It was all yellow

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This is not the first time the service listings company has used off-beat marketing to promote its product. Last year, it implemented a similar campaign, asking people to come up with the design for a 'yellow' pop-up restaurant. It is all part of the company's drive to show that suppliers for any project can be found in its listings.

First there was an audition process to find someone to be put in charge of working out "What is the taste of yellow".

Free samples

The winner of the initial part of the competition was Daniel Winger. Winger collected ideas for 'yellow' flavours from around New Zealand, taking free samples of the four most popular flavours - pineapple custard, banana French toast, kowhai honey and lemon tart - out on the road with him. Pineapple custard proved to be the most 'yellow tasting' and the public can now select from one of four potential wrapper designs on a dedicated website, found at www.yellowchocolate.co.nz/. Progress of Winger's exploits can be followed through Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

The Yellow chocolate bar generated significant interest in Yellow Pages as a company. People were paying NZ$2 (about R10,50) for what was essentially a piece of direct marketing. Supermarkets sold out and bars were traded online for up to $320. In numbers, the campaign generated 80 000 followers online, 16 000 Facebook fans and 800 Twitter followers. It was the most talked-about campaign in New Zealand with 61% recall and 27% of people talking about it in everyday conversations. Online usage grew by 9%.