‘Many Faces of Potatoes’ campaign successful

Potato Council’s summer ‘Many Faces of Potatoes’ campaign has been hailed a major success, following positive industry and consumer feedback.

The impact of activity, which included national TV advertising and a consumer-facing roadshow, triggered a clear shift in awareness of the healthiness of potatoes, as well as their versatility and convenience.

The TV advert aired on ITV and Sky Media channels in July to a target viewing audience of 3.6 million 25-44 year olds. After seeing the ad, 95% of consumers agreed that potatoes are healthy compared to 83% of non-viewers;an increase of nearly 1 million shoppers. During the two weeks of broadcast, the ad also increased visitor traffic to the Many Faces of Potatoes website by a third. (Please note that the campaign is no longer active and the website is no longer available)

In addition, a series of roadshows reached well over half a million shoppers, with over a thousand samples and recipe booklets handed out daily. Initial feedback from the stand again pointed to health being a cut-through message, with 71% of consumers saying it had positively changed their overall perception of potatoes as a healthy food.

Industry support was strong as Gillian Kynoch, Albert Bartlett development and innovation director, said: “With health and taste at the top of everyone’s agenda, Potato Council’s advertising campaign really highlighted these wonderful attributes of potatoes. This should help stamp out any misconceptions and put potatoes at the top of shoppers’ minds when they are looking for a tasty, easy and nutritious meal.”

Stu Baker, Potato Council marketing and PR executive:

“Many Faces of Potatoes has been an excellent platform to reach consumers. The TV ad was impactful in terms of raising health awareness and driving traffic to the website.”

“The roadshows provided additional opportunities for in-depth interaction with our core audience and provided much needed recipe inspiration. The TV commercial played continually on our stand at each centre to attract consumers and we had a skilled chef on hand to cook three potato dishes every hour for sampling.”

“Reassuringly at the end, 95% of consumers visiting the stand agreed that potatoes were a healthy choice. People also love their convenience and versatility – all of which are essential messages to drive sales.”

Consumer response to the new classification system has also been positive throughout the activity, with high recognition of ‘salad’, ‘fluffy’ and ‘smooth’ amongst the general public. ‘Natural’ and ‘nutritious’ also scored well, with over a third of consumers associating these terms with potatoes.

Stu Baker:

“It is clear the three-year Many Faces of Potatoes campaign has had real influence, generating much needed awareness for potatoes and giving shoppers more reasons to choose them.”