Ice cream maker’s tasty videos are a social media success story – thanks to filming experts from award-winning PR agency
A QUICK question – when was the last time you scrolled down your Facebook feed and didn’t spot one of those ultra-tempting, mouth watering food videos – often a cheesy concoction or a 5,000 calorie nutella centred cheat meal?
If you’re like me, the answer is probably: a good few years ago.
When you think about it, there is a really obvious reason why. These videos are hugely engaging, pairing that irresistible combination of food (a subject everyone likes and can relate to) and well-shot, quick, easy to follow videos.
This style of filming, done right and promoted with nous can lead to staggering results. We firmly believe Scottish food and drink businesses, whether they are restaurants, bars, caterers or producers should look to engage with this style if they want real, visible success on social media. Scroll through the video playlist below to find your prefect ice cream sundae.
The origin
This blog post will look at how we helped our client Mackie’s of Scotland with its own take on these videos, the results – and why your food and drink business should engage with this way of filming in order to master its social media channels and woo its new and growing fan-base.
If you’re not on Facebook, it is quite difficult to put perspective into the colonisation of the social channel from these recipe videos.
To give some idea, in less than a year, ‘Tasty’ a site dedicated to these videos, became Buzzfeed’s most popular facebook page, with more than 55 million likes in that time – and it now boasts over 66 million fans, more than the entire population of the UK!
Knowing that 85 per cent of videos are now watched without sound, (scrolling down a newsfeed at work perhaps?) these videos are just as watchable on silent – a key to their success.
‘Tasty’ isn’t producing gastronomic masterpieces worthy of a Michelin star chef; it is winning fans with clever yet achievable videos.
Increasingly it is adopting the health food angle, with prevalent use of on-trend sweet potato, eggs and avocadoes.
Inevitably and with mixed results, big brands have been quick to adopt first-person videos, with Lurpak and Philadelphia Cream Cheese two household names smart enough to see – and act on the potential these videos offer, receiving thousands of likes and views for their highly watchable and shareable efforts.
It’s Our Turn
Whether we all admit it or not, we’re a bunch of foodies here at Holyrood PR. Director Raymond Notarangelo is the office’s ‘self-proclaimed’ Italian food doyen and Junior Account Exec, Stuart Milne hails from the proud Fisher and Donaldson family of bakers in St Andrews.
We were chomping at the bit to give this style of video a go for ourselves as we knew we had all the ingredients required to make it work – we just needed the outlet.
Working with Mackie’s of Scotland we also had the much loved client with its own staggering fanbase to share our ambition.
They may look remarkably simple, but producing these videos takes care and an acute attention to detail. So how did we make sure that we would nail the filming? We tried it ourselves first of course. In my kitchen as it happens, perfecting the camera angles and working with the trickiest of foodstuffs – ice cream with its tendency to melt!
All that prep meant that when visiting the inspirational new product kitchens on Westertown Farm, home to Mackie’s of Scotland we were ready to film with conviction, knowing exactly what techniques were required.
The videos, below, speak for themselves. We are extremely proud of them and feel they more than stand up against the work of the biggest brands, with the biggest budgets.
The Outcomes
The videos look slick, professional and on-point.
Fantastic. But this means nothing if they are not used effectively – reaching that big audience of old fans and new fans alike.
Mackie’s is (quite rightly) an institution to many. It has an army of 40,000 active subscribers, known as Friends of Mackie’s, passionate about its wholesome produce and benefitting from early samples, news and exclusive competitions.
They received the videos embedded in the newsletter alongside a handy poll searching for favourite sundae combinations.
Next up, the all important Facebook, the platform for which these videos are designed.
Mackie’s invested just a £49 spend on Facebook, to target the banana split video towards a key demographic.
The results: a staggering 54,322 newsfeeds reached, but more tellingly 19,909 engagements.
Perhaps the biggest indicator of its success – 44 per cent of viewers watched the entire video, considerably higher than the 13 per cent UK average.
We didn’t stop there. As an added bonus we reached out to Edinburgh Foodies to get involved for National Ice Cream Day – shared on Twitter to over 16,000 followers.
We also landed local coverage across Aberdeenshire’s seven key regional papers, highlighting the innovative work of an Aberdeenshire firm.
Isn’t it time you worked with an agency who can provide the recipe for excellent food and drink PR success for your business?
In the food and drink sector? Get in touch with our agency to find out how we can help you produce business boosting first-person videos, from start to finish.
Give us a call for a friendly natter on 0131 561 2244 or use the form below and we’ll get back to you in no time at all:
