Wotsits is well-loved in the UK, with a 50-year history as part of the Walkers family snacks portfolio, but the brand was slowly losing market share.

In September 2020 Wotsits Giants entered the Sharing segment, launching the Giant version of its standard corn puff, making them twice as large. This NPD gave us the opportunity we needed to reignite latent brand love among lapsed adult consumers in the UK.

The brief was to develop a creative communications platform and campaign to deliver:

- Awareness of Wotsits Giants

- Product sales

Measured by:

- 25 pieces of press coverage; a reach of 181m

- 100% of press coverage with at least one key message – that Wotsits Giants were new, twice the size of a normal Wotsit and being rolled out nationwide

Social listening uncovered that the size of Wotsits was already a topic for consumer debate and sharing online - we saw an opportunity.

We leant into Wotsits Giants’ new bigger size as well as its characteristic shape and Walkers' cheeky tone of voice, joining in the time-honoured tradition of using subtle innuendo to raise a wry smile from those who 'get it', and an innocent one from those who don't.

The platform; Size Matters (When it Comes to Snacks) was born.

With the ability to be strategically deployed Through the Line, it got the nation talking, providing Brits with light relief following a period of intense focus on COVID-19.

Our core target audience for Wotsits Giants is the family category buyer but, our aim at launch was to explode the brand from family snack, into the wider public consciousness.

Our creative strategy therefore was designed to reconnect with the playful side of all UK adults, with a two phased approach mapping back to our brief:

1 Awareness: a size-focussed media moment to coincide with Wotsits Giants hitting shelves nationwide

2 Sales: a second activity phase to drive talkabilty, creatively inspiring consumers to purchase and engage with the product

There were three key messages to land across both phases: that Wotsits Giants were a new product, that they are twice the size of a normal Wotsit and were being rolled out across supermarkets nationwide. Furthermore, it was crucial that both phases of the PR campaign integrated seamlessly with a wider campaign including TV and digital creative and shopper.

The Size Matters platform allowed us to reposition executional tactics into cultural currency.

1 Awareness

We broke the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® record for the longest puffed corn snack on the planet, taking size to its physical extreme and landing the product’s USP in one go. The giant Wotsit was unmissable, driving blanket media coverage with content repurposed for a Twitter takeover ahead of the ‘Size Matters’ TVC airing that night.

2 Maintaining talkabilty to drive sales

Three weeks later, we announced the official way to measure a Wotsit, with a £10k reward for the person who could find the biggest. Walkers Quality Assurance fronted a fun, ‘how to’ guide brought to life via video and stills, which continued the conversation via PR and on social, encouraging shoppers to add a pack to their baskets. This was supported by bespoke ‘how to measure’ mailers, engaging journalists and influencers.

1 Awareness

This was a campaign that everyone knew about.

On the day of launch, Wotsits Giants was trending on Twitter.

In total, it secured 430 million combined opportunities to see and 197 pieces of media coverage, out-performing awareness targets eight times over. Featuring on BBC and ITV news, Good Morning Britain, and countless drivetime shows, it secured no less than 17 national standalone articles.

100% of coverage included at least one key message that it was a new product, was twice the size of a normal Wotsit and was being rolled out in supermarkets nationwide. 100% of the campaign coverage had a positive sentiment.

2 Sales

During the campaign period Wotsits (not just Giants) had its biggest sales week in history, and Giants’ Retail Sales Volume grew by +74%, smashing the sales targets and accounting for 20% of all Wotsits sales nationally.