We invited audiences to #ChickenOut of Christmas

Here’s how we turned an influencer campaign into an out of home spectacle

By Joel Newman

Thursday, 13th of January 2021

For Christmas 2021, Slim Chickens came to us with some food for thought. They wanted us to show off their personality and put a smile on customers’ faces, spreading feel good vibes in a loud and bold way throughout the holiday period.

We found that our audience members like to live their lives on their terms, and that after a year of not seeing anyone, there were some people they simply hadn’t missed. And in amongst the seasonal chaos, the ‘you-do-you’ mentality central to our positive mental health can often be at risk of being lost. 

So with the power of self-love at the heart of it, we partnered with Slims (which is a part of the Boparan group) on a tongue-in-cheek mission to empower people to get their ‘me time’ back – by any means necessary!

Using Slims’ classic Southern charm and the warmest of open arms, we invited our audiences to #ChickenOut of unwanted Christmas plans.

Often used in a negative way, the term ‘chickening out’ is used to poke fun at a person who is nervous, timid or afraid of doing something. Turning this on its head, we decided to try something a little different. 

Using Slims’ classic Southern hospitality paired with an uplifting comedic tone of voice, we created a go-to-guide – a chicken’s checklist if you wish – to actually empower and encourage fans to cancel their plans, and enjoy their new-found free time in the safety of their local Slims outlet.

We brought to life Slims’ go-to-guide with the help of three influencer talent, each chosen for their incredible script writing, energy, and comedic timing. This helped them stand out from the rest of the Christmas noise and be our go-to leaders to inspire and empower our Chickens to take part in festive tranquility.

Once we’d enlisted the help of our Chicken leaders, we briefed them to create a series of hilarious and relatable festive skits, taking over our fan’s Instagram and TikTok feeds with “you-do-you hen” messaging, highlighting Slims locations as being the place where you can achieve the #ChickenOut sense of inner peace.

Our #ChickenOut messaging was extended to Slim’s other marketing channels, allowing us to scale our campaign even further and take the influencer campaign to new levels – championing the voices of our talent and turning them from festive sheep into true Chickens. 

Lastly, we broke the fourth wall between consumer and the digital world by elevating the reach of the campaign, and extending the influence of our talent, into the non-digital world through out of home (OOH) billboards – spreading the message of #ChickenOut to the masses and growing our audience in the process. 

Partnering with Ocean Outdoor, we leveled up our campaign using OOH as the perfect way to distribute our messaging to a wider audience, signposting Slim Chickens’ nearby new store in Nottingham, while keeping in line with the campaign tone of voice. This helped break out of the traditional viewership our social talent usually experience, and also tied in nicely with one of our objectives of increasing brand awareness. 

We wanted to create synonymy between the digital and OOH elements, and so featured one of our influencers on the billboard alongside the messaging itself. This enabled us to tie all of the different parts together to deliver a real 360 campaign.

All our content was created to inspire our Chickens to put themselves and their mental-wellbeing first this Christmas. And each video always ended with a delicious and mouth-watering chicken-filled shot of their delicious restaurant offerings.

Our campaign showed our audience that the best way to put themselves first this Christmas was to take pride in doing what makes you happy. Eat at Slims. And, of course, #ChickenOut of any plans you want.