Kingsmill has teamed up with Smarts Communicate and Irish rugby player Rory Best to promote its new high fibre white bread, the Great White loaf. The launch is part of Allied Bakeries' £6.7m marketing campaign that seeks to create an emotional connection between the public and the latest Kingsmill product.

Smarts Communicate and Kingsmill chose ruby player Rory Best to promote the new loaf. A public figure whose image perfectly suits Kingsmill and the new product, Best is a sportsman first and foremost, supporting the campaign's focus on health. He is also a father, with a public identity that fits Kingsmill’s brand positioning as a family orientated company.

The brand campaign hopes to rescue white brand’s damaged identity by emphasising the Great White’s fibre content, which is supposedly as high as wholemeal despite the bread maintaining the look and taste of white bread. Therefore, in an ambitious undertaking, the campaign not only hopes to raise awareness of its new product, it also hopes to change the way the public views white bread. 

Darren Grivvell, director of brands at Allied Bakeries says, “We know there are some people not moving over to our 50/50 product so there’s an unmet need that ‘Great White’ can fulfil. It is not health-obsessed people we’re trying to target. We’re focusing on people who feel that they should be buying healthier bread but their family will not accept it. This is a way for them to smuggle some goodness into their homes and feel better about purchasing a white loaf.”

At the recent Northern Ireland launch, Rory Best was joined by food artist Nathan Wyburn who created a table made out of bread in a bid to represent the Great White loaf as an innovative product bringing something new to the table. The launch took place in Northern Ireland following on from research that showed the Northern Irish public were the ideal audience for the campaign – favouring white bread, yet conscious of its health issues.

Commenting on the Kingsmill Great White launch, Elva O’Connor, senior brand manager for Allied Bakeries explains, “We are delighted to be launching our Kingsmill Great White bread in this unique way. The breakfast table is at the heart of the home and the centre of the family, just like Kingsmill Great White, so our oversized breakfast table provides the perfect way to help us make consumers aware of this new product.”