Bristol agency Halo makes TV bet on Bart, debut set for Q1 2027
'The Secret is Bart' goes digital-first this autumn and reaches television in the first quarter of 2027. It follows the herbs and spices brand into Sainsbury's.
Halo, a Bristol brand agency, has made an integrated campaign for Bart Ingredients Co. called 'The Secret is Bart'.
The release starts with digital in autumn 2026. The first major television spot follows in the first quarter of 2027.
Channels run across digital, retail, in-store and then TV. The film was produced with STORM+SHELTER, also based in Bristol.
The campaign supports Bart's recent listing in Sainsbury's. Halo says the brand has also secured nationwide listings in Waitrose.
The creative centres on a family hunting frantically for a priceless recipe. That is the whole idea: intrigue rather than product messaging about jars of oregano.
Bart sells into a category where shelf space is fought over by one dominant name and supermarket own-label lines. Halo's material puts own-label at a record 52% share of the UK grocery market, though it does not say who measured that.
Arnold Monteith is Bart's marketing manager. James Adams is chief commercial officer.
Nick Ellis, creative partner and founder at Halo, described the work as a platform rather than a one-off, which is the agency's way of saying it expects repeat fees for several years.
Halo says Bart is the fastest growing herbs and spices brand in the UK. That is the client's and agency's own account, and no sales figures accompany it.
The agency has been B Corp certified since 2022 and reports recertification plus a 58% cut in its own energy consumption over the past year. It pays the Real Living Wage.
Halo describes its method as semiotic analysis combined with behavioural economics, tested for memorability. Translated: it checks whether people remember the advert before the client spends on airtime.
For founders in commodity categories, the interesting part is the sequencing. Bart won the retail listing first, then spent on brand, and put a year between the digital launch and the television debut.
That order matters. Distribution gives a campaign somewhere to convert; a television spot with no shelf presence is an expensive short film.
The campaign film and assets are on Halo's site. Media spend has not been disclosed, and neither Bart nor Halo has published sales figures against which the autumn launch can later be judged.
More: Halo · the campaign work page