Leading brioche brand, St Pierre Bakery, has revealed its first-ever above the line campaign for the U.S. market, with a tongue-in-cheek take on French superiority, highlighting the brands quality credentials.
According to the press release, the campaign, which launched on February 3, will appear across retailer online channels, social and digital brand channels, and on TV screens via Connected TV.
The Connected TV campaign will reach viewers in the Pacific, Mountain, West North Central, East North Central, and West South Central regions.
Titled Eat Avec Respect, the creative campaign combines the assuredness and confidence of ‘stereotypical’ French attitude, with the stand out humor and playfulness of the growing premium brand.
Key visuals predominantly feature the product held up to a dramatic Parisian sky to communicate its reverence, with supporting assets across social media featuring tearful French characters who all plead with a U.S. audience to treat the brand’s esteemed brioche with respect. The TV advertisement also delivers satire with a play on the brand’s Parisian inspired roots.
Kayleigh Swift, US Brand Manager at St Pierre, said, “The St Pierre brand is at a very exciting stage of development, primed to build brand awareness in line with the strong regional distribution we’ve secured over the past two years. The new creative captures the personality of the brand and perfectly blends the French flair and challenger spirit for which St Pierre is known.
“Like everything we do, the campaign is rooted in insight. Our brand truth is that the quality of our brioche is outstanding—it’s elite and so much more than 'everyday bread.' The cultural truth is that from art to romance and fashion to food, it’s widely accepted that the French just do it better—and they know it too. What’s more, the French are fiercely protective of what is dear to them, and passionate in sharing frustrations if others don’t show the same respect.
“The new campaign delivers satire with a playfully self-aware wink—dramatizing the imagined response of the French when brioche is not given the reverence it deserves. We see anguish and despair at the way Americans treat sacred St. Pierre brioche, culminating in a plea for more serious appreciation: 'Eat avec respect.' It’s a concept we’ve tested in multiple markets and after a successful UK launch last summer, we’ve refined the ad to appeal to a U.S. audience."
St Pierre maintained unit growth in 2024 despite a declining market, with impressive launches into major retailers including HEB. Challenging conditions were felt across the bakery sector last year, particularly in ISB where the St Pierre brand dominates brioche sales.
However, the brand enjoyed impressive growth across its core range of Buns & Rolls and Waffles which demonstrated uplift in both value and volume for the brand, bringing distribution in key areas to new heights and primed for ‘above-the-line’ marketing success.
The campaign will be supported with social media activity and retailer online programs in Q1 2025 before being rolled out via multiple channels—including in-store activations and PR activity during grilling season.
To watch the full video ad, click here.
