Sambucol aims to beat the bugs with its #CostOfACold Campaign

What is the real cost of a cold to families?

The #CostOfACold campaign for Sambucol UK, developed by PR agency Aduro Communications, was rooted in consumer insight which framed the creative and formed the heart of the campaign. Conducting research, they teamed up with a lead and expert ambassador as well as supporting influencers, to highlight the impact the cold, flu and COVID season has on families beyond having to take the day off work.

The #CostOfACold campaign was created to show that Sambucol can support your immune system when dealing with COVID. Beyond the immediately quantifiable, there are bigger costs to a cold than meets the eye: the missed social occasions, the burden of anxiety that parents feel, the stress around ill children that can itself be a trigger for many immune systems leading to an anxious, vicious cycle. Simply adding Sambucol into a daily routine to protect the whole family all year round means this cycle can be broken and it was our job to show that.

Financial and emotional impact

In June, Aduro conducted a brand awareness pre-campaign dip, followed by consumer research to reveal all responses towards the #CostOfACold—disclosing not only the financial impact, but the emotional impact too. This data was harvested and pitched to news media.

During the Autumn of 2022, Aduro collaborated with immunologist expert Dr. Jenna Macciochi, who hit the airwaves across the UK and created social content providing advice on how to bolster immunity, adding professional gravitas to the campaign.

Alongside Dr. Jenna was popular influencer Binky Felstead. As a parent in the target age and demographic bracket with an engaging and honest platform, Binky was an authentic brand ambassador who seamlessly slipped into the creative, creating social posts and participating in radio and media interviews to support the campaign and target the ABC1 parents.

Alongside her were a team of supporting influencers who created Instagram reels delivering the #CostOfACold messaging and a call-to-action to purchase from Boots with trackable UTM booking links.

Aduro’s work secured over 40 pieces of coverage (against a target of 7-8), 9 earned media interviews, 5 hours of broadcast coverage with a total of 32m media reach, 1.9m social reach and 72% uplift in brand searches following campaign launch.