How Pot Noodle won over an angry mob

Context

Pot Noodle has been a British lunchtime meal for 40 years. It’s a satisfying, affordable meal in a pot, which cooks in 4 mins. It’s loved by people across the country and is a cupboard staple for most. Pot Noodle is a humble and down-to-earth brand and product that is loved by everyday people and unfairly looked down upon by foodie snobs.

Cultural Insight

The UK is a country that values etiquette and proper table manners. Slurping is considered highly unappealing!

Strategy

Pot Noodle is the UK’s leading instant noodle brand. But they faced a growing threat from authentic noodle brands from overseas vying for shelf space, and supermarkets' own brand undercutting them on price. The brand needed to defend their position as the original and the best noodle brand in the market by proving only they deliver real satisfaction, and ultimately grow market share and penetration.

Execution

Pot Noodle made the sound of ultimate satisfaction the star of the campaign: a big, wet, sloppy SLURP. But when the nation recoiled, they realised they needed to act quickly to ensure everyone was satisfied. After they issued a formal apology published in press and on social, they used data on audience interests to serve bespoke versions on YouTube and social of the advert replacing the SLURP with sounds they would find much more satisfying. 47 unique versions were created, featuring SFX from birds tweeting to babies crying and keyboards typing. The bespoke sounds also ran on TV, tailoring the sounds to the programming. The brand even offered people the opportunity to claim compensation for the unintended upset caused.

After putting the SLURP out into the world, the extreme response revealed that a significant portion of the UK had a severe aversion to the sound of slurping. Winning this angry audience over and convince them to buy Pot Noodle became the new challenge.

Execution

Pot Noodle produced over 50 different bespoke edits in order to target individuals with their interests in mind. As well as this, they went live with OOH, Radio & Press.

Results

The campaign landed with immediate impact, generating a 400% increase in online conversation about Pot Noodle that was sustained in the 10 weeks following launch. There were over 10,000 online comments about the advert and the campaign achieved 15.3 million reach in earned media. Total Pot Noodle sales increased by 25% in the 4 weeks following launch, with a 15% market share gain.