Cheez-It UK&I Launch

Client: Cheez-It, Kellanova

Cheez-It, the iconic American snack, made its UK&I debut in August 2024, shaking up the £4BN salty snack market. The brief was ambitious: achieve 7.7% household penetration and generate over £10M in Year 1 sales - no small feat in a category where 80% of new launches fail to reach 3%.

Driven by the insight that one in five adults crave cheese daily, we targeted flavour-adventurous 25–44-year-olds with a bold new brand platform: Cheez-Hit? Cheez-It. To break habits in a fiercely loyal category, the brand needed to be experienced to be believed - so we made live experience the campaign’s core. The Cheez-It DJ Jeep hit streets, festivals and trade events, turning everyday spaces into high-energy brand encounters powered by real cheese, music and personality-led sampling. Each event became a shareable moment that connected physical trial with digital fame. Around this experiential core, TV, OOH, digital, PR and influencer activity amplified the brand’s bold personality and drove mass awareness. Results: 14.5% household penetration, 16.2M packs sold (one pack every two seconds) and £24.9M retail sales in Year 1 - more than double the target. It became the biggest new large-sharing snack launch in four years, ranked by Kantar as the fourth biggest innovation launch in CPG 2024, with only half the time in market of the top three, and the biggest new brand launch of the year. Cheez-It is now projected to become a £40M brand in Year 2.