Woolworths has a strong own-brand range, including an active in-store bakery since 1970.

But there was tension between what customers needed and wanted. Foodies grappled with the desire to consume home-made or specialist baked goods, versus the convenience offered by supermarkets.

In 2023, Woolworths Bakery stepped up its baked goods game with new and revamped products. Woolworths spent 18 months reviewing its bakery range to challenge perceptions around own-brand baked good products not offering the same level of quality and care as alternative offers.

Our objectives were to communicate the evolution of the range, and create a media-worthy moment to get the products into consumers’ hands, and drive earned media coverage and awareness about the relaunch....showing customers that exceptional taste and quality can be cooked up at incredible value.

We needed to challenge existing customer perceptions on supermarket bakery products by showcasing exceptional quality and taste available for less, without compromise, from Woolworths. The creative was designed to engage customers in a fun and authentic way, to drive mass attention and get the products into the hands and mouths of customers.

Our idea: The Woolworths Bake-Away Van, designed to bake Aussies smile - and give them a taste of the range. We would take the van on a taste-tastic tour of Australia, giving out thousands of free samples.

The tour stops were chosen strategically to reach a high number of customers in high foot traffic areas, including shopping malls, train stations and at popular high streets.

The activation was supported with a fully integrated PR, influencer and paid media strategy to specifically target audiences.

We set about educating the public on the quality and care put into the reviewed range. We wanted to deliver a campaign centred on our strategic intention — to Bake Aussies Smile.

Our recipe for success:

A moment-in-time customer experience reaching target audiences.

Paid and earned influencer content to promote the range and activation.

National media relations focusing on the viral attraction of the new range.

Radio partnerships to amplify the activation.

The Woolworths Bake-Away Van tour stops were chosen to reach as many people as possible. The activation was supported with a fully integrated PR, influencer, and paid media strategy.

We gifted products to key media outlets and influencers, creating buzz around the activation and the range.

Chris Hemsworth had recently shared a post of himself enjoying a Woolworths Cake for his birthday, and we leveraged this content as an additional story. If it’s good enough for a Hemsworth.

From brief to execution, we had six weeks, with the campaign running over three weeks.

The first stage was announcing the relaunch of the Woolworths Bakery range. The national media announcement included distribution of product samples to key media outlets and influencers, resulting in 72+ pieces of coverage.

Two days later, we launched the Woolworths Bake-Away Van. The van travelled through Queensland and NSW in selected locations to maximise media opportunities, giving customers free samples of the bakery range. This resulted in an additional 25 pieces of local coverage.

Our influencer program relied on paid and added value content from our community of well-known Woolworths partners, earned social coverage, and a gifting program, reaching an additional 6 million Australians. One piece of content—a TikToker taste-testing Chris Hemsworth’s Woolworths cake—went viral, resulting in national media coverage.

The campaign resulted in:

- Driving mass awareness. We achieved 97 pieces of coverage, with a potential combined reach of 15.7M+. 100% positive media coverage, including key messages and spokesperson quotes.

- Reaching an additional potential audience of more than six million through social, with campaign content receiving more than 28,000 likes, shares, saves, and comments.

- Over 18,000 Australians visited the Woolworths Bake-Away Van, and 3,500 samples landed in the hands of customers. Over 700 people scanned the QR code from the Van to view the whole bakery range.

- Improved customer sentiment. 94% of those who tasted said they would consider buying a Woolworths Bakery product - and they certainly did (please see confidential information-section)

- Societal impact. We made Aussies smile. Feedback from customers to the Bake-Away Van and the new range was overwhelmingly positive. Customers said, “Woolies Bakery to me is top tier” and “I had no idea Woolies made cakes like this.”