International PR and Communications for AEG
In March 2020, as citizens across Europe receded into lockdown, a pattern started to emerge.
People, unable to eat out and tired of cooking the same old dishes, were searching for kitchen inspiration. New recipes to try, old recipes to improve and new skills to learn. Even in Italy, a culinary bastion, saw a +300% increase in search for recipes within three weeks of lockdown. Further analysis confirmed dramatic search increases across all of our target markets.
The data fed an idea – what if AEG, a German company with 130 years of heritage, threw its might behind a campaign to help inspire home cooking?
Brand strategy
Creative platform
Narrative and messaging
Content creation
Toolkit production
Toolkit distribution
“Sentient’s insight and know-how meant we were able to create and deliver a campaign across twelve markets in less than two weeks.”
Within a matter of days, the What If had become an idea we pitched to the business and to a market head. It was this: The AEG Home Cook-IN
A series of live, entertainment style, broadcasts designed to provide a service to those stuck at home and looking for cooking support and recipe inspiration. Regardless of level of competence.
Delivered using our owned social media channels, the focus is on bringing staple cupboard ingredients to life with swap-out ideas rather than rigid recipes. For example, one pot cooking, freezing and refrigeration tips provided to maximise taste and enjoyment of the cooking process.
Delivered in a relaxed style from a studio in Stockholm that has both AEG and Electrolux appliances and in collaboration with local markets. This is not about product placement it is about providing genuine help and guidance and, with social media, can be responsive to the needs and interests of our followers.
Within four days of presenting the opportunity to the business, we piloted in the UK. Working with food influencer Simon Bajada, we promoted the AEG live Home Cook-IN on @AEG.uk and @AEGglobal with organic posts and publicised it via AEG Facebook communities.
Within five days of the pilot:
- Feedback and lessons were collated and markets briefed
- Platform switched to Global’s Facebook page to increase reach and engagement
- Central toolkit produced and distributed
The pilot helped inform frequency (weekly), duration (60 mins max), style (relaxed) and that using one set of ingredients to create a dish and various food hacks was preferable for viewers.
We also rotated influencers to keep content and style fresh switching between Bajada and world-renowned chef, Sebastian Gibrand. Both of whom promoted on their own channels.
This was international communications being activated as it should be.
Critically, in a first, we were able to mobilise customer support behind the campaign. People who were more commonly used to dealing with complaints, were reenergised by engaging with customers about best products for certain recipes and providing ‘how to’ advice.
- Seven weeks of live broadcasts were created
- Relevance and topicality were ensured by choosing dished based on search patterns and queries.
- Broadcasts and recipes were then pre-promoted across channels for fans to cook along.
- Views from the live feed were used to create audiences on Facebook creating strong re-targeting opportunities further down the funnel
- Live feeds re-used as ads to connect with larger audiences
- Films saved and fitted as content on other channels
- Content sliced and diced into smaller pieces with tips, tricks and best-of features
As momentum built, markets began producing their own AEG Cook-Ins, delivering international communications and an additional 13 live events across Instagram and YouTube.
Outcomes
Outcome objective 1
Monitoring and responding to search patterns by choosing recipes that matched undoubtedly had an impact on the watch engagement rate. It’s not very common that users watch videos in-feed for more than three seconds, so considering we averaged a 13% watch rate (those who watched at least 10 seconds) is testament to creating and delivering relevant content through the right channel at speed.
Outcome objective 2
- The campaign generated over 1.1m impression, 1m video plays and reach of 1,081,900
- Views from the live feed were used to create audiences on Facebook creating strong re-targeting opportunities further down the funnel
- Live feeds re-used as ads to connect with larger audiences
Outcome objective 3
Drastic times call for drastic measures and we managed to deliver the whole campaign for under £13,000. Tracking against customer acquisition was not possible.
Outcome objective 4
All markets reported record engagement rates and fan interaction had highlighted a positive change in tone, approach and style
Outcome objective 5
Unique times do not always bring about the desired response from companies. But AEG teams and markets did. Mobilising teams from across Europe and bringing customer service into the heart of an influencer campaign were firsts and are being review in terms of setting future ways of working.
