The Premier Foods-owned brand will run an ad campaign highlighting its heritage. The ad will showcase 100 years of British history, including the suffragettes and the miners' strike. The work, created by MCBD, will debut during an episode of ITV's Coronation Street next week. It marks the start of an attempt to reinvigorate the brand.
The activity will support the launch of a range of 400g loaves and the reintroduction of the iconic Hovis Little Brown loaf. Newly designed packs introduce a 'boy with bike' emblem and promote the brand's heritage and healthy credentials.
Hovis suffered from both under-investment during the long-drawn-out sale of its parent company RHM, eventually completed in 2006, and increased competition. Andy Knowles, co-founder of branding agency JKR, which handles Hovis, said, 'The category is going through a burst of activity, like when Trident launched into the chewing-gum market.'
Knowles said the Hovis brand would seek to reconnect with its heritage of being a 'naturally healthy' bread - a positioning that is shown to resonate well with consumers.
Warburtons is to roll out a heavyweight campaign from October, with a creative by Bartle Bogle Hegarty, to defend its market-leading position.
Associated British Foods' Kingsmill is using an alternative strategy of aggressive pricing to gain share.
Warburtons had value sales of £472m for the year to October 2007, according to Nielsen, while Hovis had £380m and Kingsmill £257m.
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