POSTED BY: Luke

How A Facebook Campaign Helped Increase Sales 35% and Get Є200K of Free PR

25th May, 2011

in March we completed a project for Glenisk called the Tune Challenge. The purpose of the campaign was to find the soundtrack to a Glenisk TV advert, from tracks submitted by Fans via Facebook. The ad had run originally in 2010, without music featuring the sounds of ‘nature’ to keep with the organic feel of the brand. The campaign launched on Ray D’Arcys Today FM show in January. The competition element was coordinated through Facebook through most of January up to the end of February and the finished advert made it’s debut on TV in March.

Glenisk Tune Challenge

I posted a case study on the campaign just as the TV advert aired back in March. At the time we only had Facebook metrics to show how the campaign performed, but now, two months later we have some more data which is certainly worth sharing. This campaign involved radio, TV, press, online (website) and social media. Glenisk experienced a sales uplift of 35% while the TV ad was on air. This is in comparison to when the ad was originally run in early 2010, at that time experiencing no significant uplift in sales. This integrated approach, clearly delivered tangible results for the brand, much more so than just a the television advert alone.

The Campaign

Stage 1: The Entries

The first stage of the app allowed fans to submit a piece of music and short biography. Once content was published to the app, other fans could listen and ‘like’ the tracks. The contest received an impressive 650 entries, much more than was expected. The judges in the contest comprised of a representative from Glenisk, Today FM and the advertising industry. They whittled down the 650 entries to a shortlist of just 6 tracks.

Stage 2: Fan Favourite

The second stage of the app featured the shortlisted tracks synced with the TV advert so fans could see what the finished version would look like. While judges would select the eventual winner, fans could also vote on a ‘fan favourite’. Knowing public votes often encourage non-users of the brand to vote for friends, those who voted were rewarded with a coupon for a free Glenisk yogurt to encourage sampling.

The tracks were displayed on this section of the app in the style of a leader-board, based upon the amount of votes they had. Due to the overwhelming popularity of the contest, and extremely high quality entries, it was decided to extend the duration of this part of the contest in order to give the judges more time to choose the eventual winner.

Stage 3: The Winner

The winning track, chosen by the judges, was revealed on Ray D’Arcy’s Today FM show on February 25th. The track by Twobit Melody (is featured below) also received €2,500 and the advert was one of the first television adverts to credit the songwriters and credit the Tune Challenge Facebook competition on screen.

The Results

Because it was a novel idea and way to use Facebook, both PR and radio really got behind the campaign. Glenisk estimate they achieved:

  • A sales uplift of 35% when the ad aired
  • National air time on Today FM, plus national and local PR coverage to a value in excess of €200,000
  • In excess of 25,000 Youtube views for the TV ad online.
  • Facebook fans doubled
  • New fans, who joined for the contest, were encouraged to become customers through free yogurt coupons

Traditional Vs New media

The effect on sales is the point most marketers, and brands, will be interested in. A 35% life in sales is hugely significant, especially in the current economic climate. The more cynical might say the sales were only experienced during the TV advert, so therefore the TV ad was the critical factor. However, this is a slightly different scenario because virtually the same advert was aired in 2010 with little impact on sales at the time.

Emma Walls from Glenisk explain’s why the ad worked more successfully this time;

“This time around the ad’s success can be put down to a number of factors – better script, better music etc. but critically, the ad was heavily pre-promoted before it aired – via Today FM, via Facebook and via PR.”

This proves with a well crafted campaign, that connects with consumers across different media, Facebook can help directly increase sales for a brand.

The campaign also made the final list for this years Social Media Awards.