Comic Relief Walkers Snacks Ltd.

COMIC RELIEF

WALKERS SNACKS LTD

Sector

Foods

Objectives

Loyalty

Techniques

Cause Related; Free

Agency

The Marketing Store

Back

Background

Walkers Crisps had 46.5% value share of the bagged snacks market but was facing increasing competition from own label brands.
The growing importance of Cause Related Marketing was an opportunity to launch a campaign that built brand equity and delivered a significant donation to charity.

Objectives

To run an activity that would raise funds for Comic Relief and build brand equity for Walkers.
To ensure the promotion was memorable with consumers and would stand out among the crowd.

Strategy

To run an innovative campaign with universal appeal.
The campaign should be on a grand scale and above all be fun.

To run an activity that would raise funds for Comic Relief and build brand equity for Walkers.
To ensure the promotion was memorable with consumers and would stand out among the crowd.

Summary

Comic Relief was identified as an event that could deliver an innovative and fun campaign on a grand scale. Walkers guaranteed a donation of £1m to Comic Relief that was not linked to purchase.

Walkers introduced a Limited Edition Baked Bean flavour for which every single pack sold contributed 1p to Comic Relief. 5-pack multipacks of Baked Bean flavoured crisps and Monster Munch snacks were developed each of which contained a free Whoopee Cushion. The pack design clearly communicated the Baked Bean imagery.

Each multipack sold contributed an additional 5p to Comic Relief. The promotional message ran across the full range of Walkers Crisps and Snacks -750 million packs - under the creative umbrella “Whoopee! Walkers are giving a guaranteed £1,000,000 to Comic Relief”. Walkers wanted to ensure that the consumer understood that the £1,000,000 was not linked to purchase.

Awareness of the limited edition flavours was driven by the range packs which highlighted how consumers could make a difference. A heavy-weight TV campaign featured the three designs of Whoopee Cushions to drive repeat purchase of the multipacks and raise awareness of the link between Walkers and Comic Relief.

Elements

Design and artwork.
Print.
Charity licence.
Purchase of Whoopee Cushions.
Production of Whoopee Cushions.
Flow-wrapping of Whoopee Cushions.
Insertion of flow-wrapped Whoopee cushions into packs.
TV campaign.

Techniques

Cause Related
Free

Mechanics

1. IN PACK

Special limited edition Baked Bean flavour multipacks each contained a free Whoopee Cushion.
There were 3 different designs to collect.
The Whoopee Cushion was a branded modification of a retail product made to comply with Walkers' stringent safety requirements.

2. DONATION

£1,000,000 was donated to Comic Relief by Walkers irrespective of sales.
A further 1p was donated for every single pack of limited edition Baked Bean flavour Crisps and Monster Munch snacks sold.
An additional 5p was donated for every limited edition Baked Bean flavour multipack sold.

Materials

Limited edition packs.
Limited edition product.
Flow-wrapped Whoopee Cushions.
POS

Results

Specific results are withheld at the request of the promoter
The campaign met Walkers objectives and delivered funds to Comic Relief in a way that captured the hearts and minds of the general public.
Consumer regard for the Walkers brand reached an all time high during the promotional period.