As a leading integrated food and drink agency we often get approached by TV production companies looking for food brands to take part in their programmes. However, when the call came earlier this year the production company on the end of the line was not only interested in working with some of our clients, but also with Jellybean. The question was posed…would you be open to coming on the show as a food marketing expert to give your opinion on a range of ads and different recent food marketing trends?

They say you should do things that take you out of your comfort zone. So, I said yes. They sent me over some vintage ads and asked for a few lines of commentary (I assume to make sure I could string a sentence together). They obviously decided I could, as a few weeks later I got a call to see if I might be free to film for a day in Shepherds Bush. Not, as you might be mistaken for thinking, at a studio but in one of the Exec Producer’s homes. I arrived and was met by Ben who I’d been in contact with and his colleague. I then proceeded to talk for what seemed like a solid day (no change there I hear you say!). The process of doing a piece to camera and then taking direction and re-running it with more stress of X or mentioning Y, was new to me, but Ben was very encouraging and positive, even when I reached the point of having spoken for so long I was on the verge of gibberish (again – not for the first time I’m sure.).

Having done the filming, it wasn’t long before the world was knocked off its axis by the pandemic and other things rather took priority. Having been told the series, which was originally named The Wonderful World of Cakes but in Channel 5’s infinite wisdom was re-named to Amazing Cakes and Bakes, was likely to air over Easter I didn’t think much more about it. Fast forward to November and I received an email from Ben informing me the series was going live on Sunday evening and although I wasn’t in the first episode, I featured quite a bit in episode 2 (and so it turns out in 3 – the rest we’ll have to see).

We watched of course (although some of it was from behind a cushion) and I was happy to see that I didn’t make a complete mess of it. Indeed, friends and family who I never imagined would watch a baking show on Channel 5 messaged me to say how exciting it was to see me on the telly! Even clients and prospects, it would seem, enjoy a bit of Sunday evening baking TV and it is of course all good PR for us as an agency as the production company agreed to caption me with a mention for Jellybean. I think it’s safe to say that I shan’t be jumping ship to launch my TV career anytime soon, but it was fun to be a tourist in that world for a day and if anyone needs a chatty and opinionated food marketer for their program I’m open to bookings.

To see Amazing Cakes and Bakes, tune in to Channel 5 on a Sunday evening or visit www.channel5.com/show/amazing-cakes-bakes/

Susan Wickes
Latest posts by Susan Wickes (see all)