All images courtesy of McCann UK.During the holiday season, the battle for consumers’ attention and dollars is fierce. While Aldi had a successful strategy in the UK and Ireland, the supermarket – famous for its discounted prices – was not impervious to the increased competition. In order to drive business, the brand needed a holiday marketing strategy that would break through the noise.
Aldi UK and Ireland teamed up with agency partner, McCann UK to introduce an unlikely Christmas hero: “Kevin the Carrot.” Building on Aldi’s existing brand platform, Kevin the Carrot merged the ordinary with the extraordinary, celebrating the season – and Aldi’s role in it – with humor and charm.
After 5 days of teasing their new holiday mascot, Aldi launched Kevin the Carrot with an integrated campaign featuring paid social, radio, TV, outdoor and more. In store, plush Kevin the Carrot toys were sold, with all proceeds going to charities; the toys sold out in just half an hour.
The campaign was a huge success, helping Aldi surpass all other grocery retailers in the UK in year-over-year sales. Aldi UK and Ireland and McCann UK’s “Kevin the Carrot” took home two trophies at the 2017 Euro Effie Awards, including the Grand Effie.
Nosotros preguntamos Jamie Peate, Deep Global Retail Lead / Head of Retail Planning at McCann Manchester, to share how Kevin the Carrot came to life. Read on to learn the insight behind the now beloved character, and Peate’s perspective on the key to effective holiday marketing.
Tell us a bit about your Grand Effie-winning effort, “Kevin the Carrot.” What were your objectives?
JP: We had one simple business objective – to beat Aldi’s Christmas 2015 sales performance. Aldi is still opening new stores in the UK, and that programme delivers about 10% YoY growth, so we needed to beat this to show that our marketing activity was effective. In the end, we achieved 15.1% YoY, which was the highest of any grocery retailer.
What was the insight that led to the big idea? How did your team arrive at that insight?
JP: We believe very strongly in the power of qual and quant research to help us to uncover the ‘truths’ that we will use to develop our marketing. In 2016, we had developed a new platform for Aldi – ‘Everyday Amazing’ – which was based on the ‘truth’ that Aldi does not just save you money, it enables you to get more out of life. For Christmas, this lead us to a further ‘truth’ that Christmas is a time when the everyday parts of your life, like your house, your town, your family dinner, etc., become amazing, even though they are the same places they always are. So it inspired us to think that Aldi could do the same, and feel different and special through the same power of imagination.
¿Cómo surgió la idea?
JP: We wanted to use to humblest, most unsung, overlooked and everyday item that Aldi sold, and turn it into a spokesman who could showcase all of the amazing unexpected things that Aldi sells at Christmas – ramping up the ‘everyday’ to ramp up the ‘amazing,’ if you like. Inspired by the one left out by all the kids for Rudolph, we decided on something that is sold in every Aldi store for 3p/3c – a carrot – and so Kevin was born.
What challenges did your team face throughout this effort? How did you overcome those challenges?
JP: First of all, we needed to make sure that the whole client team, not just those in marketing, bought into this, as it was a bit of a departure from previous creative work. Again, research proved very useful in building a case for this. Secondly, we needed to showcase all of the amazing high-quality products that Aldi sells at Christmas. This is really important as Christmas is a time when all shoppers become less loyal and switch out of their primary store in search of inspiration and excitement. So we had to make sure they were highly visible in the executions and looked amazing. Thirdly, we needed to have impact, distinctiveness and memorability. Christmas has turned into the European ‘Super Bowl’ when it comes to ads, with everyone outspending each other with more and more elaborate executions. We decided to hijack some of this and gently poke fun at this hyperbole with our little carrot.
¿Cuál es el mayor aprendizaje que has obtenido de este esfuerzo?
JP: You need to be agile, collaborative, ready and flexible. It’s about keeping your eye on your long-term goal, where you are ultimately trying to get to with your marketing efforts, while still being able to deal with the day-to-day issues, challenges and opportunities that present themselves. Both are really important in the world of retail.
Earning consumers’ attention and business is even more competitive during the holiday season. From your experience, what is the key to making your holiday marketing efforts effective?
JP: The holiday period is a sprint of marathon length. That means you have to keep your energy high throughout the whole period while still having enough energy and content to keep going and remain present and interesting to shoppers. A good way to think about it is in simple human terms – we are shoppers and our attitudes and habits change and develop as Christmas approaches. In order to be effective and earn customer’s attention and business, you need to be in tune with these as they change, and provide the right blend of inspiration, information and entertainment as required.
We’re glad to see that “Kevin the Carrot” has returned for the 2017 holiday season. What can we expect from this year’s campaign?
JP: Lots of the issues that needed consideration in 2016 are still relevant in 2017. In developing the campaign for 2017, we wanted to create some further jeopardy in the story to keep new and interesting while still keeping the charm and character that worked so well in 2016. We have also been even more integrated in our thinking and executions this year so expect to see Kevin popping up everywhere along with Katie too!
Is there anything else we should know about “Kevin the Carrot?
JP: Producing highly effective, creative and award-winning work such as this is 100% a team effort. That includes the Aldi team, who are a privilege to work with and who understand the value that creativity can add to their business, all of the agency partners such as Universal McCann (media) and Weber Shandwick (PR) who worked on this too, and of course the whole of the McCann team. Great creative thinking and execution really does have the power to solve your marketing challenges and give your brands real meaning in people’s lives.
