In 2005, PepsiCo's then president, Martin Glenn, spoke to the Institute of Direct Marketing about the power of promotions. In particular, he praised PepsiCo brand Walkers, which had previously run campaigns such as Books for Schools and Moneybags - all considered classics.
Glenn's speech was timely, as Walkers was just bringing out Win an iPod, its biggest-ever promotional campaign. The push used a code on bags, which the consumer could text in or enter via a microsite. From this, they were entered into a free draw that would run every five minutes. But Glenn departed for Birds Eye in 2006, and despite Win an iPod's success, Walkers has not launched a promotion since it ended in 2005.
This month, Walkers is aiming to reverse this trend. Last year, the company briefed The Big Kick to create a campaign to highlight changes to the Walkers product since 2005. Walkers brand manager Hugo Amos said: "Promotions are what built the brand. We haven't done anything since 2005 because we've been busy on things such as the reduction of saturated fats and using Sunseed oil and using, since last year, 100 per cent British potatoes."
British inspiration
A backdrop of the campaign is the fact that Walkers is the number one crisp brand, but it is a competitive sector, with rivals such as Kettle chips and a resurgent Golden Wonder. In response to this, the move to 100 per cent British potatoes inspired the brief. "The move to 100 per cent researched really well and we knew it was key," says Amos. "The question was how to build on it in a fun Walkers way."
The campaign The Big Kick created is Brit Trips. It is a promotion the agency believes could be the biggest partnership promotion yet. The on-pack promotion will offer consumers the chance to take up one of 14,000 offers on trips out in the UK and involves organisations such as Alton Towers, Madam Tussauds and Butlins.
In all, 32 partners are involved, with offers including two for ones and half-price tickets to locations or half-price offers for hotels. The offers have been arranged so that there is a choice of indoor alternatives should the weather deteriorate.
The mechanic requires consumers to register online, where they can enter the on-pack codes and collect points. The website, created by Jigsaw, allows them to choose their reward either by printing off a coupon or being redirected to a Walkers-branded microsite. Points can also be collected by text.
It was the online element that was new for Walkers. It is the first time the brand has created a promotion with a totally digital mechanic. While redemption microsites are hardly new, most mainstream promotions have also retained traditional response methods. The Walkers promotion, however, is completely online.
Walkers had been reluctant to go 100 per cent online until it knew the internet was universally accessible. "Online is the reason it can happen. The site has almost made us a travel operator. It also had to be easy to use," Amos says.
Katherine Tupper, account director with The Big Kick, adds: "We worked with Jigsaw to make it instinctive, but there are no bells and whistles. Its job is to inform about the trips you can get, and with so much info it has to be simple." The creation of branded microsites with the partners was also important. "We didn't want consumers to be on the Walkers site and be then passed onto another website that had no reference to the promotion."
Despite the complexity at the back end of the campaign, simplicity has been the aim from the consumer-facing side. "The campaign is very simple, allowing consumers to enjoy British breaks for less. Walkers is a very British, home-grown brand, and a campaign like this is in our brand DNA," says Amos. "That's the message. We're looking to build brand equity and do something that engages consumers." It is the crossover appeal of the trips that makes the campaign stand out, he says. "You could be a family looking to go to Butlins for a holiday, or maybe you just want a pub lunch. The key thing that makes it stand out is value."
The other issue for the brand is that it is a snack. Since Win an iPod, the focus has been on healthy eating. One pitfall in recent years is the amount of calories you need to eat to redeem points.
Two points are available with each pack, while points for the multi-packs are included in the main bag. It means the consumer can redeem the points without having to eat all the packs first. Amos makes it clear that the number of points needed to claim is minimal. While focusing on family activities, which are largely outdoors, Walkers is treading a well-worn, but safe path path. Since last year, brands like Kellogg have been shifting marketing away from kids and towards families.
Health hindrance
Yet Amos denies that the focus on healthy living is presenting hard times for snack brand managers. "It's not meant to be a 'getting families out' promotion." There's a fine line between doing something right for the environment and giving the consumer something great, he says. "This is about encouraging people to look at things on their own doorstep."
The campaign runs until the end of the year, when Walkers will review it. As well as the pack, there will be a £5 million advertising campaign, the high point being a TV ad with Walkers stalwart Gary Lineker and an as-yet unnamed celebrity.
Amos says there has been "great support from retailers" in terms of in-store POS. "The promotion, in all top supermarkets, will be difficult to miss" and will include floor banners. There will also be a push with independent retailers in terms of in-store POS as part of its aim to push impulse buys.
Despite "promotions being Walkers' heritage" for obvious reasons, Amos was unable to say whether consumers would have to wait another three years for the next campaign. However, he said Walkers would continue to push online. "The web is hugely interesting. We will continue to talk to customers through this."
The Brit Trips promotion has a lot to live up to when compared to Books for Kids and iPod. It will be interesting to see how Walkers latest promotion works out or how it is affected by the notoriously unreliable British weather.
IN MY VIEW: 9/10
One of the many things that fascinate me about working in marketing is the surreal thoughts and sentences you hear in meetings on an almost-daily basis - some of which are the start of our next great campaigns.
They're sentences you'd never hear anywhere else. Not in another business, not in another situation, not in a million years.
In the past few weeks I've heard a selection ranging from the intriguing: "If we can't get real tigers and fire-eaters, we can use statues", to the confusing: "Will it be a long 30-second ad or a short one?" With the alarming: "Do people eat puffins?" falling somewhere in between.
The reason I mention this is that I'd wager it was one of these strange thoughts that led to the creative that is Walkers foray into the world of on-pack promotions in more than three years. It might have gone like this:
Planner: "Right, we need an idea that is as successful as Win an iPod, as PR-able as Books for Schools and as simple and fun as Moneybags."
Creative: "I know boss. How about 'eat crisps and see the world'?"
Planner: "Do you know what, Perkins? I think you just might have something there."
What the campaign offers is the chance for the great British public to visit great British institutions by munching on a snack that contains great British potatoes. All they have to do is register online, collect the points, choose the reward and redeem the voucher. Simple.
That's what I like about this promotion. The fact that a lateral thought created this devastatingly simple, contagious campaign. Buy British. Get British.
It seems effortless how 32 third parties have been brought together in one simple-to-navigate website to create Walkers biggest promotion to date. Using only a few steps, I can work out how and where I redeem points, and visit a fully integrated microsite relating to the brand.
A resounding 9 out of 10 to Walkers and its agency. Put another way, this campaign makes me happier than a dog with two tails.
- Malcolm Caldwell is creative director of Inferno.