MARYLAND ENCOURAGES THE NATION TO ‘KEEP IT KOOKIE’
WITH NEW BRAND POSITIONING
Millions of TV viewers will see how to ‘Keep it Kookie’ this Saturday (March 6) when a new Maryland TV commercial will be screened on primetime TV, during Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.
The TV commercial is an integral part of a major brand repositioning for Maryland Cookies, Burton’s Biscuit Co’s £50m*1 flagship brand, which plays on the fact that Maryland is ‘unashamedly different’.
‘Aunt Deb’ (shown here) is the star of the commercial, arriving unexpectedly at a family home, inviting herself in before taking a seat and comically shimmying a Maryland Cookie from over her eye into her mouth, to everyone else’s amusement
Backed by a £750,000 investment, the Keep it Kookie campaign will support the nation’s No.1 cookie*1 with a fully-integrated, digital-led marketing campaign, complemented by the new commercial which will run extensively across social channels including YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, and on prime-time TV.
The 360˚ campaign is set to reach over 14 million consumers, including 91% of core Maryland consumers almost seven times, heightening brand awareness and driving shoppers to fixture.
The commercial will be used to seed the humorous ‘Maryland Cookie Race Challenge’ on TikTok, inviting consumers to challenge Aunt Deb and each other and sharing their fun experiences of moving a Maryland Cookie down their face into their mouth, using TikTok’s duet (video sharing) feature.
“Aunt Deb personifies Maryland Cookies’ new positioning,” says Burton’s Biscuit Co’s Marketing Director Kate Needham. “She’s a bit kookie, really engaging, and unashamedly herself in a way that is endearing to those around her. And like Maryland Cookies, she’s a bit of a talking point!”
A heavyweight digital focus will also feature what is thought to be a first for a UK biscuit brand, with Keep it Kookie images featuring on the GIPHY keyboard.
Needham also added how Keep it Kookie shows Maryland Cookies can stand apart from other biscuit brands, championing its points of difference and connecting with consumers in a playful way.
“The whole campaign celebrates the fact that Maryland Cookies are a little kookie, proud to be unlike any other biscuit and with a new brand positioning which reflects the fact that no two Maryland Cookies are the same.
“We’re confident that consumers will warm to the fact that we’re celebrating what makes us all different and having lots of fun in the process, especially at a time that is particularly challenging for us all. Keep it Kookie will be encouraging millions of others to do the same,” she said.
*1 Combined Read – Nielsen Scantrack (26.12. 2020) and Powerview (27.12.2020)