We were tasked with creating and executing a cohesive, integrated campaign in which every consumer touchpoint added weight to the same message – “However you do Christmas, everyone’s welcome.” “Everyone’s welcome” being a Tesco advertising proposition in its second year for the brand.

We also needed to secure the largest share of voice for a supermarket in terms of earned media coverage in order to target all UK adults during the Christmas period and drive awareness and consumer confidence that, however they do Christmas, Tesco has everything needed for shoppers to impress across the season.

The overall business objective was to match the sales of Christmas 2017.

To bring to life the “However you do Christmas, everyone’s welcome” Tesco proposition, we created a central insight-led resource for journalists; the Tesco Christmas Report, the first ever such report from a UK supermarket. The report established exactly how Britons do Christmas across the nation, from the rise of vegan dining to changing dessert demand. Securing extensive national coverage in its own right, the data from the report was mined by journalists throughout the festive season.

The report was used as a springboard for two other standalone activations in PR – a sell-out vegan festive feast experience for media and consumers highlighting that many Brits need inspiration when hosting vegan guests, and the development of a Festive Menu Helper app for those catering for guests with dietary needs.

The Tesco Christmas Report was then used across all channels, creating a cohesive and integrated Tesco campaign that delivered one unified message.

Our strategy to target all UK adults was to highlight the fact that, as the largest supermarket in the country, no one understands the nation’s varied Christmas preferences better than Tesco. From this, the Tesco Christmas Report was formed. We aimed to position the brand as the category authority and thought leader who puts customer needs at the heart of everything.

With a wealth of information – expert commentary, a national statistical survey and Tesco-owned sales data – the report became an invaluable and lasting resource for journalists looking for new angles and insights for seasonal stories.

Two of the key insights, chosen for maximum media appeal, were then spun off into standalone campaigns in their own right, optimizing reach, consumer opportunities to see and need for varied PR tactics (and therefore types of press coverage – from talent interview placement, to listings, to front of book national news).

The report was a standalone national news story, but we also ensured that the relevant findings were teased out and used across the season to bolster the press office.

The insights were leveraged to create two individual activations:

Vegmas, a sell-out vegan Christmas feast for media and the public was hosted by influencers BOSH! who curated a menu using Tesco ingredients. Media-worthy on its own, BOSH!’s celebrity status also enabled us to place interviews and their Vegmas recipes in national and consumer titles. Additionally, a content partnership was brokered, resulting in BOSH!’s most liked social post ever.

The second activation was the ‘Festive Menu Helper’ app, a service-innovation that enabled people to enter their guests’ requirements to generate a personalised menu they could add to their shopping baskets. Teaming up with Ruby Bhogal, a national radio day was held and the story was placed in news nationwide.