The way the world shops is continually evolving, and Advantage Solutions is at the forefront of that change. As a marketing services firm, Advantage Solutions is the link between brands, retailers, and consumers. The company drives commerce and keeps everyday life moving by transforming the shopping experience through innovative, personalized, and valuable solutions. These solutions enhance the momentum of the retail ecosystem and provide brands with a competitive edge.
Ninety percent of Americans are directly affected by Advantage Solutions daily, yet in 2023, many still were not familiar with the brand. The absence of significant brand awareness posed a compelling hurdle for Advantage Solutions in its growth.
Recognizing the pivotal role of perception and credibility in the competitive landscape of CPG manufacturers and retailers, Advantage Solutions enlisted the expertise of Hot Paper Lantern. The mandate was clear: Engineer a seismic shift in brand awareness and establish Advantage Solutions as a credible force through strategic earned thought leadership and social media campaigns.
Advantage Solutions is responsible for understanding the latest consumer trends and behaviors to help optimize how their retail partners sell products. Positioned at the intersection of CPG manufacturers and retailers, the company has a wealth of knowledge for any reporter looking for consumer insights on products, trends, and behaviors. Our media approach was straightforward yet effective. We leveraged Advantage Solutions’ deep bench of thought leaders and all the data and insights produced by the company to deliver and execute against time and space.
As Advantage Solutions focuses on consumer behavior and the products they purchase, HPL needed to analyze the company’s extensive consumer and product data to align with recent economic trends and important calendar events. For example, we connected events such as back-to-school shopping and Halloween with economic moments like the federal government's monthly jobs and sales reports.
The team at Hot Paper Lantern served as an extension of our team here at Advantage Solutions, providing the talent, connections and strategies that helped our company elevate our profile in the media and finally claim rightful credit for our leadership position in the retail industry. We had a fantastic working relationship, and HPL was collaborative, nimble and took time to clearly understand our business objectives. In the 18 months we worked together, we went from fewer than 40 annual media placements to appearances in more than 400 publications, unlocking the exposure commensurate with our footprint, serving communities across 90% of American zip codes. I’m proud of what we achieved together and would not hesitate to recommend the talented team to any company seeking to elevate its profile.
VP of Communications at Advantage Solutions
332% increase in media coverage of Advantage Solutions' executives, data, and trend surveys year-over-year.
Created a balance of coverage to influence specific sale and reputational
audiences: 60% trade, 20% top-tier business, 20% local.
Created continuous coverage in the most significant trade and top-tier publications, including Progressive Grocer and Bloomberg Radio.
Diversified Advantage Solution's media-facing subject matter expert bench from 3 to 10.
HPL also took on Advantage Solutions' social media, aiming to showcase its capabilities, boost engagement, and grow the following of key thought leaders within the organization.
By providing executives with consistent and intriguing LinkedIn posts, they were well-positioned as thought leaders on the platform, which directly supported the growth of their profiles and led to new business wins for the company. The leaders' LinkedIn platforms also provided a vehicle to promote the media coverage the HPL team secured and share it with a broader audience.
To improve the relationship with key connections, we helped the executives engage with their audience weekly via comments on others' posts. Quarterly LinkedIn blogs provided a deeper dive into industry insights, showcasing the ongoing thought leadership of the executive and Advantage Solutions as a whole.
• 89% increase in followers.
• 101% increase in post impressions.
• 62% increase in post engagements.
