Mr Porky: proving pork scratchings make beer taste better

Mr Porky: proving pork scratchings make beer taste better

Case study · Food & Drink

Pub wisdom says pork scratchings make beer taste better. Mr Porky asked us to prove it during the World Cup, snacking’s biggest moment. Research, a real-life taste test and a food and beer scientist did exactly that. The story earned 202 pieces of coverage, 15 on broadcast, and 562 brand mentions.

  • 562 brand mentions
  • 202 pieces of coverage
  • 15 broadcast pieces
  • 45M combined media reach
Friends eating Mr Porky pork scratchings with pints of beer in a pub
  • Client Mr Porky
  • Sector Snacks
  • Services Research, consumer PR, broadcast
  • When During the World Cup
  • Audience Beer drinkers and football fans
  • Channels National and regional media, radio

What did Mr Porky need?

Mr Porky wanted to build awareness and get people talking during the World Cup, the peak moment for snacking.

  • Business objective: grow awareness and sales during the World Cup.
  • Communication objective: turn a piece of pub wisdom into a national talking point during the tournament.

What was the insight?

Everyone has heard that scratchings make beer taste better. Nobody had proved it. A claim everyone half-believes is a story when you test it.

The idea was prove the pub wisdom.

What did we do?

  • National research. We found 76% of the nation think pork scratchings make beer taste better.
  • A real-life taste test. We put the claim to the test with drinkers.
  • A scientist. A food and beer scientist explained why it works.
  • A radio day. We landed 14 radio interviews in one day.

What did it achieve?

Results by stage of the AMEC evaluation framework, with the source for each figure.

Stage Measure Result Source
Outputs Pieces of media coverage 202 Prohibition coverage log
Outputs Broadcast pieces 15 Prohibition coverage log
Outputs Combined media reach 45M Prohibition coverage log
Out-takes Brand mentions 562 Prohibition coverage analysis
Out-takes Campaign KPIs All beaten Prohibition campaign reporting

What did Mr Porky get from it?

A national conversation about scratchings during the biggest snacking moment of the year, with the brand named 562 times.

What did we learn?

  • Test what people already believe. A familiar claim made an easy headline.
  • Add a scientist. Expert backing turned a fun idea into news.
  • What we would do differently. agree retail sales tracking for the tournament period, so we can show the effect on volume.