The UK’s fastest-growing bakery brand, St Pierre, launched a brand new ‘above the line’ campaign this summer, in a bid to drive brand awareness in line with its impressive UK distribution gains1. We sat down with Megan Harrison, Global VP of Marketing for St Pierre to find out more about the ‘Eat Avec Respect’ campaign.
St Pierre has been growing steadily over the past few years. Why was 2024 the year to invest in a TV ad campaign?
The St Pierre brand is at a very exciting stage of development, primed to build brand awareness in line with the phenomenal distribution wins we’ve secured in the UK over the past two years. As of May this year, St Pierre Groupe claimed fifth place in the UK’s top 10 branded bakery suppliers and the St Pierre brand was up 64 per cent year on year2.
The team has worked relentlessly to secure distribution across the UK’s major multiples, with a steady stream of product development and a raft of campaigns that have aided growth. However, as all marketers know, there are three levers to pull to grow a brand. When it’s a premium brand like St Pierre, then, as a team we need to focus our energies on increasing penetration. And an effective above the line campaign is a great way to do just that.
So, tell us about the creative – ‘Eat Avec Respect’?
The creative campaign signals a change in direction for St Pierre, combining the assuredness and confidence of stereotypical French attitude with the standout humour and playfulness of our growing premium brand. We worked with Fold7 to develop a creative platform that captures the personality of our brand and perfectly blends the French flair and challenger spirit for which St Pierre is known.
Like everything we do, the campaign is rooted in insight. Our brand truth is that the quality of our brioche is outstanding – it’s elite and so much more than ‘everyday bread’. The cultural truth is that from art to romance and fashion to food, it’s widely accepted that the French just do it better – and they know it too. What’s more, the French are fiercely protective of what is dear to them, and passionate in sharing frustrations if others don’t show the same respect. It’s a concept we’ve tested in multiple markets so we can be confident that the new creative will work internationally, as our brand grows.
What we love about ‘Eat Avec Respect’ is the flexibility it allows us. We developed the creative with an eye on application and that means we’ve been able to explore new tactics when it comes to in-store activity. We have achieved so many ‘firsts’ this summer, from swing gates to in-store goalposts and pallet wraps to cross-merchandising fixtures. It’s meant that the campaign has come to life across convenience, wholesale depots and major multiple grocery stores with fantastic impact and it’s a credit to the team delivering a masterclass in in-store marketing.
Now that you have a new creative platform – what happens next, and what does it mean for your customers?
Well, our key visuals will continue to feature across all platforms. These focus on three tearful French characters who all plead with the audience to treat St Pierre brioche with respect, ‘For France’s Sake’. The fourth key visual really highlights the reverence of our brioche, as though it’s held in higher regard than any other food stuff – and the focus is very much on the product. This creative idea will be a mainstay of our marketing from here on out.
The TV ad ran for almost six weeks and we had some fantastic spots through summer programming, at a key sales period for us. Obviously, measurement is going to be key in understanding the success of this first ‘campaign burst’. We ran a lot of supplementary activity over the summer too, supporting the TV ads with social media, consumer PR and an incredible raft of activity in-store with both grocery and wholesale customers to really bring the campaign to life.
It will be a few weeks before we’re able to take a read to understand the impact on brand awareness, and of course with a brand-building campaign like this, recognition doesn’t happen overnight. We are confident, however, that the Eat Avec Respect platform really cuts through – spreading St Pierre orange in bakery’s world of beige – and in time, we will reap the benefits of that.
Meanwhile, the Eat Avec Respect platform is being adapted as we explore the nuances of each market in which St Pierre has a presence and we’ll be maintaining our support for in-store programs year round, to make the most of the new positioning.
Our investment in Eat Avec Respect demonstrates to our customers that we are maximising the shelf space we’ve worked hard to secure. It reaffirms that we are driving sales for the category – with St Pierre shoppers spending more per trip in bakery and attracting higher value shoppers to the category as a result.3
Retailers and wholesalers benefit from siting the brand in multiple locations throughout the store, bringing the brand to life with our innovative in-store displays and all the while, gaining valuable insight into the category as we work in partnership to share learnings.
Find out more about the Eat Avec Respect campaign online at www.stpierrebakery.co.uk
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