ABOUT

Over 1000 visitors experienced the magic of the Emerald City at the Butterkist Popcorn Emporium in Soho, London and got their first taste Butterkist’s limited-edition Amazafying Sweet Popcorn.

The spellbinding pop-up was created in collaboration with the highly anticipated film, Wicked, taking place just a few days before the film launched when talkability about the film peaked.
The event was at the heart of a successful campaign to position Butterkist as the must-have movie snack. Not only contributing to a significant sales boost, but independent consumer research showed the event had real emotional impact - creating something people wanted to be part of and talk about.

Central to the event was a magical popcorn bar where visitors could ‘curate their own crunch’ with pink and green Wicked style toppings to be added to guests’ favourite Butterkist flavour. The vibrant green Emerald City was blended with the distinctive red heart of Butterkist to create a visual experience where the brands popped in eye-catching contrast.

A swankifying launch party with sites like Secret London, and personalities Ashley James and Nadiya Bychkova, sparked thrillifying Ozian style content about the experience which left Londoners queuing up. Widespread editorial and social buzz led to OTS of over 80 million.

IDEA

The Butterkist Popcorn Emporium was a spellbinding multi-sensory three-day pop-up experience created in collaboration with the highly anticipated film, Wicked.
The event took place in Soho, London a few days before the film launched, giving visitors the chance to step right into the magic of the Emerald City and snag a bag of Butterkist’s new limited-edition Amazafying Sweet Popcorn.

VIP media and influencers attended a swankifying launch party with websites like Secret London, and personalities Ashley James and Nadiya Bychkova, creating content which drove Londoners to queue up for their visit.

STRATEGY

We were tasked to embed Butterkist as the ‘must have movie snack’. We proposed partnering with a blockbuster movie to create a unique experience where visitors could taste the magic of Butterkist and movies for themselves.

We reviewed multiple films and negotiated a partnership with Wicked because it offered:
• A story with inter-generational appeal and cultural relevance
• A visually exciting cinematic world which Butterkist could bring to life in the real world
• Multiple fanbases incl Wizard Of OZ, Wicked The Musical, Ariana Grande

With such a highly anticipated film, there was concern on cut-through. But by being the first UK brand partner to sign up, we gave ourselves eight months to prepare a strong creative execution, which had the full support of Universal.

And we got to pick our launch moment – we chose to run our event just after the premiere, and just before the film opened when conversation and excitement around the film would peak.

We set out to help increase sales and positively impact brand metrics via:
• An elevated, culturally exciting pop-up which showcased Butterkist as the perfect movie snack
• Engaging media and influencers to drive visitors to our event and amplify it further

EXECUTION

Our creative execution stemmed from the shared theme of magic. Butterkist's brand essence of making movie nights magical aligned perfectly with the enchanting, magical world of Wicked.

• Taste the magic: Central to the event was a popcorn bar where visitors could ‘curate their own crunch’ with an array of delectable pink and green Wicked-style toppings to be added to guests’ favourite Butterkist flavour.
• Branding: We blended Wicked’s vibrant green Emerald City, with the distinctive red heart logo of Butterkist to create a visual experience where the brands ‘popped’ in eye-catching contrast. The design work was intricate e.g. replicating Emerald City style wallpaper with a Butterkist heart.
• Entertainment: Visitors were treated to performances by a magical ‘popcorn performer’ plus engaging ‘serves’ of popcorn from our thrillifying popcorn bar staff.
• Modern Nostalgia: The golden age of cinema came to life with a Wicked x Butterkist branded popcorn cart and staff wearing modified usherette outfits.
• Social sharing: The overall look and feel was like stepping on the Wicked film set, but completely Butterkist branded making it impossible to take a picture where Butterkist did not feature. Our interactive photo booth allowed visitors to play with props and capture fun film content of themselves.
• Multi-sensory: Scent diffusers delivered the scent of Butterkist throughout the experience.
• VIP Experience: We served popcorn risotto, popcorn-crusted shrimp and brioche with popcorn cream. For drinks, attendees were treated to Midori and pink lemonade shots and caramel popcorn martinis.
• The Venue: 15 Batemen Street, Soho was chosen for its kerb appeal (we could brand the window), central location and high footfall.
• Sustainability: We hired costumes, used plastic-free vinyls, and thought about sustainability throughout e.g. ensured serving bowls were compostable. We have stored many of the assets for use in a planned follow up campaign for Wicked Part 2

EFFECTIVENESS

We measured the campaign's success through various metrics, including media coverage, social media engagement, consumer insights and sales data.

• Over 200+ pieces of coverage / social content with an OTS 80.8M
• Almost 50 media and influencers attended the VIP launch event and over 1,000 consumers attended (with queues forming each morning)
• Listings press included 3x pieces in Secret London as well as Metro and Evening Standard
• The Emporium activation achieved the highest score for effectiveness (52) out of all the elements of the campaign as judged by Red Star Ad Testing. This was due to having a higher emotional impact; it was exciting and something people wanted to be part of and talk about. It was also seen as something ‘special’ and ‘different’ from other popcorn brands which drove fame.
• 7% sales increase over the campaign period

And we picked the right film – research proved Wicked was by far the most impactful and talked about film compared to other big releases that year, by media volume, media buzz, social posts and social OTS.