We all need food. But what we choose to eat is a decision made by the individual themselves. Some people are vegetarian, some are total meat lovers.
And food brands and restaurants are constantly trying to get more customers, improve their products and make their facilities better. But mostly to influence individuals into buying their food over another brand’s.
Either way, we need food to live, and companies need to sell it to us to make money. So, here are a few of the most effective digital campaigns that some of the biggest brands in the food industry have done recently to tempt us in to buying their products.
Snickers – Misspelled Keywords Campaign, UK
As part of their ‘You’re not you when you’re hungry’ campaign, reaching over 500,000 people in just 3 days, this Snickers campaign was an immense success.
Aimed at hungry office workers, the company used Google to target people every time they made a spelling mistake. The search result would appear and there would be an advertised link to the campaign page and the advert reading “Yu cant spel properlie wen hungrie”.
Due to the budget going on PPC for misspellings, there was next to no competition, so Snickers were getting more for their money.
This is quite a funny one, engaging with people through their mistakes is a light hearted, yet effective way to draw people in.
Cadbury – Have A Fling (With A Creme Egg) Campaign
Back in 2013, Cadburys created a campaign to try to get more people to buy their Creme Eggs while they had the chance, because of their limited availability.
At the end of each of the advert, it said “Here ‘til 31st March”, prompting the viewer to take advantage and be spontaneous by having something that wouldn’t be around for long.
Cadbury also aired the adverts around Valentine’s Day, making the campaign more successful, however, they also promoted the Cadburys Creme Egg campaign on Facebook, using the faces of Paddy McGuinness and Made In Chelsea stars.
All in all, the campaign reversed the damage of a 2-year decline in sales and increased them by 9%, leaving the Cadburys Creme Egg more popular than before the campaign.
This seasonal campaign worked great as it tempted possible customers to buy Cadbury Creme Eggs based on their unique selling point – them being a limited edition.
Watch one of the adverts here:
McCain’s – We Are Family Campaign
McCain have done family focused campaigns in the past, but this time, they wanted to focus on diversity.
They wanted this to be the main focus after an insight came out saying that half of the British population don’t think popular culture reflects the reality of families; they wanted to make more people feel represented in the media.
So far, the campaign has been working as McCain showed such a wide range of people, all different. From single parents, huge families, step-parents, adoptive parents, same sex parents, brothers, sisters and many more.
The ad has been running since August 17th and so far, has had a positive reaction as more people feel they can see a situation in which they are represented.
In conclusion, if people see someone they relate to in the advert for McCain’s, they may be more likely to buy their products. It also makes McCain’s seem more open and adaptable to the ever-changing world, which could make people viewing the advert feel like they are friendly and accepting as a brand.
View the advert here:
Pret A Manger – Little Veggie Shop
Back in June 2015, Pret A Manger opened a poll to customers after a blog post by the CEO said there should be more vegetarian and vegan options. They received around 10,000 votes in favour of the veggie scheme, they decided to test it out.
They opened a pop-up shop in London which was hugely successful. Serving all things vegetarian and vegan. However, they didn’t want meat-eaters to feel left out, so said they can use it to experiment with their options.
After a decision made by Pret, they decided to make to shop permanent, with a massive 99 food options, ranging from breakfasts, lunches, hot snacks and sweet treats. There are now 2 Veggie Pret locations, both in London which are hugely popular.
None of this would have happened if they hadn’t taken their customers thoughts into consideration.
It definitely makes me want to try some of their veggie and vegan creations.