Flipping Fantastic. Innocent’s Pancake Stories.

I missed out on Pancake Day this year.

Pancake Day, known as Shrove Tuesday, is a celebrated event in the United Kingdom. This is not just a standard Sunday morning, I fancy something different to eat activity. Pancake Day is an event.

We traditionally would make and eat pancakes to symbolise the start of Lent. Lent usually symbolises the preparation for the Easter holiday. People celebrate Lent in many ways, some more strict and spiritual, whereas for many of us, it’s giving up something for 40 days with the fast finishing on Easter Sunday. We’d normally omit items we consider a luxury, such as chocolate but more recently though, many see it as an opportunity for an extra health kick after their New Years Resolutions have failed.

In recent years though, Pancake day has become more of a social media event. Everyone posts their creations online as well as the ever-important pancake flip. As such, more people are finding inspiration to make their tasty treats all the more instagrammable. Whether it’s searching the internet for the best Japanese fluffy pancake recipe, pancake art that makes your batter resemble a Pokémon once cooked, or going one step further and making mini pancake breakfast cereal.

Innocent didn’t miss out.

Innocent, a drinks company in the UK, most known for their smoothies and juices, have one of the most relatable social media channels. They talk to their followers like friends, share things we all understand and can laugh at, mostly bring sunshine into our day. Even on the basic example, their Head Office building is nicknamed ‘Fruity Towers’, a pun on a famous British TV program from the 80s called Faulty Towers, but of course, relating back to Innocent’s core product, fruit.

Even though Innocent’s communication within it’s social media is humorous and is great fun, they’re still selling their products to us, but they’re not advertising every.single.day. They sell their brand and it’s personality. Pancake Day was no exception.

Innocent posted their own flavour options onto their instagram stories (a temporary medium of content within the platform, hence the screenshots below) before asking their followers to send in their favourites.

There were significant jokes (what we in the UK call British Banter) between Innocent’s channel managers on the day and their followers, many commenting on the badly ‘homemade feel’ of the graphic designs. It certainly gave anyone who was watching or submitting some instant serotonin.

What’s important about this?

When your business has an opportunity to connect with its followers, even if it’s on an event that is unrelated, it strengthens the brand and its personality. Innocent’s product line hasn’t anything to do with the event, not directly, but its brand is known for its humour and puns.

Even though it’s subtle, it makes the follower feel more connected and therefore will more likely consider their products when in the purchase window.

Consumers are no longer just satisfied with the purchases that they make from you. They need to feel satisfied with your brand’s personality too.

Great work Innocent.

Thanks for reading

Kiki 🙂