Red Rose

 Bronze — 
Red Rose: “Reach Out with Red Rose”

Entrant Company: PHD Canada
 
Category: A Local Brand or Service in a Local Market with innovative media solutions worthy of international adaptation or world class standards

Credits:

The Situation: A long-established brand, Red Rose had become staid. Its core loyalists were primarily long time older users, aged 50+, and while lapsed users admire Red Rose, they have turned to other brands over the years. In particular, new, younger category users were being attracted to trendy herbal/fusion teas.
 
Our challenge was to re-inspire current loyalists, attract a new group of younger users, and generally increase tea drinker affinity for Red Rose by making the brand relevant again. Embracing the brand’s philanthropic roots, we set out to build awareness of Red Rose’s commitment to helping children.
 
We needed to demonstrate to a younger target audience that the simple gesture of enjoying one cup of tea with friends can make a world of difference, and that Red Rose is truly committed to helping them enrich the lives of others.

Insight and Strategic Approach: Brand research indicated that, for our core target, enjoying a cup of tea is a very positive and relaxing time, often resulting in the reflection of one’s life as well as the lives of others. And Canadians in particular have a passion for seeking out ways to help those around them, be it locally or overseas.

The younger generation has started to have a greater need to “give back”. They see things in the world changing so fast and the needs of others being so great, they would love to be able to do something, however small the gesture, to contribute. They love their tea and have always enjoyed the fact a “good cup of tea” creates special moments to share and connect. Red Rose is a brand they admire, but it’s not as “special” as it used to be and they have turned to other brands that seem more modern and caring.
 
To connect with this group, we developed a media program to showcase the brand’s support of humanitarian causes, such as their support of Rainforest Alliance certification (conserving biodiversity and ensuring sustainable livelihoods), but specifically their partnership with ONEXONE . . . a unique organization focused on alleviating child suffering globally. We also wanted to leverage the growing consumer trend of “voluntourism” . . . the linking of vacationing and volunteering.
 
We set out to target tea drinkers who find exposure to different cultures rewarding, and who volunteer. This insight inspired a unique media campaign that invited them to share how they made a difference in the lives of others through a series of contests. The prize: one of three once-in-a-lifetime “voluntourism” trips to Africa to work hands-on with Red Rose and ONEXONE in helping children and their communities.

Media Strategy: Partnering with Rogers Media, a Canadian multimedia supplier, we created a campaign that involved well-known TV talent and content creation across multiple channels. We worked with Rogers to produce and execute our story through vehicles that allowed us to inform and inspire our target.
 
The campaign involved a back-to-back series of 3 contests. Our strategy was to leverage the content generated by one to promote the next. For example, our winner’s experience from contest #1 was used to create content that would allow us to amplify the overall Red Rose message and encourage entries for the subsequent contests. Working with a single, large media supplier to execute within multiple channels allowed us to maintain a consistent look and feel for the campaign, without sacrificing market impact. The result was an unprecedented level of brand integration into “organic‟ news content.
 
 
Television . . . Making the most of Rogers TV properties, we sent a prominent reporter and cameraman from CityTV (a national network) to Africa, with one of our contest winners, to experience and film the Red Rose volunteer work first-hand. The result was a 5-part news series that aired on City News at 6 and on Breakfast Television. We also negotiated to have both the reporter and our winner featured in an exclusive appearance on Breakfast Television to promote the news series, share their experiences, and encourage others to enter the next contest.
 
Print . . . Using top-ranking Rogers magazines, we executed a series of custom advertorials featuring information on the Red Rose program, their partnership with ONEXONE and interviews with the contest winners. An in-depth 4-page feature included pictures and journal-style entries from our first winner‟s experience in Kenya. We also negotiated unique, media-first placements within the Table of Contents and Front Cover call-outs.
 
Online . . . Our digital campaign supported the tone and contents of the TV and Print efforts, and featured trip blogs written by our winners, a series of custom e-blasts, newsletters and promotional units that drove traffic to the “Reach Out With Red Rose” website.
 
How this Campaign may be a Template for World Class Standards: The overall success of the campaign can be credited to several factors, all of which can be applied across different markets and different brands to create success.

Results: Consumer response to the campaign was overwhelming. Contest entries exceeded expectations by 115%, and contest votes were 5x higher than anticipated. Over the course of the 3 back-to-back contests, the website received over 180,000 visits and 440,000 page views, clearly proving our success in making Red Rose a relevant brand.