Guest Podcast: How Ginsters made us all 'Taste the Effort' - The Chutes Podcast

🪂 Welcome to The Chutes 🪂

The marketing awards for brands and agencies of all shapes and sizes where, uniquely, the work that works, is the work that wins.

Today we’re proud to announce the second winner of The Chutes is Ginsters with ‘Taste The Effort’. Congratulations to everyone involved, including the agency partners Truth, Kantar & TBWA.

To hear more about how the work that worked was made, Emma Stower joined Joe Glover and Giles Edwards for a 25 minute masterclass. We hope you enjoy!

The objective 

After speaking to consumers and uncovering how Ginsters was perceived, Emma Stowers experienced quite an awakening. Misconceptions about poor quality were creating a barrier for the brand, making it difficult to shift public perception. Ginsters set out to change this, aiming to showcase the quality and craft behind both their brand and their products.  

This dedication to care and craftsmanship inspired the creation of Merryn, a devoted Ginsters potato farmer who became the heart of the campaign. 

The results

After pre-testing and refining a rough cut storyboard with System1, Ginsters achieved an impressive 4.0 Star Rating for their final cut. By leveraging humour and strong brand codes, they secured high brand recognition and cut through the category noise. Taking a bold and unconventional approach, Ginsters established a unique and distinctive identity to reinforce one simple message: great taste, great quality. 

Merryn injects the brand with fun and has become a consistent part of its identity, and thankfully, she is here to stay. Ginsters aim to build a distinctive asset with Merryn, a smart strategy backed by System1’s The Magic of Compound Creativity. Data from the IPA shows that over five years, brand characters grow in effectiveness, increasing by an average +1.0 Star Rating. 

But it is not just the brand that is pleased with the campaign’s success. Within the first 12 weeks, the campaign drove a significant uplift in value sales and added over 1.5 million households to the brand. Real consumers even called Ginsters after the ad aired to share how much they loved it, expressing their appreciation for the way it highlighted British farming.