Despite its enduring reputation for reliability, Campbells was losing relevance in the crowded, price-driven foodservice wholesale market, failing to connect with time-poor B2B operators who needed more than products—they needed support.
We repositioned the brand around its core strength of "service with heart," launching the powerful promise "We've Got You" that shifted Campbells from product-push to service-led storytelling grounded in empathy and customer insight. This emotional repositioning delivered exceptional results: 35% revenue lift, 700% return on ad spend, 40% surge in branded search, and a 3-point NPS increase, while helping customers feel truly seen and supported—reconnecting Campbells with what made it strong in the first place.
Problem: Once Australia's dominant foodservice wholesale brand, Campbells had fallen to fourth in awareness as bulk retailers, supermarket chains, and digital disruptors reshaped the competitive landscape. While the company still delivered unbeatable service to thousands of small food businesses, its brand and marketing had stagnated—failing to resonate with time-poor, pressure-cooked operators who needed more than price-based appeals. As competitors outspent and outmaneuvered them, Campbells' longstanding reputation was loosing relevance, despite research revealing their core audience of café, restaurant, and foodservice operators craved genuine support and understanding over transactional relationships.
Solution: The revitalisation strategy was anchored in a profound truth: Australia's small food operators spend their days serving others but rarely receive great service themselves.
From this insight emerged the brand platform "We've Got You"—transforming Campbells from a mere wholesaler into an indispensable partner serving with empathy, reliability, and heart. While Campbells had long been recognized for dependable logistics and extensive range, the market had shifted dramatically as competitors dominated on price, digital disruptors gained share, and customer expectations evolved. Despite delivering excellent service behind the scenes, the brand failed to reflect this emotional and functional value, creating a widening gap between customer experience and brand perception. Research confirmed the urgency: Campbells had dropped to fourth in customer recall and was losing ground to louder, more visible competitors. The revitalisation strategy was driven by the critical need to reclaim relevance, rebuild emotional connection, and restore Campbells' rightful place as the reliable leader in foodservice wholesale.
Execution: "We've Got You" was executed with empathy and authenticity across multiple touchpoints, shifting focus from logistics and catalogues to emotional support, reliability, and real-world convenience.
The campaign leveraged search and social performance marketing on Meta, TikTok, Google Search, and YouTube, with platform-specific creative featuring real Campbells customers and staff—something the brand hadn't utilized in years. Top- and mid-funnel messaging emphasized consistency, time-saving, and partnership rather than sales and price, while a refreshed eCommerce website ensured the reliability ethos translated into the online shopping experience.
Crucially, this wasn't just a marketing refresh—"We've Got You" became a company-wide mindset shift that encouraged internal stakeholders to rethink customer journeys and service delivery, fundamentally changing how Campbells showed up both in the market and within the business itself.
Results:
Brand uplift and perception: The "We've Got You" positioning delivered significant brand improvements with a 40% increase in direct and branded search queries in 2024, indicating stronger top-of-mind awareness and brand recall. Customer-facing teams reported positive anecdotal feedback showing greater recognition and resonance of brand messaging, while internal alignment and pride in the brand increased as the positioning was rolled out across broader teams and channels.
Performance and commercial outcomes: The campaign achieved exceptional commercial results including 35% year-on-year revenue growth in 2024 versus 2023 within a mature and price-sensitive category, and a remarkable 700% return on ad spend proving the shift from product-push to service-pull was commercially effective. Additional wins included improved average order value through category-level messaging and AI-driven bidding strategies across Google, high engagement rates on TikTok and social platforms particularly among new and younger audiences, and a 3-point NPS increase.
Operational and strategic outcomes: The revitalisation established refined marketing attribution and tracking for clearer decision-making and ROI measurement, laid the foundation for long-term brand equity and customer loyalty while driving immediate sales, and created a new brand dashboard enabling real-time performance visibility and greater stakeholder buy-in for ongoing brand investment.
Awards
AMI – Brand revitalisation – Finalist (2025)