For its latest campaign, Harvey’s challenged consumers to create and name customized burgers, then “copyright” them on MyHarveysCopyright.com. It’s an effort to both reinforce its brand offering and diversify its customer base.
Each time a consumer registers a burger on the website, that specific combination of toppings goes into the “burger database” and cannot be remade on the site. Participants get a 10% off coupon and an additional 10% off if they share their burger on Twitter or Facebook. The end goal of the campaign, said Ally Tosello, senior brand manager at Harvey’s, is to get consumers who see the social promotion to visit a location to redeem the coupon and test the product.
Since the launch on Nov. 26, more than 4,000 consumers have created custom burgers, according to Tosello. During the first four hours, consumers submitted an average of one burger per minute. By the time the campaign ends at the end of December, Tosello said the brand is hoping 30,000 burgers will be registered.
Tosello said the campaign, created by BBDO Toronto, was designed to reinforce Harvey’s key differentiator in the quick-serve market – customizeable burger toppings. But the work is also geared towards millennials. While many of its competitors already skew young, Tosello said Harvey’s has an older demographic. The chain chose to focus on social media for this campaign in an effort to bring in younger customers.
For the first time, the brand created videos specifically for the online space rather than uploading TV spots to YouTube and other channels. The campaign is supported by a series of YouTube videos styled as cable TV ads for a fictional small-time “burger barrister” named Morley Gunn.
In one video, Gunn asks, “Have you or someone you know had their burger combination stolen? Need someone that acts like a lawyer and does lawyerly things, but costs nothing?” as the URL for Harvey’s microsite flashes on the bottom third.
In another, a consumer named “Tammy” talks about the royalties Gunn helped her get for her stolen burger. As the tiny print explains, Tammy’s “royalties” are the discount consumers can get from Harvey’s for customizing.
As incentive, consumers who create a burger get a 10% off coupon and an additional 10% off if they share their burger on Twitter or Facebook. The end goal of the campaign, Tosello said, is to get consumers who see the social promotion to visit a location to redeem the coupon and test the product.
The team at BBDO is also creating Vine videos of consumer-created burgers, selecting the most creative burgers, like one called the “Hypocritical Vegetarian” with a veggie patty and bacon, and ones from popular social media users, including Twitter Canada’s Kirstine Stewart and Newstalk 1010’s John Tory.
To promote the initiative, BBDO and Harvey’s partnered with Buzzfeed to create two native posts about burger combinations targeting Buzzfeed’s Canadian readers. Harvey’s media agency, MediaEdge, also took out ads on Twitter and Facebook as well as pre-roll on YouTube. The brand also enlisted North Communications to handle PR for the campaign.
