McCain Brings Ready Baked Jackets to Life on the High Street

LONDON, February 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

McCain Foods UK (Ltd) is using unique marketing technology, as part of a £1.4 million multi format campaign, to arouse consumers' senses and demonstrate, quite literally, just how delicious new McCain Ready Baked Jackets really are.

New McCain Ready Baked Jackets combine the much loved taste and smell of slow oven-baked jacket potatoes but are ready to eat in just five minutes. McCain wanted to recreate the in-home experience of their new product direct to the consumers on the streets by bringing them to life through their special outdoor campaign.

3D jacket potatoes will be appearing at bus shelters across the UK, and are set to heat up the nation and set taste buds tingling during this cold snap. When consumers press a button on the poster, a hidden heating element gently warms the potato and releases the mouth-watering aroma of a slow oven-baked jacket potato throughout the bus shelter. The aroma was developed over three months in collaboration with a specialist scent lab to accurately match the warming scent of McCain Ready Baked Jackets.

In a media first, the bus shelters will also dispense money off coupons, redeemable across multiple and independent retailers, to make it easier for consumers to trial McCain's latest product.

The Outdoor campaign will include ten fully-wrapped bus shelter specials, fitted with 2-feet high, fibre-glass potatoes, in addition to billboards, roadside six-sheets and point of sale six-sheets at Tesco, ASDA, Morrisons and Sainsbury's. Digital Outdoor will also reach commuters with tailored messaging on screens in train stations. The campaign is set to be introduced in major cities across the UK, including London, York, Nottingham, Glasgow and Manchester.

Mark Hodge, McCain Foods Head of Brand, comments: "McCain Ready Baked Jackets will revolutionise the way we eat jacket potatoes so this ground-breaking campaign provides the perfect advertising support. In the chilly month of February, these Outdoor specials are really going to stand out and drive sales by bringing the tasty oven baked smell of jacket potatoes to warm the consumer. We're adding a whole new meaning to try before you buy."

Spencer Berwin, Managing Director of Sales at JCDecaux, said, "McCain is using touch, smell and sight to create a 360 degree experience of Ready Baked Jackets, on the street. The voucher dispenser is a media first and is a hugely exciting step for JCDecaux, enabling brands to prompt purchases and interact directly with consumers as they go about their day."

Ready to eat in just 5 minutes from the microwave, McCain Ready Baked Jackets taste, smell and fluff just like oven-baked jacket potatoes . . . because that's all they are.

Notes to editors

Refer to pack for cooking instructions as times differ depending on the number of potatoes cooked at once. One potato takes five minutes to cook in a category D / 750W microwave oven from frozen.

McCain is Britain's favourite chip maker and takes pride in the quality of all its products. McCain is a family business that works closely with 300 British farmers, some of whom it has worked in partnership with for three generations. The company aims to make good, simple food and at its heart are its people, the community and the environment.  For the full range of McCain products with nutritional information please go to http://www.mccain.co.uk 

For more information please contact Nexus PR:

Victoria Auckland, victoria.auckland@nexuspr.com, +44(0)207-052-8846

Phil Slaney, phil.slaney@nexuspr.com, +44(0)20-7052-8839