Thanks to the campaign “Změňte si svůj obývák během minuty” (Transform your living room in just one minute) interest among Czechs during home office and Covid restrictions in home accessories and by extension the Astoreo e-shop skyrocketed by 79%.
The popular actress Lucie Benešová knows a thing or two about home sweet home: she loves her large extended family and interior design features. This is why Astoreo.cz chose her for their autumn ads. A combination of celebrity and conventional PR was used in a campaign whose main message was that people care about where they live and the things they surround themselves with.
Astoreo.cz is a young e-shop selling home accessories, fashion and household gadgets. It was launched in early 2020. In September, a large-scale TV and marketing campaign began whose main star was actress Lucie Benešová.
Foundations of the PR campaign: synergy between public relations and a brand ambassador
As part of additional PR, we were eager to find out how Lucie lives and relaxes, which is why we invited ourselves to her home, where the ad was shot as well.
“Generally speaking, I have no problem showing my private life, one of the reasons being that this is an acting family. Astoreo speaks to me because of its product portfolio. I love interior accessories. Throughout the campaign I tried giving tips and little bits of advice on how to transform your interiors using various types of textiles. It only takes a few moments and a minimal budget,” says Lucie Benešová.
A virtual visit to Lucie’s living room courtesy of our campaign
The main idea of the campaign was: no set, no acting. This is the actual house of Lucie Benešová and the actual Lucie Benešová.
The TV ad aired on the channels of the TV Prima group in September. “The ad should carry the home-sweet-home message. This is not about acting. We chose Lucie Benešová because she gave the impression of a typical female customer of our e-shop, someone who loves decorating her house and taking care of her family. She’s the type of woman who resolves problems with a smile on her face, puts everyone at ease, and creates a good mood. This type of emotion is important to us,” says Petr Wagner, co-owner of PackWay, the group that owns Astoreo.cz.
As part of the campaign, the actress is featured on the e-shop website, on social media, and in newsletters. “Every week we send our customers advice and various tips for home decorations,” Wagner adds.
Lucie herself hand-picked the contents of care packages for journalists
PR support for the campaign was launched in early September. First we sent selected journalists special autumn themed care packages containing products chosen by Lucie. She also gave us interviews on her cooperation with the Astoreo brand.
In November we focused on autumn themed decorations and decorative hacks. A major photo shoot also took place, just to make sure we had enough pictorial material for our press releases. We also introduced a special white-and-blue travel collection for the whole family, with an anchor as the key motif and Lucie as the main face of the collection.
Around Christmas-time we prepared a long Christmas interview in which she revealed how she sets the table and how she spends Christmas Eve.
Our agency has made Lucie Benešová the “home sweet home ambassador” and an ambassador for authentic living, which helped develop the entire story. Attached to all materials were product tips from the e-shop and the campaign was extended to include paid PR support.
E-shop revenues up by 80%
Our media relations management resulted in feature articles in Blesk Hobby, at blesk.cz, bleskprozeny.cz, as well as a Christmas interview with Lucie Benešová in the women’s magazine Báječné nápady.
The PR campaign reached 7.7 million people and brought the e-shop new customers. The quarterly increase in the number of e-shop visitors during the campaign and afterwards was 79%. Of whom 84% were new users. The quarterly revenue increase amounted to almost 80%.
“THE PR CAMPAIGN BY LESENSKY.CZ AS PART OF A COMPREHENSIVE MARKETING MIX GAVE US RECORD RESULTS.“
Petr Wagner, Astoreo.cz