PAY WITH A KISS

TitlePAY WITH A KISS
BrandMETRO ST JAMES
Product / ServiceCAFÉ/RESTAURANT
CategoryC01. Best Integrated Campaign Led by PR
EntrantLAVENDER* Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Entrant Company LAVENDER* Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Advertising Agency LAVENDER* Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Marco Eychenne Lavender Director
Justin Brickle Director Of Photography
Rob Schreiber Sound Engineer
Etienne Ancelet Lavender Video Editor
Paul Gawman Outpost Retoucher
Lincoln Grice Logo Designer
Sébastien Millier Photographer
Donald Martinez Lavender Creative Technologist
Karl Reynolds Lavender Digital Creative Director
Marco Eychenne Lavender Art Director/Designer
Jérome Gaslain Lavender Art Director
Danielle White Lavender Copywriter
Marco Eychenne Lavender Executive Creative Director

The Campaign

Our objective was to make one small Sydney café famous. And we achieved this by creating a unique currency that charmed the world. Playing on the French nature of the café, we wanted this currency to feel romantic. The idea had to be ownable and the challenge was to take a super small budget and make it something unforgettably big. So we let customers pay for their coffee by kissing their partners. We created: - A viral YouTube video - A ‘Kiss Register’ app so that the kisses could be shared across Facebook and Instagram - An iconic photo recalling Robert Doisneau’s for outdoor and digital so that our campaign had a face. We achieved: - Over 800K YouTube views - Publication in over 140 news sites across 29 countries - More than 23 appearances on TV and radio - 2.41 million in earned media – a 120 to 1 return on media investment. - 586,000 mentions on the internet - 150% increase in retail footfall Our PR strategy was to grow this campaign’s presence from a local to global scale. We began from digital publications, started spreading the word towards radio and TV, and finally used our demo video to target overseas channels. We even invited celebrities to have a go live on air. And the café? They’ve done so well they decided to extend the campaign indefinitely.

The Brief

- Goal: To imprint the café’s point of difference into the mind of our future customers. - Objective: To position Metro as a French destination that’s romantic, engaging and a part of the local community. - Criteria for success: Dramatically increased footfall, in-store engagement with the concept and the global community’s interest in what we were trying to achieve. We out-performed our own expectations. - Key market: Savvy urbanites in a hurry that are hard to surprise, and generally have a favourite café already. Research: We researched café loyalty campaigns and found them to be discount-orientated and largely unemotive.

Results

Quantitative results: - 1,016 kisses paid in June - Half a million YouTube views in 2 weeks - 800,000 YouTube views by the end of June. This figure has continued growing. - Published in more than 140 major news sites in 29 countries including: USA, Canada, England, New Zealand, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Guatemala, Brazil, Vietnam and China. - More than 23 appearances on TV and radio shows internationally - Estimated AUD$2.41 million in earned media - 120 to 1 return on media investment - Over 586,000 mentions online - Bistro fully booked for the next 2 months - A 150% increase in the café’s footfall - Countless spontaneous displays of affection Qualitative results: In the middle of a global financial crisis, the sentiment towards ‘Pay with a Kiss’ was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. And the café? It went from a faceless stopover point to being a destination thousands sought our and Googled throughout June. They’ve even decided to extend the campaign indefinitely.

Execution

The campaign was implemented in the café, of course. That way the kissing clients could cash in and receive their coffees straight away. It took place throughout June, but due to its success, it will now continue indefinitely. One of the tools used was the creation of our Kiss Register App, which allowed images of kissing couples to be shared throughout social media instantly. We also made sure we updated the Facebook and Instagram pages with images regularly to keep people engaged. We created posters and cups that were branded with our romantic hero image, paying homage to Robert Doisneau’s iconic photo.

The Situation

Metro St James is a small, new French café that opened in the heart of Sydney. The problem was that customers had no reason to visit Metro St James over their competitors. So our task was to excite people about the business, and make it sing out loud and proud. We also knew that our key market feel that they’ve ‘seen it all before’, so our idea needed to set the café apart in a way that’s fresh, distinct and affordable for a brand new business.

The Strategy

There are a lot of digital ways to pay for things these days from tweeting to Bitcoin. Instead of bending to this trend, our strategy was to make a viral idea that stands out for its human side. Initially, we tweeted local bloggers, emailed online publications and called TV and radio stations about Pay with a Kiss. Then we went global. After we got some local traction, we started emailing news websites, magazines and TV stations across the world. It worked. Everyone started talking about a small French café in Australia.