Anchor's new ad campaign emphasises natural butter

The campaign, part of a £7m marketing drive, features two new animated characters, Anchor Cow and Moo. It is the debut work for the New Zealand butter brand from Clemmow Honrnby Inge, which won the creative account in June after a pitch against BMP DDB and M&C Saatchi.

Previous incumbent WCRS brought the brand back to TV after a two-year absence with ads showing New Zealand cows raised without chemicals and free to roam large areas of land.

One of the CHI executions features a techno cow who likes "spreads that have E-numbers, colourings, potassium sorbate and diglycerides", whereas Anchor Cow and Moo like Anchor Spreadable just the way it is. Techno cow says: "It's all too simple around here".

To stress Anchor’s selling point of the natural basis of Anchor Spreadable, all the new ads bear the tagline: "From the Anchor dairy. Pure and simple".

Anchor says that clever marketing by dairy spread manufacturers has led shoppers to wrongly conclude that their products contain butter.

The claim is supported by research conducted recently by Anchor, which found that more than half the consumers questioned believed their favourite dairy spreads included butter. Most spreads are a blend of vegetable oil and buttermilk and contain no actual butter.

Anchor senior brand manager Mikael Horsboll said: "We believe it's right to let consumers know that most dairy spreads are not butter-based and contain many different ingredients, about which the public may not be fully aware, such as additives, colourings and preservatives."

The television campaign will also be supported by extensive PR and below-the-line activity.

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com