Episode 92 - Curtice Brothers Ketchup Ad Reviewed by AB InBev, The Digital Voice and Tesco Mobile
The latest episode of Advertisers Watching Ads reviews the disruptive marketing tactics of gourmet ketchup company Curtice Brothers, and their latest ad “Ketchup to the Rescue” chosen by Contagious.
This bold ad was created in collaboration with Ogilvy Germany and courts controversy as it seems to pick on low-rated restaurants from Tripadvisor. Is this the best marketing strategy or does it risk creating bad PR for the brand? How do our guests Caitlin Partridge (Global Marketing Director at AB InBev), Julia Linehan (Founder and Managing Director of The Digital Voice), and David Brewerton (Head of Digital and CRM at Tesco Mobile) feel about their brave approach?
Watch the latest episode and see the ad which scored only 2.6 out of 5.
Automated Transcript
Tom Ollerton 00:00
Hello and welcome to Advertisers Watching Ads. This is a weekly show where brands watch other brands' ads and discuss what's good and bad about them. I'm Tom Ollerton. I'm the founder of Automated Creative and welcome to this week's show. We're really proud as ever to be brought to you by contagious.com, who have helped choose the ad this week. But before we get to this ad, let's meet this week's guests.
Caitlyn Partridge 00:27
Hi, I'm Caitlin Partridge. I'm the Global Marketing Director for Mike's Hard Lemonade at AB InBev.
Julia Linehan 00:32
Hi, I'm Julia Linehan. I'm the Founder and Managing Director of The Digital Voice PR Agency.
David Brewerton 00:38
Hi, I'm David. I'm Marketing Acquisition Lead at Tesco Mobile.
Tom Ollerton 00:42
Fantastic, guys. What a great panel. So before we get to this ad, it's worth knowing that Curtice Brothers Ketchup and Ogilvy Germany created the ads aren't afraid of controversy. They've got a ton of PR for publicly telling Tottenham Hotspur in a print ad that their ketchup was sugar free after the manager had banned it from the club canteen. And this latest work is an equally disruptive way of showing that the taste of their Tuscan made ketchup can work wonders. So what I'm going to do is ask you guys to give this campaign a mark out of five. One, two, three... A three, a three, and a two. David, what was your take on that ketchup ad?
David Brewerton 03:15
I really loved it. I mean, I love the fact that they're being disruptive. They have to take risks, right? They have to be a bit disruptive to cut through and to make a difference in the market and get and get people's attention. I think it highlights a lot that when you don't perhaps have the budget that the bigger players have, it brings out a lot of creativity and I really love it. Just thinking outside the box. Do something different, and using real reactions, using real people.
Julia Linehan 03:37
Three words that I was trying to think, what three words do I take away from this? And for me it was bold, brave, brutal. They're brave because this brand normally associates with high-end restaurants. What an incredibly brave stunt to associate with really crap restaurants that are doing really badly. The logistics of the locations and the geolocations and what they had to do, immediate planning at local level. That apparently was a massive headache and quite a big budget puller. But I think ultimately, I thought it was great. And I think if it benefits both restaurants and the brand itself, then all credit to them. And for me, it was strong, very strong creative idea.
Caitlyn Partridge 04:14
I do question a little bit some of the execution because I think while it's very bold and disruptive and can definitely get noticed, I think some of the executions could potentially be a bit detrimental to the brand. If you don't look at the out-of-home very closely, you don't know if the review is about a restaurant or if it's about the ketchup. There's definitely some risk there on some misperceptions and misconceptions for consumers taking away that quick message so that you have just a few seconds to read when you're looking at an out-of-home. I felt at some points that it could be very detrimental as well to the restaurant themselves because they're, they're calling out that these restaurants do not have great food and they have to rely on ketchup to mask the terrible taste. So I don't know truly how much good they were doing for the restaurants themselves as well.
Julia Linehan 05:08
I think, though, Caitlin, that's a really interesting point because I thought that I thought, is this really good exposure? You're saying you went from pretty crap to adequate? Oh, my God. I don't know if I'd want that. But yeah, I agree with you. It's a strange one. That's why I kind of put it down as it's a bit brutal on both sides.
Caitlyn Partridge 05:23
From a brand perspective since I wasn't familiar with this brand, just looking at their website, etc., trying to understand what their, their positioning typically is and what they stand for and they talk about love. And then they come out with this campaign and say, "Oh, we just make things okay." It's not necessarily elevating the ketchup to the levels that I would almost expect that they're, they're aiming for. As you mentioned Julia, they're typically seen in more high-end restaurants. So for sure, this was a diversion for them.
David Brewerton 05:53
You know, we all know that language is really important and without the context of the whole activation, the whole stunt to see an out-of-home creative with the language that they had can possibly be a bit underwhelming, I think. And as you say, it could be even detrimental to just say we're okay or we make terrible things okay. Without the full context of the campaign, it might be difficult to get the true feeling of the messaging there.
Julia Linehan 06:17
It's sprung to my mind that this is an award-winning entry. It's something that we as the industry go, "We really like that. We thought that was very clever." Does the consumer get it? Would my mum get it? They just go, "Why are you advertising rubbish restaurants?"
Tom Ollerton 06:31
I really agree that I don't think people are going to get this when you're just driving past. They're not last... They're not landing any distinctive brand assets. No USPs. The fact that it's made of really sugary sweet tomato was lost, lost, lost, lost, lost. Just going, "We're associated with a crap restaurant and we're taking down the little guy." And I think for me that that's not good form.
David Brewerton 06:52
I think that's the key difference between the other example that you gave that they've done the Tottenham example. They really landed the different USPs of the ketchup, not just, "Oh, we make crap things taste a little bit better." It was around all the key things that make them really, really different compared to their competitors, but it also still has a personality. It's still disruptive. So you just want to get, you know, headlines. I really love the... Like I said, the bravery of the execution and trying these things, but I guess, the devil's in the details a lot of the time. And ultimately, when you're trying a more bold and more brave, more disruptive thing, it's not going to work 100% of the time, as well as the Tottenham example there probably.
Tom Ollerton 07:31
Do you think that's their strategy? Just be weird on the low budget? Cut through and then maybe scale later on? Or do you think they need to stay in this kind of challenger mindset?
Caitlyn Partridge 07:39
I think that's probably, that probably is the strategy just to get the top of mind recognition, get the name out there. Creatively, I think Curtice Brothers has done a great job at taking that, that trope and taking a nice new creative spin on it to bring some differentiation. But again, what's really lacking is bringing it back to them. Why should I care about them rather than just now recognizing maybe the name?
Tom Ollerton 08:02
What are you going to be taking back to your teams about this ad?
David Brewerton 08:05
I think what we said upfront, I think the positives of it are its creative thinking outside the box, different ways to speak to customers, different... I mean, it brings a lot of personality as well. I don't think it necessarily hit the nail on the head for all of the things that we discussed already. But we won't hit the nail on the head every time. But, you know, if we get a couple right, then it can make a big difference.
Caitlyn Partridge 08:05
Yeah, I think it goes back to what is the key message that you want consumers to take away from whatever you're putting out there. And for me, that message just wasn't clear in this execution. So making sure that that's first and foremost what you're, you're delivering. Not letting the disruptive creative get in the way of that, although it should always be part of what you're aiming for as well. The distinctiveness and disruptiveness to get noticed as well. You have to, you have to balance the two.
Julia Linehan 08:53
Within the concept of saying we make food better and they're embracing user-generated content through online reviews. Go further and go after influencers, micro-influencers, and say especially those that put themselves out there as being terrible at cooking. Hand them a bottle of Curtice Brothers and let them see doing, see what their food taste better. Get people to review. Does it make my crap food taste better? Something like that. That's the next stage. That's if you're going to embrace user content, you're going to embrace the fact that online reviewers are savage. And that was the whole concept. I'm now curious, I'm not very good cook. So I'm now wondering if it'll make my food taste better. That's now appealing to me as a consumer, but I've had to think that through. I think it's close. It just needed a little bit more context and a little, it now needs to be taken to another layer.
Tom Ollerton 09:38
Well, there you have it. Julia, David, Caitlin, thanks so much of your time.
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