To inspire European consumers to buy and eat more American sweet potatoes, mk² rolled out International Sweet Potato Week in April 2020, an umbrella promotion for clients North Carolina Sweet Potato Commission (NCSPC) and the American Sweet Potato Marketing Institute (ASPMI) in their respective European markets.
The online portion of the campaign provided partners with digital promotional materials, interactive content and social media advertising. Targeting Instagram and Facebook, the campaign featured posts and stories including recipes for Sweet Potato Pie and giveaways of airfryers and cookbooks. Online posts also provided information about accompanying retail promotions to drive in-store traffic.
Offline promotions ran with top European retailers and discounters. In-store promotions featured specially produced point-of-sale materials with product samplings in thousands of stores in Germany, Poland, and Scandinavia. Not only did sales volume increase substantially during the event, but retailers saw a boost in sales after the promotions had ended.
In just a few days, the digital campaign saw a 480% increase in impressions and a 600% growth in engagements on Facebook. Additionally, the online campaign brought new followers to all owned social media accounts.
