Very Unlocks the Compounding Effects of Consistency and the Value of a Data-Driven Strategy
Following a number of years of varying creative approaches Very aimed to refresh its brand platform to align with its new strategy and vision, hoping to create a consistent platform which would stand out in a sea of sameness within the category. Their goal was to bring the “There’s good, and there’s Very good” strategy to life, infusing the brand with vibrancy, character, and variety to reflect the cultural of the brands’ homeland of Liverpool and their unique customers’ zest for life. A creative platform titled “Let’s make it sparkle” brought this strategy to life. Given the scale of this transformation, Very used data-driven decision-making to give full confidence that the new creative platform would not only engage their key customers but also attract a new consumer base.
In partnership with System1 and their creative agency, The Gate London, Very built a brand strategy rooted in effectiveness. At the heart of the strategy is System1’s principles of Fame, Feeling, and Fluency, and the research of Orlando Wood, CIO at System1 and author of Lemon and Look out. His work explores the impact of brand characters and right-brained features, elements grounded in humanity, storytelling, and culture, contrasting with the more functional, message-led, and performance-driven left-brained approach.
If Fame, Fluency and Feeling are the ‘effectiveness engines’ powering Very’s brand strategy, audience and cultural insight are the fuel on which they fire. Very feed their model with rich audience data and relevant, resonant cultural trends. A key inspiration is “hun culture,” a uniquely British sub-culture, characterised by a fabulous, cheeky, why-not vibe that finds joy in the everyday. The potent mix of audience and cultural insights informed a brand positioning of ‘Flamingos in a flock of pigeons’ – a positioning that speaks to the attitude of Very and its customers.
The new creative platform launched in November 2023, in the UK’s Superbowl of advertising, the festive period. The launch introduced Very’s new brand characters, three fabulous flamingos – Kerry, Terry and Cherry – on a mission to make Christmas sparkle. Not your classic festive bird, but one that would become distinctively Very. While other retailers served up familiar festive sentiment, Very strutted in, pink, proud, impossible to miss. The launch creative delivered a strong 4.5 Star Nat Rep rating, and an exceptional 5.7 Star amongst Very’s custom target audience.
In 2023, following the festive launch of the “Let’s make it sparkle” platform, Very saw a 3.4% year-on-year sales growth during their Golden Quarter, excelling in toys, gifts, beauty and electricals. This uplift aligned with System1 data, brand health tracking and econometric results, proving the value of a data-driven approach.
But Very didn’t stop there. Across the next year they doubled down on creative consistency. In March 2024, they refreshed their Very Pay always-on creative with their flamboyant flamingo world. By July 2024, their Back to School campaign extended the “Let’s make it sparkle” platform to this key family moment, positioning Very as a go-to for parents year-round. Consistent use of brand characters, smart media placement and audience-focused targeting drove positive sentiment and consideration, reinforcing the power of a cohesive, consumer-first strategy.
This strategic consistency enabled Very to expand into new categories, building awareness, fame and fluency in fashion. Having already built an incredibly distinctive animated world, Very understood that fashion would need a bespoke approach. Very took the essence of their strategy and translated it to fashion with the same vibrancy and flamingo energy associated to the brand. Haus of Flamingo launched Autumn Style, Very’s first TV campaign in seven years, driving a huge 10% year-on-year growth in womenswear consideration and an exceptional 5.7-star rating among its target audience.
"It was fantastic to see our distinctive creative strategy extend into Haus of Flamingo and our style categories. The bespoke approach we took gave Haus of Flamingo a unique feel, but one which still had our Very sparkle at its core. We couldn’t be happier with the way the campaign connected with our audience and increased consideration for Very’s fashion offering,"
Jessica Myers Chief Customer Officer at Very
While many retailers choose to release a new blockbuster Christmas campaign every year, Very made the strategic decision to re-run the previous year’s campaign, harnessing the commercial benefits of consistency while optimising media spend and reducing new campaign development costs. Working closely with System1 testing and their expert creative guidance teams, they took a data-led approach to refine and enhance the creative even further.
System1’s expert consultancy team identified the key moments in the 2023 campaign that drove the strongest consumer engagement, exploring creative ways to amplify their impact and maximise emotional resonance. As a result, the final creative was a refined, cut-down version featuring the most impactful scenes, with the cut downs fuelling greater media efficiency and reach. This led to an uplift of +0.7 uplift in Star-Rating year-on-year, System1’s long-term brand building measure. This placed Very in the top 12 Christmas ads of 2024 and within the top 1% of ads on their entire database.
This was supported by increased investment in innovation, the strategic use of brand assets, and a platform-first approach to creative development, exemplified by Very’s new Toys campaign, which earned a five-star rating on System1’s Test Your Ad Social. Across the marketing mix, Very continued to harness data to refine and optimise its presence across channels and platforms, amplifying the compounding benefits of consistency. This led to sustained improvements in brand consideration, with both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter uplifts. In the Golden Quarter of 2024, this strategy supported a 2.3% year-on-year retail sales growth, alongside a 15% improvement in cost efficiency for driving recall by Year 2. While the British Retail Consortium Retail Sales Monitor recorded that the overall market grew by 0.5%, Very outperformed it by over four times, maintaining strong performance in toys, gifts, and beauty, while also driving growth in home, fashion, and sports. This highlights the brand’s success in expanding across categories and reaching new audiences.
Beyond the metrics, the platform has reignited the spirit of the business, uniting the organisation under a single, energised vision, with flamingos and sparkle now embedded in the Very culture. From employee recognition and internal communications to events and leadership engagement, the “There’s Good, and There’s Very Good” brand strategy has become a true North Star. It guides not only marketing, but strategic decision-making across the business. What began as a brand refresh evolved into a company-wide transformation, demonstrating that when culture is harnessed smartly, strategically, and authentically, it doesn’t just power great marketing; it drives meaningful commercial success.
“The brand strategy has sparked a shift that goes far beyond marketing. Its impact continues to energise teams across the business and has played a key role in shaping high-level decisions. The ongoing success of the campaign has not only set a new benchmark, but also strengthened our focus on staying agile, data-led, and deeply connected to our customers. It’s shown how brand thinking, when embedded in the culture, can unlock real commercial value,” says Jessica Myers, Chief Customer Officer at Very.
2023 “Let’s make it sparkle”
2024 “Let’s make it sparkle”
As World leaders in predicting and improving advertising effectiveness, Test Your Ad provides the most accurate/predictive metrics.