Visit Britain: Consumer Campaign

Visit Britain: Consumer Campaign

The Objective

Visit Britain launched their headline #OMGB campaign and needed some expert help to create, manage and fulfil the complete promotional roster. Not having run a promotional campaign on this level before, they needed an agency to fulfil the prizes to the highest level, answer the immensely inclusive and creative brief, and respond with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We were tasked with creating twin destination prizes for winners from a variety of markets, each with its own distinctive character and attitude.

The Insight

It was important that the prizes celebrated the two Great British virtues: culture and countryside. It was vital that our offering subverted the stereotype of Britain as the stuffy home of Beefeaters and Buckingham Palace and show it off as a land rich in contemporary culture, high-octane activities and welcoming people. 

The Advice

To make this experience stand out, we created a host of unforgettable experiences that provided winners with moments that stopped them in their tracks and took their breath away. Our research into the target audience ensured that the prizes not only focused on events, locations and touchpoints in the Great British landscape that epitomised the brand’s values and aims, but on events that were appropriate for the audience too. Experiences included a paddleboard lesson in Brighton followed by a food festival in Manchester and a full-on Edinburgh Festival experience followed by a luxury spa stay in the Lake District.  We also included a contemporary street art experience through Banksy Bristol followed by a five-star country retreat in the Cotswolds, and a private visit to the famous spas of Bath followed by a traditional weekend in a Scottish castle, complete with falconry lessons and whisky tasting with a Master Blender. Last but not least, we offered a luxury London experience at the Shangri-La Hotel with dinner at Claridge’s and a trip to watch a sports match of their choice.

The #OMGB creative was so unique, so strong and so accessible that the prizes simply had to live up to the same high standards. Each market participating in the promotion had its own character that the experiences had to complement, leading to real diversity in our offerings. The experience elements themselves were only a part of the overall brand experience. We also made sure that the winners were treated as VIP guests of Great Britain, providing them with a private and personalised view of what makes Britain great. 

The Lasting Impression

To make the experience relevant to the campaign was the minimum requirement. To create unique, awe-inspiring prize experiences was just the start. To manage and fulfil something a winner will remember forever is what takes a brand to the next level, and this is what we achieved. The numbers speak for themselves. The consumer prize campaign logged a huge 2,000,000 competition page web views. There were over 190,000 competition entries with 40% campaign recall. The campaign was a huge success, winning the IPM COGS Bronze Award.

“The experiences created by Black Tomato met our campaign objectives and exceeded our creative expectations. They captured brilliantly what we want to communicate […] and allowed us to highlight some of the amazing OMGB moments one can enjoy in Britain. We are thrilled with the results.”
Visit Britain Campaign Director