Integration. Integration. Integration.
It’s a word often spouted by PR and marketing bods the country-long, but what does it actually mean? I mean, I know what it means, but what does it really mean when an agency figurehead talks about a ‘specialist integrated approach’. It’s easy enough to pick words and phrases like ‘harmony’, ‘equality’ and ‘shared goals’ out of the sack, but in the case of our beloved agency what the word really represents is simple: a bunch of creative-minded souls pooling often very different skillsets and worldviews into one salient, sellable idea, all for the good of the client.
Earlier this year, PR Week talked of a ‘tipping point’ for agencies – heralding 2015 as the advent of an integrated future. The article claimed that because of the rise of digital and clients becoming ‘much more agnostic about how they spend their money and think about marketing and communications’ that agencies needed to ready themselves to offer smarter combined services. Thankfully it’s something we’ve known for many years; that with channels of communication becoming so much more fragmented, the joined-up approach simply works better.
Last week our efforts were rewarded with the joyous news that Jellybean has been awarded the Best Integrated Campaign gong at The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) South of England PRide Awards. The awards are the most credible in the public relations industry and, as such, are judged by a high calibre of experts drawn from the very top of their fields. Those same judges saw fit to award us Gold for our work with client, Callebaut, in creating the multifaceted (and highly integrated) ‘For the Love of Chocolate’ campaign.
With inspiration and integration at its heart, ‘For The Love of Chocolate’ was a labour of love for all involved, from our dedicated studio, which turned out stunning creative, right through to the strategy, tone and message crafted by the marketing and PR teams. As well as inspire, the campaign looked to educate and engage chefs, focusing specifically around the disconnect between the consumer demand for chocolate desserts and the amount currently offered on menus.
The seven-month campaign – seen by almost 6.5m people in the foodservice industry – employed a mix of bespoke consumer research, PR and marketing, creative and a highly successful industry competition, to drive an extraordinary 15% YOY uplift in Callebaut’s foodservice sales. A truly incredible result, one that could only have been achieved through our tried and tested joined-up, Jellybean approach.
To really hit it home, here’s what the judges had to say: “We thought this campaign was literally chocolate. A holistic approach was taken, with research really informing the strategy and tactics. It successfully segmented the target audiences and the concept was universal across all audiences. The design work was beautifully executed and it delivered impressive results with 15% uplift in sales against a target of 10%. This campaign demonstrated that the brand really understands its UK market.”
Amen to that, and to Callebaut for trusting Jellybean with its reputation. Look out for more of the same in 2016 as year-two plans take shape.
Be sure to check out the ‘For the Love of Chocolate’ case study here: and while you’re there why not take a look at some of our other work to really get yourself integrated with Jellybean.