Adweek magazine has named Wieden + Kennedy’s ‘Cats with thumbs’ commercial for Cravendale one of its ‘top ten of 2011’.

Adweek magazine has named our 'Cats with thumbs' commercial for Cravendale one of its 'top ten of 2011'. Here's what they say:

Why do cats stare when you're pouring milk? The answer seems obvious. They're cats. They love milk. But this irresistible spot by Wieden + Kennedy for British dairy Cravendale wondered if the cute little kitties might not have a more nefarious agenda. After a lifetime of waiting on their owner's generosity, perhaps they want to take matters into their own paws. Maybe they're ready to band together and raid your milk supply. They would need just one thing, and this spot humorously gives it to them—opposable thumbs. Suddenly, the polydactyl felines are seen picking up balls, filing their nails, flipping through books, and doing a little needlepoint. But they're just biding their time and honing their sinister plot. Sure enough, soon they're snapping their fingers, West Side Story style, and preparing to gang up on the selfish, cereal-eating human and steal his milk. Cats are always big in ads, but this spot chased off all rivals this year. And we may get a sequel. As one of the spot's feline stars wrote on Twitter this fall: "Know this: you have not heard the last from me."

Chuffed with this news, Bertrum Thumbcat plots the next stage of world domination:

And here is the TV ad again, in all its 8th place glory.

Lurpak: Triumph indeed.

Avid readers of this blog (hello, Mum) may remember the Lurpak international pitch from a couple of years back. It was immortalised in the classic 'Twitpitch' post. Tragically, we lost that pitch to the forces of evil. (Saatchi & Saatchi.) But weep not, food fans, for this tale has a happy ending. An announcement went out officially today from Arla Foods in Denmark. Here’s what it says:
 
Arla Foods has awarded the global advertising contract for its Lurpak brand to Wieden + Kennedy, taking over from Saatchi and Saatchi, following W+K’s tremendous success with Lurpak in the UK.
 
Wieden + Kennedy has been the advertising agency for Lurpak in the UK from late 2006, and since then sales of the brand have increased by 50 per cent, which equates to an extra £83m. During this time Lurpak overtook Flora to become the number one BSM brand in the UK, with the sales gap between the two brands increasing by £55m.
 
Laurence Fischer, vice president for Global BSM at Arla, said: “Wieden + Kennedy have achieved tremendous success with Lurpak in the UK and we are delighted to award them the global contract for the brand. We all now look forward to seeing their plans for the future.”
 
Since the launch of the 'Good Food Deserves Lurpak' campaign by Wieden and Kennedy in 2007, ROI has improved by 51 per cent. The campaign has won the brand over a dozen industry awards including: best marketing campaign in the world at the 2008 Dairy Innovation Awards; two golds at the British Television Awards; a Golden Gramia (The Grocer Marketing & Advertising Awards); a silver APG award for strategy; and a silver at the Cannes Lions awards.
 
Simon Stevens, senior vice president for commercial at Arla, said: “Wieden + Kennedy have done an exceptional job over the last five years, consistently producing great work which has driven outstanding sales growth and built consumer love for our brands. Lurpak, Cravendale and Lactofree have all achieved phenomenal growth, with Lurpak becoming the UK’s number one dairy brand and Cravendale being the fastest growing top 100 food brand over the last five years.”

Nice news. Big congrats to all on our Lurpak UK team whose excellent work has led to this appointment.