Newsworks speaks to EssenceMediacom’s Holly Hanley and Emmie Skinner, and the Guardian’s Ellie Saunders, about the success of Tesco Finest’s Feast partnership. They dive into how the campaign is an inspiring example of storytelling, delivering premium brand goals and tangible results.
Holly Hanley and Emmie Skinner, account directors, EssenceMediacom
What was the core objective of the campaign?
Hanley: “The object of the campaign was to get women aged 45+ to buy more from the Tesco Finest range by landing quality messaging and showcasing the range of Tesco Finest products via recipe content.”
Were there any key insights which led to the decision to include news brands on the media plan, as well helping shape the creative direction?
Skinner: “Tesco already had strong a following of their recipe content across the Tesco Magazine as well as Future publications. We wanted to find a publication that spoke to their core audience, and drive incremental 1+m reach. Partnering with the Guardian enabled Tesco to reach a further 1.1m readers”.
How did the booking process work for this campaign?
Skinner: “We followed our standard booking process and our Creative Futures arm project managed it.”
Did the campaign run across multi-platforms? And if so, what platforms did it include and why?
Hanley: “This Feast campaign is a multi-channel campaign with numerous touch points.
“Our core mix of channels includes digital, print, video, social and display. We have also ran podcast activity as part of the partnership, such as Comfort Eating with Grace Dent, produced by The Guardian, leveraging the news brand’s food-savvy audience.
“High-quality, beautifully produced recipe content with supporting imagery has helped bring to life the quality and variety of Tesco Finest products, with this translating well across all of the above mentioned channels. Food also appeals to other senses, and alongside the ability for talent endorsement, podcast host reads were the perfect forum to land quality cues in immersive and descriptive audio.”
What are you most proud of with this campaign?
Hanley: “There are a number of things I am proud of relating to this campaign. Our recipes continue to achieve huge dwell times, with a larger audience flocking to this content than predicted – we’ve had to increase our unique user KPI twice.
“We have seen increased sales across the Tesco Finest brand, and, after 12 months of working together, we are a well-oiled machine when it comes to producing content, with shoots being a creative and collaborative space for all parties.”
Did this campaign meet its objectives?
Hanley: “Yes, this campaign continues to exceed all booked KPIs and research shows that we are positively shifting a number of perception metrics for Tesco.
“The partnership proved to be a success with 60% of recallers agreeing Tesco Finest partnership fits well with The Guardian”.
Ellie Saunders, client director, Guardian Advertising
The Guardian’s partnership with Tesco Finest celebrates quality food and premium storytelling. As the exclusive sponsor of our Feast app, Tesco Finest enjoyed 100% share of voice with shoppable recipes and multimedia content showcasing the breadth and quality of the range.
The Guardian’s bespoke Feast research of over 1,000 UK adults revealed that 53% now describe themselves as foodies – providing Tesco Finest with a uniquely influential platform to connect with confident cooks who love to experiment and try new ideas.
Blending Guardian insights with creative execution, the campaign delivered a seamless integration of brand and context – positioning Tesco Finest as the go-to choice for elevated everyday dining. After the first six months, research showed a +50% uplift among recallers who associate Tesco Finest with gourmet and premium quality, and 62% said the campaign made them feel more positive towards the brand.
EssenceMediacom and Tesco took home both advertiser of the year and the grand prix award at the Newsworks Awards 2025.
