DIGITAL MARKETING
HOLIDAY BYTES
If gift shopping triggers the most holiday stress,
food has to be among the most effective pleasure
generators. Last year, the L.A. Times invited its
readers to contribute to one food-related tradition:
the cookie bake-off. But instead of merely giving
people a few tips on how to host bake-offs at
home with friends, the newspaper’s Food Section
editors asked them to join its own online bakeoff of sorts on Facebook. The answer was a
resounding collective “yes!”
Willing participants had until November 3rd
to first “like” the paper’s Facebook page and
then access the Cookie Bake-off tab to fill out a
registration form and submit one cookie recipe
that defined the holidays for their family and
friends—the entry had to include a photo of the
end product.
The following day, the L.A. Times posted all the
entries on the page so that readers could review
them and vote for their favorite one. The Cordon
Bleu Cooking School then tested the 50 most
popular recipes, based on fan votes, and made
the final choice. The winning participants got to
visit the L.A. Times Test Kitchen and their recipes
were published in the newspaper’s Food Section
on December 15.
The Facebook contest not only gave readers
a chance to share an important aspect of the
holidays, but the newspaper used it as the perfect
set-up for the unveiling of its e-book, Holiday
Cookies: 50 Favorite Recipes, highlighting the
food editors’ top picks from the previous decade.
THE TACTICS TIP
You could host your own holiday cookie
bake-off on either your center’s website
or Facebook page, and even develop an
associated app so that shoppers can access
all of the entered recipes, take notes and
generate grocery lists. Ask them to vote for
their favorite one, have the final testing occur
in your center court (this could even include
a tasting for your loyalty club members) and
then pick a winning recipe that will be used as
a branded perk to thank gift card purchasers.
Another twist on the viral campaign would
be to ask shoppers to submit a picture of
their favorite ornament, along with some
explanation of its significance. You could
then pick one to reproduce, adding your
own branded-twist, and offer it as a GWP.
WEBSITE
The L.A. Times Facebook Page
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