How do you launch a new impulse product without encouraging consumers to go in-store to purchase it? This was the challenge we faced when launching the new Snickers Crisp to the Irish market during Covid19 when strict guidelines were in place advising the public to take essential supermarket trips only.
We needed to take a brand-led approach, driving consumer understanding of the new product under the globally known and loved, You're Not You When You're Hungry platform. We positioned Snickers Crisp as the solution to hunger when audiences want a snack to make them feel crisp and sharp, in a way that was relevant to the current environment. It was particularly important that the type of content we created and shared was sensitive given that we live in a time of such uncertainty, but it was equally important that we stayed true to the Snickers TOV.
From our research, we found that consumers want content that can bring humour and entertainment to their lives as we navigate this challenging period, if it is exercised with a degree of caution.
You’re Not You When You’re Hungry is a familiar brand platform with audiences and was the right platform to launch the new product to consumers in a fun and engaging way.
STRATEGY & EXECUTION
With the increase in social media usage due to Covid19, we recognised there was an opportunity for Snickers to partner with influencers to create entertaining content during lockdown, offering people a much-needed escape.
We partnered with Fionnuala Jay and Marcus O’Laoire to launch Snickers Crisp through their channels by creating light and fun content around our ‘new normal’. Their content reflected relevant Covid19 moments such as zoom calls, the weekly quizzes, home haircuts and the Instagram obsession with making banana bread – which had not necessarily been commonplace before, ensuring both the brand and the influencers maintained their own tone of voice but also encouraged a light sense of relief for their audiences.
The influencer content perfectly encapsulated the You’re Not You When You’re Hungry messaging and positioned Snickers Crisp as the go to snack of choice when you’re hungry and to make you feel crisp. We worked closely with the influencers to ensure the tone was appropriate in the current climate while also ensuring it worked for them. It was clear from the sentiment received on both influencers channels that they were the right people to reach our audience, and it was the right type of content with comments such as: ‘consider me influenced. Hunting down one (Snickers Crisp) tomorrow’ which is exactly the outcome we want from influencer partnerships.
The influencer activity was supported by a social advertising campaign promoting the new Snickers Crisp through product focused creative, driving further awareness and understanding of the new product while also driving excitement and talkability.
BUSINESS OUTCOME
We drove awareness of the new Snickers Crisp through a smart influencer partnership supported by social ads, driving further awareness and understanding of the new Snickers Crisp while also driving excitement and providing our audience with some much-needed relatable entertainment.
It was evident from the strong positive sentiment the influencer content received, the overarching strategy of entertaining and tying in with relevant, timely moments during Covid19 worked exceptionally well and it was the right approach for the launch.
- The ads reached 1,163,263 people, 73% of our audience. 33% above target.
- The campaign accumulated 154,677 post engagements from the social ads. To add to this, the influencer posts generated brilliant engagement from fans and other influencers delivering on the objective of Snickers being your go to snack when you’re hungry.
- In terms of benchmarking the influencer performance results we looked at their branded engagement rate and compared the Snickers Crisp activity against this to get an indication if the influencer partnership was successful. Both the influencers content overperformed in terms of the engagement rate showing the strength in the content and that it resonated with fans but also that they were the right match for Snickers to deliver the brand messaging.
- The Snickers Crisp campaign is a brilliant example of taking a global brand platform, You're Not You When You're Hungry, and executing it in a distinctive and locally relevant way to the Irish market but also, during Covid19.