IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH LOTUS'S

Short List
TitleIN A RELATIONSHIP WITH LOTUS'S
BrandLOTUS'S
Product / ServiceLOTUS'S 2021 BIGGEST SALES
CategoryA03. Travel, Leisure, Retail, Restaurants & Fast Food Chains
EntrantLEO BURNETT Bangkok, THAILAND
Idea Creation LEO BURNETT Bangkok, THAILAND
Media Placement MINDSHARE THAILAND Bangkok, THAILAND
Production DIGITAS THAILAND Bangkok, THAILAND
Additional Company LOTUS’S Bangkok, THAILAND

Credits

Name Company Position
Sompat Trisadikun The Leo Burnett Group Thailand Chief Creative Officer
Paruj Daorai The Leo Burnett Group Thailand Executive Creative Director
Santi Tubtimtong The Leo Burnett Group Thailand Executive Creative Director
Nareerat Phiyasupornkul The Leo Burnett Group Thailand Creative Group Head
Lucksamon Boonthepprata The Leo Burnett Group Thailand Art Director
Sompat Trisadikun The Leo Burnett Group Thailand Art Director
Rungravee Choakpattanapong The Leo Burnett Group Thailand Copywriter
Rungrudee Chinpratan The Leo Burnett Group Thailand Agency Producer
Praewpakorn Chumsai Na Ayudhaya The Leo Burnett Group Thailand Strategic Planner
Rathawan Sukanake The Leo Burnett Group Thailand Account Management Director
Apirat Leerattanakachorn The Leo Burnett Group Thailand Account Director

Why is this work relevant for PR?

“In A Relationship with Lotus’s” is a smart use of Facebook platform to generate social media conversation and spread campaign awareness virally by leveraging a simple feature, relationship status, that everyone familiar with. With low media budget, the campaign received massive earned media, PR and positive sentiments for Lotus’s like no other promotional campaigns in Thailand can do.

Background

After Thailand’s longest COVID lockdown, Lotus’s, the country’s largest supermarket chain, wanted to help Thai people save more money with our biggest sale event. We needed to work together with all the big brands in Thailand, to push the discount beyond anything we ever had. We chose Facebook, because it’s a great platform for engagement, and its ability to generate conversation that spreads awareness. We needed to trigger a perception which convinced our audience that most brands in Thailand were exclusive partners of Lotus’s. And all of them would give customers deeper discount than previous sale events.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

For Thais, announcing a relationship status on Facebook is a long-term commitment. (That’s why a lot of people reluctant to share it.) Because of our oriental root, people are expected to commit to their relationship for as long as they could. We hijacked a Facebook feature, ‘relationship status’, to announce Lotus’s exclusive partnership with brands. Our customers were surprised when all the big brands’ Facebook pages posted their relationship status as “in relationship with Lotus’s”. We then followed by the announcement from Lotus’s CEO joined hand with 40 CEOs from leading brands giving commitment to offer the biggest discount for Thais.

Describe the PR strategy (30% of vote)

Thailand has ranked No.8 highest Facebook user country in the world, it’s the best platform to generate conversation to spread awareness virally as well as engage with online audience and drive positive sentiment. Since we have limited budget, our strategy is to leverage Lotus’s owned media platform (Facebook page) together with another 40s brand’s Facebook page, to be key channel to build up campaign awareness. The goal is to inform our target audience that most of big consumer brands in Thailand were exclusive partners of Lotus’s. And all of them committed to give customers deeper price cut than other previous sale events.

Describe the PR execution (20% of vote)

• We hijacked a Facebook feature, ‘the relationship status’, to announce Lotus’s exclusive partnership with leading FMCG brands. • Thai consumers were surprised when all the big brands’ Facebook pages posted their relationship status as “in relationship with Lotus’s” and it became social media conversation overnight. • We then followed by the announcement from Lotus’s CEO joined hand with 40 CEOs from leading brands giving commitment to offer the biggest discount for Thais.

List the results (30% of vote)

Campaign kicked off with zero media budget on the first day but hyped-up conversation among online audience and earned free media and PR. As the result, the campaign generated massive positive conversations about our biggest sales event. 89+M earned impressions 240+M total impressions +1,300% engagement compared to previous campaigns 99% positive sentiment It highly contributed to Lotus’s being ranked No.1 by Oxfam Thailand for Beloved Customers 2021