Resurrecting a legend

In 2023, Müller Corner’s household penetration had been in steady YOY decline.

Seeing an opportunity to bring lapsed and new buyers into the brand, Müller decided to harness the public’s latent love for an old ‘90s favourite and bring it back as a permanent part of the portfolio.

First launched In 1997, Mississippi Mud Pie (MMP) was a limited edition yogurt flavour inspired by its American namesake: a creamy toffee and coffee flavoured yogurt with a chocolate underlayer, paired with a separate helping of chocolate crumble. MMP was so popular, it became one of Müller’s best-selling products in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, until it was discontinued in 2005.

The idea was to first relaunch MMP as a single pot, followed by a multipack containing an additional retro flavour from 1995: Strawberry Chocolate Orange Balls. We were calling it The Originals range.

Back once again

To land our proposition, we knew it wouldn’t be enough to simply tell people our product was nostalgic. Advertising had to show up in a nostalgic way and give an emotional free sample of the product experience.

Our idea was to announce the return of a ‘90s icon using an iconic ‘90s visual: the ‘autostereogram’ Magic Eye. Hugely popular in the ‘90s, the Magic Eye books contained 3D optical illusions revealing hidden images or messages.

We first teased the return, challenging audiences to solve the optical illusion, which revealed the date MMP was returning.

We then announced the return with the same Magic Eye but a different message, which revealed the news that MMP was officially back and showcased the product in all its glory. A few months later, we refreshed our campaign to celebrate the additional flavour available in multipacks.

More UPS, less DeLorean

Taking a closer look at the current nostalgia boom, we noticed it didn’t feel backward-looking at all. It was at the forefront of culture, spearheaded by teens and young adults. People were wearing baggy jeans again, watching shows like Stranger Things (set in the ‘80s) and sending Kate Bush back to number one in the charts.

What characterised this ‘nowstalgia’ trend was the act of taking things from the past and reappropriating them for a 21st century context.

If we could position The Originals products as an extension of this trend, then we could avoid reinforcing the notion that we belonged in the past.

Our strategy was to bring ‘90s culture into 2023, rather than take people back to the ‘90s. We were a delivery service bringing people a taste of the ‘90s, not a time machine taking people out of 2023.

The art direction involved some unusually complex considerations:

The illusions had to work, while at the same time being satisfying 2-dimensional images.

Since the posters wouldn’t feature a packshot, the 2D images had to strongly indicate the product being advertised.

The illusions had to be hard enough to decode to satisfy Magic Eye® fans, yet accessible enough for newbies.

Since taste cues were important to Müller, we decided to make the 2-D images out of product photography. This meant the elements had to work as a pattern, while still looking delicious.

The largely abstract images still had to feel in-keeping with the overall Müller brand.

To create the visuals we collaborated closely with Cheri Smith, originator of Magic Eye® illusions and owner of Magic Eye® Inc.

The successful execution of the campaign is testament to her expertise and the meticulousness of the creatives who worked on the campaign.

Turning the corner

We successfully created the feeling of nostalgia, with people recalling Magic Eye illusions and many correctly solving the illusions.

We reignited enthusiasm for MMP, with people expressing their delight it was back. In the first month of the campaign, Müller saw a 45% uplift in total brand mentions and we secured earned media, achieving a total reach of 150.2m.

All this had a positive impact on sales. One month after launch, we exceeded our projected sales target by 61% and MMP became the number one selling NPD in two UK major supermarkets.

Most importantly, we brought new people into the brand. In the first month of MMP’s return, we achieved 1% UK household penetration. At the time of writing, 2.8% of UK households have bought our Originals products. This wasn’t a cannibalisation of existing Corner buyers. Penetration has been incremental, bringing in new buyers.