This was the snack sized campaign that grabbed my attention this month and I can’t get enough of it. It’s picky, it’s proud and it’s perfectly timed.
After a bruising year of headlines with cyber security shaking our trust, M&S marketers must have been scratching their heads looking for something to pull out of the shopping bag.
Enter: National Picky Bits Day. Today (Friday 27 June) has been declared by M&S as a new national food day. For those who are unaware of the term, it’s basically Britain’s answer to tapas. No rules, any combo goes and there is no discrimination around how many sausage rolls you can shovel away in one sitting. It’s nostalgic, fun, flexible and feels distinctly British and current. So why does this work?
Well apparently, M&S reports selling 70 million packs of ‘picky bits’ a year. So rather than chasing an abstract, new brand message, they dug deep and focused on what customers already love about them and made it a thing.
We know that anchoring messages and campaigns to a date can really help accelerate a movement so it’s a no brainer to create a day for picky bits. They also used the opportunity to roll out new and upgraded product lines – probably something that’s been in development for a long time, but now perfectly timed for summer grazing.
I’ve been watching with interest as the campaign unfolded, so although it felt quite last minute in terms of the announcement and initial campaigning, it’s been inspiring to see how quickly it gained traction. The tie in with the catchy track ‘It’s the season of the picky bits’ by Diane Vickers and Chiara Hunter racked up over 4 million views across TikTok and Instagram in days. Influencers picked it up, marketers are sharing it on LinkedIn as ‘brand strategy goals’ and most importantly customers flocked to fridges to grab their picky platters and favourite snacks.
It’s now become a talking point in offices – including ours. What’s your favourite picky bit? If you could only choose one what would it be? And the debates ensue as we discuss the merits of a mini honey sausage over a mini mozzarella ball.
So what do I take from this. Well, M&S certainly pivoted. They went simple, they went back to basics and they listened to their customers. You could argue it might be downplaying the catastrophe of the data breaches by replacing tech led apologetic comms with pork pie photos, but it lightened the mood.
So, from a PR perspective, I loved it. It’s a reminder that PR has to focus on trust. We have to remember that we are creating moments, not messages and we have to lead with what works and what our customers love.
So as the sun shines on National Picky Bits Day, M&S has quietly snuck back into our good books and fridges. It’s not flashy, but it’s effective and to me it’s brilliant. Now, I’m off to grab a scotch egg and some garlic stuffed olives and sit back and see what Aldi might come up with in response.
