Northern Foods calls in the pizza fairy

Television adverts themed around a pizza fairy hit TV screens this weekend, aimed at reviving the flagging brand.

Goodfella's, owned by Leeds-based Northern Foods, has lost about 10 per cent of the branded frozen pizza market over the past 12 months, in particular to German rival Dr Oetker, which owns the Chicago Town brand. That was despite the market growing by about 3.5 per cent over that time.

No figure has been put on the total cost of the campaign, but it is thought to exceed 3m, compared to a recent 1.3m marketing drive by Chicago Town.

"This new TV ad is a real step change for Goodfella's," said Kevan Mallinder, marketing manager for the brand. "We're broadening our strategy to further engage with our target shoppers and by hitting

screens with a new advert and strong positioning, we aim to reignite interest in frozen pizza."

The campaign features three 30-second adverts which will run for five weeks, ending just before the football World Cup starts. Each advert stars the pizza fairy, an Italian-American waiter with wings and a wand. The campaign is supported with a range of point of sale and other promotional items.

The team behind the ads – agencies Mother and Dig for Fire – also worked on the successful relaunch of Fox's biscuits.

Northern has also revamped the Goodfella's range. It now features four sub-brands comprising 33 products. Thin and Deep, Takeaway, Speciale and Pocco's target a range of appetites, from consumers trading down from a takeaway pizza, to those on a diet.

The range has also been enhanced using ingredients such as improved cheese.