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August Asda Magazine cover – “an excellent example of using social media as an integral part of content marketing” / Jo Brooks, Publicis Blueprint

Asda puts 1m Facebook fans in charge of August Asda Magazine cover – ‘Chosen by You’ customer approach brought to life in Publicis Blueprint activity –

In a new move, Asda has asked its Facebook fans to choose the Asda Magazine cover for the August issue. Publicis Blueprint, which also publishes the UK’s number one title, with a 1.96m circulation, designed two alternative covers which were then put to the social network to select the favourite.

Over five thousand fans interacted with the exercise – which offered mock-ups of cover option A and option B – with the majority choosing option B. In line with the Asda ‘Chosen by You’ customer driven approach, the activity highlights the importance Asda and Publicis Blueprint place on the Asda Magazine working hand-in-hand with social media.

The winning cover shows the Easy Peasy Fish Cakes recipe arranged to depict an underwater scene with the fish cakes ‘swimming’ on a blue plate with peas, sweetcorn and broccoli creating the impression of bubbles and waterweed. The headline reads: ‘Summertime fun’. Publicis Blueprint designed the cover based on its understanding of the core Asda customer – the Asda mum. In line with research that shows mums are always looking for time and cost efficient food solutions suitable for the family and routine, the recipe is perfect for cooking in the school holidays.

The activity also gave Asda an opportunity to gain live feedback from its customers. Customer comments included: “A has a target audience of adults mainly but also children, and B has a target audience of children mainly. I’d pick B because I’d pick it up, take it home and make my mum read it, mums and children like reading together.”

Asda Magazine is available in 377 stores and is the most widely read magazine in the UK, with a combined readership of 10.3m across print and online. Following the success of this activity, Asda will deliver future interactive magazine and social media activities for forthcoming issues.

Hannah McDermott, Asda Editor, commented: “The Asda Magazine is a such a key part of our customer engagement strategy and, by linking with our social channels, this activity also fits perfectly with our ‘Chosen by You’ customer approach. We’ve been able to not only involve our customers in designing their magazine – we’ve also had real-time interaction and feedback, which is always invaluable. We’ll definitely be building on this success in future activity – in fact, we’re already planning Autumn and Winter projects to further align our social and content marketing.”

Jo Brooks, Account Director at Publicis Blueprint (pictured) , commented: “Asda takes a customer-driven approach to all of its activity and this is an excellent example of using social media as an integral part of content marketing. We’re overjoyed with the results and plan to continue to take full advantage of the amazing interaction with Asda social media channels to further bolster engagement with the Asda magazine customers and readers.

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