The Power of Peppa Pig Comes to the Fore as Hasbro Begins 24-Month Brand Campaign

The long-running preschool children's TV series Peppa Pig has become a cultural phenomenon in the two decades since the first episode aired. The titular Peppa, along with her family and friends, go beyond the expected young audience however, even playing to parents and adults without children, as it aims to help its viewers understand complex emotions and the experiences they can expect from life as they grow up. Running in 180 markets, the series has been viewed over 20 billion times on YouTube alone. Even the unlikely figure of film director Quentin Tarantino recently referred to the show as “The greatest British import of the decade” in an interview with Empire magazine. Now, toy and games maker Hasbro, which owns the rights to Peppa Pig following its $4 billion acquisition of production studio Entertainment One in 2019, is set to release a poster campaign in the U.K. and then Germany featuring artwork by young children and promoting "#PeppaPower" and the thoughts of her fans. Phase one of '#PeppaPower' Four posters featuring the children’s artwork will appear alongside statements by each child such as “She makes me feel confident,” “She empowers me to be kind & brave” and “Makes me feel like I can do anything. Peppa is my first best friend.” Becki Fleming, svp of brand marketing, Family Brands EMEA & Asia, told Adweek that having completed its largest consumer research study recently, it had discovered the differentiator for Peppa was how much the character generated “a unique connection” with children who identify with her. “We know kids love Peppa but what we want to do is to really showcase that power of Peppa to parents and we want to make sure that parents remind them of the values and attributes that Peppa brings to them,” explained Fleming of the strategy behind the “emotionally-driven campaign.” Each child was recorded talking about Peppa before being asked to draw their own version of the character to showcase how they see her to the world, with The Chase acting as the creative agency partner and Mediacom as the media buying partner. Running across the U.K., the creative will appear as both billboards and digital out-of-home media with the aim of showing parents and caregivers “the world through little eyes.” A partnership with theme park Peppa Pig World and some pop-up activation events are also planned. This will then be followed by a release in Germany later in September across five major cities in the country, where the second largest fanbase for Peppa can be found. An additional campaign for North America is in the works as well. Fleming explains that this is only the first phase of the brand campaign which aims to reconnect with parents and get the brand’s message around its core values out. This will be followed by a campaign site and social media activity featuring more children’s art work which will run until the end of 2024, the 20th anniversary of the series. Inclusivity is a brand pillar The show has made headlines this month already with the introduction of its first same-sex parent family featuring Peppa’s polar bear friend Penny and her two mothers, which Fleming says showcases one of the pillars of the series—inclusivity. “We believe parents trust Peppa, they trust the Peppa brands and they trust us,” she added, stating the commitment of Hasbro to focus on further inclusivity within its content. “We're very thoughtful in the approach, we're very mindful of what we might be introducing. The two mothers aren’t anything new. We've got lots of diverse characters already… and we're proud to reflect the real world in the show." How Can Marketers Win Over Gen Alpha?