Garnering a +35% Increase in App Downloads in One Month Through a Celebrity Partnership

Key Takeaways

‍

On November 29, 2021 Tim Hortons, a Canadian coffee and baked goods company, launched a collaboration with Justin Bieber called Timbiebs. Timbiebs was only available in stores and through ordering on the Tim Hortons app. At the end of November 2021, when Tim Hortons launched the Timbiebs campaign with Justin Bieber, the Tim Hortons Android app in the USA saw a +35% increase in downloads. Timbiebs drove awareness through:

Organic Social:

1. ‍Instagram: Tim Horton’s made 21 posts about Timbiebs in November 10 - December 23, 2021 making up 63% of organic posts during this time frame. The organic campaign focused on getting followers using the app and visiting retail locations. ‍
2. TikTok: Tim Hortons didn’t post many videos about the launch on TikTok however, the two most impactful aspects of Timbiebs on TikTok are a native post Tim Hortons made and the community response on the app through the #timbiebs hashtag featuring people’s first reactions to the new product. ‍
3. YouTube: On November 10, 2021, about two and a half weeks before the Timbiebs launch, Tim Hortons posted a YouTube video showing the ‘brainstorming’ process Justin had to come up with the upcoming new flavours. 
   

Paid Advertising:

1. ‍Display Ads: 2% of the budget went to display ads that focused on highlighting the fact that Tim Hortons has a “co-created” Timbits with Justin Bieber. ‍
2. Instagram Ads: Tim Hortons only ran one Instagram ad in the USA at 14% of the ad budget. The ad features a static image with Justin holding Timbiebs with the same “co-created” Timbits copy found in Display ads. ‍
3. Facebook Ads: Tim Hortons ran 84% of their ad budget on Facebook ads in Canada and the USA. The top two creative spends feature videos of Justin Bieber interacting with the exclusive Timbiebs merch and coming up with the name for the new collaboration.

‍

On November 29, 2021 Tim Hortons, a Canadian coffee and baked goods company, launched a collaboration with Justin Bieber called Timbiebs. 

The collaboration consisted of three custom Timbits (pastries) with flavours created by Bieber as well as exclusive merchandise only available at Tim Hortons. Timbiebs was only available for purchase in-stores and through ordering on the Tim Hortons app. 

‍

‍

At the end of November 2021, when Tim Hortons launched the Timbiebs campaign with Justin Bieber, the Tim Hortons Android app in the USA saw a +35% increase in downloads. The Android app in Canada saw little fluctuation with 156K downloads after launch (+8%) MoM.

‍

In 2021, timhortons.com received 996K average monthly visits and timhortons.ca received 2.1M average monthly visits. The websites saw +23% and +15% more traffic than average in their launch months respectively.

‍

From October 2021 to December 2021, Tim Horton’s social media channels saw follower growth with the largest increase in TikTok followers (+13%) and the smallest increase in Facebook likes (+0.4%).

‍

Tim Horton’s made 21 posts about Timbiebs from November 10 - December 23, 2021 making up 63% of organic posts during this time frame. The organic campaign focused on getting followers using the app and visiting retail locations. All organic posts only came from Tim Hortons’ accounts, Justin Bieber did not make any Instagram posts.

1. Calls to Action on the Tim Hortons App. One day after launch, Tim Hortons posted a giveaway to get tickets to see Justin Bieber live on his next concert for Canadian and American followers.  Instead of incentivising a social growth campaign with terms encouraging followers to like, comment and share the post, Tim Horton’s prioritized pushing app usage as a method to enter the contest.

Likes: 7,418 | Comments: 187

‍

2. Getting Followers In-Stores. Along with the custom Timbits that Justin Bieber created, Tim Hortons also launched exclusive merch such as beanies and tote bags, that could only be purchased in-store.

Likes: 11.7K | Comments: 310

‍

Tim Hortons only made one post about the launch on TikTok. The two most impactful aspects of Timbiebs on TikTok are the native post Tim Hortons made and the community response on the app through the #timbiebs hashtag.

1. Native Posts. On Tim Hortons’ TikTok account, they only made one post about the Timbieb launch. The video follows a popular TikTok trend where the creator shows a point of view (pov) and a scenario following it. In this video Justin gives the viewer his “last timbieb” looking directly into the camera, creating an intimate and connection-based video.

Views: 5M | Likes: 45.1K

‍

2. Community Taking Over. While Tim Hortons themselves didn’t post many videos to TikTok, the community online ended up garnering 72.9M views on videos featuring #timbiebs hashtags.  Most videos share people’s experiences trying Timbiebs for the first time.

‍

On November 10, 2021, about two and a half weeks before the Timbiebs launch, Tim Hortons launched a YouTube video showing the ‘brainstorming process’ Justin Bieber used to come up with the new flavours.

Title Timbiebs: Tims x Justin Bieber

Views: 335K | ER30: 0.6x | Increase Over Average ER30: +30%

Concept & Tactics: The brainstorming video created an experience for Bieber fans to relate to his excitement and planning behind the new launch. The video uses comedy and teases many different flavours to help viewers feel like they are seeing behind the scenes and into the thought process of Justin Bieber at Tim Hortons.  

‍

From November to December 2021, 2% of the budget went to display ads that focused on highlighting the fact that Tim Hortons has a “co-created” Timbits with Justin Bieber. Tim Hortons only ran display ads in Canada.

‍

From November to December 2021, Tim Hortons only ran one Instagram ad in the USA* at 14% of the ad budget. The ad features a static image with Justin holding Timbiebs with the same “co-created” Timbits copy found in Display ads. 

‍

From November to December 2021, Tim Hortons ran 84% of their ad budget on Facebook ads in Canada and the USA. The top two creative spends feature videos of Justin Bieber interacting with the exclusive Timbiebs merch and coming up with the name for the new collaboration.

‍