Celebrating Taylor Herring and Mars Wrigley’s mutiny on the Bounty
The campaign won in the PR and the Food and Drink categories at The Drum Awards for Marketing EMEA 2023.
The campaign sought to rehabilitate the image of the Bounty bar through UGC and media appearances / Mars Wrigley
Taylor Herring and Mars Wrigley turned public hate of its coconut-filled Bounty into an attribute for its 2022 Celebrations campaign.
The Brief
Research indicated that Bounty was the most polarizing chocolate in the Celebrations tub, with people either loving it or hating it. In 2021, Mars Wrigley launched a return scheme, allowing customers to exchange any unloved Bounty for Maltesers, which garnered significant success. For 2022 though it sought to turn hate for the coconut-flavoured sweet into an attribute.
Recognizing the ongoing cultural and social conversations around the nation’s favorite chocolates, Mars Wrigley sought to engage Bounty haters and Bounty sympathizers. The creative spark behind the campaign came from the notion that absence makes the heart grow fonder. The idea was to remove Bounty chocolates altogether and introduce No-Bounty Celebrations tubs in select stores – triggering a national debate on the true appeal of the confectionery along the way.
The Idea
The campaign was strategically executed in two phases. In the first, a media announcement highlighted the trial removal of Bountys due to public demand. Research data, indicating that a significant percentage of Britons wanted Bounty gone permanently, added authenticity. The media approach involved engaging influencers, journalists and various media channels, including social media, to create buzz and generate real-time conversations.
Phase two aimed to amplify the campaign’s impact by releasing an emotional seasonal ad, ’Bring Back Bounty’, leveraging the cultural appetite for heartwarming festive content. The ad featured a misunderstood Bounty finding solace in the woods before being reunited with other Celebrations chocolates through public pleas. The creative approach drew inspiration from classic Christmas ad traditions, featuring a heartwarming friendship and an original soundtrack composed in-house.
The Results
The campaign generated 6,502 pieces of global coverage, with 3,688 in the UK. It received 259 TV mentions and 1,622 total broadcast mentions, along with 178 pieces of print and online coverage in UK national titles. The media coverage continued to pour in, with the seasonal ad resulting in a significant spike in interest.
In addition, the campaign reached number one in the Trending tab on Twitter on the first day and remained in the top ten for four consecutive days. Overall, the campaign achieved over 80 pieces of user-generated TikTok content on the story with over 4m combined views, ultimately garnering attention from renowned news outlets such as the New York Times and Australian daytime TV. The Today Programme covered the campaign and even UK prime minister Rishi Sunak was asked for his opinion by The Times.
This campaign won at The Drum Awards for Marketing EMEA 2023. Find out more about The Drum’s Global Awards program or head to our case studies hub to read more award-winning stories.