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Innocent have partnered with Age Concern since 2004 on an innovative Cause-Related Marketing campaign called The Big Knit.

The project involves older people from Age Concerns around the UK‚ innocent consumers and Sainsbury's staff knitting little woolly hats to place on the top of innocent smoothie bottles. The bottles are then sold in Sainsbury's‚ and for every one sold 50p goes to Age Concern to help keep older people warm at winter.

Over 500‚000 hats have been hand-knitted and £250‚000 has been raised for the 2008 campaign making it the biggest Big Knit yet. Thank you to everyone who helped out by knitting a hat or buying a behatted smoothie.

Celebrity involvement
 
Celebrities such as Paul Smith‚ Tara Palmer Tompkinson‚ Gemman Atkinson and Keith Lemon have got behind the campaign and designed their own bobble hats this year to show their support.

The picture shows hats designed by Radio One DJs (left to right) Nihal‚ Fearne Cotton‚ Reggie Yates‚ Edith Bowman and Sara Cox.

Wider impacts of the campaign

What sets this cause-related marketing deal apart from many others is that it is so much more than an on-pack promotion. Not only does it raise much needed funds‚ it also engages directly with our service users and consumers through the mechanism of knitting. 

The promotion has far wider impacts:    

• Older people have the opportunity to pass on skills to younger‚ less experienced knitters giving them a sense of self-worth
• It brings people together in knitting groups thus creating new friendships and tackling the social isolation of older people
• Innocent’s consumers are actively engaged by being encouraged to knit hats
• Innocent see it as a quirky way to give something back to society
• Innocent's sales increase by over 40% during the campaign period

This project won the Business in the Community National Example of Excellence for Cause-Related Marketing at the 2007 BitC Awards for Excellence.

To find out more about The Big Knit go to www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/thebigknit

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Corporate Partnerships

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Corporate Partnerships