When the chips are down, margins matter. How a focus on long-term emotional brand-building reduced price elasticity and increased profits for McCain.

IPA Effectiveness Awards Case Study 2024

In 2014, oven chip brand McCain was struggling. Cash-strapped shoppers were switching to cheaper brands and own label. Promotions were delivering short-term volume, but depressed revenue and margins. To reduce price elasticity, McCain committed to a sustained investment in brand advertising. Sales immediately increased, and kept growing, despite rising costs, fierce competition, and macro-economic shocks. Over nine years, the advertising strategy worked to reduce price elasticity by 47%, which helped raise base sales by 44%. At the end of this case, profit ROI was at £1.50 and on an upwards trajectory.

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Client Statement

Mark Hodge, VP Marketing, McCain

McCain is a global business. Through the UK’s activity, we have demonstrated in objective terms the power of long-term brand building. This has become an important case study for the global business.

At the core of this success story is the mindset shift to see brands as being built over years and decades, not quarters. This testament to long-term thinking is something that is now encouraged across markets as well as upheld in our own.

I’m proud of what we’ve achieved with our agency partners, through a long-standing relationship of trust and a shared commitment to the long-term goal. We had to be disciplined, focused and patient – but our shared belief in creative consistency and focusing our energy on the right things has truly paid off.