Brand Communications Agency Thrive lead acclaimed Trampocalypse campaign for Sam’s Chop House
When celebrated Manchester bar and restaurant Sam’s Chop House decided to set their customer’s an April Fool trick, they gave Cheshire-based Brand Communications Agency Thrive Creative just 48 hours to turn around the concept.
Since the beginning of the year, with the help of Thrive, Sam’s Chop House have been promoting the #Trampocalypse campaign to highlight the impact that they are facing with the build of the Second City Metrolink Crossing. Over recent months the acclaimed bar and restaurant, along with other businesses in Chapel Walks, have become concealed following the erection of a ‘tall tent’ which has created a further impact on footfall. As April 1stapproached, this gave the team at Sam’s Chop House the opportunity to have some fun with their customers, and offer an incentive to visit the pub over the Easter weekend.
Thrive Creative led the campaign which turned the idea of an April Fool prank into a successful promotion. Within 48 hours, they created a series of emails to be sent to Sam’s 50,000 customer database as well as arrange for video to be taken and edited.
The first email, which was sent into the morning of April 1st, incorporated a cartoon produced by high-profile cartoonist Tony Husband which depicted characters clambering up hoardings attempting to get to Sam’s. The clever wording within the email led customers to believe that Sam’s Chop House was to close because of the impact of the works to the city crossing. This was swiftly followed with another email apologising for the April Fool hoax, a video of Chop House owner Roger Ward explaining the rationale behind the campaign and a discount that customers could use over the Easter weekend.
The campaign went viral with many customers distraught of the thought that Sam’s was closing – until they realised it was a joke. Despite the concept being a prank, there was the underlying intention to highlight the issues that Sam’s Chop House is experiencing with the impact of the building of the Second City Metrolink Crossing.
Roger Ward, Owner at Sam’s Chop House said “I can't speak highly enough of Thrive. The total campaign that included mailing, social media and video content came together in just 48 hours. This was last minute dot com responsiveness and a fantastic effort as the email campaign achieved record engagement, huge reach and our best-ever follower recruitment. It launched a successful sales promotion which turned our Easter around with double digit growth, which is impressive in a difficult environment. The campaign also placed an important issue on the news agenda. This was much more than a one-off publicity stunt.
Thrive Founder and Managing Director Dave Powell added “This was a brilliant concept that we worked hard to pull together in a matter of hours. An impressive achievement considering the requirement for design, printing, build, video and editing. We are proud that on the back of the campaign Sam’s Chop House obtained some great publicity and that it also led to an increase in sales.”
Lesley Parr
Splat Marketing & PR
07754 482139 / 01538 381884
lesley@splat-marketing.co.uk
@SplatPR
Thrive is a brand communications agency with an impressive portfolio of clients that includes (amongst others) Claire’s, Graham & Brown and The Victorian Chop House. Thrive is based in Beartown, the affectionate name given to the market town of Congleton, Cheshire.
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