Synonymous with summer and social gatherings, Weber is a brand that needs no introduction. But as the world went into lockdown, we were asked to help show its UK and HubWest social audience that owning a Weber isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s an investment that delivers rational and emotional value through enriching a more pared-back lifestyle. Our solution: truly understanding how the lockdown had changed the priorities, routines and needs of consumers, and devising a social strategy that was going to be relevant, engaging and genuinely helpful.

First, we developed a Weber-specific, conversational tone of voice and visual aesthetic to reflect the ambitions of the brand. Then we started to create sizzling content from relevant tap-through recipes, to masterclass videos and live Q&As with Weber’s Master Griller, Dan Cooper. It was important we optimised the content beyond ‘likes’ – focusing on meaningful ideas that helped us build a relationship with our community, and at the same time genuinely helped the community get the most out of their Weber BBQ (barbecue) experience.

Each channel’s features (e.g. Instagram’s interactive stickers) and algorithms were taken into consideration at concept stage to maximise engagement opportunities. And to build affinity and encourage further engagement, we created a UGC hashtag that we use to acknowledge fan content. We also opened an Instagram Store to make product details and pricing easy to find, and to drive our community to the Weber website.

Our on-going content strategy was built around data-driven creative. This philosophy allowed us to create social toolkits for different markets to find and focus on the creative work that performed best for each respective audience through A/B testing copy, content and CTAs. And to close the loop on the social experience, we managed the community (UK only), ensuring our content was backed by human support, advice and guidance.

Creating the connection:
Results: +21.4 k follower growth in HubWest market across social media channels
+19.8% growth on Instagram in HubWest (fastest growing platform for HubWest in 2022)
38% engagement rate in top performing creative

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