Veganuary, the one-month pledge to eat solely plant-based has become the fastest growing lifestyle trend. The UK has seen a 360% growth in the last 10 years of individuals who class themselves as vegan.
The rise of veganism has been pushed mostly by generation Z who find it trendy and we all know that what matters to young people will matter on social media – #vegan has been used as a hashtag 35.5 million times, followed by #plantbased at 7 million and #veganfood at 4.5 million. Other top hashtags, include: #cleaneating, #crueltyfree, #fitfam, #glutenfree, #veganism, #rawfood, #veganfood and #healthyeating.
What may have been considered a passing fad has drawn a lot of interest and the happenings on social media have helped drive it as a lasting choice for many. In a time where, social media has become the source for information even before Sky News and the BBC. The use of social media has helped push awareness of the vegan lifestyle and veganism through countless images, articles and recipes that remix favourite classics into new innovative dishes.
The official Veganuary charity who, since 2014 have had 1 million people in 192 countries encourage sign up to ‘go’ vegan in January. They have worked with businesses to push for more vegan food options in shops and restaurants – during Veganuary 2020 more than 600 businesses took part that led to 1200 new vegan products and menus were launched.
Below are examples of our top 2 marketing campaigns that broke the internet using social media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, snapchat, YouTube and even Tumblr that promoted the vegan way of life.
The campaign for the roll out of the vegan sausage roll was not one that could be missed. The initial launch started with what was a parody of an Apple release. They even sent out the sausage rolls to be reviewed by journalists in packaging that reflected an iPhone. Things did not stop there; things took to Twitter when Piers Morgan referred to them as ‘clowns’ and the infamous Twitter battle ensued – the back and forth between them remained playful and drew in a lot of attention and alongside a perfectly orchestrated Marketing campaign, resulted in a 9.6% increase in sales over that time period.
- Pizza Hut – Incentive marketing
Incentive marketing is a great way to entice customers to purchase products and Pizza Hut became a master. Despite having vegan options on the menu, they participated in Veganuary by releasing a new pizza called ‘The Jack ‘N’ Ch**se’. They created a ‘vegan-o-metre’ and told customers that if they sold 10,000 Jack ‘N’ Ch**se pizza’s it would become a part of their menu. Customers could check the ‘vegan-o-metre’ to see how many pizzas had been purchased and with the hype from social media they reached the goal. They offered the chance to win a £100 gift card if they uploaded an image of their vegan pizza using the hashtag #IWantYouJack which built up great traction on Twitter and Instagram.
As we have all gotten through the longest month of January and Veganuary coming to an end, for many people the experience has and continues to have a lasting effect as they explore a lifestyle that’s healthier and helps the planet.
