Boost engagement and conversation during Christmas by using the most anticipated product in the Greggs calendar, the Festive Bake, to make Greggs stand out and increase overall sales YOY.
We had two key assets to work with, the fan favourite Festive Bake and the infamous Greggs #PastySanta bag. Both well-established assets that needed creative thinking to drive talkability, engagement and sales.
We started with the key audience insight that 77% of content and conversation is being shared via 'dark social' platforms, such as WhatsApp, Messenger & Telegram.
We needed an idea that would take us to where those private conversations take place but in an innovative way that creates conversation everywhere.
To get our Festive Bake fanatics excited we ran a phased approach…
Phase 1 - We created the first ever exclusive Greggs WhatsApp group, dedicated to Festive Bake lovers and announced its launch on Facebook & Twitter.
This social innovation was picked up by national media and thousands of people applied to be one of the lucky members.
Festive Bake fans lucky enough to join the WhatsApp group were rewarded with daily competitions, giveaways and fan-fostering content, including a movie trailer parody featuring members' loving quotes about the Festive Bake.
Members bonded over their love of Greggs and Festive Bakes, talking non-stop 24 hours a day about their beloved pasty.
PHASE 2 – We maintained the buzz by re-launching the famous #PastySanta selfie campaign for 2016 to include the year's biggest trend: the Face Swap!
We upgraded the bag design to include Santa's face, encouraging Santa Face Swap selfies. Our WhatsApp group was the first to hear about the new Face Swap feature on the reverse of the Christmas pasty bag.
Greggs customers across the UK swapped their faces with #PastySanta bags and shared the festive fun with their friends.
The #PastySanta Face Swap creative was carried through to OOH media and in-store displays to take this playful, exciting and innovative way of being part of the Greggs Christmas conversation and the chance to win exciting prizes.
Greggs witnessed a marketing leading 6.4% increase in sales over the Christmas period and a 4.7% YOY sales increase in 2016
The Facebook event invitation generated 1,600 responses
634 superfans were accepted into the exclusive WhatsApp group with members sending 11k messages across the two week period the group was open for
News of the WhatsApp group featured in 25 pieces of national coverage including The Metro and The Sun and generated an OTS of 260 million
On social, 73% of conversations around Festive Bake delivered a positive sentiment representing a 16% uplift YOY
Twitter engagement on #PastySanta increased by 98% YOY
41% increase in Festive Bake mentions YOY, resulting in 1,050 mentions on Twitter and Instagram
