“the "Jamie Oliver effect" of £5 profit for every £1 on ads… That, Weller says, adds up to £50m-£70m in net profit” (Adams and Finch 2003)
The marriage of the celebrity Jamie Oliver and the grocery store Sainsbury’s saw a large growth in profit. But how did it all start? With good celebrity-endorsed campaigns, it is important to understand the celebrity behind the advertisement. Here is an account of how the star became the famous chef he is today, and how the sales at Sainsbury’s soared because he backed the campaign:
It all started in 1999, when Jamie Oliver was just starting out in the limelight when the BBC saw potential in Jamie, and decided to launch a TV show called ‘The Naked Chef’ starring the budding star. It was after this that Sainsbury’s decided to endorse their campaigns with Jamie Oliver. In 2003 Sainsbury’s amounts his advertisement to be 65% more effective than previous ads to add sales (Garside 2003).
The Jamie Oliver Effect
In 2005, Sainsbury’s drops Jamie. He then starts a TV show to petition to get more government funding for school lunches. After he achieves his goal, Sainsbury’s offers to pay £1m for another year backing their advertisements (Matthews 2005; Campaign 2005).
In 2006 Jamie is named as the most influential person to influence the British middle class, after which Sainsbury’s promptly offers another yearly contract to Jamie (Whitehead 2006; Woods 2006).
In 2008, after Jamie’s BBC documentary on chicken farming, Sainsbury’s dedicates to phase out it’s sale of battery-farmed chickens (Barnett 2008).
Finally, in 2011 after much mutually beneficial campaigns for both the naked chef and the grocery brand Sainsbury’s, the two split after 11 years and more then 100 ads together (Shearman 2011). Justin King, the CEO of Sainsbury’s described the partnership as the “most successful and mutually rewarding in the supermarket industry”, where he said: "Jamie has been an excellent ambassador for the Sainsbury's brand over the past 11 years, spearheading our goal to offer our customers fresh and tasty food, while maintaining strong ethical standards" (Shearman 2011; Luft 2011).
Jamie Oliver in one of the first campaigns with Sainsbury's (Luft 2011)
