The Challenge

To launch new flavours in its range Walkers Sensations briefed us to find a way to improve its awareness and saliency in a very competitive market.

Our challenge was to:

1. Drive high quality, high volume brand awareness with the right messaging

2. Build love and positivity for the brand by doing something with real value to consumers

3. Communicate existing range and new flavours Hickory Smoked Cheddar & Crispy Bacon, and Balsamic Vinegar & Caramelised Onion, to give people a tangible reason to believe and to drive to purchase

We needed to turn the Sensations ‘Feast for the Senses’ proposition into a rich, exciting and highly relevant consumer campaign to drive an emotional connection with the target audience and recruit more people into the brand.

People-First Insight

As our key target audience was “the millennially-minded snacker” (including both younger millennials and older Brits with a “millennial attitude”), we used market research and social listening to identify what linked them with Walkers Sensations. We found that the audience were more likely than others to place high value on real world experiences, and that although they have a significantly higher than average interest in world cultures and travel, they increasingly felt like they didn’t have the means to pursue them and were planning to travel less than in previous periods.

So we developed an idea designed to take Sensations beyond the bag and help our audience experience the global flavours that inspire the crisps for real, in a uniquely affordable way. 

The Story

Our idea was Sensations Global Travel; a unique kind of travel agency that sold flights to delicious destinations around the world, for the price of a bag of Sensations – just £1.99.

It offered 100 flights to experience Bangkok, Bologna and New Orleans - destinations that inspired the iconic Thai Sweet Chilli, as well as the two NPD flavours.

In order to drive maximum intrigue and talkability, the launch of Sensations Global Travel was teased with a bricks-and-mortar ‘travel agency’, appearing in London’s Soho overnight. Eye-catching window designs advertised the flight sale and destinations, with leaflets directing people to a ‘coming soon’ page on sensationsglobaltravel.com.

To maximise appeal, we announced the activity to media under embargo, creating a huge launch moment timed for the day of the first sale. On the day of launch, media houses were also sent (fully recyclable) flight cases, containing information about the sale, and samples of the three relevant Sensations flavours.

Sensationsglobaltravel.com sold tickets to each destination via a random ballot between 7pm and 8pm each Thursday for three weeks, kicking off with flights to New Orleans. A virtual queue system worked like Glastonbury, with people registering their details and waiting to hear if they had been successful. Those who weren’t were offered free membership to Jack’s Flight Club, giving them access in a different way to cheaper flights via a credible partner.

Conscious of the importance of sustainability, we also arranged for Sensations to offset the carbon footprint of the flights by donating to Climate Care.

The campaign was supported in social and digital by carefully planned pieces of content across Sensations’ owned channels, direct emails to its consumer database, an extensive influencer campaign, and a dedicated in-store shopper activation with Tesco.

Coinciding with the first Thursday of the sale, the agency also ‘opened’ for the first time, with teams handing out information to drive extra traffic to the website, as well as product samples.

Results and Effectiveness

With a 30% brand index points increase the campaign was hugely successful and is a new benchmark for creative PR within Walkers Sensations and PepsiCo, driving huge awareness, talkability, brand love and increased sales and penetration. The data also shows that one in five shoppers (17%) purchasing the Hickory Smoked Cheddar and Crispy Bacon flavour were entirely new to the brand, meaning we hit our objective of increasing portfolio awareness and launching the new flavours. Our earned media concept evolved into an integrated campaign that came to life through-the-line.