Wimpy goes bananas for Animal Planet

What happened in-store

Under the guidance of McEwan's Marketing & Accounts Executive Director, Este Jacobs, the creative team developed interchangeable in-store POS, with two static sections and two sections that were changed when the toys changed. Additional in-store POS elements included posters, under-hangers, activity sheets, floor decals and electronic screens.

Let's make it mobile

One of the competition drivers was a custom-built mobisite, from which 26% of entries came. The site comprised of a simple six-question animal-related quiz and entry form, which customers were directed to complete by the in-store POS. The quiz was also available on the Wimpy website (www.wimpy.co.za) for those preferring to enter online.

Built using simple jQuery and a MySQL database, the web and mobi platforms both interacted with one database allowing for ease of auditability. Because only correctly completed entry forms were eligible for submission a script was developed which separated the eligible from the ineligible ones.

On the website, in addition to the quiz and entry form, themed flash games and downloadable elements were also available to increase the interactivity of the promotion. The competition saw an increase in traffic to the Wimpy website of over 35% year on year over the seven-week competition period. Online advertising on various Media24 sites generated approximately 21% of traffic to the competition page, while approximately 44% of the traffic to the competition page was driven directly from within the Wimpy website.

The grand prize draw, which took place on 18 May 2012, was an automated process administered by a custom-built randomiser tool developed by McEwan's digital specialist, Paul Vollmer, and his team. The custom-built randomiser will now be used for any number of future competitions for Wimpy.

The competition promotion's overall success is evident in the number of entries received as well as the increase in traffic to the Wimpy website. Not only do the online figures speak for themselves but, according to Thabile Mokaba, the Wimpy Brand Manager responsible for the competition, a total of 750,000 Animal Planet plush toys and games were given away in stores over the competition period.

This integrated approach was so successful that Wimpy will, in the upcoming months, undoubtably be embarking on its next integrated campaign in conjunction with McEwan. Being an integrated ideas company, McEwan Advertising has always prided itself on responsible integration in both competition and promotion campaigns for all the brands with which they work.