Melissa Talago, founder of Campfire Communications, explains why the business should win the marketing and PR category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition.
Introducing the Caitlin Meringue – a simple, inexpensive publicity stunt where nobody got offended and all ate cake!
After observing on social media that the very vocal and humorous Caitlin Moran (TV critic, columnist and comedian) was a huge fan of puddings, I contacted her to find out if she would be OK with us naming a dish after her. She gave us permission to immortalise her in pudding – and when I delivered the full description of the dish she claimed via social media that it was uncanny “that she herself was filled with the same ingredients”.
The Caitlin Meringue (gluten-free) is a baked Italian meringue dome filled with gooseberry ice-cream sitting on kirsch vanilla sponge and an almond and hazelnut florentine, served with elderflower gooseberry compote, mini kirsch parfait, peppered strawberry and basil puree, finished with caramelised hazelnuts.
What followed was the most wonderful Twitter and social media conversation about it all, which included jokes, commentary on our dish descriptions and, most successfully, Twitter tagged any response from Caitlin as “sensitive” media to much amusement. We offered to put on a meringue marathon for when she next visited and endless complimentary dishes for her to indulge in. The pudding was hugely popular and the interaction increased our following.
All entries which meet the competition criteria are published and our judging panel select a shortlist of the three for each category. Winners are announced at an awards ceremony in summer 2016.
