“Human stories brought to life in film.” If you asked The Gate team to express what they hope to achieve with every project, they’d tell you something to the tune of this. Lucky for us, a great content campaign can do just that.
In a rush of festive spirit, The Gate helped online fashion retailer Very to assure their spot on the top of everyone’s Christmas wish list, and helped the nation get more out of giving.
Catching the customer's eye
Britain has long been considered ‘a nation of shopkeepers.’ As a result, it can be difficult for retailers to make their voice heard above all the noise – especially at Christmas!
With the infamous war of the Christmas adverts and air time becoming increasingly precious throughout the winter months, Very needed a competitive edge to take on major market rivals - some with much bigger budgets in place for their media spend.
A content campaign with the ability to go viral was the perfect solution. Propelled in large part by the public, brands just need one fantastic idea to inspire an audience enough to actively engage with their content. Simple, right?
Creating a strong emotional tie
With Christmas songs seemingly on repeat throughout December, it's no surprise that some consumers start to tune out the relentless merriment and festive cheer. Very hoped to find a way to really connect with its audience, hold their attention and capture their hearts.
Very’s fantastic animated TV ads brought to life the selflessness of mums over Christmas. Taking inspiration from this, we created #lovegiving, a real-life content campaign that rewarded people for rewarding others.
Random acts of kindness took place all across the country, with teams of Christmas workers distributing some gifts to keep and others to share. We asked people to nominate someone they knew who deserved a gift, and asked them to tell us why.
Ringing up the results
Our content campaign surprised a lot of people. Even better, Very made a lot of people tear up, take a moment and think about the true meaning of giving gifts at Christmas.
Taking a more pragmatic approach, our campaign also enjoyed a spectacular performance:
• Very received 37,500 nominations in 2 weeks
• The #lovegiving campaign delivered 450% above target
• Brand consideration and affinity metrics soared
“From an original goal of 10,000 nominations, we were thrilled to surpass our target,” explained Rachel Hawkins, Senior Brand Manager at Very.
Best of all, The Gate and Very created something together which became much bigger than a standalone content campaign. We made a #lovegiving movement which continues to evolve every year, with celebrities such as former Spice Girl Emma Bunton, The Saturdays star Rochelle Humes and most recently Diversity dancing sensation Ashley Banjo taking part.
Enter the New Year with The Gate Films
Are you dreaming of creating a viral content campaign that takes your business to the next level?
