Charlie Bigham’s calls an end to poor quality meals with new marketing campaign

First nationwide outdoor advertising from Charlie Bigham’s positions the fresh food brand as the answer to disappointing evening meals

Charlie Bigham's, creator of tasty dishes to pop in the oven, is encouraging consumers to step away from sub-standard microwaveable meals and leave behind forgettable takeaways with its first nationwide outdoor campaign.

The pre-prepared food brand – which saw retail sales grow by over 15% last year – is asking shoppers to question their next choice of convenience food with its new tongue-in-cheek advertising push.

Running for 8 weeks until mid-June, a series of eye-catching adverts from the brand will be rolled out across over 9,000 panel locations, including widespread outdoor London and Tube advertising as well as posters outside supermarket locations up and down the UK. The activity is expected to reach an audience of around 53m, and the campaign has been developed by London-based independent creative agency Creature.

With provocative headlines including ‘Take away the tedium of takeaway’, ‘Knock out the knocked out nonsense’ and ‘Roll over rustled up rubbish’, Charlie Bigham’s wants consumers to turn their backs on poor quality convenience food.

Victoria Russell, Marketing Manager at Charlie Bigham’s, comments:

“Our fun, light-hearted and disruptive new campaign emphasises the revelatory moment of discovery that comes with trying a Charlie Bigham’s dish for the first time: we want people to forget having disappointing dinners for good.

With over 11 million premium ready meal buyers in the UK, there is a big market out there looking for a high quality meal that can be enjoyed without the preparation time. We know from our customers that after tasting a delicious Charlie Bigham’s recipe, there is simply no going back.”

Stu Outhwaite-Noel, CCO at Creature of London, adds:

“Charlie Bigham's is a brand that stands out from the crowd, and our ads needed to live up to that. That meant a campaign that hero'd the Bigham's spirit, rather than just the Bigham's food – and that wasn't afraid to confidently poke fun at the world of ultimately disappointing alternatives we're kicking against, both visually and tonally.”

The new creative supports a vibrant new packaging design for the popular brand’s range of 40+ recipes. Developed in collaboration with illustrator Emily Sutton and creative agency Big Fish, the refreshed look features colourful market stalls reminiscent of those that inspired the range.

This month also sees the launch of a new World of Grains range which combines delicious grains with a variety of mouth-watering world flavours, including Chicken Katsu Curry and Salmon Teriyaki and two vegetarian meals. Each Charlie Bigham’s dish offers a delicious, convenient meal made with the same care and attention as you would at home.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Inspired by his travels and love of cooking, Charlie Bigham set up shop back in 1996 with the sole aim of creating really delicious dishes for foodies – putting in all the care and attention that you would if you were to cook them yourself.  Using top quality ingredients, his goal was to help people steal back some quality time by doing all the dinner prep for them. Today, the Charlie Bigham’s brand now boasts over 45 delicious recipes, with best-selling dishes including Fish Pie and Chicken Tikka Masala. www.bighams.com 

Creature of London agency credentials:

Creative Directors: Ben Middleton, Stu Outhwaite-Noel 

Creative: Tori Fannon

Strategist: Nick O'Quinn  

Designer: Michael Bow

Account Team: Alex Blacklock, Hazal Karabulut

Photographer: Jonathan Gregson 

Post Production: Stanley's Post

Print Production: Twin Productions

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