We discovered a quiet, little village in England called Sandwich. To prove Walkers can make any sandwich more exciting, we planned a day of surprise events that would make the village of Sandwich become national news. The events delighted local people. And, through a PR strategy that combined traditional and social media, the events in the tiny village of Sandwich engaged millions of people across Britain.

Our social media campaign saw us release 26 separate pieces of content about Sandwich. We received 1.6 million complete views – equivalent to 3 million minutes. Sandwich was national news, generating £3.2 million worth of coverage. For the first time, Britain’s major supermarkets gave Walkers shelf-space next to the sandwiches, helping sell an extra 1.5 million packets of crisps - an 8% increase in sales for one of Britains biggest brands. And, of course, Sandwich had a day it will never forget.

On an otherwise ordinary day, we delighted the residents of Sandwich with a series of exciting events. For example, Chelsea mid-fielder, Frank Lampard, surprised the local football team by joining their training session. Pamela Anderson was the new barmaid at the local pub. Formula One world champion, Jensen Button, became the local taxi driver. The reaction in Sandwich was incredible. As we hoped, locals immediately posted their photos and videos, spreading the news online. We released films on Walkers homepage and YouTube channel, then used the celebrity’s twitter feeds and Facebook pages to invite thousands of fans to watch films of the exciting events in Sandwich. This began a viral campaign that spread across Britain. At the same time, we co-ordinated national media coverage of the events, through TV, press and online, attracting a huge amount of attention.

Within the first week of the campaign, we continually refreshed the online conversation, feeding over thirty new pieces of content to twitter ‘hashtag’ conversations and Facebook fan pages.

The events may have been exciting for the locals, but the results were even more exciting for us. News of Sandwich spread like wildfire. Our online films of the events received 1.6 million complete views – which means Britain watched over 3 million minutes of footage showing how Walkers made Sandwich more exciting. Sandwich became national news, generating £3.2 million worth of coverage. Despite a minimal traditional media spend, Sandwich still achieved 53% recall. For the first time ever, Britain’s major supermarkets gave Walkers long-term shelf-space next to the sandwiches, helping sell an extra 1.5 million packets of crisps – that’s an 8% increase in sales for one of Britain’s biggest brands.

Best of all, we gave a tiny village a real boost, associating our brand with a day thousands of people will never forget.