Who say's the UK and Ireland are "meat and potatoes" epicureans? Judging by their interest in exotically flavoured chips, the Brits and Irish are some of the more sophisticated discriminators of flavour quality in the world, certainly putting the "regular, BBQ and sour cream and onion" North American chip eater to shame.
One of UK's oldest and favourite chip brand Walkers Crisps has produced a great user-generated campaign that has attracted widespread UK interest (thanks James Cherkoff for the cross-Atlantic discovery).
From the brand that also has such cultish loved variants - Prawn Cocktail, Salmon & Thai, Lamb with Spices, Chilli Lemon and Sweet Cumberland Sausage - comes a contest inviting users to choose the frontier of 6 new flavours in exchange for 50,000 pounds and 1% of the flavour sales here (similar to Doritos Guru contest here in Canada).
Check these options out -
- Builder's Breakfast
- Cajun Squirrel
- Chilli & Chocolate
- Crispy Duck & Hoisin
- Onion Bhaji
- Fish & Chips
When a key brand objective is to strike an emotional chord with customers and get them involved in the design and product choice of the brand, it startles me that more publishers, beauty care companies, media companies, beer companies (remember Labatt X and Y from years ago), beverage companies and other variety-driven businesses don't adopt a similar tactics.
As opposed to just placing this promotion as some small retail promotion, Walkers has put this at the centre of their strategy, supporting it with a recognizable spokesperson and national ad campaign. This is truly where tradional can build grassroots and vice versa. For you footie lovers, here is former footballer Gary Lineker talking about the ten flavours that didn't make the cut and also the official "Do Us a Flavour" ad.
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