lockhart says: “Aldi in particular is delivering bigger events, supported by growing ranges and stronger in-store execution.” Aldi has just launched a special Easter TV ad, featuring a child going on a magical journey through an edible world made of Aldi Easter treats to a soundtrack of ‘My Favourite Things’ (see picture).

Key research findings:

What do shoppers expect from retailers?

• Topping the wish lists this Easter with 47%, was instore food sampling.
• New ideas to try (recipes etc) came in second place with 44%.
• In third and fourth place respectively were instore egg hunts (29%) and inspiration for things to do with kids (26%).

Who will be celebrating the event?

• 66% of UK shoppers will be getting involved in the event (72% of women versus 57% of men) – up one percentage point on 2015 figures.
• 69% of shoppers agree that Easter is a special day and 72% say that they are looking forward to spending time with their families.
• 54% of shoppers don’t mind spending more to make the Easter weekend more special.

How will shoppers who are planning to celebrate Easter be spending?

• 68% say that they know where they can find the best value eggs.
• 51% of shoppers typically plan in advance what they’ll be buying for the Easter weekend.
• 34% said they’d be trading up to purchase more expensive food and drinks for the Easter weekend.
• 42% said they would be shopping at a discounter for Easter eggs and dinner ingredients.
• 32% are planning to purchase Easter products and cards at the last minute.
• 29% are planning on spending more on Easter goods this year.

What will Easter shoppers be buying?

• 79% of shoppers planning to purchase Easter eggs this year.
• 28% will be buying the ingredients for a roast dinner.
• 27% will be buying chocolate and 18% will be purchasing an Easter cake.
• On the non-food front, 13% of shoppers will buy Easter cards, 13% will buy flowers and six% will purchase a cuddly toy.
• Games, making kits and baking kits also featured on shoppers lists, although less frequently.

Savvy is a leading creative, retail and shopper marketing agency that places shopper, retail and brand insight at the centre of everything they do.

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British chocolate company Thorntons has launched an interactive chocolate factory to engage consumers during the busy Easter season.

The campaign, which uses CGI animation techniques to demonstrate the inner workings of the chocolate factory, aims to give consumers a taste of how Thorntons lovingly crafts each and every one of its Easter eggs.

“The Ultimate Guide to Easter Eggs” is the brand’s biggest investment yet in content and experiential activity.

Created in response to customer interest in the chocolate factory, the campaign emphasises the brand’s heritage, focusing in particular on the egg-spinning process (Thorntons eggs are spun as one whole, not two halves) and includes bitesize facts about the factory.

A gamification element adds to the experience with consumers challenged to find five Easter eggs within the factory. One winner of the Easter egg hunt will be selected at random on March 27^th 2016 and will enjoy a real-life tour of the Thorntons factory as well as a year’s supply of chocolate.

To celebrate the launch of the interactive chocolate factory, Thorntons invited a selection of influential bloggers to experience the real-life chocolate factory as well as have a go at personalising their own Easter eggs and crafting their own chocolates. The event gained significant traction on social media including Twitter and Instagram.

John Alexander Rowley, search manager at Thorntons, said: “Easter is the second biggest chocolate season of the year and we are delighted to launch this campaign to drive search visibility, increase online brand equity and provide a great overall digital experience to our customers.”

Thorntons worked with Cogent Elliott and CGI specialists Junction Eleven to create and develop the campaign. Thorntons has also put an article on its blog for a behind the scenes look at how the CGI chocolate factory was made.

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Ferrero’s Kinder confectionery brand is running a new retailer competition designed to drive consumers into store and to increase sales during the key Easter sales period.

The activity focuses on the new Kinder Joy limited edition products, a plastic egg featuring a tab opening up into two halves – one half made of creamy milk and cocoa cream and the other including a fun toy along with a spoon.

It is a seasonal sub-brand within the Kinder portfolio and was launched in the UK in December 2015 after a successful launch in the Republic of Ireland, where Ferrero says 40% of buyers were completely new to Kinder Surprise and 8% were incremental to the entire Easter confectionery category.

The trade competition will see 10 retailers receive everything they need to execute the perfect Easter Egg Hunt in-store or within their local communities. They will get all the essentials to create an Easter Egg Hunt including marketing materials such as posters for store windows, branded goods, free stock and incentivising consumer prizes such as family day-out vouchers.

Levi Boorer, customer development director at Ferrero, comments: “We admire and value everything that our retailer partners do to give back to the communities they operate in, and we want to lend a helping hand and spread some joy in-store at Easter. We are looking forward to receiving the store nominations and want to wish all retailers entering the best of luck.”

Ferrero says that convenience stores are regarded by consumers as the service which has the most positive impact on local communities, and its campaign is set to capitalise on this and support retailers in giving something back to their local community while embracing the family nature of Kinder.

Retailers can fill in an entry form to nominate their store which they can find at a participating depot or complete the form online at www.ferrero-trade.co.uk. Entries open January 11th 2016 and winners will be announced in early February, ahead of the activation of the Kinder Easter Egg Hunts on 25th – 27th March (Easter Weekend).

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