Bassetts hired Red to create a celebrity out of Betty Bassett, Red Liquorice Allsorts new on-pack character. Given nothing but her picture, Red devised a launch that catapulted her into the gossip magazines and tabloids with a bang.

Red built the launch around Betty’s wedding to Bertie – an established national treasure. A campaign featuring teaser and reveal stages was built to create buzz around Bertie’s engagement before launching Betty on her wedding day.

The teaser campaign saw an engagement announcement in The Times and a YouTube video featuring upset female celebs. Presenters and celebrity columnists were also targeted to drive speculation and coverage about the forthcoming wedding.

The wedding took place at Bassetts’ Sheffield factory - ushers, best man, bridesmaids and pageboys were all played by staff and their families. Media attending ensured a splash of local and national coverage...and media not attending were sent an order of service, commemorative mug, wedding album and slice of cake. The wedding video was posted on You Tube for everyone to enjoy.

Facebook fans were invited to join the celebrations online with a chance to have their messages read out to the couple at the wedding. Betty’s Facebook page featured wedding and honeymoon pictures.

The campaign secured over 240 pieces of national and regional print, broadcast and online coverage and generated over 190 million opportunities to see/hear. Betty’s Facebook page currently has over 21,000 fans. The wedding was also featured in OK! magazine.

Red’s PR campaign – with no above-the-line investment – delivered an 11% year-on-year rise in sales of Liquorice Allsorts during the post launch period and a 12% increase in consumer awareness of the brand.

This campaign was a finalist for a PR Week Award 2009 (Marketing Comms - Fees less than £100k category) and a CIPR Excellence Award 2009 (Best Media Relations category).