Social media is a very new platform to play on, no matter what country you find yourself in. Certainly some have played harder, risked more and invested more money, but I’m not certain there are very many who can claim to have ‘got it right’?
From my vantage point it makes for a very very exciting ‘playground’ to watch. Lots of clever people doing some very clever things. And with all the play, we get to observe, experience and participate in the amazing and absolutely terrible : )
Simba (the South African chip/crisp company) are currently engaged in a really interesting project. They’re running a competition to invent a new flavour. And it’s not in the traditional form. They don’t have their marketing gurus working long hours to come up with their next (hopefully) big flavour. They’re using citizen you and me to do it.
This competition received over 187 000 entries and some very original and exciting flavour suggestions were put forward via SMS, MMS, mail and the website www.lekkerflavour.co.za. It stands to reason that with so many entries received that there would be duplicate flavour submissions. The majority of entries were representative of some of the foods that South Africans are fond of such as Bobotie, Oxtail, Fish & Chips, Pap & Wors, Snoek, Prawns and of course, Biltong!
Currently the competition is down to the 4 final flavours.
The top four flavours in the “What’s Your Lekker Flavour?” competition have been announced! They are Masala Steak Gatsby, Vetkoek & Polony, Snoek & Atchar and Walkie Talkie Chicken. All four flavours will go on sale at the beginning of June and will be available at all leading retailers.
And well done to ‘us’. We’ve shown that our creativity is worth every cent they’re throwing at us, and more. There’s R100 000 up for grabs to 4 lucky people who vote for the winning flavour. And here’s what the winning flavour inventor receives:
The winning flavour will see one South African receive fame and fortune in the form of R200 000 in cash, and 1% of sales of the winning flavour. This could mean that the winner will received up to R500 000 per year for as long as the flavour is on sale.
I really hope this competition succeeds for them, because it’s good for all of us. It lifts the social media profile, it’s captured the attention of at least 187 000 people who had a voice for a few seconds, it’s fun, and it hopefully opens the door to more money, energy and time being invested in developing all the possibilities social media presents.
I voted for Vetkoek and Polony, even though Walkie Talkie Chicken has my attention in terms of what might be in it?
Walkers crisps (who manage the Lays brand in the UK) have run similar competitions like this in the UK. Last year, they also had 6 flavours in a final “eat off” after sifting through over 1 million entries in their “Do us a Flavour” competition!! Tapping into the power of social networks really does work.
Out of interest, the finalist flavours were: Fish & Chips, Onion Bhaji, Chocolate & Chilli, Crispy Duck & Hoi Sin, Builder’s Breakfast and Cajun Squirrel.
The winner was Builders Breakfast. The creator won £50,000, on top of the £10,000 that each finalist had already received. One per cent of profits from all future sales are also being handed to the winner!
Right now, they have a Flavour Cup competition on the go, where people vote for their all time favourite: http://www.walkers.co.uk/flavourcup/
It’s clever and obvious, and good to see Simba in on the act.
Thanks for an interesting blog entry! As for what is “in” the walkie talkie chicken chip from Simba …. I would say the same chemicals and spices as in vetkoek and polony … you did not expect a few chicken toe nails in the WTC chips, did you? Hope you’ve tried all the flavours by now!!!
To be honest I haven’t seen any of the new flavours in the shops. I haven’t looked, but they also haven’t jumped out at me. I’ll look a little harder next time : )