Supervalu's Christmas ad shot of a young girl stroking a reindeer

SuperValu Ireland

How an Irish supermarket chain reached millions of customers at Christmas

SuperValu (@SuperValuIRL), part of the Musgrave Group, is a leading Irish food retailer, with over 220 stores nationwide.

Campaign objective

SuperValu ran their #WeBelieve Christmas campaign to treat shoppers around Ireland to a new seasonal ad, and to help them ‘Share the Magic’ with their nearest and ‘deerest’.

Their campaign objective was to reach as many people as possible with their Christmas ads and to generate conversations with their customers. To achieve this, they used two of Twitter’s premium products – Trend Takeover and Timeline Takeover over a 24-hour period in the run up to Christmas. This ensured their ads were placed where the conversations start on Twitter – the Explore tab – and as the first ad that appeared when people opened their Twitter timeline for the first time that day. 

SuperValu measured the success of their campaign through reach, engagement rates, and video views.

 

Audience

SuperValu’s target audience for their Christmas campaign was current and potential customers of all ages. The campaign was designed to capture the interest of both young and older customers. 

Results

SuperValu used various social platforms to reach their target audience over the festive period, and Twitter was one of their top-performing channels. 

The results of their overall Christmas campaign: 

 

2 Million

Takeover views1

983K

Impressions2

1.4 Million

Trend Takeover impressions3

The results of their Christmas Video Ad:4

 

6 Million

impressions

3 Million

video views

59K

engagements

Keys to success

Live Tweet to connect to an event or moment

Live Tweeting connects your brand to the conversation on Twitter. It can also drive increased engagement with your Tweets, boost cultural relevance, and connect your brand with new communities and followers. 

Supervalu Live Tweeted during one of Ireland’s biggest Christmas TV shows in the lead up to the holiday. Their Tweets included humor, deer related puns, and commentary of the show. This led to #WeBelieve trending on Twitter on the night of the show.

Use Twitter’s targeting options

Twitter’s mix of targeting options means you can create ads you know will resonate with your target audience, and then make sure they’ll see them. 

SuperValu used keyword, conversation, and follower look-alike targeting to ensure their campaign would be seen by those most likely to be interested, who had engaged with their Timeline and Trend Takeover, and those already engaging in conversation around Christmas.

 

Build anticipation before a launch

During the lead up to a launch, we recommend teasing before the main reveal to create buzz, awareness, and a targeting pool of influential early engagers. SuperValu amped up the excitement for their new Christmas ad by releasing teaser countdown Tweets in the lead up to the launch.

Twitter’s Timeline Takeover and Trend Takeover products were then used to maximize awareness on the day the Christmas ad was revealed.

Mix up your content and have some fun

SuperValu followed best practice by using a mix of creative formats for their campaign, including video, static images, and GIFS. One of the reasons SuperValu chose Twitter for their campaign was because of the real-time nature of the platform – it allowed them to quickly interact with their customers in a real and light-hearted way. 

When your brand identity and the message of your campaign allows, have some fun with your campaign, especially during holidays like Christmas. SuperValu did exactly that with specially-created Christmas GIFs and reindeer related puns to supplement their campaign.

 

The use of Twitter Timeline Takeover and Trend Takeover was a first for the brand, and the results speak for themselves. This form of Twitter advertising amplified our campaign even further and helped us to reach millions of customers during the competitive Christmas season online.

Ciana Gregan, Social Media Specialist | SuperValu Ireland

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