HOW THE CORNISH COMPANY'S FIRST TV CAMPAIGN CAME TO LIFE, LED BY TRIBERA
The Cornish Company's first ever TV advert is now airing across ITV, and Tribera was the creative force behind it. It's the brand's first national campaign since brothers Tom and James Woodley founded the business from their family kitchen in 2020, and it lands off the back of August's rebrand, "A Delicious Rebellion."
Six years and over a million hampers later, that new identity had to prove itself somewhere much bigger than packaging: a 30-second slot on national television, in front of an audience who'd never heard of the brand.
Why a rebrand needed a story, not just a new logo
A new identity on packaging is one thing. Landing that same personality on national TV is a different challenge entirely.
The Cornish Company needed a concept bold enough to introduce the business, specific enough to feel entirely theirs, and flexible enough to work as a launch film, a set of social cutdowns, and a talking-heads piece, without feeling like three separate projects stitched together.
Taking on a brand's first ever TV advert is always a big moment. Taking it on alongside a full rebrand raises the stakes further. Tom and James built this business from a family kitchen, and the job was to take that story, wrap it in the brand's new identity, and give it a narrative that could hold its own on national TV.
What was the actual idea?
The team landed on a smuggling story: getting the best of Cornwall out to the rest of the country, with a tone inspired by Ocean's Eleven and Lock, Stock – tongue-in-cheek rather than something more traditional and earnest.
It was a deliberate departure from how food gifting brands usually shoot advertising: fine china, soft light, picture-postcard Cornwall. Instead, it's closer to the confident, memorable and modern version of the county the rebrand itself was built around.
Who else was involved?
Tribera led creative direction and concept development, working alongside The Production Booth on production. A full list of everyone who contributed to the campaign is below:
Client: The Cornish Company
Co-Founder: James Woodley
Co-Founder: Tom Woodley
Head of Marketing: Sophie Handley
Social Media Manager: Sofia Acosta
Creative Agency: Tribera
Creative Director: Dan Osadciw
Senior Creative: Rick Fraterrigo
Content Creator: Ollie McGrath
Client Operations Manager: Caroline Robinson
Client Services & Operations Director: Holly Howard
Senior Art Director: Tristan Nesbitt
Production company: The Production Booth
Director: Crinan Campbell
Director: Dan Lumb
Producer: Tom Booth
Production Manager: Em Meades
Production Runner: Hannah Willey
Production Runner: Ellie Lever
Production Runner: Sarah Ozarar
1st Assistant Director: Kerry Green
2nd Assistant Director: Joe Ramsden
AD Runner: Josiah Brown
DOP: Tim Green (VA)
Focus Puller: Guy Hazell (SC)
Clapper Loader: Sarah Cullen
Playback Operator: Karl Taggart
Grip: Andy Edridge (SC)
Gaffer: Wayne King
Desk Operator: Senan Flude-Fear
Electrician: Orson Steel
Electrician: Rob Snell
Production Designer: Chris Williams
Propman: Chris Brett
Art Assistant: Benson Neilan
Art Assistant: David Yems
Carpenter: Robbie Gagliardi
Food Stylist: Katy McClelland
Costume Designer: Nil Tomakan
Costume Assistant: Izzie Jones
Hair and Makeup Artist: Deanna V'lcevska
Hair and Makeup Assistant: Chloe Rose
Photographer: Nic Crilly-Hargrave
Postproduction: The Queen
Branding agency: Buddy Creative
Media agency: Glass Atlas
Was it just the ad, or everything around it too?
Just the ad would have been the easy version. The brief covered the full campaign: talking-heads content with Tom Woodley and Sophie Handley, Head of Marketing and Commercial, behind-the-scenes coverage of the shoot, and a full social rollout across Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn, shaped to each platform rather than one asset resized three ways.
That's the part that tends to get missed when people think about "making an ad." A TV spot that only exists on TV has done half its job. The surrounding content is what makes a launch a real moment, rather than a single airing.
What does this mean for other growing brands?
The Cornish Company's situation isn't unique. Plenty of fast-growing UK brands reach a point where their identity has outgrown their existing content but haven't yet made the jump to a national campaign. The gap between "we've rebranded" and "we're on TV" is usually a creative one, not a budget one. Knowing what story earns that airtime, and building it so it works everywhere the brand shows up next, matters as much as the channel it launched on.
A practical takeaway
If your brand is sitting on a new identity that hasn't yet found its story, that's the gap worth closing before the media spend goes anywhere. The idea has to work before the airtime does.
It's been a genuine privilege to lead this project, and there's plenty more of The Cornish Company's campaign still to come.
If your brand's outgrown its current content and you're weighing up what a first TV campaign could look like, get in touch with Tribera. We'd love to talk it through.
Was this The Cornish Company's first TV advert?
Yes. It's the brand's first national television campaign since launching in 2020, and follows their August 2026 rebrand, "A Delicious Rebellion."
What did Tribera actually deliver?
Creative concept and direction for the TV advert, working alongside The Production Booth on production, plus the surrounding social campaign, talking-heads content, and behind-the-scenes coverage.
Where can I watch the advert?
It's airing on ITV, with the full film and behind-the-scenes content live across Tribera and The Cornish Company's social channels.
