IN his latest cheeky move against Arnott’s, Dick Smith is featuring a member of the Arnott family in a national TV ad campaign to promote the Dick Smith Foods’ biscuit range.
Greg Arnott, a relative of the founder of Arnott’s Biscuits, appears with Smith in the ad that goes to air on Monday night.
In the ad he tells Smith “these biscuits taste great”. “See even Mr Arnott thinks they taste good,” says Smith. The ad introduces the new tagline “Great taste. Great for Australia”.
Smith’s ad agency Patterson Partners Adcafe said the aim of the ad was to build on public awareness generated from the recent legal action between Arnott’s and Dick Smith Foods over Smith’s Temptin’ brand.
Patterson Partners Adcafe creative director Charles Rallings said that the commercial was designed to highlight the quality and taste of Smith’s biscuit range, as well as build on the Dick Smith Foods positioning as the “Australian made” product champion.
It also aimed to take advantage of the fact that many members of the Arnott family had been publicly opposed to the take-over of Arnott’s by the US-owned Campbells Soups.
Dick Smith Foods managing director Pierre van Heerden said the company wanted to remind consumers of the issue of foreign ownership of food companies.
He said featuring a member of the Arnott family was seen as a way to get cut-through on a modest budget.
"We are a small company, with a wide range of products, so this modest TV campaign has to make an impact, which is achieved through the use of Greg Arnott,” he said.
The new campaign comes after a repackaging of all of the Dick Smith range of products that followed the taking over of the management of Dick Smith Foods by Sanitarium.
TV ads for the rest of the range will roll out later this year.
