Hedgehog Hall of Fame: Quidco - Cashback Boutique

Company: Quidco Campaign: The Quidco Cashback Boutique Category: Stunt of the Year - South - Shortlisted Objective - The Only Way is Quidco: Prove to an audience of smart shoppers, in a clear and tangible way, that the only way to get paid to shop is with Quidco and its mobile app - Money For Nothing: Demonstrate how Quidco’s app pays shoppers cash amounts when ‘checking in’ to high street stores by recreating the process on a macro scale - App Close and Personal: Get shoppers downloading and engaging with the app in a hands-on way as part of the stunt, by using it as the key to unlock a free cash prize - Help our Highstreets: Highlight the support the app can offer UK high streets by driving footfall in to one store offering an award/money off KPIs: - Drive an increase in downloads of the Quidco mobile app, which pays shoppers for ‘checking in’ to over 80 of the UK’s biggest high street retailers - Secure coverage in national media, across consumer lifestyle press and outside of money sections Strategy & Target Audience What is the best thing about the Quidco mobile app? Free money! What is the best way to spread the word about the app amongst smart consumers who love shopping? Give them free money! In a secret location, nestled amongst one of the UK’s most famous shopping hub, we set up the world’s first ever Cashback Boutique – a one-of-a-kind store that, for one day only, paid smart shoppers a random cash amount for entering and checking in on the Quidco mobile app. The Cashback Boutique offered a way to demonstrate to savvy shoppers how the Quidco mobile app works on a huge scale. A Cashback Boutique handing out free cash and bursting at the seams with money-can’t-buy merchandise showed that, with Quidco, they really can get money for nothing and be paid to shop. The Quidco Cashback Boutique appealed to anyone who loves to shop and save money too.  All they had to do to claim their (no catches) cash at the Quidco Cashback Boutique, was check in on the app which generated a code for cash. Action Location, Location, Location Where better to open a groundbreaking store, than amongst the capital’s shopping Mecca – Oxford Circus? Surrounded by the biggest names in retail, Quidco set-up shop for one day only and had shoppers queuing around the block in a bid to get their hands on free cash. Creating the Buzz To wet the appetite of savvy shoppers everywhere, the location of the Cashback Boutique was kept secret until the last minute. Tips were shared with Quidco fans across Facebook and Twitter, and with the help of some of the blogging world’s heaviest hitters, including names such as Moneymapgpie.com and Diary as a Frugal Mother, clues were scattered to drive buzz across the Twittersphere. Selected national media were invited to have a sneak peek of the Cashback Boutique and were given exclusive interviews with Quidco’s Managing Director, Andy Oldham. Coverage landed hours before the Quidco Cashback Boutique threw open its doors, urging the nation to visit Rathbone Place and get paid for downloading and checking in. Show Me the Money! With queues snaking around the block for the duration of the Cashback Boutique’s opening hours, all shoppers had to do to on setting foot inside was to download the Quidco mobile app on their smart phone, and check-in to the boutique. Once checked in, shoppers received a unique code on their phone that entitled them to a random cash amount when they reached the till. With cash amounts ranging from £3 - £100, every customer was shown just how good it feels to get paid to shop with the Quidco mobile app. A Sprinkle of Glamour No boutique is complete without a glamorous assistant, so we enlisted the help of Essex’s premier celeb shopkeeper and owner of Lucy’s Boutique, TOWIE’S Lucy Mecklenburgh. Lucy helped get tongues wagging about the Cashback Boutique with a series of cryptic tweets to her 880k followers, dropping hints about when and where the one-of-a-kind shop would pop up. Following the stunt, Lucy tweeted about check in amounts available in her boutique as she signed up to the service of the Quidco app also. Our glamorous assistant also helped drive media interest in the Cashback Boutique. Exclusive interviews with Lucy were conducted in-store with top titles including heatworld, OK and ITV who came down to experience the buzz of the Cashback Boutique first hand. Capturing the Action Photographers from the Press Association were invited to capture the moment the Cashback Boutique opened for business, with Lucy posing alongside the growing queue of shoppers outside the boutique’s doors. These were sent down the wire for the national newspapers to pick up in the following day’s editions. Bells and Whistles To make the Cashback Boutique an experience unlike any other, the space was transformed into a savvy shopper’s dream: a boutique selling exclusively money. From cushions of cash to dough draped dresses, everything in the store was made of money. In addition to their free money, visitors to the Quidco Cashback Boutique also left the store with an exclusive goody bag – crammed full of gifts from a range of Quidco’s 3,400 retail partners, including free SIM cards, luxury chocolates and cufflinks. Results Drive an increase in downloads of the Quidco app - Download rate increased by 207 per cent vs. average weekly rate - 144 per cent uplift on average period - App reached number 5 in lifestyle iTunes app store - Generated 44,000 downloads and 321,000 check-ins - Generated almost £36k in check-ins for month of stunt vs previous month average of £5,515 Secure coverage across national media outside the money sections - 75 pieces of coverage, including 7 print nationals (Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Metro, Sunday Express, Daily Star, Daily Record, London Evening Standard) - Generated PR value of £285k - Campaign coverage ROI: 3:1 URL http://www.quidco.com/app/ The PRmoment Golden Hedgehog Awards 2014 are now open for entries. Here are this years updated categories.