When Talking Turkey Pays Off

by Nov 20, 2015

There has been a lot of media lately about the stores that are closing for Thanksgiving and even Black Friday this year. I love that families will have more time together, but one can’t help but wonder if it is a genuine, from-the-heart movement from these retailers, or if they want the publicity behind the sentiment. Either way they are getting buzz, which is sure to convert to some strong holiday sales. Below are 5 of our favorite Thanksgiving time marketing / PR campaigns from the last few years. Can’t wait to see what else pops up this year as we draw closer to Turkey Day!

1. In 2012 Pinterest, Allrecipes and Better Homes & Gardens teamed up for the “Best Thanksgiving Ever”. Participants could win $5,000 if they posted five or more Thanksgiving recipes from Allrecipes or BH&G to their own “Best Thanksgiving Ever” board on Pinterest. Not only did the campaign drive traffic to all sponsoring websites, but it put Allrecipes on the map as a top recipe site.

2. 2013 brought us the “Turkey Bowl”, a Thanksgiving campaign from Nike that used the SessionM mobile app network to award users points for in-app interactions that could be redeemed for gift cards. When customers used their points, the Nike Turkey Bowl ads would pop up creating a full circle campaign.

3. With only a few days in between the holidays this year, it was a brilliant idea for Manischewitz (Kosher food store) to merge Hanukkah and Thanksgiving to create their own “Thanksgivukah”. With an entire website dedicated to the “holiday”, funny videos, recipes, ecards and more, the social media exposure for the brand has been HUGE.

4. True Turkey Talk is the name of the game with the Butterball Turkey-Talk-Line. For 29 years now Butterball has run a hotline in November and December to encourage consumers to call 1-800-Butterball (and in more recent years to visit Butterball on the Go) to ask their turkey related questions.

5. Finally, we can’t talk about Thanksgiving marketing without talking about Macy’s. The parade is marketing brilliance in itself, but the engaging website and social media they created to go along with it is nothing short but amazing. With a countdown to the parade, a ton of useful into and even uniquely created games, the site adds an extra level of engagement to the Thanksgiving Tradition.

 

 What is YOUR favorite Thanksgiving campaign?