Finding the UK’s biggest fan of Parma Violets

A few brainstorms later and we came up with the idea of launching a search to find the UK’s biggest fan of Parma Violets.

This relatively simple idea turned out to be hugely effective and has already smashed all the campaign objectives.

We kicked off by holding a photo shoot at the Swizzels factory to provide us with colourful and eye-catching images to support the campaign (yes, that’s our very own social media guru Alex in the photo above!).

Next, we created a dedicated landing page for people to enter the competition. This gave them the opportunity to say why they are the biggest fan and upload supporting photos.

Then we set our KPIs – it’s pointless running a campaign if you don’t have any way to measure its success!

Foundations in place, we launched the campaign.

First off, we created and distributed press packs to leading journalists, bloggers and influencers. These contained a selection of Parma Violet branded items and a press release announcing the competition.

In tandem with this, our social media team went into action with a three-part strategic campaign that had three objectives at its heart:

  • Reach – spreading awareness as far as possible to the right audience
  • Consideration – breaking down barriers and getting fans to engage with posts
  • Action – encouraging people to enter by highlighting the prize on offer

To-date, the PR activity has attracted over 80 pieces of coverage from a diverse range of titles including the Metro, The Sun, Marie Claire, Pretty 52 and The Manc (Manchester’s answer to the LadBible). All have featured direct links to the competition landing page.

The competition closed on Monday 10th June, attracting over 6000 entries.

They make for interesting reading from the relatively tame (people dying their hair violet) to the more extreme (having a Parma Violet themed wedding) and lots in between. It’s been incredible to unite the Parma Violets fans and give them an outlet for their passion!

National Parma Violets Day (yes, our creation) will herald the end of the campaign on 28th June.

As well as crowning our Parma Violets Biggest Fan, we’ll be giving away prizes on the hour, every hour between midday and 5pm.

If your taste buds have been titillated, you know what to do – head to the Swizzels Facebook and Twitter profiles and try to bag a prize!

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