Company - Clarion Communications Campaign - Aldi - Going Toro Loco Category - Media Relations Campaign of the Year - South - Shortlisted Objective Clarion was appointed in early 2012 to work for Aldi, with an on-going brief to build a reputation for the supermarket as selling great quality beers, wines and spirits at fantastic value for money - and, ultimately, to increase sales.  A key reason for promoting beers, wines and spirits is that these are ‘footfall drivers’ and encourage new shoppers to Aldi stores. Target Audience UK adult drinks consumers. Consumer insight had revealed that while consumers who engage with drinks seek out and read both wine and drinks columns AND experts in the media, most of Aldi’s target audience don’t.  Clarion’s strategy, therefore, was to generate press coverage which communicated the quality and value of Aldi’s drinks range beyond wine columns, and in news pages and general consumer news sections, in order to reach mass market consumers. Knowing that the press love a story about value products successfully going up against more ‘famous’ and expensive brands, Clarion decided to select drinks which it predicted would shine against likely competition when entered into awards.  To make the selections it worked with both Aldi’s buying team and Jamie Goode, a wine author and national newspaper wine columnist who is also a member of Clarion’s unique Advisory Board.  Support was further provided by the Clarion account team, which includes staff members who have successfully sat Wines & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) courses, from Level 2 to Diploma. Action This particular campaign - executed in May 2012 - was based on Aldi’s own label red wine Toro Loco Tempranillo, priced at £3.59 a bottle, which was selected and entered into the prestigious International Wine & Spirit Competition (IWSC), where it scooped a silver medal.  It wasn’t gold - but following desk research it was identified as a potentially good story, as the Aldi wine had beaten branded wines over EIGHT times its price. Clarion worked up a news story based on Aldi wine scooping an international award over more ‘prestigious rivals’, and conducted a sell-in to national print, broadcast and online media.  It was initially discussed with The Sun’s consumer affairs correspondent, who wanted it as an exclusive Sunday-for-Monday - but Clarion took the decision that the story had strong across-the-board consumer appeal, and elected instead for an extensive all-round sell-in. Results 50 items of coverage generated, from national newspapers including The Sun, Daily Mail and Daily Star, to fully branded broadcast media pieces including BBC 5 live, LBC, Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch and Chris Evans on Radio 2.  But it didn’t stop there: sales of Toro Loco immediately increased by an astonishing ONE THOUSAND PER CENT year-on-year as a direct result of the coverage - with shelves totally emptied of stock in just three days nationwide, a record for the retailer. The positive coverage also had a halo effect over the wider Toro Loco range, with a Toro Loco Rosé showing a sales uplift of 100% year-on-year. Clarion took advantage of this phenomenon by identifying further news potential, and issued a second story - ‘Supermarket Doubles Orders As Brits Go Loco For Aldi Wine’ - adding the positive spin that Aldi was re-stocking its shelves to meet the huge demand for the wine.  And this second story achieved a further 37 items of coverage, including the Daily Express, Metro, Daily Mirror and Daily Record. Results & evaluation In total, the campaign resulted in 87 branded items of coverage, the majority of which also included product images and quotes from Aldi.  Coverage had a PR value of £368,484 (ROI: 74:1).  It also drove a significant volume of shoppers to the Aldi website, with the ‘Wine Cellar’ section of the site showing an uplift of 30,000 visitors in May against the previous month. An Aldi UK spokesperson said: “This was an extremely cost-effective campaign which hugely over-delivered against its objectives.” The PRmoment Golden Hedgehog Awards 2014 are now open for entries. Here are this years updated categories.