The UK’s number one breakfast cereal, Weetabix, is returning to TV screens with a topical and light-hearted New Year creative. The campaign will encourage the nation to start the day right with versatile, inspirational recipe ideas and will feature the by-line now synonymous with the brand – ‘Have You Had Yours?’.

The £2million campaign, set to reach 70% of the UK population five times each, will run across TV, Video on Demand, online and social media platforms through January and February. The retailer-specific activity includes online advertising via Criteo and ‘Pay Per Click’ investment to ensure Weetabix is top of mind for the health-seeking audience, as up to 30% of Weetabix sales are now made online.

To support the ATL campaign, instore and online retail will feature a ‘Superfood’ message highlighting Weetabix Original and Oatibix’ nutritional benefits, including 100% wholegrain, high in fibre and added vitamins and minerals, helping shoppers to make healthy choices this New Year.

Gareth Turner, Head of Brand at Weetabix Food Company, comments: “The new TV ad and in-store campaign kick starts another big year for Weetabix and builds on our ongoing commitment to driving category sales. In 2020 we made our biggest marketing investment for more than a decade and this campaign sets Weetabix up nicely for a host of exciting activity throughout 2021, including our exclusive partnership with The Football Association.

“Start the year with an Original Superfood’ builds on the insight that 40% of the UK said that they ate more during the lockdown,  and a significant 80% want to make greater attempts to stay healthy – so we are looking to inspire Brits to start 2021 (and the day) in the best possible way.”

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Weetabix is bringing back its Any-Which-Way-A-Bix campaign, introducing a new ‘Win £10,000’ on-pack promotion and in-store activity for the year.

As an extension of the ‘Have You Had Your Weetabix?’ messaging, the new activation is part of a wider £11m media spend and aims to drive penetration and category value by encouraging consumers to share their Weetabix creations to win the cash prize.

The limited-edition pack design will feature on all core Weetabix Original packs, including grocery multiples and PMPs. Launched this month with in-store activity and remaining on-pack till March, the  new packs feature fruit, nuts and seeds and the ‘share your creations to win £10K’ campaign graphic to encourage consumer involvement and purchase.

The campaign is the first part of a wider marketing strategy for 2020, with Weetabix aiming to triple its sizeable advertising investment between 2018 and 2020 across TV, radio and digital, with more exciting activity to be unveiled later in the year.

Charlotte Hunt, Senior Brand Manager at Weetabix, says: “We’ve gone bigger and better with Any-Which-Way-A-Bix for 2020. The amplified campaign builds on the success of last year as we aim to once again inspire and capture the attention of the nation, reinforcing Weetabix as an enjoyable, healthy and advantageous way to start the day. With striking new visuals and an exciting new on-pack proposition, we’re confident that this campaign will bring more shoppers to the cereal aisle and drive fantastic results.”

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Weetabix is bringing back its disruptive Any-Which-Way-A-Bix messaging ready for the Back to School period.

The multi-channel promotion will see a return to TV of the Nick Frost-voiced TV advert, as well a social media influencer push and online campaign. There will also be new in-store activity and POS across major retailers, including digital screens and branding at store entrances. While Weetabix packs will continue to be emblazoned with the Any-Which-Way-A-Bix slogan.

Originally launching in January 2019 as a compliment to the ‘Have You Had Your Weetabix?’ campaign, Any-Which-Way-A-Bix has proven to be a very effective sales activation. Not only did it help to increase incremental category value during the first four weeks of going live, sales of Weetabix soared, up +4% compared to 2018 and +5% compared to 2017.

Charlotte Hunt, Senior Brand Manager at Weetabix, says: “We know that consumers are adding more toppings to their Weetabix, with 53% of Weetabix occasions personalised with extra ingredients such as fruit, nuts and yoghurts. The first stage of the campaign brought this to life for consumers, bringing new and lapsed shoppers back down the cereal aisles, while also increasing basket spend for complimentary products.”

Over 130 million bowls of Weetabix are personalised “their way” by consumers each year. As part of the additional investment, a social media influencer campaign engaging 48 influencers and aiming to reach over 1.2 million people will take place with Weetabix continuing to tap into the mass trend for customising food.

Hunt adds: “Taste is still the number one purchase decision driver and this campaign celebrates all the unique ways Britons enjoy their Weetabix with fun and playful recipe inspiration on TV, on pack, online and in-store – from the Exotic-a-bix to the Bonkers-a-bix. Over 40% of people saw our Any-Which-Way-A-Bix packs in stores the first time around, driving year-on-year purchase intent and penetration of Weetabix, as well as encouraging shoppers to try more of our great tasting and healthy* cereal.With children heading back to school and the rest of the country getting back into the swing of things after the summer, it’s the perfect time to turbo-charge our marketing communications as we look to increase sales and penetration for the year ahead.”

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Breakfast cereal brand Weetabix is running a free fruit on-pack promotion to help people start 2018 in a healthy way.

The ‘£5-off’ fruit promotion runs from the start of January until March 28^th and will be supported with the brand’s “Have You Had Yours” TV commercial, being screened throughout January.

Weetabix has teamed up with Nisa on Weetabix 24-packs and with the Co-op and major supermarkets on 48- and 72-packs. The promotion is not running in Aldi and Lidl.

Customers who buy promotional packs during the campaign period will be able to claim 10 downloadable coupons, worth a total of £5 (€5 in the Republic of Ireland) off fruit, by going to the www.weetabix.co.uk/fruit promotional microsite and submitting the eight-digit alphanumeric Unique Reference Number (URN) printed on the inside of their promotional pack. They will also be asked to answer a multiple-choice survey question and say which retailer they bought the promotional Weetabix pack at.

The offer is open to residents of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Republic of Ireland.

The 10 coupons each have a different validity date, discount value, redeemable fruit type and unique barcode. The first coupon from the 10 received will be valid for redemption within seven days from the date that the participant downloads the discount coupons online. All the other coupons then have a specific seven-day redemption period covering the following nine weeks.

The coupons can be redeemed at participating stores, allowing customers to buy a different pack of fruit each week. Coupons will specify the discount value, the redemption validity date, the type of fruit the discount applies to, and the minimum fruit weight or minimum quantity required to purchase (for example, minimum 600g or 5-pack of bananas). The fruit the coupons can be redeemed against are pears, apples, bananas, strawberries, kiwis, blueberries, clementines, grapes, melons and raspberries, in that order.

Charlotte Hunt, senior brand manager for Weetabix, says: “Health benefits is one of the fastest-growing attributes that customers look for when choosing breakfast cereals. Our new ‘£5 off fruit’ campaign will help to further cement Weetabix as the natural choice for those looking for a healthier way to start the day. Value for money is also very important to customers and we’re really proud to offer added value with the coupons.”

Hunt adds: “Amongst a backdrop of declining sales within the cereal sector, we’ve grown 3% this year and are by a long way the nation’s favourite breakfast cereal. Last year’s ‘Weetabuddies’ campaign delivered a 14% year-on-year increase in Weetabix sales and our latest promotion will continue to inspire a new generation of cereal eaters and encourage a healthy breakfast culture for the whole family.”

Customers who do not redeem the coupons by March 28^th will still be able to enter a prize draw to win £500 towards a healthy year at www.weetabix.co.uk/fruit. The draw will be open to enter from March 29^th  to  June 30^th 2018.

The Weetabix brand is now owned by American company Post Holdings, which bought the company for £1.4 billion in July 2017 from Bright Food, a state-owned Chinese company.

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Weetabix on the Go breakfast drink will be sampled to 200,000 festival goers this summer, following a deal between Weetabix and live entertainment company Live Nation.

Weetabix On The Go will be distributed at three major UK summer music festivals: the V Festival sites at Chelmsford and Staffordshire and Reading Festival.  For the second year running, the brand will be giving away samples of chilled breakfast drink bottles to music lovers, providing thousands with a nutritional start to their days.

Weetabix will be promoting the activity in-store via bespoke festival POS in Tesco and Co-Op stores nationwide.  Customers will be entered into a prize draw to win VIP festival packages, including tickets and back stage passes.

Now valued at £24m, the breakfast drinks category is continuing to grow in popularity at a rapid rate in the UK. As the market leader, Weetabix On The Go has sold over 10 million bottles in 2017 alone and 50 million since launch, a huge 75% increase year on year. Weetabix On The Go holds an 80% market share.

Gavin Loftus, Head of Brand at Weetabix Drinks, comments: “We are extremely excited to partner with Live Nation and bring Weetabix on the Go to thousands of people at the biggest and best events in the music calendar this Summer. We have developed Weetabix On The Go to suit increasingly busy lives and occasions where eating breakfast in the traditional way is not possible, and festivals are the perfect example of this occasion.”

Loftus adds: “We know through our extensive research that huge numbers of young people regularly skip breakfast, making them one of our key demographics. By partnering with Live Nation at some of the Summer’s most iconic and popular events, we’re looking forward to getting a unique chance to interact with potential shoppers both within the festivals themselves, and in-stores through highly valuable giveaways that are sure to attract customers and drive sales even further.”

Weetabix Food Company makes Weetabix, Weetabix Minis, Alpen, Weetabix On The Go Breakfast Drink, Ready Brek, Weetos and Alpen bars. With its global headquarters in Northamptonshire, it operates across North America, South Africa, Kenya, Germany and Spain and exports to more than 90 countries around the world.

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Ready Brek has teamed up with Play-Doh for a new on-pack promotion running until January 31st 2017, where consumers can get £5 off Play-Doh when spending £20 or more on the children’s modelling clay or associated Play-Doh products such as the Play-Doh factory.

The promotion will be appearing on the breakfast cereal’s Original variety 450g and 750g pack sizes.

Hannah Flannery, commercial marketing manager for Ready Brek, said: “It’s said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day for adults and children alike and so we want to see more families enjoying a nutritious and tasty start to their day with Ready Brek. As an extremely popular product with children, we’re thrilled to be partnering with Play-Doh to continue celebrating Ready Brek’s integral place in the modern family home.”

Craig Wilkins, marketing director, Hasbro UK & Ireland, said: “Play-Doh and Ready Brek are both iconic, nostalgic brands for parents that are much loved by kids across the country – it was a natural collaboration for us. As we celebrate our 60th Anniversary this year, we’re delighted that our partnership with Ready Brek enables us to offer parents added value when purchasing new Play-Doh products.”

Ready Brek and Play-Doh were both launched at almost exactly the same time: 1956 for Play-Doh and 1957 for Ready Brek. After going through various owners including General Mills, Play-Doh has ended up with toy giant Hasbro. Ready Brek was originally launched by J Lyons & Co and is now owned and manufactured by Weetabix.

Originally called a ‘smooth porridge’ it was rebranded as a breakfast cereal for kids in the late 1960s – with the famous advertising slogan ‘Central heating for kids’; with the resurgence in popularity of porridge in recent years, the product is again been marketed as porridge.

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Rather than just looking to reach their target audience, brands should aim to get them more deeply involved, says Pete Davis at Get Me Media.

If brands struggle with one thing in the audience engagement stakes, it’s getting people actively involved. They can develop highly creative and striking cross-channel ad campaigns, target consumers through social media and mobile, entice them with offers, boost customer experience both online and offline, and more; but arguably more valuable than all of this is driving a direct action – getting people to participate. To do this, brands need to push the boundaries of marketing a little further.

Lego is great at this. It’s Yoda Chronicles offers short tales from the legendary sci-fi story told through animated Lego figures via YouTube. It provides a safe way of presenting to kids what could otherwise be violent stories, is a wonderful soft sell for the Stars Wars Lego range, but, more importantly ,it’s a very clever way to reinforce the world of Lego via social media using content, which is far more engaging and effective than simply advertising its toy range.

What’s more, it has proved so engaging that some consumers have been creating their own Lego animations – and we all know that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Essentially, this provides a great way of participating in Lego outside of the traditional brick building, while reinforcing this core proposition.

But it’s not just in cyberspace that Lego encourages participation. The brand has also launched movies and video games; it also offers another lifeline for parents on the High Street, with occasional pop-up cafés that let kids play with Lego, while mums and dads relax. There’s an entrance fee, but to frazzled parents this will equate with amazing value! And of course Lego kits are on sale. What’s more, all of these ideas have become highly lucrative revenue generators themselves.

Another, perhaps less obvious, example of strong participation marketing is Weetabix. Originally looking to get kids excited about a nutritious breakfast (and of course shift more units), the Weetabuddies campaign encouraged children to create faces on their Weetabix using fruit. It ran across TV, on-pack, in-store, social and online, as well as engaging parenting bloggers. The brand developed its own fun Weetabuddy characters and then encouraged children – and their parents – to create their own. It has proved a major success.

Weetabix Senior Brand Manager Claire Canty has said of the campaign: “By helping families to get creative and encouraging them to make their own Weetabuddies, we hope that kids will be reminded that a bowl of Weetabix is a lot of fun, while mum can be reassured that they are still getting a delicious and nutritious breakfast, helping us to encourage a whole new generation to fall in love with Weetabix as a result.”

Many brands that are waking up to the power of participation are turning to experiential marketing, with the discipline increasingly being used as the core for many campaigns. The latest Bellwether report from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) revealed experiential as the only other marketing discipline that had attracted increased investment (up 6% in the first quarter of 2016) after online marketing.

Ian Priestman, Head of Experiential at experiential agency Blackjack Promotions, argues: “From the more traditional brand ambassadors getting consumers involved with products directly in the real world to bespoke branded events, experiential is a great way to encourage participation if planned correctly, while the internet has provided a way to amplify this far beyond the live participants themselves.”

Find a way to get your target audience participating with your brand and you’ll ramp up engagement like never before – and, who knows, if you’re really creative you may find you’ve developed new spin-off products just like Lego.

Pete Davis, a former marketer and media controller at Nestlé, is Founder and Managing Director of Get Me Media. Founded in March 2006 Getmemedia.com helps brands and their agencies find marketing ideas, media and sponsorship solutions. It also offers key insight and bespoke training to help companies and individuals build their knowledge of marketing and media disciplines, and keep up with the latest trends. http://www.getmemedia.com/.

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The Color Run Presented by Skittles UK event series, which will be taking place in five cities throughout the UK this summer, has announced that Renault, Capri-Sun and Alpen will join its sponsorship roster for 2016, offering the three new partners opportunities to sample their products.

Color Run founder, Travis Snyder, was inspired by the Indian Holi Festival, where participants are covered in coloured dyestuff, and decided to combine the idea with a 5 kilometre running experience. From the first event in the Unites States in January 2012, The Color Run has spread across the globe.

Participants begin the run wearing The Color Run white t-shirt, which is then targeted with dyes at various colour stations located throughout the course. There are no stopwatches involved in the event – which is organised by sports management company IMG – meaning participants can walk, jog, dance and party their way along the colourful course at any pace. With hundreds of events taking place across the globe, the series continues to grow, capturing the imagination of thousands of participants with its happy and colourful philosophy.

Renault UK, Capri-Sun and Alpen join Skittles (the title sponsor), the NSPCC (charity partner), Capital FM (radio partner) and Metro (media partner) for the UK events.

As the Official Automotive Partner of The Color Run Presented by Skittles, Renault will be bringing a fleet of Renault Twingo superminis to the events As the Official Drink Partner, Capri-Sun will be handing out samples at each event throughout the summer as part of its ‘Squeeze the Day’ campaign. Finally, Alpen, as Official Cereal Partner, will help runners start their day feeling healthy and active with samples of its new oat based granolas.

The Color Run Presented by Skittles 2016 UK Tour location line-up is as follows:

• Sunday 12th June 2016                                  London, Wembley
• Saturday 2nd July 2016                                  Manchester
• Sunday 17th July 2016                                    Glasgow
• Saturday 20th August 2016                          Birmingham
• Saturday 17th September 2016                  Brighton

The colour used at the events is made from food grade cornstarch. It is 100% natural and causes no harm to skin or the environment. The powder used in its events has been tested for flammability and successfully passed the required EU standards.

Headline sponsor Skittles is manufactured by Wrigley, a subsidiary of Mars. IMG is a global leader in sports, events, media and fashion representing and managing some of the world’s best-known sports figures and fashion icons. It also stages thousands of live events and branded entertainment experiences annually.

Capri-Sun is a Coca-Cola brand, while Alpen is owned by Weetabix.

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Weetabix is relaunching its successful Weetabuddies campaign with a new year-long partnership with Cartoon Network. Aimed at inspiring a new generation of cereal eaters, the campaign encourages children to get creative and start the day off in the best way possible – with a healthy nutritious breakfast.

Weetabuddy characters are based on Weetabix wholegrain biscuits and feature a range of toppings, the majority of which are fruit-based to help increase children’s fruit intake at breakfast. In addition, Weetabix biscuits are made from 100% natural wholegrain wheat and are low in sugar, salt and fat while being naturally high in fibre and a source of protein.

The Weetabuddies campaign was first launched in January 2015.

The multi-channel campaign, which goes live on 6th January 2016, aims to encourage more children to add real fruit to their breakfast. Weetabix says that the average 4-10 year old eats only half of their recommended ‘five a day’ target (excluding fruit juice).

In addition to Cartoon Network’s partnership, the brand is spending over £1.7 million in January to promote the Weetabuddies campaign across TV, in-store, social and online, as well as engaging mummy bloggers in an effort to get more kids and their families choosing Weetabix.

The company says the 2015 Weetabuddies campaign was hugely successfully, delivering an increase in sales of 14% by volume and 4% by value year-on-year. Content for the campaign generated 1.5m YouTube views, the brand’s biggest viral success, and the competition received 6,000 entries.

New for 2016, consumers will have the chance to win one of five special edition Weetabuddies soft toys (Tropicolin, Blue Barry, Coach Bananas, Raz Baz and Straws), an offer which will feature on-pack from the beginning of January. To take part, consumers will be encouraged to share their own Weetabuddies creations on the Weetabuddies website and owned social media channels.

Throughout 2016, Cartoon Network and Weetabix will work together to get kids excited about eating a good breakfast. The partnership includes sponsorship of the peak breakfast time slot on Cartoon Network for all of January, April, September and November. There will also be an on-air channel sponsorship of Cartoon Network’s sister channel Boomerang in April and September. Each sponsorship ident will center on different Weetabuddy personalities in a cereal bowl telling each other food-based funnies, hilarious enough to induce the milk snorts!

Cartoon Network has also transformed some of its most famous faces into Weetabuddies for the campaign – from Adventure Time’s Jake the dog to Regular Show’s Rigby and Powerpuff Girls’ Bubbles – so kids will be able to recognise their favourite Cartoon Network characters in their new Weetabix form.

To further support the campaign, Cartoon Network has built a bespoke Weetabix Weetabuddies microsite, where kids will be encouraged to submit their very own Weetabuddy creations and play the exclusive ‘Drench Me’ mini-game. The best Weetabuddy creations will be entered into a competition for the chance to win an iPad, and a select few will even feature on-air on Cartoon Network later in the campaign!

Richard Lawrence, Head of Brand at Weetabix, comments: “When we launched the Weetabuddies campaign last year, our aim was to build the next generation of cereal eaters by getting them excited with a fun and creative way of eating a healthy and nutritious breakfast and upping their intake of fruit. It was our most successful campaign to date, and given the level of interaction with consumers, we wanted to bring it back with an added value reward for consumers. It’s hugely exciting to be partnering with Cartoon Network, and means we’ll be on TV for 52 weeks of the year, encouraging families to get creative and enjoy a fun and nutritious breakfast.”

Zara Peters, sponsorship and promotions director at Turner Broadcasting, says: “We’re thrilled to be working with the iconic breakfast brand Weetabix to help launch the Weetabuddies 2016 campaign. Cartoon Network will feature sponsored Weetabuddies content across our on-air and digital platforms to help encourage kids to get creative and excited about Weetabix’s healthy breakfast cereal.  Cartoon Network values kids creativity and we can’t wait to see their Weetabuddy creations! We believe this campaign will remind kids that mornings can be fun.”

Cartoon Network will utlilise its digital platforms, Cartoon Network Anything and Imagination Studios, to further push the Weetabuddies campaign. Imagination Studios, an online destination that promotes creativity amongst kids aged 6 to 12, will feature a Weetabuddies ‘making of’ video.  The video will include a food stylist explaining to kids how to make their very own Uncle Grandpa Weetabuddy, using healthy toppings and Weetabix. The popular Cartoon Network Anything is a free app that allows kids to experience a stream of short, fun CN content made for the small screen, making content accessible whenever and wherever. Cartoon Network has produced a series of bespoke Weetabuddies content that kids will be able to enjoy across April and September.

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