The Task
To create a hard-hitting integrated campaign that speaks directly to the FMCG industry, raising awareness of the issues faced by people who work or have worked in the grocery business.
What we did?
To ensure stand-out in what can be an extremely cluttered trade media environment, we needed to take a bold approach. So we turned problems into products and asked our audience not to buy them.
‘Debt’, ‘loneliness’, ‘stress’ and ‘illness’ all became individual brands in their own right, with distinctive packaging designs crafted to deliver our messages in a recognisable graphic style and tone of voice. Even down to the back of pack small print and icons.
Throughout a series of press ads, digital advertising, direct mail, events and 30 second animated commercials on social media, the message was clear: ‘We’re not buying it’.
“From my perspective, we needed to do something disruptive. Mercieca created a campaign that would intrigue whilst also illustrate where as a charity we are making a difference. The counter-intuitive tagline “we’re not buying it” worked well in an industry dominated by trade promotion urging customers to buy more! We’ve had a great response to the direct mail campaign and will definitely have a significant number of new supporters on board as a result. The feedback from the industry has been superb and presages exciting times ahead for GroceryAid.” - Steve Barnes, Chief Executive, GroceryAid.
