Anchor's new moo-cows are 'pure and simple'
One of Britain's best-selling dairy brands, Anchor, is to launch a hard-hitting advertising campaign to encourage consumers to re-evaluate their purchase decision within the butters and spreads category.
Anchor says that clever marketing by dairy spread manufacturers has led shoppers to wrongly conclude that their products contain butter.
The claim is supported by research conducted recently by Anchor which found that more than half the consumers questioned believed their favourite dairy spreads included butter among the ingredients. In fact, most are a blend of vegetable oil and buttermilk which is a waste product of the butter-making process.
The Anchor message is reinforced by a series of new television advertisements. The 40-second executions - which form part of a £7 million marketing spend - will be broadcast nationwide from week commencing 17th November and will feature the brand's new characters, ANCHOR Cow and Moo.
Anchor senior brand manager, Mikael Horsboll, said the new approach was based on the need to address the confusion made clear by extensive independent consumer research. He said: "Most consumers believe that they're buying butter-based products when they're not. We believe they need to know the facts".
As well as establishing that most shoppers thought their spreads had butter in them, the Anchor survey found that one-fifth of the public believed dairy spreads contained only "natural" ingredients while 35 per cent did not know if E-numbers were among the contents.
Mikael Horsboll added: "We believe it's right to let consumers know that most dairy spreads are not butter-based and contain many different ingredients about which the public may not be fully aware, such as additives, colourings and preservatives.
"We've also found that many people have been led believe that butter is a luxury item when it's not. It has an essential part to play in a balanced diet. Our campaign, therefore, has an additional, educational element."
One of the new adverts, features a techno cow which likes "spreads that have E-numbers, colourings, potassium sorbate and diglycerides" whereas Anchor Cow and Moo like Anchor Spreadable just the way it is. Techno cow responds, "It's all too simple around here".
To stress the brand's boast as to the natural basis of Anchor Spreadable, all the new adverts bear the slogan: "From the Anchor dairy. Pure and Simple".
The advertisements are the first from Anchor's new ATL agency, Clemmow Hornby Inge (CHI). The London-based firm was appointed in June this year after winning the three-way pitch.
The television campaign will also be supported by extensive PR and BTL activity and the UK's biggest-ever megaside/rear bus campaign.
Arla Foods UK plc is home to some of the UK’s leading dairy brands including Cravendale, Lurpak and Anchor. Processing approximately two billion litres of milk a year Arla continues to be one of the UK’s leading dairy companies and a supplier of fresh liquid milk and cream to the top seven retailers.
Over 2,500 daily deliveries are made directly to stores nationwide and Arla brands can be found across the dairy category. As well as the leader of the butter, spreads and margarine sector, and a major supplier of other added value products including flavoured milk and cheese, Arla continues to build working relationships with Arla Foods Milk Partnership, a unique group of dairy farmers, which supplies around 90 per cent of Arla's total milk requirements.
Behind this leading business is a team of circa 2,800 people across the UK located at our dairies, distribution centres and head office.