Berry Gardens

Background

Berry Gardens is the UK’s largest berry cooperative.

Objective

Drive sales of berries grown by Berry Gardens growers.

Insight

Traditionally berries have been sold against taste, and how they pair with cream, sugar and chocolate – they are a dessert food.

But to grow sales, we needed a new insight (an idea to unlock growth).  Ours was, like all the best insights, deceptively simple: berries are packed full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, anthocyanins and other goodies, so why cover them in ‘baddies’?

Strategy

Help under-35s consumers understand the myriad health benefits delivered by regular berry consumption.

Activity

This led to a fully-integrated campaign, More Than Taste, spearheaded by Olympic and World Champion, darling of the 2012 games, female health entrepreneur and mum-of-two, Dame Jessica Ennis Hill.

Securing Jess was a win in itself given the rest of her portfolio, but she loves our berries, eats our berries, feeds our berries to her kids and if she was going to partner with any food brand it had to be one as healthy and wholesome as Berry Gardens.

She was now the face of the paid media campaign we ran across Meta, Alphabet, JCD screens and retailer websites, with all creative and media handled by Sunny Side Up.

Paid media was supported by sampling both in-stores and at Hyrox and Turf Games, on-site shopper marketing, consumer events & experiences, selling to the trade at Barcode, re-writing the corporate website and even re-designing the corporate identity.

Results

The full 360 campaign led to healthy under-35s being the fastest rising group of berry buyers in the UK, increased sales across all varieties and delivered a step-change in the perception of Berry Gardens among retailers.

Sunny Side Up says

“It was so original and exciting to focus on the health aspect of berries and to recruit someone of the calibre of the brilliant Dame Jess, and the partnership was a real stand-out for the fresh aisle with numerous retailers got excited by. 

“To be able to bring her to life as a brand partner across a range of OOH and digital ad formats as well as below-the-line, and to make such a difference to the Berry Gardens business was a fantastic.”

Sunny Side Up Strategy & Creative Director, Nick Woods

Boxed:

Category Marketing Manager, M&S

“The Dame Jess campaign is particularly exciting, and it would be good to discuss how we can get the ball rolling earlier next year.”

Media Manager, Waitrose:

“It was great to see a proactive campaign led by a predominantly own-label supplier in a digital landscape. The use of a well-known brand ambassador helped to drive more engagement than what we could arrange. Going forward we could explore a more exclusive to Waitrose style activation.”