Sweet Suspicion: A Waitrose Mystery

Read the campaign story

Waitrose and Saatchi & Saatchi structured their 2024 Christmas campaign around a missing dessert. Sweet Suspicion opened in early November with a family mystery, then withheld the solution for a second film. The agency’s work page confirms the two-part structure, while contemporary reporting identifies Lucy Forbes as director and describes supporting clues across different channels.

Waitrose’s parent company announced the resolution on 26 November and described polls and speculation around the fictional suspects. Its exposure figures combine channels, so this study does not equate them with unique viewers or sales. The supporting social activity, retail clues and final reveal belong to one campaign, rather than separate cases created from each episode.

Editorial interpretation: the product is not merely shown during the story; its absence creates the story. That makes attention to the plot potentially useful for product memory. The audience has a simple unresolved question and a reason to revisit material, while the brand can vary the clues without abandoning the central object. The mechanism depends on the mystery being enjoyable at a casual level, not requiring everyone to study a complicated fictional universe.

Editorial interpretation: serialisation creates an obligation to deliver a satisfying and accessible ending. A campaign can frustrate viewers if the answer is hidden behind registration, excessive posting or an unrelated purchase. A useful adaptation should publish the schedule, keep participation optional and provide a simple recap. The reward is narrative closure, not a promise that speculation will win something or grant privileged access unless such terms have genuinely been established.

Make the product necessary to the question

Choose a mystery whose central object is genuinely connected to the offer. If any unrelated item could replace it, the puzzle may be entertaining without strengthening the brand proposition. Keep the question easy to state in a sentence and make the object visually identifiable. Then test whether people remember both the unresolved event and the product, rather than only the celebrity or comic character involved.

Design the return visit before releasing the opening

Plan the clue sequence, recap and resolution together. Each piece should add something without making earlier participation mandatory. This lets occasional viewers join late and avoids punishing people who missed a platform-specific post. A coherent ending also protects the team from improvising a disappointing solution after an unexpectedly large response or stretching the story simply because the first episode attracted attention.

Treat participation as selective evidence

People who answer a poll or post a theory are a self-selected group. Their enthusiasm can guide creative refinement, but it does not establish what all customers think. Separate comments, repeat visits, product recall and shopping behaviour. Review whether the campaign invites genuine play or just collects guesses, and avoid describing a high wrong-answer rate as proof of broad engagement without explaining who actually responded.

A small test for another brief

Proposed adaptation: create a two-part illustrated mystery about a missing display item, with three optional clues and a clearly scheduled public solution on the same accessible page.

Measure product recall, comprehension of the question and voluntary return for the solution. Ask whether the ending feels fair and whether any practical product questions remain. Keep repeat page visits separate from unique participants.

Stop if the mystery depends on deceptive prize implications, inaccessible clues, compulsory data collection or a resolution that contradicts the information already provided.

• Use fictional adult characters and a harmless premise.
• Keep the product information available without solving the puzzle.
• Offer an untimed text recap and do not require personal details to participate.