UNCLE Ben’s of Australia is rolling out more executions of its dancing mouse TV campaign for its Whiskas Vita-Bites brand following the successful launch last year.
Uncle Ben’s said the success of the product had taken the dry cat food category into growth for the first time in three years.
Uncle Ben’s Australia senior brand manager Mark Anning said the results of the campaign launched in September last year had exceeded expectations.
“Up to 77% of cat food buyers in Australia saw the dancing mouse execution and enjoyed repeated viewings,” Anning said.
“As a result Whiskas, value share of the dry cat food market has gone from 30% pre-launch to 35% in the latest quarter.”
Anning predicted this growth trend would continue with the new executions launched this week in Nine’s The Footy Show in Sydney and Melbourne.
The new TVCs, developed by D’Arcy Australia, feature the mouse employing two new methods—bungy jumping and playing the bagpipes—to distract the cat from his Whiskas Vita-Bites.
In Melbourne Uncle Ben’s is leveraging The Footy Show further with a stunt on the program featuring a bungy jumper plummeting into a bowl of giant Vita-Bites to win $50,000 for a football team.
Uncle Ben’s will also present the sum of $50,000 to the Trevor Barker Foundation for Children with Cancer.
The campaign will be on air until July 2002 and is supported by cinema, online and PR.
National CD at D’Arcy Australia Mark Collis said the new campaign aimed to “capitalise on the likeability of the mouse”.
