NEWSWORKS PLANNING AWARD
UM London
“BURTON’S FISH ’N’ CHIPS – BACK WITH A BANG!”
Executive summary
Burton’s Fish ‘n’ Chips had won a vote in The Sun newspaper for the top 1980s snacks
readers would like to see back in shops.
Burton’s Biscuits heeded the public’s demand and the tangy, savoury snack was
relaunched. We combined closely with The Sun across the newsbrand to announce the
news to the world and get the bags in hand.
A week-long print partnership was backed up by online content, videos and interviews with
1980s celebrities and opportunities to win prizes. We also collaborated closely with The
Sun’s editorial team to reach into relevant conversations happening across social media.
Since the relaunch back in January 2014, sales of Fish ‘n’ Chips have already hit £7.3m, a
staggeringly successful outcome.
UM London – Best Use of Content — Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips
How classic newsbrand The Sun helped us relaunch
a classic snack, Burton’s Fish ‘n’ Chips, generating
huge sales of £7.3m!
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES – ‘Sign ‘O’ The Times’
The Sun newspaper asked its readers in a tongue-in-cheek 2012
feature what 1980s brands they would like to see back in shops again.
Fish 'n' Chips by Burton’s Biscuits was the overwhelming winner.
Burton’s heeded the public’s call to bring Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips out of
retirement and charged The Sun and UM London (ourselves) with the
challenge of sharing this news with the public. The objective was to
a) make a huge noise at launch and b) stir emotion, provoke a smile,
encourage sharing and drive sales.
Everyone wanted to continue this unfolding story, with the brilliant
exposure The Sun had already provided. It was clear we should keep
up the momentum to drive excitement and awareness with The Sun
newsbrand as our key partner.
INSIGHT – ‘(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life’
We knew that our audience fell into two camps: first, the section of
the public that enjoyed Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips in the 1980s, before the
snack was discontinued; and, second, the new, younger generation
that hadn’t heard of or tasted the snack before. Our strategy would
have to accommodate both groups if the relaunch was to be a
success.
To grab the attention of the older generation, we hit on the idea of
nostalgia as a theme, a perfect match since the product was
originally from another decade. We aimed to trigger positive childhood
memories by creating valued and engaging content around nostalgia,
while linking to modern interests.
To reach the younger generation, we would use social media as a key channel to systematically
reach existing conversations around the product.
THE PLAN – ‘Stand and Deliver’
We wanted to harness the scale and reach of The
Sun to get our message out to the public. To this
end, we sought to leverage our relationship with the
newspaper beyond simply buying ad space.
Moreover, it was vital to imbue the brand with bags
of personality to keep up the momentum The Sun
had already created.
We planned a week-long commercial and editorial campaign around ‘What We Miss About the
80s’, involving key pieces of content around the 1980s as a cultural and social reference point.
The content was underpinned with the Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips message ‘We’re Back’ across print,
tablet and online.
The sponsored editorial that ran from 17-21 February represented a media-first: it was the first
time the format had been used by The Sun, who made an exception to their normal approach due
to the strength of Burton’s partnership with them.
Also, to give our sponsored articles a tanginess and flavour to match the biscuits themselves, the
editorial was written by Tommy Holgate, the well-known Sun journalist and all-around cheeky
chappy. Tommy interviewed 1980s celebrities and sports stars, and riffed off the nostalgic
memories of all things ‘80s’.
Celeb involvement
Week-long print editorial
Online
Each editorial page carried the Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips branding with ‘in
association’ logos and the strip advertorials. Each page focused on a
different 80s theme: TV and film, sport, fashion, gaming and music.
The Sun and UM ran a competition with a selection of fun and aspirational
80s-themed prizes, including an arcade game, American Apparel
vouchers and cases of Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips snacks, supported by online
video interviews and competitions outside of The Sun’s pay wall. Leader
and double MPU banners ran on the logged-in video and competition pages
linking through to the Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips Facebook pages.
Strategic social media campaign
Our campaign also involved a strategic social media push, managed through our specialist entity
Spring Creek, using real-time listening technology.
Our research had shown that there were many social communities currently active, campaigning to
bring back this legendary snack. We were confident that there were enough potential advocates on
social channels that would find content about the brand interesting, engage with it and shout about
it to other people. In this way, we could appeal to the younger generation and avoid the industrywide slump in the efficacy of organic reach.
We got involved with relevant conversations and grew our fan base organically through pro-active
conversation. The Sun tweeted twice per day during the campaign, while teasers to the video
interviews and competitions appeared on The Sun’s Facebook page on a daily basis.
Social media
THE RESULTS – ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop us Now’
Since the relaunch in January, sales have hit £7.3m. A staggering comeback for Burton’s Fish ‘n’
Chips! (AC Nielsen to 13.09.2014)
Business
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Only 2% of FMCG launches exceed £5m in their first year
No. 1 selling snack within savoury convenient category in ASDA and Tesco
The brand has grown its presence in a huge variety of places, with distribution in petrol
forecourts, train stations, and pubs and clubs
Social
 267,328 people reached via The Sun’s Facebook account
 6,471 competition entries to The Sun
 17k ‘likes’ on the ASDA Facebook page for Fish ’n’ Chips
Research by The Sun revealed
 138% increase in ad awareness
 125% brand awareness increase
The Sun supported us all the way and even threw in a few freebies, including co-branded
advertising to drive consumers through to Burton’s Fish ’n’ Chips editorial on The Sun website. In
fact, the content was appreciated by readers so much that The Sun ran a follow-up feature, ‘90s
Week,’ and garnered even more celebrity involvement.
Burton’s was side-by-side with us too, even adding the campaign Twitter handle to the Fish ’n’
Chips packaging.
CLIENT VIEW
Mandy Bobrowski – Head of savoury, Burton’s Biscuits
“We challenged UM London to help us make a splash to bring back Burton’s Fish ‘n’
Chips to the nation’s shops. Using The Sun as the newsbrands partner was the
logical choice given the great exposure created by the initial article. But the way the
UM team adapted their plans around The Sun’s editorial voice was very impressive.
Also, their close relationship with The Sun enabled us to leverage every part of The
Sun newsbrand – from print, to social, to web. The exceptional sales figures we’ve
had since the relaunch speak for themselves.”