Work
WhatsApp with Orchard Thieves?
We’ve been privileged to work with the iconic cider brand Orchard Thieves for many years and since 2021 we have been proud to lead the brand from a strategic, creative comms perspective. From insights work and research, we know that our key cider customer is driven to discover. The Orchard Thieves brand has always been synonymous with spontaneous adventures and discovery - but in the post-pandemic landscape, that became an even more important ask for us to deliver on. So when it came time to show up for Summer ‘22 we were ready to go big, and help customers to embrace their inner curiosity and ‘Follow the Fox.
DIGITAL-FIRST AND MADE TO DISCOVER
THINKHOUSE worked with the Orchard Thieves brand team to refresh the creative visual and tonal world - taking inspiration from the digital-first newsfeeds of our key customer. We evolved by keeping the gritty, urban edge but bringing in a renewed sense of energy and simplicity informed by digital culture.
Lynsey Paisley, Head of Integrated Creative Strategy, THINKHOUSE said: “Orchard Thieves has always lived on the edge of urban culture, and in 2022 “Follow The Fox” is delivered through a bold, colourful urban identity and tone - encapsulating that playful sense of adventure and fun that Orchard Thieves is famous for.”
WHATSAPP FOR THE WIN
Our ‘Follow the Fox’ 2022 campaign was developed to be digital-first, like our cider drinker, with WhatsApp playing a central role in the brand’s plan for the first time ever. Activity pulsed across 2 key strands:.
- Engagement for Orchard Thieves’ ‘Follow the Fox’ focused around OLV, Digital and Social platforms (including WhatsApp and Tinder) as well as key experiential and PR activities.
- Reach and strong brand amplification across TV, Display, OOH, DOOH, Focal Media throughout the Summer.
The campaign’s WhatsApp (Dubbed ‘FoxApp’ by the campaign’s creator!) is a dedicated WhatsApp hotline, which featured on the brand’s out-of-home and social ads - giving curious cider drinkers first access to a variety of exciting brand experiences throughout 2022.
Tickets to summer’s hottest gigs, elevated experiences at Electric Picnic and guestlist passes for the Fox’s Den (an Orchard Thieves trade experience) were snapped up throughout the summer months through this fun, innovative mechanic. Throughout the Summer, the Orchard Thieves brand stayed top of newsfeeds and mental availability through a continuous pulse of always-relevant, disruptive social and digital content.
SUCCESS
This campaign stands out as one of the most successful we have ever done:
- A staggering 17K WhatsApp conversations were driven throughout the course of the campaign, which equates to over 45K individual messages from our fans
- YoY social content reach was up 52% and 59% respectively for Facebook and Instagram.
- Social Profile visits were up 51% and 181% and followers grew by 32% and 100%.
- There was a 56% increase in Twitter reach YoY
“WhatsApp allows for a rare level of one-on-one user interaction and brand familiarity which would be difficult to otherwise achieve through traditional advertising. Fans are engaging in their thousands, referring to the brand as “pal”, “buddy”, “legend” etc. suggesting extremely positive sentiment and brand closeness from the moment we launched this campaign….” said Caoimhe Henderson, Senior Brand Manager, Heineken Ireland.
See also
Orchard Thieves - The Bold Hour
As a long standing partner of Heineken Ireland, Thinkhouse has been part of the company's most ambitious, successful innovation to date - the 2015 launch...
Orchard Thieves - Fox It
Four years after launching, having already thieved a sizeable chunk of the cider market, the Orchard Thieves team decided it was time for a new...
Orchard Thieves - Follow The Fox
The Heineken-owned cider brand Orchard Thieves has launched a new campaign on Instagram called #FollowTheFox, which includes an innovative Instagram Filter Game.