Walkers Tear and Share Cheddar Cheese and Onion Thicker Cut Crisps Sharing Pack, 150 g

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Hopefully you find my lunchtime idea useful, I know you could cook your cous cous in advance, but not everyone has the time to do it the night before and I don’t like to carry it in still warm to work. I just find it so much easier this way.

PepsiCo is supporting the launch with a new TV campaign, in-store shopper marketing and social media. The challenge when you are number one is how do you stay relevant? We need to be at the beating heart of popular culture and tap into what is happening now. Fernando Kahane, Walkers Despite the success of the social team, the brand has no plans to in-house other aspects of its marketing, and Kahane champions the importance of agencies. The new brand positioning was developed after a week-long programme designed to generate ideas. It consisted of five days of workshops that included external speakers, agencies and other teams from its parent company, PepsiCo, where they discussed the category, trends and modern Britain. Fun was key in this spot and the challenge for the team was to bring this comedic energy to life by delivering fast-cut edits within a short time frame. The Mill’s Shoot Supervisor, Pete Rypstra, explains, ‘As the decision to eject Lineker from the scene was made after the set was built, the team had to rebuild some areas of the roof entirely and all evidence of the rig and wiring attached to Lineker also had to be painted out.

If you ask someone ‘tell me a crisp brand’ they are going to say Walkers. We are number one and top of mind far ahead of competitors,” Kahane claims. “We have created great ads that engage the nation [before] but [the challenge is] they have not really made people talk about the brand.” A TV ad that first aired last night (2 June) during Britain’s Got Talent, then shows the Spice Girls surprise their best ever fan, only to find he won’t share his Walker’s crisps with them. Walkers is hoping to create a “Superbowl moment” around the ad in the UK and so streamed it across social media, cinema and TV at the same time. Kahane estimates it will reach 17 million in the first eight hours after it launches, and 70% of the British population in the first week. Walkers social media team sits in-house, which Kahane says makes it easier to react faster. He explains: “We wanted to be more agile and connected and have the ability to respond to consumers in seconds.” Walkers is bookending the campaign with digital activity, firstly to garner interest and support, and secondly to foster conversation. The TV campaign will provide much-needed reach but Kahane is most excited about how “digital is really going to generate engagement throughout”.

As part of this, in February Walkers launched two new flavours – Spicy Sriracha and BBQ Pulled Pork – to appeal to Gen Z who are looking for “punchy” flavours.Speaking exclusively to Marketing Week, Walkers marketing director Fernando Kahane, says: “The challenge when you are number one is how do you stay relevant? We need to be at the beating heart of popular culture and tap into what is happening now.” We know the sharing segment is in growth, and by launching an innovative first for the category, we are helping to drive this growth,”​ said PepsiCo UK marketing director Thomas Barkholt. Incremental sales

The need for a fresh perspective meant Kahane ensured that the agency had creatives who had never worked on Walkers before – something he will replicate for future campaigns. He adds: “We want to rejuvenate the brand. Although we are in a very good position as the number one crisp brand, we are really trying to reconnect with customers.” The decision came in the face of declining sales, said the supplier, which had chosen to focus its efforts on other sharing lineups. Walkers is committed to developing new products and is working closely with retailers in store to tear up the sharing fixture. We know that consumers love the taste of the Walkers core range, and now we have made it available to share in a simple format.

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It’s important to have external agencies to foster creativity and to bring different minds to the creative process. You need fresh perspectives,” he says. The launch will be supported with a new TV campaign alongside strong levels of in-store shopper marketing and social media. To continue to drive sharing sales for our retailers, we will drive even more focus behind these top performing brands, so have decided to delist Walkers Tear ‘n’ Share as its performance did not meet our expectations.”

He adds: “We asked for fresh eyes and now we are briefing on new campaigns we want more fresh eyes. The insight is the same, the brief is connected but we wanted to have people bringing different perspectives”. A two-part strategy It’s important to have external agencies to foster creativity and to bring different minds to the creative process. Fernando Kahane, WalkersWhy not start with crisps? We are a crisp but we are way beyond that. We can bring enjoyment to people’s lives but also with a small gestures make a big impact and celebrate what we have in common.” In-housing versus agencies For more health-conscious consumers, Walkers is trying to adapt with its Baked range, which has 50% less fat; but there are further healthy innovations in the pipeline. However, Kahane argues that while consumers are “scrutinising” ingredients more that in the past, salt is “more permissible” as an ingredient than, for example, sugar. Walkers is set to add a first to the sharing category with Tear ‘n’ Share, a unique bag that turns into a bowl. The IT issue has added to the problems faced by the British food industry – along with most other manufacturers – during months of delays and disruption caused by the pandemic.