Charlie Bigham’s launches its biggest TV ad campaign since 2015, designed to challenge the preconceptions of the ready meal category by highlighting its founder’s food philosophy and commitment to fresh, quality handmade food in every single dish.
Timed to coincide with consumers dining more at home following the festive period, the £4 million “Handmade in Charlie Bigham’s kitchen, cooked in yours” marketing campaign will be seen across the UK on Radio and Out of Home and focused into London and the South for TV, BVOD, YouTube and Social, really homing in on the target audience. The ad premieres on TV during Michael Mosley: Secrets of your big shop on Monday 15th at 8:45pm, really highlighting the freshness of their handmade meals vs the market norm and will be seen across the Great Pottery Throwdown, Gogglebox and Jamie Cooks the Mediterranean.
Voiced by Charlie himself alongside well-known author, TV presenter and comedian, Richard Osman, the creative sees the brand’s packaging come to life in an illustration format. Consumers are taken on a journey featuring Charlie picking ingredients in the market and then all the way through to designing new recipes in the tasting kitchen. It also tells the story of how the company started 25 years ago, where Charlie’s travels in a campervan across Europe and Asia inspired him to create pre prepared meals with fresh, high quality ingredients at the heart, which remains core to the business today.
Charlie Bigham’s CEO Patrick Cairns, “This is a significant moment in our mission to increase brand awareness amongst consumers which delivers footfall into our key retail partners. In 2023 we saw a 35% uplift in consumers choosing a ‘night off’ from scratch cooking and following extensive consumer research, which is behind this campaign creative, we know more are looking and actively choosing good quality produce as one of their first key considerations in the grocery trade. Therefore, we are confident by showcasing our food credentials in this creative that we can drive sales in 2024.”
The campaign was created in partnership with Charlie Bigham’s agency of record VCCP London with media planning and buying led by Electric Glue. It is underpinned by a fully integrated campaign involving its full agency roster digital agency MK21 and PR agency Sunny Side Up.
