Gourmet Challenge - More information

The Final consisted of 18 challenges of taste, smell and sight. The items were wine (taste), dried ham (taste), cheese (taste), pulses (sight) and herbs (smell). Liz Parker, an account manager at Land Registry in Croydon, Surrey, won the Charlton House Gourmet Challenge 2007. The self-confessed foodie had to fight off stiff competition from 49 other Charlton House customers to answer a quick fire round on food trivia. She also had to undergo smell and taste tests before proving herself the champion.

Liz won a trip to a cookery school in France for two people for three nights. Le Manoir de L’Aufragere is an 18th century manor house set in eight acres of tranquil cider orchards in the heart of Normandy. The remaining 49 go home empty-handed; each received a top quality chef’s knife. We also presented 120 other entrants with a copy of Repertoire de la Cuisine.

We received 240,000 entries, a phenomenal number! The general feedback from the promotion was superb. It really created a buzz at unit level, which escalated as the Final approached. Sales increased overall, with some sites reporting a ten per cent increase but the real advantage of the campaign was that the ability to direct customers to weak sales areas or alternatively, to products with higher gross profit margins.

The Final itself was very well attended by many of our clients, with over 200 guests arriving at London Zoo who thoroughly enjoyed the event. Our customers never get an opportunity to mix and mingle so it was an unprecedented opportunity for people from Charlton House contracts from all over the UK to come together in a relaxed atmosphere. The budget for the promotion was around £19,000, a relatively modest budget given the high levels of customer well being and satisfaction it created.

Here’s how we marketed it:

o We launched the campaign with Table Talkers, fliers and posters
o Introduced our Gourmet Challenge ? stickers
o Supplied Scratch Cards to each unit
o Supplied Gourmet Challenge Boxes to each unit for winning entrants
o Invited finalists to London Zoo
o Featured the Gourmet Challenge winner’s story in our staff magazine, Chit Chat, in The Edge, a corporate newsletter and on our website and intranet.