Advertising crisps the political way – the election’s in the bag
How many of us left Waterloo (or another major station) this morning and were accosted by people handing out free REAL Election Politi crisps?
(Note: Picture above from: http://newslite.tv)
I, for one, was. My general morning rush meant I happily recieved the crisps from a lady in the street as a free promotion without really looking. Only realising half way across Waterloo Bridge that my crisps has the Liberal Democrat candidate Nick Clegg on the front and I had apparently chosen the Lib Dems by accepting my crisps. I was, to say the least, a little perplexed.
I inspected the packet further and realised the different coloured crisp packets at outside the station were in fact not flavours, but parties, and that this was an interesting little piece of marketing.
The back of the crisp packet informed me that I ought to visit their website http://www.therealcrisps-election.com/ to register my vote and also requested I add them on Twitter and Facebook. On the notes on the packet it also said the crisps were a sampling pack not to be claimed on expenses (which I found quite funny) and had a disclaimer stating the use of the image of Nick Clegg is in no way an endorsement of the crisps from him. No mention that the use of his image and the Liberal Democrat Party were not an endorsement of the party by the crisps though – something I would have thought mandatory since the crisps are likely to be seen alone separate to the other party packets which could give the wrong impression.
While I was pondering this (still walking on Waterloo Bridge, it’s a long bridge) I also noticed how many people had eaten theirs and littered the packets, missing the information entirely, and how many other people looked a tad confused by them. Presumably having done the same as me and not realised what the message was.
I was left with the distinct impression I had missed the point. It took me a while to realise REAL was a brand, having not heard of them before, and that this was a crisps promotion. I also felt the people handing them out needed better signage and posters to explain what they were doing so we knew to look for the small web address on the back of the packet. I also wasn’t sure why I would go online to vote with no incentive.
I checked out the site regardless when I got into the office – it was down. Too many visitors? I am unsure. But after a while it was back up and I could have a look round the site and see what this political crisp related marketing strategy was all about.
Voting was indeed accompanied by an entry into a prize draw for some rather good prizes, although these were hidden in a very undesigned popup window and seemed much an afterthought. The website design apart from this was clear, fun and had a nice real time animation of voting percentages on the front page. There was however no number of votes counter, so the percentages of people voting on parties due to receiving the free promotional crisps is unclear. There was quite a buzz about it on Twitter and elsewhere online though, so I suspect the marketing campaign was fairly wide reaching and was getting them attention.
My main thought was that the prizes ought to have been more prominent to drive more traffic, and also that the action wanted by the unsuspecting free crisp eater could have been clearer on the packet. ‘Vote online now and win’ would be the phrase that springs to mind as being missing from the design of these packets.
Had I not been interested in finding out what the marketing strategy was and who was behind it – I might not have visited the site. As a designer and marketing professional with a strong interest in viral and social media marketing strategy however, I needed to find out who these people were. Overall, a fun and interesting marketing idea, but one which I feel could have been better executed to achieve a higher response rate. An interesting one to add to the list of companies using the election to market their own products and services (Marmite anyone?) and one to watch out for.
Which pack did you get? Did you realise the promotors aim? Did you vote? Are you more likely to vote in this crisp related marketing promotion than the real election? Let us know!
(Note: Picture above from: http://newslite.tv)
The crisp packets come in 3 designs – which feature the faces Gordon Brown on red, David Cameron on blue and Nick Clegg on yellow all contain sea salt crisps - and seem to be being given away at shopping centres and train stations around the country today – keep your eyes peeled and check out http://www.therealcrisps-election.com/ to register your vote. Or check out http://www.realcrisps.com/ to see the company behind the political based promotion.
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