Ginsters ‘Taste the Effort’: Having it large in Cornwall

As the days get shorter and inevitably the nights get longer, naturally here at the Decision Marketing Nerve Centre we start to hunker down, bear-like, and pile on the pounds in preparation for a long hard winter.

And what could be better preparation than a gobful of pasty? So, by magic, here comes a new campaign for Ginsters – apparently its largest to date – focused on highlighting the quality of their ingredients.

Yes, dear readers, the largest pasty maker in the UK by turnover has had TBWALondon in to create a new “humourous” £4m campaign, called “Taste the Effort”. Designed to promote the quality of its products, the activity flags up how the company only uses ingredients sourced from local and British suppliers, with no added artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.

The campaign’s central protagonist is a new character called Merryn; a quirky farmer who goes above and beyond with the effort she puts into growing the highest quality vegetables for Ginsters. Like many of us in the Decision Marketing Nerve Centre, she’s also no skinny minnie, although no doubt we will get our knuckles rapped for saying such things these days.

She’s also a Cornish grower, and veg is in her blood, so it is little surprise she takes it so seriously (well, that’s what it says here). And Merryn is so devoted to living up to these standards and growing the best possible ingredients on her farm that she will go to extraordinary lengths to do so. These include dressing up and being a scarecrow, talking to her veg via walkie-talkie and attempting to pull an ancient and heavy old-fashioned plough all by herself because it’s “better that way”.

Directed by Rosie May Bird-Smith of Biscuit Films, a 30” version was unveiled this week on on social media, to be aired on TV from October 6. There will also be an 80” second ‘feature’ launching on YouTube. The film will be supported by social, PR, OOH and shopper marketing.

Ginsters marketing director Emma Stowers said: “This is an important moment for the Ginsters brand, we want to shine a spotlight on our great quality in a fun and engaging way through Merryn. This is our biggest campaign and spend to date.

“The ‘Taste the Effort’ brand platform will pack a heavyweight punch across several national touchpoints. We hope Merryn will become a highly distinctive long-term brand asset who will not only drive an emotional connection with the brand but drive cut-through versus other generic farm-to-fork stories.”

TBWALondon executive creative director Andy Jex added: “A farmer is the perfect way to tell a quality ingredient story. We just needed to do it in a more stand-out way with a voice that felt authentically Cornish and Ginsters. We were lucky we found Merryn, a seriously funny farmer with a serious view on veg.”

So, what is the consensus around the Decision Marketing office?

Well, we must admit, we all have a bit of a soft spot for pastry of any kind – sweet or savoury – so naturally, Ginsters is a big part of our “five a day” (well, it does have veg in it and everything!). This campaign follows 2020’s “fisherman and farmers” spot by Red Brick Road, and before that Saatchi & Saatchi’s “feed the man” strategy, and, like its forebears, plays heavily on that Cornish connection.

Whether the new activity is much of a departure from previous work is a moot point but it is definitely “on message”, and, as they say “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”.

Decision Marketing Adometer: A “whopping 570 calories” 7 out of 10