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Ricola

Using AI Insights In Emerging Platforms For Ricola

Ricola hadn’t run advertising at scale for nearly 2 decades in the UK market. They were relaunching in a cluttered market to an audience concerned over the cost-of-living crisis and much more focussed on their health and wellbeing. By reviving their yodel creative, they hoped to get older audiences to reminisce without alienating younger demographics. We needed to drive excess share of voice in a high spending market with brands such as Jakeman’s consistently investing significantly in media during key seasonal peaks.

What we did

For burst 1 the client wanted to focus on perceived banker channels i.e. linear TV and BVOD but we wanted to diversify the AV channel mix for burst 2. We used our propriety planning tool KiteConnect which used AI to run over a million spend scenarios to identify the best channel mix to achieve 1+ reach versus our target audience. We used these insights to introduce cinema, Connected TV and YouTube to the media plan and increase reach by 8% for the same spend.

 

What we did

Once live we used 2 tools to analyse the linear & BVOD plans provided by media owners:

AIM (Audience Indexing Matrix) finds channel level inefficiencies and suggests a new channel mix in seconds. The 18% savings identified were then re-allocated to other linear channels and digital platforms.

Spot Supercharger identified consecutive spots and stations with too much daily airtime and enable fast removal increasing our linear TV reach by 6%.

The campaign delivered exceptional results:

  • Brand Awareness: Ricola saw a +3% increase in prompted awareness across all adults, and a +3.5 boost within the key 45+ demographic.
  • Organic Search: There was an 80% increase in organic searches for Ricola compared to 2023.
  • Market Share: Despite Werther’s largest monthly spend in two years, Ricola achieved a +3% higher share of search, demonstrating the power of a smart media strategy over sheer financial investment.

This success proved that creativity, strategic targeting, and data-driven planning could effectively drive awareness and market share, positioning Ricola for long-term success in a competitive space.

  • 3.5%

    Boost in prompted awareness within the key 45+ demographic. 

  • 80%

    Increase in organic search

  • 3%

    Higher share of search

Our work

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