Ginsters Bring Back a Winning Brand Asset

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Three years ago, Ginsters and TBWA\London introduced us to a wonderful new brand character fronting their “Taste The Effort” campaign. Merryn, a Cornish farmer who farms the ingredients for Ginsters pasties, is a loveable creation who will go to hilarious lengths in her quest to perfect her craft.

The original 2023 ad was a sly way of associating Ginsters – seen as a prepackaged snack product – with authentic ingredients and British farmers, but without losing a humorous touch. It succeeded extremely well, with analysis done for The Chutes awards showing that the campaign added 1.5 million new customers.

So it’s great to see Merryn back once again in a new ad with renewed investment from Ginsters. This time she’s found new ways to bring modern business techniques to the art of farming, with a commercial that gently mocks management fads (and even has a little bit of a go at market research itself – the very thought!).

We see Merryn implementing strategy meetings – to the bafflement of her pasty-munching workers. We see a professional masseuse brought in – strictly for the cows, of course. And we see Merryn and her staff doing a bit of consumer ethnography – peering in through an unfortunate family’s windows.

It’s a worthy sequel to the original commercial that makes the same tongue-in-cheek point – Ginsters’ suppliers are British farmers committed to helping make the best possible product. By choosing humour instead of simply stating the case, Ginsters help break down any cynicism among their audience and let the “Taste The Effort” message get through.

Just like her first appearance, Merryn’s return is a success on System1’s Test Your Ad platform. The ad scores a 3.6-Star Rating for long-term effectiveness, putting it in the top 15% of ads in the meat and dairy products category. It also lands a strong Spike Rating, indicating successful short-term business impact too.

As well as its humour and clever ideas, the “Taste The Effort” campaign is a winner because it’s building a consistent creative asset in the Merryn character. As our latest work with  Effie shows, consistency is one of the four elements in the “creative stack” that makes advertising more profitable over the longer term. Investment in a Fluent Device character like Merryn pays off to a greater degree over time, as the distinctive brand asset gets more familiar, and as ‘familiarity breeds contentment’ and better emotional response. Something Merryn can take into account if the ‘strategic planning’ continues into a third ad!