McCain's are a leading brand when it comes to frozen products but found that shoppers were choosing cheaper products more and more often. The challenge lay behind trying to sell a product which was pushed into a freezer often hidden behind cheaper products. 79% of frozen category sales are on price promotion and 52% of sales are own label. On top of this household spend fell by 8% in the first half of 2012. The brand needed to stay at the top of consumer needs.

To increase sales by increasing visibility and audience. The point of the campaign was to get the brand recognised and to stand out against the supermarket own brand products. McCain needed to remind people why top brand products are worth the money. By offering a promotional offer alongside their Smiles parents out shopping were able to see that McCain were giving something more to their customers, going that bit extra. By increasing consumer numbers McCain would be able to increase sales.

The solution was to partnership with Ladybird and the National Literacy Trust (NLT) to give something back to mums and reward them for loyalty to their products. They offered a free Ladybird book with two packs of McCain's Smiles, meaning when mums spend £2.50 they receive a book worth £2.99. This was supported by the NLT and their Words for Life campaign which offered parents helpful hints and tips on reading to their children inside every pack.

The promotion was a huge success. By partnering with Ladybird and offering a book worth £2.99 with purchases which cost £2.50 McCain's sales of Smiles increased by 2.5 times the target; over 300,000 new households bought the brand. The promotion also won the Gold IPM award in 2013.

Redemption was highly encouraged with books being free to the consumer. There were a total of 6 desirable books to collect . As well as partnering with the classic Ladybird brand the promotion ran in line with the National Literacy Trust who provided helpful tips and hints in a micro-site which included content on how to get the most out of time spent reading with your child. By offering more to the consumer and bridging a relationship between them and the brand McCain were able to increase sales and remind people why their higher end products are worth the money.