WE MADE OXFORD STREET INTERACTIVE

Integrated campaign promoting Marmite’s sponsorship of the Oxford Street Christmas lights

THE CHALLENGE
Marmite had signed up to sponsor the Oxford Street Christmas Lights. A brand sponsoring the lights was nothing new and indeed has often provoked a negative reaction – we had to ensure we delivered positive coverage.

THE BRIEF
Amplify the Christmas lights sponsorship, making sure to engage social media fans and influencers across the country – not just those based in London.

THE SOLUTION
For the first time in their history we made the Oxford Street Christmas lights interactive, letting consumers participate with a specially designed app that projected their faces in the famous mile-long display via a digital banner. Participants received a photo of their face in the lights to share on social channels.

This was so engaging we were able to target and secure celebrities and influencers to put their face in the lights, driving further awareness, engagement and reach for the campaign.

And staying true to the ‘love and hate’ personality of the brand, which is also arguably true of the Oxford Street lights, Splendid gave the Hate Marmite Facebook community the opportunity to get the lights switched off early.

THE OUTCOME

Our innovative and engaging approach defused the cynicism that had grown up about brands’ involvement with the Oxford Street lights to such an extent that 15 celebrities – including Olly Murs, Joey Essex, Lord Alan Sugar and Lorraine Kelly – put their face in the lights free of charge. 154 pieces of media coverage with an OTS of 236 million. 4,310 people uploaded their face into the lights via the Facebook app and 77,246 new fans were acquired. Showcasing users’ photos on Facebook increased the virality of the posts from 3% to 10%.