Gingerbread Men Go the Mo

As the month of November came to a close so did my first PR tactic for the Miami Bakehouse. The idea was simple enough put moustaches on the gingerbread men for Movember with a percentage of each sale going to the charity. With this I believed we’d be able to secure a lot of media interest as it is for charity and there was a great photo opportunity of the moustache bearing Gingerbread men.

The actual tactic developed a bit further than just Gingerbread men with other baked products, namely the Mr Happy biscuits and smiley faced cupcakes also donning a stash for the month. Staff were also encouraged to wear moustaches, or grow them, however most of the staff are female, so not much facial hair would have been seen during the month. The stores also received posters and a donation box to put in the store, with these being supplied by the people behind Movember once they heard we were getting involved.

For the tactic I wrote a media release that was sent to all relevant newspapers, with a photo of the gingerbread men attached. From this we secured an article in the Mandurah Coastal Times and possibly The Sundays Times Taste lift out, but I didn’t see it. The Sunday times enquired further and said they were writing an article but they did have an issue with the fact we’d sent the same picture to all outlets, so maybe they pulled the article out late.

If I were to do this campaign again I would definitely contact Movember much earlier so we would have our company logo displayed on their website under sponsors. I’d also send different photos to each outlet, and also take a better photo. With the photo we sent this time it wasn’t ideal as it contained more cupcakes than gingerbread men, with the cupcakes not even getting a mention in the media release. Unfortunately I wasn’t there when the photos were taken and the person taking the photos hadn’t read my release, but they were still ok. I think I’d also disclose how much from each sale we would be donating, as I think it can seem like your hiding something. I would also search for people in the company who have a personal connection to either depression or prostate cancer, the two causes the Movember charity is raising funds for, as it would make for a much more relevant and meaningful article.

However as we were working with limited time, with me only starting in October I think we did a pretty good job with the idea, with it still obtaining publicity for the Miami Bakehouse and also securing donations for a worthy cause like Movember. I think if the Miami Bakehouse decided to do it again next year it would only get bigger and better.