... Peperami Saving Pennies- Future Trend?

A few weeks back the disgusting snack food Peperami decided to take the bold move to split with their old ad agency (Lowe) and turn to their loyal customers to create their new adverts.


It's a worldwide contest with a $10k reward, and people interested in taking part need to register with a website to recieve a brief. Basically the idea has to centre around the 'animal' character that Lowe orginally devised for the brand, so they must feel kinda miffed. Plus, all future ads will be carried out in this new way too, so doubly miffed i expect.


I think a bunch of brands could start going this way with their advertising. Not only will they be saving heaps of cash but theyll also be encouraging consumers to get involved; strengthening pre-existing brand-relationships, and fostering new ones. Simply contemplating getting involved would get you thinking about the product, what it stands for, and any special, dinstinct features. If you were a winner, well, i doubt your love of the brand would waver significantly, it would grow massively if anything. Plus, getting your work on the TV, well that would appeal to a far larger circle of consumers than those interested in the product itself; i'm a veggie but would totally enter a competition like this if i had the capacity, simply to get my work on show! (E4 runs its Estings competitions which appeals to that side of me too)


So yes, i think it's a good idea to get consumers involved, though i guess it means that future ads may look a bit out-of-joint visually compared to predecessors.


I'm sure that with this whole recession madness still hitting adland hard, more brands may start to pull out of agencies to try and get similar creative work for a sliver of the cost. Who knows, Peperami, a reasonably predominate snackfood brand, may be leading the way a bit.

(We'll find out who the winner is in November... let's see how well it works out!)