Maryland unveils new look, relaunch and TV campaign

Maryland Cookies is bringing back its successful Keep it Kookie campaign. Launched by Burton’s Biscuit Co last year as part of a major brand repositioning for the £52m flagship brand, Keep it Kookie celebrates individuality, and the fact that Maryland is “unashamedly different” – rooted in the fact that no two Maryland Cookies are ever exactly alike.

The four-week, £750,000 campaign leads with TV and is amplified with in-store and online activation. Launching on 19 April, it will reach 14.2 million consumers three times. The brand is also launching a Keep it Kookie microsite, where consumers will be encouraged to “Share Your Kookie” and vote for their favourite kookie quirks.

“The launch of Keep it Kookie was a real step change in the way we communicate Maryland Cookies. It celebrates individuality and invites people to embrace their own kookie quirks,” said Burton’s Biscuit Co’s Marketing Director, Kate Needham.

“This year’s evolution of Keep it Kookie highlights that just like Maryland Cookies, no two people are the same. We’re asking shoppers to join us in shouting about what makes us all different – because when we’re open about our kookiness, it’s liberating.

“Consumers loved Aunt Deb, the star of the TV ad. The feedback we received from our shoppers was brilliant, with 92 per cent of families describing the advert as ‘entertaining’, so it was only right she makes a comeback. It appears we all have an Aunt Deb in the family,” added Kate.

The campaign coincides with the launch of a bold new pack design, created to modernise the brand and introduce Keep it Kookie onto packs.

Maryland has also made its entire core cookies range under 100 calories per portion (two biscuits) with the brand’s choc chip product now only 97 calories per serving.

“Our plans this year show that Maryland Cookies can stand apart from other biscuit brands. We’re proud to be a cookie in a world of biscuits and we want to shout about our kookiness. We’re confident the campaign will bring new shoppers into the category and drive frequency with current shoppers,” Kate concluded.