Walkers can today reveal that the nationwide search to find a new flavour of crisp has had over 1.1 million entries. The competition has seen a staggering array of flavour suggestions, with people trying desperately to win the prize of £50,000 and 1% of future royalties.
Entering via the Walkers website over the last three months, users have been able to submit personal entries, upload images to explain the inspiration behind the idea, rate other people's ideas, read tips from chief judge Heston Blumenthal and view an inspiration gallery of flavours, including suggestions by celebrities. Entries could also be submitted by post and SMS.
With only 250,000 entries initially envisaged, the one millionth entry earlier this month saw Walkers surpass all expectations with the levels of consumer engagement. Since the competition launched in July, the website has seen a total of 2.4 million web sessions, with visitors spending an average of nine minutes online per session. At its peak in August, the website had 102,000 web sessions per day.
The popularity of the Do Us a Flavour website builds on the success of the Walkers Brits Trips promotion in February 2008 - the first by Walkers to rely heavily on the use of multimedia to engage consumers. The Walkers website became the fastest growing website in the UK, with the number of UK unique users rising from 17,000 in June 2007, to 440,000 in June 2008 - an increase of 2,575% (source: Nielsen Online. July 2008).
Miranda Sambles, Marketing Manager at Walkers is thrilled at the campaign's success: "We're absolutely bowled over with the number of entries we've had. We never expected to be hitting the one million mark, but it's great to see everyone joining in and engaging with what the site and campaign has to offer. The Do Us a Flavour and Brit Trips promotions mark a stop change in the way that Walkers engages with consumers. Consumer engagement is core to the values of the brand. The success of both campaigns signals the power of imaginative, user-friendly digital platforms to interact with the brand."
January 2009 will see the top six flavours, as chosen by the judging panel including Michelin starred chef, Heston Blumenthal, go into production and be available for consumers to buy across the UK. Further harnessing the power of digital media, it is then down to the public to decide on the eventual winner via the voting system on the Walkers website (www.walkers.co.uk). The winner will be announced on the 2nd May.
