With the Christmas advertising battle getting more intense – and earlier – every year, we kicked off our campaign on the 1st November, making sure Asda’s brilliant festive spot captured the excitement of national and trade press. Our Media Relations team bagged major coverage across the board – with great features in The Mirror, Daily Mail, Daily Star and Metro, whilst key regional titles, such as Manchester Evening News, declared that Asda shoppers had said the supermarket ‘won’ Christmas.
But the Christmas ad was just the start of the season – we had plenty of other treats in store. We turned our attention to Liscard, a small town near Liverpool once voted as having ‘the worst’ Christmas tree in the UK…
We helped Asda put Liscard’s Christmas festivities back on the map, complete with a 30-foot tree (professionally adorned with festive flair) and an epic Christmas Tree switch on event featuring former Atomic Kitten singer Natasha Hamilton, who performed some Atomic Kitten classics (in fact, some of Atomic Kitten’s very first shows were in Liscard!) and a rendition of Let it Snow.
The event also featured a performance from a community choir and a whole host of Asda treats, showcasing the retailer’s enduring commitment to community and local spirit. National and local press gave the event the coverage it deserved, with a 3-minute slot secured on BBC News, highlighting Liscard’s ‘dramatic festive turnaround’.
The event also featured a performance from a community choir and a whole host of Asda treats, showcasing the retailer’s enduring commitment to community and local spirit. National and local press gave the event the coverage it deserved, with a 3-minute slot secured on BBC News, highlighting Liscard’s ‘dramatic festive turnaround’.
Could we get any more Christmassy? Well, our media relations team weren’t done yet. It’s time to talk about Christmas dinner. With Asda always going above and beyond for customers, we surveyed people to find out their festive dining pet peeves. The biggest buffet blunder? People reaching over others for food – particularly when dipping into a fondue.
So we came up with our proudest invention – an impressive two-metre long Fonduuuuuue Fork, which stretches right across the table and allows everyone to dip, swirl and share without any of the annoying leaning.
The cheeky concept earned coverage in all the right places – such as the Mail Online, Daily Express, The Mirror and Daily Star – whilst our social media partnership generated thousands of likes.
Finally, enter Sam Nixon. Because no Christmas lunch is complete without gravy, we installed Sam as Asda’s official Christmas Gravy Sommelier. Sam worked with Asda’s chefs to sniff, swirl and slurp gravy to ensure customers get the heat, shine and viscosity they need for the make-or-break element of Christmas lunch.
Our accompanying research showed that people really do care about their perfect gravy thickness – so, alongside Sam’s new role, we also released the Gravy Grid, asking the public what their perfect gravy looks like. The grid went down a storm with press, and even found its way on to the BBC’s Have I Got News For You!
It all meant that our Asda work at Christmas picked up more than 175 pieces of coverage, with almost 50 national hits and 22 broadcast spots. Positive Sentiment for the campaigns reached a whopping 95%, proving that Asda truly is bringing joy this festive season.