THE CHALLENGE

We’ve worked alongside Ninja, the UK's No. 1 air fryer & multi-cooker brand, for many years. Our remit has always been to help the brand dominate the heated appliance, blending and cookware categories by ensuring we are consistently building brand awareness, reaching new audiences, and showcasing their 5-star consumer-rated products through creative PR campaigns.

Ahead of the Summer of 2023, we were briefed to take the brand out of the kitchen and into UK gardens for the first time, with the launch of the Ninja Woodfire Electric BBQ & Smoker.

Our challenge was to create a standout launch moment for the new product in March, when many UK consumers are beginning to consider BBQ purchases, and to sustain momentum throughout the Summer to ensure that Ninja owned the conversation on outdoor cooking throughout the season.

THE APPROACH

We knew getting people excited about BBQing earlier in the year than usual would be tricky, so we turned to charismatic chef and TV personality Gino D’Acampo to front the campaign and inspire people to discover everything the new outdoor grill had to offer.

Working with Gino, we hosted a launch event for media and influencers to give them a first look at the exciting new product. To highlight the versatility of the grill and its 7 cooking functions, we developed a creative ‘Around the World’ theme for the event which was brought to life within London-based beach club, Neverland – the perfect setting to ensure we brought a slice of Summer into the cold month of March.

Within the space, attendees were met with a departures board where they were presented with their boarding pass and passports that would transport them to four different global destinations - Japan, Italy, Australia and the USA - as they moved through the venue.

At each stop of the tour, attendees were given the opportunity to try BBQ delicacies for each local cuisine, whilst watching tailored demonstrations that showcased the new outdoor product. Our ambassador, Gino, was also on hand to share his favourite recipes and cooking tips.

Building on the success of the launch event, our next step was to team up with a range of food and lifestyle creators, including Tom Sigler (118k Instagram followers) and Carolyn Stritch (1m Instagram followers) to generate inspiring content for social and mouthwatering recipes inspired by world-flavours. Alongside this, we implemented a large-scale sampling programme to get the product into the hands of even more creators and journalists.

We also continued to work with our ambassador Gino to generate earned media through exclusive interviews, and we even took a trip to Gino’s home in Sardinia to create further content for his and Ninja’s social channels, including his top tips for cooking the perfect barbecue recipes.

Our supporting press office strategy also ensured that the Ninja Woodfire Electric BBQ & Smoker was reviewed widely by key national, consumer, technology, food & drink and lifestyle writers. Plus, we developed a range of creative feature angles and news stories to keep the coverage flowing well throughout the Spring / Summer season.

THE RESULTS

The campaign was a huge success with the event seeing a high attendance from many notable publications including Ideal Home, Good Housekeeping, and Daily Express and high-profile influencers such as Max Balegde (3.2m TikTok followers), Seema Pankhania (1.3m TikTok followers), Becky Excell (334k Instagram followers). Attendees loved having the opportunity to immerse themselves in the branded setting and to learn about the new product, and the brand saw widespread earned social coverage on the day as a result.

Our team has also delivered a high volume of earned media coverage including standalone reviews and inclusion in best BBQ roundups in titles such as GQ, AOL, Yahoo!, TechRadar, and more.