The Background
Hellmann’s dominated core mayonnaise but struggled to recruit younger shoppers. Gen Z drive flavour exploration. They seek bold, restaurant-style flavours to recreate at home, inspired by TikTok food trends, shared TV moments and social eating occasions. Irish food culture, however, is rooted in pride and familiarity. People experiment only when new flavours enhance trusted foods. Research revealed a divide: Ranch lovers value versatility (“it goes with almost anything”), yet most Irish consumers lacked awareness of what Ranch is or how to use it. For many, it felt “very American” and disconnected from Irish habits.
The business challenge was not simply to launch a new product, but to create a new behaviour that could unlock incremental growth. Hellmann’s needed to prove that Ranch could add value to both the brand and the wider Irish sauces category by recruiting younger and new shoppers in Summer -the key moment for table sauce innovation, when light buyers enter and competition peaks.
A Summer media activation was needed to make the Ranch launch unmissable for 18-44s that was culturally relevant, tapping into Irish habits and most importantly educate on usage occasions for Ranch -to show that Hellmann’s Ranch can go with ANY dish in Ireland.
This campaign was shortlisted for the Best Tactical Use of TV at the 2026 TAMI Awards
The Challenge
Irish consumers are open to new flavours, but only when they clearly enhance foods they already know and trust. Rather than simply introducing a new flavour, the WPP team wanted to create a behaviour people could see, taste, and share.
The focus was on rooting this “new” sauce in familiar Irish food rituals and pop-culture moments, pairing Hellmann’s Ranch with iconic Irish foods such as Chicken fillet rolls
Spice Bags
Chips
Summer salads
Crisp sambos
And even bacon and cabbage
To show how a squeeze, dip or drizzle of Hellmann’s Creamy or Spicy Ranch could elevate them instantly and anchor the product in familiar eating occasions.
The team needed to reframe Ranch as Irish relevant through humour and cultural cues; build mental availability by reaching young adults in high engagement environments and convert attention into behaviour through clear product integration and memorable brand assets. Using the catchy slogan ‘Ranch it with Hellmann’s’ to hit the consumer repeatedly and enhance recall of Hellmann’s Ranch.
Media, creative, and resources were concentrated behind one idea – make Ranch unmissable and establish it fast as the flavour behaviour of the season.
To disrupt at scale, a big bold presence was required and the team knew that the power of TV would be crucial to our success in holding attention and telling our audience how to “Ranch It”. However there was one slight issue; they had no TV assets!! WPP took the challenge to Virgin Media Television. Partnering with them, the solution was simple.
What is the biggest screen event that captivates the younger audience all summer long? Love Island.
Over the summer, Virgin Media Two is consistently No.1 in the 9PM slot for Ads15-34. This was a perfect fit to tap into a culturally relevant moment for our Gen Z audience. Delivering nightly appointment viewing, high emotional engagement, and a shared social language. The ideal environment to “Irishify” an American condiment repositioning Hellmann’s Ranch as something that belonged in Irish fridges.
Knowing the audience resonated with relevant content, it couldn’t be generic ad copy. This had to be bespoke, authentic creative that resonated with the Love Island audience. Using an iconic Irish personality would be key in helping driving consideration and education of the versatility and flavour possibility, ultimately influencing our audience to “Ranch it”.
The Strategy
With Virgin Media Television being the home of Love Island on Irish TV, it served as the campaign’s main medium to reach our Gen Z audience six days a week for an almost 50-day period. Virgin Media Television also came with experience in creating bespoke copy around Love Island and had an in-house production team that were able to execute the vision within a quick turnaround period. The team then paired iconic Irish foods with an iconic Irish face of James Kavanagh. The spots had the iconic influencer dramatising food rituals, using Love Island vernacular & signing off with the tagline ‘Ranch it with Hellmann’s’. Building an understanding of what Ranch is, what it can go with and why you’d want it now.
The campaign was designed to give Ranch an unmistakably Irish identity and embedding it in the cultural moments young people care about.
How this was filmed was critical – this audience is quick to wit, and the team wanted to impress them with the iconic parings and phrases used. So VMTV and WPP collaborated on scripts that combined the Love Island catchphrases such as ‘don’t be mugged off by Mammy’s classic’ and ‘sorry babes, my head’s been turned by something spicy’ including mouthwatering product shots.
Delivered across six snappy 10” and 20” pieces of copy, shot by Virgin Media Television and rotated throughout every single episode of Love Island Summer (49 in total) as well as heavily throughout Love Island catch up on VM PLAY (+500k impressions) the executions became an extension of the show rather than an interruption.
The team extended the Love Island curated content into YouTube and CTV for incremental reach and high attention viewing, sequencing six-second teases with longer, story-driven cuts. Further, the Love Island bespoke content was turned into bespoke social content and amplified across Tik Tok.
The Results
The launch of “Ranch it with Hellmann’s” delivered exceptional impact across brand, commercial and culture. This tactical use of TV played a large role in contributing to business metrics.
A post campaign piece of research was conducted. The results come from Wave two (post campaign) (Wave 1 was conducted prior to TV campaign).
- TV outperformed all media, including in store. (Where did you see or hear the Hellmann’s Ranch advertising)
- TV exposure translated directly into brand impact:
- Prompted awareness of Hellmann’s Ranch increased from 39% to 44% but surged to 60% among those who recalled the campaign
- Awareness of the new Ranch range rose by 8 points overall, but reached 56% among exposed viewers, a 2.8× uplift.
- TV exposure played a significant role in shifting consideration and driving trial
- 38% of exposed viewers would try Hellmann’s Ranch compared with 18% of the total population.
- Among those who had not yet tried the product, likelihood to try rose to 56% among exposed audiences, compared with 38% overall, demonstrating the persuasive power of the TV first approach.
- Among exposed audiences, top tier consideration increased by 14 points, with the proportion of people who would consider Hellmann’s “above most others” jumping from 23% to 35%.
- Campaign exposure reduced uncertainty dramatically from 14% to 6%
- Love Island Summer 2025 – During the summer months (June–August), Love Island Series 12 ranked among the top two programmes across all linear channels for Ads1544 (excluding Live Sports programming)
Commercial Results are sensitive, but we can say that the campaign contributed to:
- a huge % increase in incremental sales
- buyers were new to category
- a double digit repeat rate
- Hellmann’s Ranch became a growth engine: Flavour Sauces grew +15% vs Core Mayo with Ranch driving 49% of flavour uplift
The tactical use of TV and specifically Love Island was key in delivering brand fame for Hellmann’s, providing a tactical presence not achievable across other channels.
With a small budget, the campaign delivered exceptional value. The investment in bespoke TV creative ensured cultural resonance, while the remaining media budget maximised reach within the most youth skewed programme on Irish television. The result was a TV led campaign that significantly increased awareness, strengthened brand perceptions, drove trial, and built the foundations for long-term penetration growth, proving that the Love Island partnership was a highly effective and commercially efficient investment for Hellmann’s Ranch.
Further, it provided assets could be leveraged not just on TV but across Youtube, CTV and Social. Ultimately, this partnership allowed Hellmann’s to be culturally relevant in an iconic summer moment and helped to shape and develop new Irish habits.
“The Love Island partnership was the catalyst in transforming Hellmann’s Ranch from a flavour Irish consumers saw as ‘very American’ into one of our most culturally relevant and commercially successful launches. Crucially, partnering with Virgin Media Television unlocked TV and broader reach assets, including CTV, that we simply couldn’t have achieved at this scale or speed otherwise.
By embedding bespoke Hellmann’s creative into the biggest Gen Z TV moment of the summer, we educated, inspired and felt genuinely part of the conversation – not just another ad break. The impact was immediate: awareness surged, consideration and trial accelerated, and Ranch ultimately became, in the words of one of our retail partners, ‘the most successful new product launch in the category in 2025.’ This activation didn’t just build brand fame; it created true Irish relevance and helped establish a new flavour behaviour – proving the power of a bold brand idea amplified by the right cultural moment and the right media partner.”
Deneige Hudson, Brand Manager Unilever, Mar 2026
Credits
Brand:
Hellmann’s
Media Agency:
WPP Media
Award:
TAMI Awards Shortlist Best Tactical Use of TV at the 2026 TAMI Awards