This month’s roundup of PR campaigns feature three brilliant examples from Walkers, who fed Londoners using an interactive bus stop, Nisim’s scientific approach to hair care and a simple yet successful campaign from Vision Express.
#TWEETTOEAT
Although a few years old now, we really like this campaign from Walkers in 2014: The nation’s favourite crisp brand transformed three London bus stops into tweet-activated vending machines as part of its 'Do us a Flavour' campaign.
With Walkers already renowned for its quirky and talked about campaigns, this one was no different. Passers-by of the novel vending machine bus stops in Clapham and Oxford Street were encouraged to tweet @Walkers_busstop, triggering the vending machine to deliver a free packet of crisps to the tweeter.
"Walkers loves bringing fun to the nation and we are extremely excited to launch the first ever Twitter vending machine on the streets of London" said Walkers marketing manager Lee-Teng Chung at the time.
The 2014 'Do us a Flavour' campaign championed six ‘finalist’ flavours which included: Sizzling Steak Fajita, Chip Shop Chicken Curry, Pulled Pork in a Sticky BBQ Sauce, Ranch Raccoon, Cheesy Beans on Toast and Hot Dog with Tomato Ketchup. The vending machines were stocked with one of the six finalist flavours and dispensed 260 packets of crisps daily. The public were also encouraged to vote for their favourite flavour online, taking it from an interactive campaign to a social media campaign.
Not only was this campaign a success on social media, but it also made the consumer media with articles on big hitters such as the Mail Online (2,302,409) and a number of features in trade press too. All in all, another campaign packed full of flavour from the big, crispy giant of crisps.
LAUNCH OF NEW HAIR GROWTH SHAMPOO GETS THE TEST OF TIME
Anyone who has ever regretted a haircut knows it can seem like an age before the upsetting trim grows out. So is there a way to grow out hair quicker? Hair care brand Nisim claims there is, with the launch of its ‘F.A.S.T’ (Fortified Amino Scalp Therapy) shampoo and conditioner which promises to make your hair grow up to 99% faster in one month.
Before being stocked in major retailers, the product was clinically trailed on over 1,000 men and women. On average, test subjects found that after 12 weeks of massaging this product into their hair with every shower, their hair grew around 30% faster than usual. One subject even experienced an astonishing 99% boost in hair length!
Nisim also sent free samples of F.A.S.T to a range of journalists and bloggers for them to try and testament to its effectiveness, resulting in a number of reviews online and in print. Most prominently, a Daily Mail journalist trialled it for four weeks and wrote a review, analysing her hair length at the end of each week. Within the feature, two trichologists (that’s hair and scalp specialists to you and me) also commented on the results and explained that it may not have been the ingredients in the treatment that made her hair grow, but that it was more likely due to the fact that she was massaging her scalp 14 times a week and conditioning her hair every day.
Despite the words of doubt from the trichologists, Nisim achieved three Mail Online (2,302,409) features and over 50 pieces of coverage over the course of two years. This included reviews from bloggers and journalists, product roundups and launch features.
VISION EXPRESS TELLS US WHY WE NEED REGULAR HEALTH CHECKS
Vision Express created the last campaign in this month’s line-up. On the back of National Eye Health Week which took place last week, the visionary company compiled a feature that was as simple as it was effective.
The article starts with an unsettling quote by Vision Express optician Omar Hassan, emphasising the importance of regular eye checks and encouraging us to continue reading. He says: "With many conditions, 40% of vision could be lost without the patient noticing anything is wrong… I see patients with sight problems that could have been prevented if it had been diagnosed earlier."
This statement is followed by a list of which risk factors to look out for as well as what to expect of your eyes through different ages. The article covers eye health among kids and teens, people in their 20’s and 30’s, 40’s and 50’s and those who are 60+.
The beauty of this feature is its simplicity: From our perspective, it looks like the only asset required was some research on people’s eye health habits as well as an in-house expert to advice on eye health through the ages and provide further commentary within the article.
In short, it appears that Vision Express used assets it already had to create a topical and relevant feature. It was published on the Mirror Online (895,503) and shared further to the Mirror’s 952,000 Twitter followers, proving that a great PR campaign doesn’t have to be eye-wateringly expensive!