Waitrose Proves Emotion Wins Hearts on Social with Support from System1 and TikTok
Easter is an important festival which Waitrose’s customers want to celebrate, however, it is a brief moment in the retail calendar and can be hard for grocery brands to stand out. As the season approached, Waitrose set out to position itself as the go-to destination for Easter food and gifting, particularly among discerning food lovers. The goal was twofold: to inspire customers with delicious, high-quality food in a way that felt engaging and emotionally resonant, while also delivering measurable commercial results through increased footfall and in-store sales.
The campaign carefully balanced long-term brand building with short-term performance, combining always-on content with tactical messaging, bespoke formats, and social-first edits tailored to different stages of the customer journey.
In partnership with System1 and TikTok, Waitrose evaluated their campaign using Test Your Ad Social and Test Your Ad Audit. Test Your Ad Audit is a tiered deep dive into a campaign series, multi-channel campaign, past or historic advertising, or a brands competitive set to uncover areas of opportunity and improvement within a category or campaign. This analysis was further informed by insights from the research The Long and the Short (Form) of It. The objective was to assess how effectively each creative asset captured attention, built emotional connection, and reinforced brand cues.
Performance was measured using System1’s key diagnostic metrics:
Given TikTok’s fast-paced, attention-based environment, the campaign was reviewed holistically to understand how each asset contributed to both brand equity and performance outcomes.
Waitrose also explored how the campaign communicated key brand attributes, namely product quality, emotional appeal, and premium positioning. Test Your Ad Social enabled the team to gather spontaneous message takeouts and audience verbatims from their target group of good food lovers.
The campaign included a range of creator-led and brand-native content, each piece tailored to deliver against a specific campaign objective.
A comprehensive measurement framework, including System1 testing and a TikTok brand lift study, was implemented to assess effectiveness. The campaign significantly outperformed Test Your Ad Social norms for TikTok ads across all key metrics and was further validated by uplifts in recall, brand attitude, and purchase intent.
On average, Fast Fluency scores were 24% higher than the benchmark, indicating strong early attention and effective brand recognition across the full asset set. This early engagement, combined with exceptional Star Ratings and a high level of positive emotional sentiment, drove a 13.2% lift in brand recall. These results translated into increased brand awareness, stronger memorability, and a solid foundation for long-term growth.
Emotional impact also correlated with improved brand perception. The campaign achieved an average Star Rating of 5.0, which is 1.4 points above the TikTok norm. This emotional strength supported a 4.3% increase in positive brand attitude. Spontaneous audience feedback frequently described the campaign as “relatable” and “fun,” helping position Waitrose as a warm, culturally resonant choice for Easter food and gifting. These associations helped shift perceptions in the desired direction, reinforcing Waitrose as both uplifting and relevant during a key seasonal moment.
A diverse product range also played a key role in enhancing appeal, helping the campaign resonate with different audience needs and increasing reach and relevance.
In terms of performance and activation, the campaign delivered strong Spike Ratings and high Emotional Intensity, setting it apart from typical social content which often lacks direct response potential. As a result, two-week purchase intent rose by 2.3%, directly supporting the brand’s commercial objectives.
The findings not only demonstrated strong campaign performance but also surfaced valuable learnings to inform future activity. Ultimately, Waitrose succeeded in cutting through at a busy trading period, boosting brand affinity, inspiring shoppers and driving real business impact.
"It's fantastic to implement System1 measurement on TikTok. For us, exceeding these global benchmark clearly indicates that our entertaining approach effectively engaged audiences, cut through the noise and drove action during one of the shortest, most competitive trading periods."
Chloe Ball Paid Social Media Manager, Waitrose
As World leaders in predicting and improving advertising effectiveness, Test Your Ad provides the most accurate/predictive metrics.