Nigella Meets Greggs
What happens when a high-street hero meets a domestic goddess?
Ambition
Every year, Greggs faces a familiar festive challenge: how to stand out at Christmas against blockbuster-budget competitors. And this year, they wanted to claim the moment.
The ambition was bold. How can we make Greggs feel like the official start of Christmas? Like hearing Mariah on the radio. Like the first frost. Like fairy lights in the dark.
For many Greggs fans, that moment already existed – the return of the Festive Bake. People count down to it. Some even ask about it in September. But with the menu already beloved and expected, we needed to find a new way to turn heads. To make even the most loyal fans look twice – and to take the rest of the nation by surprise.
Strategy
If Greggs was going to be the official starting gun of Christmas, it needed to be more than the Festive Bake. So we set out to own the moment – before the trucks rolled out, before the violins swelled and before the usual suspects claimed their seasonal spots.
Our research found that whilst people were still feeling the pinch of the ongoing cost of living crisis, that wasn’t stopping them treating themselves – especially in the Christmas build-up. The magic is in the little moments, and nobody serves them up better than Greggs.
So, who better to sprinkle some festive flair than the queen of indulgence herself, Nigella Lawson? Her signature delivery and iconic cooking show aesthetic gave Greggs’ first-ever Christmas advert a luxurious twist – turning the menu into something unexpectedly elegant, without losing an ounce of charm. It was high-brow meets high street.
Solution
We went full Nigella. Greggs style.
With Greggs’ cult status and Nigella’s culinary prowess, mixing them together was a recipe for a culturally charged moment that didn’t just launch the Christmas menu – it stopped the nation in its festive tracks and got everyone talking.
A decadent 40-second hero film teased a scene straight out of a Lawson special: soft lighting, slow zooms, sensual monologue. But what was she beaming over? Not porchetta. Not profiteroles. A Greggs Festive Bake. Followed by a baguette. A sweet mince pie. In fact, we put the whole festive menu on a pedestal.
The twist hit hard. This wasn’t a premium grocer with a string quartet. It wasn’t a heritage food hall unveiling its latest truffle-laced centrepiece. This was Greggs. Yet Nigella was delivering the kind of food poetry usually reserved for things wrapped in pancetta, and it struck a chord with a nation ready to treat themselves.
Working with Hope&Glory PR, the campaign rolled out across Greggs’ and Nigella’s channels, backed by snappy menu edits that kept the buzz hot and the feed full. Everything felt authentic, playful – and unmistakably Greggs.
37 million reached
(92% of UK adults)
Results
The buzz started before we even launched. Nigella leaving the Greggs shoot – festive bag in hand – was paparazzi gold. The snaps hit page three of The Mail on Sunday, then The Sun, with wild rumours about Sausage Roll snubs and celebrity cravings.
When the campaign finally dropped, it exploded. Social lit up. Fans swooned. Critics applauded. Coverage rolled in – over 1,520 articles, with more than 70 in nationals. We featured on Good Morning Britain, Lorraine and countless radio stations.
Social chatter hit 7.3 million. Engagements topped 400,000. On just 10–15% of the budget, Greggs out-voiced Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and John Lewis. Kantar ranked the ad in the top 3% for difference, surprise and stopping power.
The campaign reached 37 million people – that’s 92% of UK adults – racking up a whopping 4.56 billion opportunities to see. And the nation loved it, with less than 1% negative sentiment.
YouGov showed that 70% of people were aware of the campaign, and 74.4% of those who saw it said they were more likely to consider Greggs. Buzz scores soared too – up by 35%.
The campaign was awarded Gold for Partnership or Collaboration by The Drum and best Media Campaign at the PR Moment Awards.
We didn’t just make Greggs part of Christmas. We made Greggs the start of Christmas.
