Cape Town agency, Herdbuoys eKapa launched a national TV campaign for Weet-Bix in February that showcases the home-grown brand's versatility and popularity amongst a younger generation of "rainbow" kids.
Consisting of a series of four 15" kitchen demonstrations and a 35" generic positioning advert, the "kitchen kids" and "rainbow kids" ads were born out of Weet-bix's historic positioning as "South Africa's breakfast cereal of choice" (one in four cereal brands sold is Weet-Bix).
Says Herdbuoys eKapa client service director, Bobby Hughes, "The idea was to extend a classic favourite into an altogether new category in the eyes of its target audience."
The "rainbow kids" ad depicts a group of South African teenagers, representative of all demographic groups and all 11 official languages (plus Hindi and Portuguese), each delivering the pay-off line "Pure Wheat, Only Nicer To Eat" outside of his/her mother tongue. The result is a fun interaction between a group of South African kids exploring "new" tastes - with language becoming a metaphor for the product's appeal across generations and demographics.
Post-production consumer testing by Target Market Studies resulted in some of the highest ratings ever recorded, with adult respondents (males and females between 18 - 50 across all demographic groups including LSM 3 and over) reacting positively to the message and the execution.
Says Target Market Studies owner Reuben du Plessis of the "rainbow kids" ad, "Not since the "Sanlam Babies" ad have we seen a TV ad test that high in target feedback scores. It definitely struck an emotional chord with audiences. "
The opening and closing billboard "kitchen kids" TV ads, are based on the pre-production research conducted with kids sharing their Weet-Bix recipe ideas. The ads depict four different children each demonstrating his/her favourite way to eat Weet-Bix. The print campaign is a direct extension from these four recipe favourites.
"The response we received was completely unexpected. We recorded all kinds of weird and wonderful ways that South Africans enjoy eating their Weet-Bix, including one kid whom admitted to dipping his in chocolate milk! With those kinds of results it became an almost natural progression for us to extend the product from the realm of "hot" or "cold" milk into a category where kids can make up their own rules about how a breakfast cereal should be enjoyed," says Herdbuoys eKapa Client Service Director, Bobby Hughes.
The "kitchen kids" ads achieved post-production perception scores in the top 5% of established TV ad rating benchmarks in both "entertainment value" and "empathy", with Target Market Studies recording an 8.2 out of 10 rating.
