The Testing Behind Laithwaites’ +9% New Customer Growth

Opportunity

In early 2024, Laithwaites, together with agency partners Adam & Eve and Medialab, approached System1 to evaluate its flagship “We Stop at Nothing” brand campaign ahead of a planned national rollout.

The campaign had already been tested through regional media activity during 2023 and delivered encouraging commercial results. The next challenge was understanding whether the creative had the emotional strength and distinctive assets needed to support larger-scale investment and become a platform the business could build on over time.

This was particularly important because the campaign arrived at a difficult period for the wine market. Following the pandemic boom, consumer demand softened, supermarket purchasing habits returned, and competition intensified. Laithwaites needed to rebuild demand in a sustainable way and encourage more people to consider the brand in a category dominated by familiar supermarket choices.

The challenge was not simply to drive short-term sales. It was to build confidence and trust in a business that specialises in wines many consumers will not already know. For many wine drinkers, choosing unfamiliar wines can feel risky, particularly when the bottle is being opened for family and friends. If consumers do not know the wine, they need confidence in the merchant recommending it.

The “We Stop at Nothing to Bring You Great Wine” platform was rooted in a simple truth: Laithwaites does the hard work on sourcing, tasting and recommending, helping customers discover better wines with greater confidence.

Solution

Laithwaites partnered with System1 to evaluate the campaign using Test Your Ad Pro, testing the creative with a nationally representative audience alongside two custom audience samples reflecting its priority customer groups.

The research explored whether the campaign:

Achieved a strong Star Rating, indicating long-term brand growth potential through emotional response.

Generated a high Spike Rating, predicting the campaign’s ability to drive short-term sales.

Built positive emotional response across both existing and prospective customer audiences.

Strengthened Brand Fluency, reinforcing distinctive assets including the wine crate, campaign platform and tone of voice.

Identified the highest-performing creative moments to optimise the campaign across TV, social, radio and other channels.

Results

The testing confirmed Laithwaites had a campaign capable of driving both immediate response and long-term brand growth, giving the business confidence to increase investment behind the platform rather than overhaul the creative. The insights also helped optimise the campaign across TV, social, radio, CRM and owned channels, creating a more consistent brand experience throughout the customer journey.

Among wine drinkers and Laithwaites’ target audience, the advert achieved a 5.9 Star Rating, placing it amongst System1’s strongest-performing ads for long-term growth potential. It also delivered a strong Spike Rating for short-term sales potential and an 89% Fluency Rating, demonstrating that Laithwaites’ distinctive brand assets were being recognised and remembered.

The commercial results reinforced those predictions. Combined with encouraging regional trial results, the campaign delivered a 29% increase in salience, a 5% uplift in total orders, 9% growth in new customers, and £3 million in incremental revenue after 47 weeks. The activity also generated £1.63 in short-term revenue for every £1 invested, with returns expected to grow as the brand effects compounded over time.

For Laithwaites, the combination of regional trial results and System1’s predictive testing provided the confidence to scale the campaign nationally and continue investing in what has become a long-term brand platform.