Creative Clipping: Easter Creativity

1. The luxury product

Royal Warrant Holder Fortnum and Mason is known for extravagance and their 2014 Easter collection was no exception. The department store launched a jewellery Easter egg, retailing at £200. The wardrobe-shaped Eau de Nil box with gold trimmings held a Valrhona milk chocolate egg, lined with edible gold leaf. The drawer at the bottom of the box held an assortment of milk and dark chocolates filled with dulce de leche and praline. The inside also featured one of two limited edition designer necklaces created by London-based jewellery designer, Alex Monroe. The bunny necklace featured a gold-plated rabbit, while the bird necklace featured a decorative bird perched on a gold-plated twig, wearing a regal crown and finished with a sparkling diamond. We like this because it brings a luxury and glamour to the traditional Easter egg exchange. The limited edition necklace keepsake makes this a great gift…if, of course, you can afford to splurge out £200! 

2. The city adventure

The Fabergé Big Egg Hunt took place in New York in the three weeks leading up to Easter. The egg hunt saw over 250 eggs, each decorated by artists and designers including Carolina Herrera, Marchesa and Tracey Emin, being displayed across the five city boroughs. Residents and visitors could participate by downloading a virtual Easter egg basket in the form of a mobile app. The app allowed participants to log the eggs that they had found and discover the locations of others. 10 participants had to discover the same egg before it appeared on the app’s map. Successful egg-hunters were then entered into a prize draw to win one of three Fabergé pendant necklaces. At the end of the three weeks, the eggs were displayed at the Rockefeller Center and then auctioned off, with the proceeds being split between non-profit organisations, Elephant Family and Studio in a School. We like this because it combines an experience of adventure with art and fashion in the name of two great causes.

3. The captured moment

Lindt, the master chocolatier, ran their Lindor #MomentofBliss campaign over Easter 2014. The social media campaign which ran on Facebook and photo-sharing site, Instagram, encouraged the UK public to submit photographs depicting their #MomentofBliss for a chance to win one of five Lindor chocolate boxes. In order to enter into the competition, a photograph was submitted and the type of moment had to be described using one of seven pre-selected options which included Easter treat, me time and work break. Those who took part could also select which Lindor chocolate flavour was featured in the photo as well as adding a further description of the moment captured. We like this because it gets consumers involved with the brand, giving them the opportunity to both capture and savour their moment of bliss, evoking memories when looking back on the images. The use of social media also meant that the moment could be shared with friends and family, further promoting the Lindt brand.

4. The immersive experience

Baileys held an adults-only immersive theatrical experience on Saturday 19th April, promoting their Belgian chocolate mix drink, Baileys Chocolat Luxe. The Baileys Feaster Egg Hunt cost £25 per person and took place at Harvey Nichols, London. The live experience took audiences on a unique journey across all five floors of the luxury department store, travelling back in time to the 18^th century Rococo movement where they interacted with actors playing royalty, subjects and courtiers. The actors assisted audiences in completing their journeys by finding the Baileys Chocolat Luxe Easter Egg which then unlocked a six-course feast served on the Fifth Floor Terrace. We love this because it is a great brand experience combining theatrics with an Easter egg hunt. This is the type of activity which is shared and talked about for years to come. Also, as the adventures took place whilst the store was open to shoppers, it gave Baileys a great opportunity to promote across the board.

5. The television advert

Global discount supermarket chain Lidl launched three Easter adverts showcasing their wide range of foods, wines and chocolates to television audiences in the UK. The adverts, created by TBWA\London, followed the format of two people having a conversation with a spread of desserts, wines, foods and Easter chocolates around them. They begin with one person asking the other to repeat some shocking news that they have just shared, which the viewing audience did not see. The second person then goes on to give news to which the viewing audience would expect to cause an extreme reaction but this does not happen. The first person is more interested in and surprised about the wide range of quality foods from Lidl. We like these advertisements as they are both humorous and informative, surprising and delighting, creating points for the viewing audiences to talk about. We also think that this advert will be successful in driving new customers into Lidl supermarkets as it encourages an air of curiosity.

6. The themed party

To kick off the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, London speakeasy Barts held a Mad Hatter’s Hendricks Tea Party. The 1920s prohibition era themed bar based in Chelsea, South West London, served cocktail sharers in teapots, cupcakes and a special Hendricks teacup-tipple to retain the tea party theme into the evening. Revellers gained free entry into the bar and had the opportunity to take part in a fancy dress contest where the prize winners were pulled out of a top hat in a typical Mad Hatter fashion. The highlight of the evening was the golden Easter egg hunt which kept customers in the Easter spirit! We like this because it combines the childhood fantasy theme with grown-up cocktails. It was a great way of continuing the journey from the traditional afternoon activity into the evening and we have taken note! The collaboration with alcohol brand Hendricks gin meant that the venue could serve special event cocktails, thus further promoting the drinks brand and hopefully gaining new customers.

Take a look at The Network Experiential’s Pinterest board where we’ve put together a collage of some of our favourite Easter and spring-time things.

 By Kayleigh Griffith, Account Executive, The Network Experiential

Five reasons why Experiential Marketing campaigns can fail in the On-trade

The drinks industry are masters at experiential marketing.  In fact, as a sector they have been and still remain in the top three investors in our media, and evidence suggests that this is not going to change anytime soon. 

So why is it that a great creative idea can sometimes get lost in the On-trade.  Brands invest heavily in crafting their brand story and making a promise to their consumers, yet at the moment of truth the experience can feel incongruent.

At the Network Experiential we are passionate believers in the fact that implementation and creativity go hand in hand when it comes to the On-trade.  Here we look at five reasons why experiential marketing campaigns can sometimes fail…

1.Poor planning

Simple but so important.  An On-trade experiential campaign takes a disproportionately long time to plan and organise.  The result of poor planning usually manifests itself in activity taking place in the wrong outlet type at the wrong time and talking to the wrong crowd, ouch. Our tips are firstly; give yourself enough time, ideally a 90-day lead-time.  Then develop a ‘client-agency’ project team that includes a representative from each client department, especially field sales.  Identify your target outlets and meticulously segment your data accordingly.  It is critical at this stage to sense check the data with the field executives, or conversely, task the field team to select their best outlets. 

2. Lack of trade engagement 

In the search of the perfect consumer experience, brand campaigns can sometimes miss out the trade.  The trade plays the role of gatekeeper and will ultimately be the ones who advocate your brand after you have moved on.  Brands forget that the trade, of all levels, are continuously bombarded by brands, so take due care to capture their imagination and reward success.  Treat them as you would do the consumer.  From a practical point of view, include them on briefings throughout the campaign process and be sure to measure their hard work, mystery-shopping works well in the On-trade.  From a broader perspective, inspire them through creative ideas in line with the wider campaign.  

3. Overcomplicated idea

The On-trade can be a tough place to engage people in an instant. We have witnessed brands’ over complicating what should be a simple message. Taste this, redeem that, enter this and once you’re done, go online to share. Argh. The On-trade is about social time for your audience, so don’t intrude too much and expect them to over participate. Our best advice is to keep things SIMPLE, do fewer things very well.  Make sure the idea is consistent with the wider campaign but don’t ‘shoehorn’ an ATL mechanic. And finally social media can definitely play a role in On-trade experiences but don’t use it as a bolt on, make online intrinsic to what you’re saying and doing overall.

4. Poor experience execution 

This can often be one of the main culprits of underperforming activity and quite simply it is not doing the basics properly.  We’ve identified three key areas of the experience to get right and they are firstly, the people. Select the right brand experts to represent your brand and engage with your audience. Invest in an inspiring briefing session and give them a clear script to get your key messages across.  Secondly, the sample; stop at nothing to make every serve or pour absolutely perfect as this will ultimately do the talking. And finally, be very clear on the call to action, whether it is go to the bar to redeem or go online to share, walk your consumer through it.  

5. No measurement 

“If you’re not keeping score, you’re just practicing” John McEnroe once said.  All to often clients rely on basic reporting to justify their On-trade experiential activity, so how can we know if it ever truly works?  Our advice is to set your evaluation objectives at the very outset and use these objectives to define your operational approach, such as numbers and types of outlets.  Identify, a panel of outlets and negotiate the use of their sales data both pre, during and post your live activity to measure success.  Use a control panel to compare and contrast the data.  If you want to go the extra mile, collect consumer details and do a ‘call-back’ to gauge recall, perception change and behavior change.

The Network Experiential offer a planning, creative, staffing and implementation service for On-trade experiences, as well as many other channels and environments. Please follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest to keep up to date with new news and industry insight.

Simon Couch, Director of Experiential