Over 350,000 people took part in Veganuary in the UK in 2020. The charity inspires and encourages people to adopt the vegan lifestyle for January and hopefully convince consumers to adapt their lifestyle throughout the rest of the year.
With conversation continuously increasing and more brands adopting vegan products, it is clear veganism is no short-term fad.
Leon restaurants have reported that their vegan burgers now outsell their meat counterparts, and with one in four food launches this year being vegan, consumers are now aware of the impact their food choices have, and choices are abundant! So how can you ensure your brand stands out and has a clear share of voice in the online vegan conversation? Here are three of my favourite launches from 2020.
Change your brand aesthetic
Changing your font or colour scheme is risky as it can be alienating, but it will certainly spark curiosity in your core audience. Greggs changed their profile picture and consequential posts to black and white on December 30th, moving away from their traditional blue and yellow. The first post using this style had sharp, techno music, with tagline: ‘Believe the Hype. Greggs X Vegan. Dropping January 2020’.
The style is similar to that of a video game or clothing line launch, providing new connotations to the brand of innovation and modernity that they haven’t pushed for themselves in the past. Posting before January allowed them to be at the centre of the vegan conversation, resulting in triple the amount of comments compared to their previous profile picture on Facebook.
Utilise video
While Facebook has started to give prominence to video on feeds, this isn’t the case for Instagram. Instagram will only serve more video posts if that user has engaged with video in the past. This means that if you want to spend the time and energy creating video content in the one-minute frame Instagram allows, it must be truly eye-catching.
Kettle Chips launched ‘Sheese® and Red Onion crisps’ this month, and their taste test with Bosh TV presenters resulted in the predictable shocks and happy exclamations when they revealed the product was vegan. In November, the brand also created video content with Jamie Laing, reinforcing product values on one of their farms. Yet, this collection of four videos were all outperformed by the one taste-test video for active engagements.
The conversational tone of Jamie Laing’s videos compared to the quick-reactions of the taste-test could be one explanation for its success, or the use of presenters who are genuinely engaged in the subject matter. Regardless, this proves video as an important tool to consider for national conversation moments.
React to cultural phenomena
Who is the biggest ambassador for Veganuary in the UK? Piers Morgan of course! Pizza Hut decided to test their luck with a thread of posts implying that he was eating their new Vegan ‘Pepperphoni’ Pizza in secret, as he couldn’t resist the delicious taste. Both positive and negative reactions from Piers would have increased awareness of the new range, and so there really was little to lose. Sadly, Piers didn’t bite this time, despite doing so many times before. Brands are certainly going to need to be particularly grating to get his attention next year.
Average reviews of vegan restaurant, pub and bar options have reduced from 4.5 out of 5 to 4.3, highlighting that our expectations of vegan options has risen. Launching with a bang on social media in a unique way, before users can get their hands on the product, ensures that you will receive the most hype and attention for your brand.
This man ordered the Vegan Pepperphoni Pizza… Piers Morgan can you confirm this isn’t you?
Posted by Pizza Hut Restaurants UK on Monday, 6 January 2020
Contact the social team at The PHA Group today to discuss how we can create awareness for your vegan brand.
