Apple brand Pink Lady is celebrating its 21st birthday with a sales uplift of more than seven per cent over the summer.
High profile summer marketing activity led to an increase of about 1,000 tonnes compared to last summer.
During July, an on-pack promotion in most major retailers saw Pink Lady give away a birthday wish-list comprising 21 prizes over 21 days. Top prizes included a weekend for two in New York, a £2,000 Selfridges personal shopping experience, and a family holiday for four in Tuscany.
The competition attracted 35,600 entries, and was supported by print advertising including a Pink Lady theme to the Yahoo Lifestyle page, reaching a readership of over 14 million web users, and a social media campaign.
The apple brand became a champion sponsor of Race for Life for the first time this summer, and experiential activity took place at seven sites nationwide including Glasgow, Nottingham, Bristol and London's Hyde Park.
Over the course of the series, the team handed out more than 70,000 Pink Lady apples to participants and supporters. A specially designed app was produced to allow images taken at the Pink Lady stand to be sent to participants, encouraging social media sharing.
Individual Race for Life events also featured in albums on the brand’s Facebook page and a line up of novice runners from Pink Lady brand licensor Coregeo and its agencies took part in the Bristol event raising more than £3,750 for Cancer Research UK.
Meanwhile in June, the team launched the 2014 Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year competition with the introduction of three new categories and high-profile judges.
Michelle Toft, marketing manager for Pink Lady in the UK, said: “We’re delighted with the performance of our activity over the past few months. We put our sales increase down to a successful combination of brand experience and exposure – with consumers having engaged with Pink Lady across a range of platforms. Our 21st birthday was an opportunity to reward our loyal buyers with fantastic prizes, while our Race for Life sponsorship has played a key role in driving awareness of and engagement with the brand among our target market of women.'
She added: “The Pink Lady Food Photographer of the Year, now in its third year, is even bigger and better than ever. Underpinned by a consistently strong PR and marketing campaign, we feel confident that the next few months will also produce great results.”
