LONDON — Frank has won the PR account for palm-oil-free brand, Meridian Foods, with a brief covering content creation and “driving earned talkability” for its range of nut butters.

The agency is also tasked with increasing product awareness and reach for the brand, which was founded in 1982 and whose products include peanut, almond and cashew butters, seed butter, chocolate and fruit spreads, and nut bars.

Frank’s first project for Meridian is the ‘Permission to Spoon’ campaign, underlining the high levels of protein and tryptophan – an amino acid responsible for producing the ‘good mood’ hormone serotonin – in peanut butter, after the brand's research found that one 15g spoonful of peanut butter “offered the same serotonin boost as a 30-second spooning cuddle.”

As part of the campaign, the agency created ten spooning positions for hugs and when spooning peanut butter out of a jar, fronted by Josie Gibson, a reporter on ITV’s This Morning show.

The project marks a departure from Meridian’s previous consumer marketing activity, which has focused on the natural, palm-oil-free attributes of its products, including the Protect Pongo deforestation campaign devised and executed by Don’t Cry Wolf, which worked with the brand in 2020.

Frank managing director Alex Grier said: “When Meridian came to us with the brief to creatively brand build we knew it would be nuts to pass on the opportunity. It’s been really fun to create the brand campaign with Meridian and I can’t wait to build on this.”

Meridian Foods head of marketing and insight Lydia Freeman added: “At Meridian, we pride ourselves on being the tastiest, natural nut butter and we don’t want people to miss out on the taste experience we offer. Frank’s ‘Permission to Spoon’ campaign was fuelled by real consumer insight and product truths, making it instantly impressive and strategically strong. It’s been a lot of fun working on this together.”