The event reached and, in some cases surpassed, all the shopping centre's targets including increasing foot count, securing set sponsorship budgets and gaining PR exposure.
The competition called on consumers to submit their favourite recipes and potentially become a finalist for a live cook-off that took place at the centre.
George Sourlis, Rudy Grobler and Zena Pearson from selected tenants and restaurants within the mall, judged the recipes.
"Primedia Lifestyle Marketing Services' first objective with this campaign was to increase foot count to the centre by 6% during the campaign and we achieved that 6% year on year variance during May," says marketing manager for the centre, Wesley Scott.
"We also set out to gain 35% sponsorship of the campaign budget, of which we achieved 38%; and to generate PR value of at least 50% of the media spend, and we achieved five times this."
The excellent turnout and consumer interest secured by the campaign has ensured that this could become annual event, which is another objective met by the organising companies.
"Mall Fusion's role as a sister company of the group, is to manage the execution of the event and secure the sponsorship of partners such as Nestlé, Premier Foods, Nando's etc," says Mmapula Mothapo, head of events and sponsorship at Mall Fusion. "Working side by side with Primedia Lifestyle Marketing Services in these events ensures its smooth running and increases our ability to achieve and exceed client's objectives."
Scott adds, "To promote the event, we selected community media - the Boksburg Advertiser and Get-it East Rand - to advertise the competition and we also distributed pamphlets attached to mini wooden spoons during peak hours at traffic intersections around the centre. Social media was another vital element which ensured the campaign's success."
Dianne Muhammad won the live cook off and walked away with the prize of a R5,000 Pick n Pay gift card, a table for 12 at Barnyard Theatre, a sponsored Nestlé Hamper (worth R1,500 for each finalist) and a Premier Foods Hamper (worth R2,000 for each finalist).
"The competition did what it set out to do and that's to reach consumers on a personal level with the aim of creating a sense of community between them and their local Pick n Pay," concludes Scott.
