After designing and creating 12 life-sized characters, and a Sonny the Starfish mascot for events, Fuller wrote and produced a “Sonny and Friends” storybook and colouring book.
The 12 life-sized characters were to sit at specific locations throughout the holiday park, and the “Sonny and Friends” storybook and colouring book were to be handed out to families on arrival.
An animated video featuring all 12 characters dancing to their own original “Sonny and Friends” jingle was also created to be played on reception, cabin and kids club TV screens to further tell the Sonny story on-location.
With Sonny and his seaside friends in production and officially taking over BIG4 West Beach Park from 1 June 2023, all that was left to do was to introduce them to South Australian families.
To give the West Beach Parks marketing team time to plan, produce and install Sonny and his seaside friends on-site Fuller developed a launch strategy that would entice and engage target audiences, young SA families, over three key phases: a pre-launch, soft-launch, and launch campaign.
The Pre-Launch “teaser” phase of the campaign was all about creating a sense of mystery and intrigue surrounding West Beach Parks’ new activation with “peek-a-boo” imagery and “guess who” messaging.
This sense of mystery was achieved through the production of digital and outdoor ads. SA families were also encouraged to take part in an online “Guess Who” competition to win an overnight stay at West Beach Parks.
The soft-launch phase of the campaign revealed and introduced Sonny and Friends to the people of South Australia, with an animated advert featuring the custom jingle, digital, outdoor and radio advertising, with a call to action to book a holiday to meet Sonny and Friends from 1 June.
A series of written articles focussing on the Sonny and Friends’ West Beach Park experience for SA families, written in the voice of Sonny and his friends also went live during this phase.
With Sonny and Friends characters finally installed on-site from 1 June 2023, the launch phase of the campaign encouraged families to come and meet Sonny and his friends at BIG4 West Beach Parks.
This phase included the installation of signage along Tapleys Hill Road, a large welcome mural at the entrance to the park, and outdoor and digital advertising elements, including bus backs.
This phase aimed to encourage families to “escape the winter chill” with Sonny and his seaside friends by booking a holiday at BIG4 West Beach Parks. Additional articles focussing on winter holiday activities at BIG4 West Beach Parks were also produced to drive traffic to the website during this phase.
RESULTS
The Sonny and Friends Brand Campaign has been in market for the period of April – June 2023.
Phase 1 and 2 of this campaign had a sole brand awareness objective. In June Phase 3 of the campaign was driving Winter Accommodation Bookings.
The following can be attributed to the campaign.
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752
An increase of followers on social media by 752
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$146K
Bookings for the period of were up YOY by 6% ($146K)