Client: Vespa

Working with Influencers becomes more than it first seemed

It started with Vespa UK wanting to celebrate their 75th birthday with some good old fashioned influencer gifting. Working out which UK based influencers had a Vespa scooter already wasn’t such a tricky task. Owner list made, we sent out a bunch of birthday packs out including a party invite to  join the (online) celebration. 

And then one of the influential Vespa owners was keen to take things one step further…

With a following of 977k on Instagram, Jamie Laing is a well-known TV personality and influencer. Better yet, he’s owned a Primavera model for over four years and regularly posts videos of himself scooting round London. 

When he’s not zooming about, he’s leading his sustainable sweet company, Candy Kittens, which he founded in 2012.

GIF of Jamie Laing kissing a Vespa scooter with a packet of candy kittens balanced on the front.

Why it was a sweet match

Having appeared on reality TV show Made in Chelsea, Jamie’s Gen Z and millennial fanbase aligned well with Vespa UK’s target demographic. By design, his popular confectionary company Candy Kittens also targets this younger demographic. 

And what’s-more, Candy Kittens shares the sustainability values that Vespa’s Elettrica range does. 

Because of this, it made it a perfect fit to spotlight the model alongside Candy Kittens’ launch of their new carbon neutral sweetie range. 

Win, win. 

For our client, with the idea to create a cross-channel, social campaign, the aim was to leverage Jamie’s profile and Candy Kittens’ mass appeal to: 

  • Engage a broader, relevant audience (who ideally convert to social fans). 

  • Drive product awareness for Vespa Elettrica and its USPs

  • Communicate Vespa UK’s brand values (environmentally conscious and always on-trend) 

GIF of Vespa scooters with candy kittens riding them across the screen.

Planning for zippy results

Once we had the perfect pairing, Bottle started to 

• Draft compelling captions to feed into an integrated social calendar with Candy Kittens 

• Ideate and create a shot list, then photograph and video Jamie 

• Uncover social trends to inform content 

• Facilitate an Instagram Q&A with Jamie Laing

• Continue liaising with Candy Kittens 

Working across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (but mainly focusing on Instagram) for both brands, the team got to work.

Vespa and Candy Kittens social media posts. Jamie Laing posing on the scooter and a #AskJamie question box on the candy kittens page.

All roads lead to social

The campaign gave us at Bottle the opportunity to test the waters with different social placements for our client, like Q&As, Story Ads, Carousel Ads, Reels and Reel Ads, we could go on… Candy Kittens already do Reels, but this was a new venture for Vespa UK. 

One noteworthy piece of social coverage was the Q&A with Jamie Laing posted on Vespa UK, which reached 37,000 people. It drove engagement, and drove Candy Kittens audience over to Vespa UK.

Saving stories to highlights made this campaign even sweeter, as it has extended the longevity of the campaign.

The results speak for themselves:

3.6% average instagram engagement rate. Industry average is 1.22%
80% rise in instagram profile visits
Vespa social media case study
5% average facebook engagement rate. Industry average is 0.09%
37% rise in instagram bio website link clicks month on month.
180 new facebook fans

IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH US ON YOUR OWN DIGITAL PR, GET IN TOUCH: HELLO@WEAREBOTTLE.COM