Declan Rice demonstrates the power of protein for Müller Rice

The OOH ‘Rice + Protein’ work, created by VCCP, is a continuation of the 'Rice, Rice Baby' campaign

By Creative Salon

19 June 2024

Müller Yogurt & Desserts has continued its ‘Rice, Rice Baby’ partnership with footballer Declan Rice, launching an integrated campaign centred around a series of special build billboards and digital assets created by agency of record, VCCP and its content creation studio Girl&Bear.

The out of home campaign ‘Rice + Protein’ is the latest campaign from Müller as the brand continues to push boundaries with its Declan Rice partnership, this time specifically promoting the brand’s Müller Rice Protein range. The campaign builds on the previous Müller Rice campaign and partnership which first launched in November 2022, of which Müller credits as playing a key role in the 9 per cent value growth seen in Müller Rice in the last year.

The series of out of home billboards aim to land the creative idea that Müller Rice Protein helps power people through everyday scenarios, dramatising its effects as Declan Rice demonstrates super-human strength with tongue-in-cheek hyperbole.

In one execution, Declan Rice lifts a sofa above his head while vacuuming, in another, he accidentally bends a goalpost leaning on it, he is shown walking his dog and throwing a tree instead of a stick, and in two hero special-build executions, Declan is lifting a 3D car above his head while he retrieves a football from the road.

The campaign aims to target and speak to the unspoken moments in everyday life where protein can play a role: contextualising the benefits of protein in everyday life and landing the message that protein is not just a source of fuel and nutrition for active people, but in the case of Müller Rice Protein - it is a sustaining snack for people simply looking to get the most out of their day, more important this summer than ever before as we head into a ‘Full On’ summer of sport.

The OOH campaign follows on from the recent FRijj OOH posters, which featured a bottle-shaped hole in the centre, to give the illusion that someone has risked it all and embraced ‘the URjj’: grabbing the bottle from the poster, as well as the success of the award-winning Müller Corner out of home builds in 2022, where billboards across the UK were seen to ‘bend’ at the corner.

The campaign is supported by social static and video content across Meta and YouTube also featuring Declan Rice. Additionally, content in fan parks over throughout June and July, consisting of fanpark OOH and idents which will be shown prior to matches, and Müller will sponsor various Acast podcasts.

Talar El Asswad, marketing lead treats and desserts at Müller said: “Protein is a fast growing area. We’ve attracted a younger audience through our longstanding Declan Rice partnership. This campaign continues to build on that journey to introduce rice pudding to a new generation: It’s a wholesome protein snack, low in fat and sugar. Perfect to keep us living ‘Full On’ lives.”

George Wait, creative director at VCCP added: “Our ongoing partnership with Declan Rice has always been grounded in comedic simplicity. Declan Rice - Muller Rice, it just makes sense! We wanted to continue in this vein when promoting our Muller Rice Protein range. What happens when you combine Rice with Protein? You get an extra strong Declan Rice of course! Working with Declan is always a joy, and that’s not just because I’m a huge Arsenal fan. He’s great to work with, brings his own creativity to every project and is always up for the ideas I throw at him. We’re always excited to launch new campaigns with Declan and we’ll all be avidly supporting him this summer at the Euros. Rice rice baby!”

OOH will run until 30 June, and the wider campaign will run until 14 July across fan parks, OOH, social and YouTube. Media planning and buying was driven by EssenceMediacom and PR was handled by Ogilvy PR & Influence.