Direct > Culture & Context
DAVID, Madrid / BURGER KING / 2024
Awards:
Overview
Credits
Why is this work relevant for Direct?
In order to exist,the campaign needed the direct action of the people. Without them,the campaign would have come to nothing.We challenged people to see ads where there were none. They not only accepted our challenge, they made it their own.They got creative and used humor.People took pictures in buildings, football stadiums, boats, fridges, churches and many other places.The action translated into great results. With literally $0, we managed to sell out all the available codes, 99% positive sentiment and it was the brand's most interactive campaign of the year in Spain.This shows that we managed to connect with our target
Please provide any cultural context that would help the Jury understand any cultural, national or regional nuances applicable to this work.
The Ghost Campaign strategically used Halloween themes and traditions, social media participation and pop culture references to craft a campaign that was both timely and engaging to its target audience. By tapping into these cultural contexts, Burger King effectively connected with consumers, fostered brand engagement, and created memorable experiences.
Background
Halloween is a unique opportunity for Burger King to connect with consumers who love playful experiences, all while strengthening brand loyalty.
The occasion is a big deal for the brand, which is why they roll out Halloween campaigns every year.
This time around, they wanted to launch a campaign to amp up brand excitement and boost sales during Halloween. But there was a challenge: $0 production budget.
Describe the creative idea
Last Halloween, we did something never seen before: an invisible campaign - just like ghosts.
How? We encouraged people to take photos of empty places as if Burger King ads were there and share them on X (Twitter) tagging Burger King with #ISeeBurger (#EnOcasionesVeoBurger)
Then, our "psychic" joined the fun, revealing which free product was in each invisible ad, from Whoppers to Long Chickens to Big Kings.
Despite there being nothing to see, people embraced the challenge, of "seeing" our ads everywhere: in buildings, TVs, football stadiums, churches, boats, videogames, you name it.
Describe the strategy
Due to the non-existent budget both in terms of production and media, the strategy was to create a clever and irreverent campaign that could make up for this.
To do this we used humor as the core of the idea, taking it to the limit. So much so that we ended up creating a completely invisible campaign (like a ghost) encouraging people to interact and participate and make our ghost ads completely real.
Describe the execution
On Halloween night, we launched a short video on social media announcing the promotion and encouraging people to "watch" and share our ghost ads.
People would share these phantom ads on X (Twitter), and our “psychic” would visualize what free promotion they had and give them their code.
We didn't actually place any ads, but people "saw" them in a lot of different cities such as Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Santiago...
List the results
With a budget of $0 we achieved:
-Thousands of participations.
-Promotional codes sold out.
-Most engaged activation of the year at Burger King Spain.
-99% positive sentiment.
-6% more sales than in the previous year.
-Millions of dollars saved on media.
Please tell us about the humour insight that inspired the work.
Last Halloween, we did a ghost campaign. Not because it was scary, or because it came from beyond the grave, but because it was invisible. A joke that we took to the extreme, launching absolutely no advertising assets, buying no media. Creating a 360º integrated campaign that was actually 0º.
A campaign full of humor not only in the idea but also in the execution.
Our psychic responded with jokes as if he was connecting with the afterlife.
We took it with humor and so did the people. Seeing our ghost ads in such curious places as churches, boats, refrigerators and even in invisible newspapers.
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