Vimto Vimtoad

Vimtoad: created by Wallace & Gromit creators

Vimto is overhauling the brand’s packaging and embarking on its biggest-ever marketing campaign.

Having previously directly targeted teens, Vimto is now hoping to appeal to their mums with new packaging and a £6.5m multichannel campaign that will introduce a toad with a northern accent as its brand ambassador.

“The bull’s eye target for us will be mums of teens, who represent the biggest collective spend in the categories we operate in,” said Vimto brand manager Clare Brown.

To attract mums, while remaining attractive to teens, the brand had set out to create a fun but reassuring character to represent the brand, she said. The outcome is the Hawaiian shirt-wearing Vimtoad, which has been created by Wallace & Gromit creators Aardman Animations and given voice by stand-up comedian Justin Moorhouse.

The Vimtoad will appear on TV ads running from 26 April to 12 May in a campaign Vimto said would reach 90% of mums at least 10 times.

As part of the campaign, Vimto will also run radio ads, launch a new website for the brand, create a Twitter page for the Vimtoad and visit 60 supermarkets in a Vimtoad-branded van offering free samples to shoppers.

Ahead of the marketing campaign, Vimto will roll out new packaging that will display the Vimto logo horizontally and show fruits being pulled into a vortex.

As part of the rebranding, Vimto’s carbonates range has been renamed Vimto Fizzy and the diet products will now be called Vimto Fizzy Zero.