The month in marketing: Burger King turns its back on plastic as KitKat goes premium
A round-up of the latest news and insight from the global marketing sector
Burger King bins off plastic toys
Burger King has kicked off an initiative to remove plastic toys from its kid’s meals in the UK as well as melting down unwanted plastic toys for recycling.
As of tomorrow #BurgerKing #UK will be removing plastic toys from our kids meals. Bring in ur unwanted plastic toys to our UK restaurants between Sep 19-20th and we'll recycle them into new ways to play. pic.twitter.com/OXQ2ryrYaE
— Fer Machado (@fer_machado123) September 18, 2019
The restaurant’s new sustainability initiative ‘The Meltdown’, led by agency Jones Knowles Ritchie, will see all plastic toys removed from its junior meals and melted down for good. It will be promoted through an online film, as well as out-of-home, in-store, PR and experiential.
The added plastic toy amnesty will include more than 500 Burger King restaurants across the UK, while the donation drive will run between 19-30 September, with children making donations given a free King Junior meal alongside the purchase of a normal adult meal.
H&M embraces esports
Fashion outlet H&M has embraced esports with the latest iteration of its H vs M campaign which targets the 18-34 male demographic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEiK7LLvcus
Developed in partnership with Minute Media and Zenith, the marketing push introduces two gaming influencers, Hashtag Harry and Manny, who go head-to-head in a battle on FIFA 20.
The campaign sees Everton fan Hashtag Harry go joystick to joystick with Manny on the latest release of the popular football franchise while dressed in outfits from H&M’s autumn collection.
Nando’s goes hipster with honey beer
A branch of Nando’s in Putney has developed a new batch of micro-brewed Honey Beer, made from harvesting honey on the roof of their restaurant.
https://twitter.com/HiverBeers/status/1159373564367265792?s=20
The beer – made by Hiver brewery – is sustainable and uses British ingredients and raw honey to ferment the craft beer.
Sunshinegun helped to create a “bold and contemporary” design for the beer label that “reflects Nando’s core values” and echoes Honey Beer’s story.
Nando’s will give 10% of all profits to pollinator charities.
The Guardian campaigns for reader support
The Guardian this month launched ‘Hope is Power’ – its first global campaign for more than seven years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iNfErh8r9Y
The work is designed to get readers around the world to support its journalism through donations, as the newspaper does not rely on a subscription model.
The Guardian is targeting two million paying supporters by 2022 and ‘Hope is Power’ aims to deepen its affinity with existing Guardian supporters while also enticing new readers.
The campaign tagline was inspired by a 2017 piece written by The Guardian’s editor-in-chief Katherine Viner, entitled A mission for journalism in a time of crisis.
KitKat gets a premium makeover
Food giant Nestlé has revamped its popular KitKat biscuit by launching an upmarket premium version of the chocolate bar.
Luxury handmade @KITKAT bars are going on sale in the UK through the KitKat Chocolatory (@KKChocolatory) at @jlandpartners & @yorkschocstory from this week & launching online before the end of the year
There are nearly 1,500 combinations of flavours! 😲https://t.co/ZUl7kL9kc6 pic.twitter.com/plqVnIcJRh
— Nestlé UK & Ireland (@NestleUKI) September 23, 2019
The KitKat Chocolatory range will cost up to £14 for a bespoke bar of chocolate and will be available to order online or in the John Lewis flagship London store.
More than 1,500 flavour combinations will be available to order including marmalade and Earl Grey, while ingredient choices include rose petals, whisky and ginger.