News brands and food are a match made in heaven. Here’s a selection of inspiring food content, tasty tips and tricks, brilliant brand partnerships, contextual campaigns and a top panel at MAD//Fest to give you food for thought.
At MAD//Fest 2024 in Newsworks’ Speakeasy, an admired panel of top food and drink journalists including Gizzi Erskine, Grace Dent, Jimi Famurewa and Rob Buckhaven were on hand with host Claire Eaton-Rutter to guide the audience through their favourite nibbles and tipples. Attendees picked up some handy tips from our panel while enjoying food and wine samples during the session.
The panel discussed comfort food, from “sticky meat” and “wings” and talked about the importance of good, honest home cooking, with Guardian critic Grace Dent advising how to keep it simple. For two years in a row Feast has been one of our most popular content sessions, engaging our audience with a shared love for good food, tips and tricks.
It’s not surprising that our guests loved the content so much, because when it comes to news brands they reach over 50% of the foodie audience, according to IPA TouchPoints*. That’s a whopping 7.9 million people. Sunday newspapers also index really well, with foodies being 12% more likely than the rest of us to read a Sunday paper. And, they are 38% more likely to feel a connection to their favourite news brand. And if that’s not enough, they are 29% more likely to trust what they read in national newspapers
Our MAD//Fest panellists spoke about the truth and honesty that comes hand in hand with news brand food writing versus some content on social media. It is clear that news brands and food are a perfect pairing, but how can brands make the most of this media?
Brand partnerships
Brands often partner with news brands to give readers inspiration with tasty recipes, top tips and products to brighten up any dinner party or mid-week meal.
Dr Oetker and Morrisons recently paired up with the Mail on Sunday to showcase a low-effort, high impact dinner party for guests, injecting Italian flavours into the evening with a sumptuous selection of pizzas, while Morrisons encouraged readers to make the most of British produce this autumn.
Meanwhile, Slimming World’s brand partnership with the Mirror‘s weekend supplement, The Sunday People, shares inspiring meals that allow readers to eat well and lose weight with a delicious meal plan.
Recipes and food tips
With money-saving food tips, to inspirational meals for every day of the week, there is something for everyone.
News brands give a platform to experts to share knowledge and advice from top chefs and best-selling authors, whether it’s nourishing, family meals, from one pan meals to a homemade lentil cottage pie, to warming autumn soul food that is delicious and won’t break the bank.
Miguel Barclay, known as the One Pound Chef, has written nine best-selling books filled with meals that cost just a pound or less per head. With recipes that are perfect for teenagers heading back to university, to cosy, family meals, Barclay shares affordable recipes with The Times.
Meanwhile, the i offers yummy dinners that require minimal washing up from the chefs at Sorted Food and The Standard share tips straight from the kitchen, speaking to London’s top chefs to reveal their secrets to level up your home cooking.
Multi-platform content
Feast, the Guardian’s cooking and recipe app, is the ultimate kitchen companion to make mealtimes easy.
Bringing the restaurant to the kitchen with a digital pocket team of sous-chefs, the Feast app recipes are personally developed by the Guardian’s line-up of talented cooks.
Elsewhere, Newsworks’ MAD//Fest panellist Grace Dent’s podcast ‘Comfort eating’ talks to celebrity guests about food tales, school dinners and favourite sofa snacks. Dent opens the cupboard doors and chats life through food.
Campaigns
Last but most definitely not least, food campaigns come in many different shapes and sizes, with an array of formats and messaging, from marketing products and brands, inspiring readers to shop impressive food platters, seasonal dishes and show-stopping desserts, and to cook up a storm. See a selection of some of our favourite food ads below…
*(Source:IPA TouchPoints 2024 SuperHub, lifestyle statement: I am really interested in food and wine)
