Babybel has raised money for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day for 15 years and needed a digital platform to activate donations beyond previous years. We developed a unique integrated campaign with digital innovation at its heart. ‘Babybel Yourself’ used the latest facial recognition and image morphing technology to create a mobile web app that transformed the user’s face into an interactive laughing cheese. Here, a fully integrated campaign was born. The mobile web app drove engaging content across numerous channels, including critical in-store touch points and packaging, redesigned around ‘Babybel Yourself’ and the commitment by Babybel to donate for every promotional pack purchased. Marketing support included a series of targeted, 10-second TV spots, digital display media, sponsored Facebook posts and interactive screens in cinemas, where moviegoers could use digital displays to customise their laughing cheese and later, continue to interact with their creation from their very own device.

Babybel had partnered with Comic Relief for 15 years, so we were challenged to push the creativity of the 2015 campaign, using the charity’s popularity to drive penetration with the new theme: “Make your face funny for money.” Babybel was traditionally associated with wholesome fun, which hasn't always resonated with our target tween audience. To widen our appeal, we needed to be fresher, funnier and more relevant, without alienating younger kids and parents. We required one big promotional idea that could capture the spirit of the occasion and raise buckets of cash in an eight-week window.

Commercial results demonstrate the impact of ‘Babybel Yourself’ as a significant awareness and attitudinal piece. With a huge number of site visits and the total number of creations and shares surpassing initial expectations, the campaign has achieved its objective of creating an innately shareable experience.

In fact, has already been crowned as our most influential partnership with Comic Relief in 15 years. So far, we've achieved:

• 72,427 site visits during campaign period

• 19,045 Babybels created during key campaign period

• 751 Babybels created via digital out-of-home activity

• Over 15 million media impressions

• Over 41,000 clicks from media

• Over 4,800 Babybels shared

• +5% sales increase vs. forecast

• Brand growth +42% during campaign period vs. 2014

• £150,000 pack donations to Comic Relief with an additional £20,000 attained from ‘social share’ donations

The campaign is live until 19.04.15.

The creative execution was inspired by Comic Relief’s objective to drive positive change and we fed off their fuel for this mission: the power of laughter. Because laughter is contagious, it is the perfect ingredient to incite sharing and activate giving. Research established that sharing a few laughs with friends is a significant driver of peer-to-peer behaviour. Combining the strong social value of personalisation with simple shareability, allowed the promotion to spread organically.

Moreover, we firmly applied the creative execution to the brand by transforming simple selfies into interactive cheeses – all personalised with a choice of laughs. Placing the product at the heart of the idea answered Comic Relief’s ‘Make your face funny for money’ proposition.

The promotional campaign ran according to the original plan, in top UK grocery retailers across POS, packaging and shelf trays from 10.02.15 to 19.04.15.