When Finnish meat producer Atria launched Wilhelm Hujoppi – an extra-long wiener – they needed a campaign that would make the product’s unique selling point impossible to ignore.
How to demonstrate extra-long on the radio?
The advertising agency, TBWA Helsinki, created a strong visual concept showcasing the special length of the new Wilhelm Hujoppi Wiener. The campaign successfully told the “long at both ends” story across multiple visual media channels, ultimately increasing brand recognition and sparking conversation about the product.
When TBWA Helsinki approached Sanoma with their innovative audio concept asking “How can we execute this for radio?” it required thinking beyond traditional advertising boundaries.
The objective: communicate “long” in a medium without visuals. Moving beyond descriptive copy, creating an experience that would make listeners genuinely feel the product’s length, and tackling key questions:
- How to translate a visual concept into an audio-only format?
- How to make “extra-long” tangible to audiences without pictures?
- How to stand out in a crowded commercial environment?
- How to create a memorable impact in a medium built for sound?
When One Ad Break Wasn’t Long Enough
Rather than describe length, the campaign demonstrated it in real time.
Sanoma collaborated with TBWA Helsinki to refine the execution strategy and to bring the concept to life through production. The solution was relatively simple yet creative: to make the commercial itself extra long. Not just the message about the product, but the actual advertisement.
Execution: The ad opened like any normal commercial, announcing the new Wilhelm Hujoppi. But instead of stopping after 30 seconds, it kept going. And going. And going through the entire commercial break. The spot was cleverly divided between the other advertisers’ commercials. It began with a standard Wilhelm Hujoppi commercial, then cleverly threaded the word “loooooooooooooooooong” through every other brand’s ad in the break, before closing as the final spot with “…so long that it lasts throughout the entire commercial break.”
Why it worked: this approach turned the radio’s linear format from a limitation into an advantage. Listeners experienced the product’s length in real-time, creating an unexpected and memorable moment that perfectly demonstrated the product value.
Radio’s Unique Creative Canvas
This campaign showcases radio’s often-underestimated creative potential. Unlike visual media constrained by screen size, or print limited by page dimensions, radio offered something unique. The creative case highlights the advantages of radio as a medium:
- Using time as a creative tool, not just a limitation,
- Creating a surprise factor in a familiar format, engaging imagination
- Enabling cost-effective production compared to video
The Collaborative Edge
This collaboration between Atria, TBWA, and Sanoma illustrates the power of creative thinking in modern advertising, when the best campaigns don’t adapt across channels but leverage each medium’s unique strengths. By partnering with Sanoma, TBWA could:
- Leverage a deep understanding of radio’s technical capabilities.
- Access production expertise for audio execution.
- Navigate commercial break structures and timing.
- Ensure seamless implementation across radio networks.
What made this campaign particularly effective was its willingness to subvert traditional radio advertising conventions. While traditional radio ads consist of 30-second spots with a clear beginning, middle, and end, concentrated message delivery, a respect for commercial break boundaries, and a predictable format, the Wilhelm Hujoppi Approach was unconventional.
The campaign essentially hijacked the commercial break, transforming what’s typically dead air between content into content itself.
The Power of Medium-Specific Creativity
The campaign serves as an inspiring example of how innovative thinking and media expertise can transform product features into compelling experiences.
This campaign also demonstrates that through effective marketing campaigns, radio remains a vibrant creative medium in the digital age. Rather than being limited by its audio-only format, radio offers unique opportunities for:
- Time-based storytelling
- Surprise and delight moments
- Cost-effective experimentation
- Valued personal connections with audiences
When brands, agencies, and media companies collaborate closely, taking time to understand each other’s strengths and pushing creative boundaries together, radio delivers campaigns that are not just heard but also remembered.
egta members can view the presentation of the campaign at the 2025 Marketing & Sales Meeting in Helsinki here.