At the start of 2026, the UK grocery landscape underwent a fundamental shift as new regulations governing the promotion of High Fat, Sugar, and Salt (HFSS) products came into full force.
These rules have significantly narrowed the options for brands and retailers, limiting where and how they can show up, from traditional Out-of-Home (OOH) displays to specific in-store placements.
For many marketers in the grocery trade, there has been a legitimate concern that these restrictions risk making iconic brands invisible in the moments that matter most.
We are effectively entering what could be seen as the “silent era” for HFSS brands, writes Jack Lamacraft, Global MD, The Park.
When you can no longer buy a digital impression or secure a prime-time slot for your hero SKU, the risk of brand invisibility is real.
But this silence only exists if we allow it to. Rather than a dead end, this regulatory change should be a driver to rip up the traditional rule book and explore new, more creative routes to reaching consumers.
The opportunity now lies in moving away from direct, transactional promotional messaging and focusing on long-term brand building and genuine connection.
From editorial activity and supercharging own-brand channels, to embracing experiential marketing, the options are in fact greater than you first think.
And the real catalyst for this opportunity is creativity.
By shifting the focus from buying eyeballs to building connections, brands and retailers can turn their compliance into a competitive advantage.
It’s a challenge for us to develop great stories and greater moments for audiences and consumers to amplify. Let’s not forget, every time a participant shares their experience on social media, they are providing a peer-to-peer recommendation that is exempt from the “paid-for” digital restrictions.
So, where do those creative opportunities lie?
Tell stories to earn the rewards
Telling stories through campaigns that focus on values, purpose or lifestyle help to bring a new perspective and build new connections, acting as a source for earned media.
Publicity gained through non-paid and earned means like PR, word-of-mouth, and organic social media allows brands to maintain visibility and more importantly, trust. That trust can drive long-term custom and brand love in a way that other channels can’t.
But those earned media efforts can also drive consumers to owned channels (websites, newsletters), which are completely unaffected by the legislation.
Conversations that fuel conversions
While the HFSS regulations rule out paid-for promotional space, they don’t stop people from talking to each other. And this is where community comes into its own. We can’t ignore the growth in community-focused marketing in recent years, and this isn’t going anywhere.
By tapping into communities and building cultural relevance, brands can turn a single moment into a powerful story engine. But to succeed here requires a level of insight and nuance that some have shied away from in the past.
Who are the communities, the characters, the partners that could help to shine a new light on your product or brand?
Creating experiences that drive engagement
Experiential marketing can help brands to connect with their audiences in ways that other channels can’t, whilst still complying with relevant rules. From fun pop-ups to big bold installations, the options are endless.
You can’t smell a YouTube ad, nor can you taste a traditional billboard. Restricted regulations mainly target sight and sound, the two senses most easily engaged by a screen. But we know that multi-sensory interactions create much deeper memories. By engaging taste, touch, and smell, experiential marketing doesn’t just capture attention, it creates that long-lasting emotional distinctiveness.
In this new era the most effective way to “advertise” online is to build something so impactful in the real world that people can’t help but talk about it online.
A single activation in a high-footfall area can generate thousands of organic social posts, which is both exempt from the paid-for digital ban and, more importantly, carries the high-trust weight of a recommendation. This focus on creativity doesn’t mean we neglect the importance of data. In fact, done well it can open up new sources of insights.
Whilst an ad might create a fleeting digital impression that a user might skip, an experience creates a lasting encounter. It also offers first party data generation (solving a different compliance headache). Just imagine, when a guest opts-in to a tasting, a game, or a digital activation, they are providing compliant, first-party data.
Navigating this new era requires a disciplined approach to ensure that your creative ambition doesn’t fall foul of the law.
To move forward, it’s important to adopt a clear approach:
– Explore your brand and product portfolio
– Understand where the vulnerability lies under the regulations
– Develop a roadmap for amplification
The “silent era” doesn’t have to be that. It just requires us to think differently, focusing on the one thing that can’t be regulated: human connection.
In fact, by moving beyond the screen and into the real world, HFSS brands and traders can find a new, more meaningful way to stay in the hearts and baskets of their customers.
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