On 1 May the votes will be counted and the winner of the Walkers Crisps ‘Do us a flavour’ campaign will be found. For us, this campaign has been an excellent example of how a big company, used to massive advertising budgets has been bold and brave enough to deliver an amazing campaign with its foundations in social media, working through the line and using its more traditional media as leverage.
The loyal Walkers crisps fans have been included in the campaign from the very beginning, as they were asked for their recipe ideas – and they came up with them in their millions – from the weird and wonderful through to classically British.
Heston Blummethal was the perfect celebrity expert to be involved in selecting the finalists, as he is ‘the’ chef known for his delightfully unexpected culinary concoctions. A big tick for relevant celebrity endorsement.
The usual advertising streams alerted us everyday crisp-snacking folk to the 6 new flavours, spurring consumers everywhere to munch through millions of packets and to broaden their repertoire outside the usual Cheese and Onion. Another tick for sales.
Discussion has been rife in offices nationwide as to the merits or pitfalls of each – PR at its most viral and compelling.
And best of all, the new flavour will have been effectively chosen by the crisp-loving public, which will surely shoot it straight into the heartland of the Walkers portfolio. For us, Walkers was running the risk of being perceived as the ‘safe’ snacking choice, but we are sure this campaign has meant that they are back on everyone’s lips. So pardon the pun – it has been a recipe for success beyond a shadow of a doubt – Walkers – we applaud you!
For us, it is the campaign of 2009 so far and we wait with baited breath to see if it can be improved upon before the year is out.
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