Is It Cake? Sainbury’s Latest Sponsorship*

There are few things as brill as the Great British Bake Off. It’s become ingrained in our culture – everyone knows to sit down at 8 pm on Tuesday to watch the latest episode. Amongst the drama and excellent baking, one key thing has stood out this season. Ironically, it has nothing to do with the show’s content and everything to do with its title sponsor. 

This year GBBO is sponsored by Sainsbury’s. A good sponsorship, but the way in which this supermarket has approached the partnership is spectacular. It has created the best advert you will ever see, perfectly bringing the sponsor and the programme together as one. I’ll talk more about it in a second, but it really is the ideal example of how to execute a sponsorship that’s mutually beneficial. 

Is it cake?

Do you remember during the first lockdown when everyone went cake crazy? There was a viral trend of realistic cakes that took the internet by storm. It was absolutely genius and even spawned an American Netflix Series titled Is It Cake?

Well, Sainsbury’s has taken this trend and used it as the inspiration for this year’s GBBO sponsorship. As the show cuts to a break or returns from one, you’re presented with a “sponsored by Sainsbury’s” advert that features one of the supermarket’s products. Sounds pretty basic, but the genius idea is that you have to guess if the product is real or cake! Aside from being super fun and engaging, it perfectly blends with the show. You have something that’s hyper-relevant to the show’s content and target audience – it is a match made in heaven. 

Then, when the show returns from a break, we see the grand reveal of whether or not the product is a cake. Sometimes, they take the same product you saw a few weeks back, but this time it is cake when last time it wasn’t! Honestly, it is one of the highlights of the show for me – you genuinely get involved in the whole is it cake debate!

Creative and engaging

This is easily the best brand sponsorship/advert I have seen in some time. It’s incredibly creative, plays on a viral trend and is super engaging. Everyone should learn from this when developing advertising or sponsorship campaigns. If you work with a digital marketing agency, ensure they are updated with the current trends, forming ideas that help you piggyback on them. 

More importantly, focus on creating advertising or marketing material that is relevant to both your brand and any other brand you might sponsor. This will make any partnership mutually beneficial, ensuring it can last for an extremely long time. I genuinely can’t stop thinking about this advert because it fits the bill so perfectly. It’s a stroke of genius from the creative team at Sainsbury’s and everyone should tune into GBBO just to see it. 

Supermarkets have been in the news a lot lately, particularly with regard to branding and advertising. Sometimes, they miss the mark by a long shot. So, it’s really nice to see Sainsbury’s nail this one and showcase advertising at its finest.