2013 Gold Best use of Social Media for Brand Building

Client Mondelez

How did the campaign make a difference? Creme Egg's position as the Easter signpost was threatened. The challenge was to create a social campaign that would deliver the same impact and reach as ATL, focusing on limited availability. Sales rocketed by 7%, and 54% of people (v. 16%) now know Creme Eggs are here for a good time, not a long time.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? The primary objectives were to reinstate Cadbury Creme Egg as the Easter signpost, drive sales and outshout all competition, particularly in January. Plus, keep the core audience of 16 to 24-year olds loyal while attracting 16 to 34-year old 'non-eaters'. With 6 million 16 to 24s on Facebook and 2.4 million Facebook fans, it was the ideal network to communicate at scale and stimulate engagement. Investment was aligned to the core audience and best performing posts were given a media boost. A three-month, three-stage strategy was implemented. January was 'Egg Mania', creating excitement with messages on limited availability and the Eggs' returning superstar status. February was 'Fling Frenzy'. Momentum was maintained with a competition app, dialling up the romance towards Valentine's Day. March was 'Final Flings'. Focus was now on the urgency that the eggs would soon disappear.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? 'Have a fling with a Creme Egg' was perfect for the limited availability message and a cheeky, playful idea for the young audience. Maintaining engagement levels required a carefully devised strategy, focusing on variety. The page behaved like a live newsroom, referring to up-to-the-minute references, like Made in Chelsea and Take Me Out, bang on for the audience. Creme Eggs morphed into candles, scents, the ideal date and ultimate Easter lunch. The tone was quirky and tongue-in-cheek, echoing the rollercoaster emotions of a fling. People could win personalised mementos if they uploaded a photo of themselves with their Egg, which wasn't as innocent as we expected! To guarantee amplification of content, media was allocated to posts that achieved a specified benchmark target, allowing activity to reach well beyond the pre-existing fanbase and connect with the audience at their most impulsive and mobile moments.

Results Overall sales increased by 7% (over 2012), while 54% of the target now know that Creme Eggs are around for just three months (v. 16% in 2012). A consideration shift from 37% pre-campaign to 53%. The Facebook campaign was ranked as the top performing UK brand page for FMCG and generated over 15.2 million unique reaches, 4.63 million interactions and a fanbase growth of over 200,000. The campaign trended on Twitter, with hundreds uploading photos, and the 'Helpline' was inundated with calls bemoaning the end of the season.

Team John Treacy – Executive Creative Director, Shwan Hamidi – Associate Creative Director, Hannah Riley – Copywriter, Chris Clausen – Lead Design, Neil Carding – Lead Design, Fergal Andrews – Lead Tech, Keith Moodie – Lead Studio, Fallon Kirkum – Project Manager, Tanya Brookfield – Managing Director, Becka Smith – Senior Account Manager, Cathryn Reed – Account Manager