The Power of the Bubble – Inside Big League Chew’s Instagram Success
Life as we know it has been quite different in 2020. In a year where many unexpected things have occurred, the popularity of the bubble gum popped by youth baseball players and their major league baseball heroes has never been higher.
As the pandemic stretched its way across the Country and its very real impact taking hold with people working remotely and families managing how to balance this new life, the amount of people online (both via desktop and their phones) has increased since February.
And it has been no different for Big League Chew social media, whom Maroon PR has been managing since 2015.
The main goal has and always will be to sell the popular gum, in-store and online. In part, this has been effective through our agency’s efforts to create and publish fun and engaging social content. What better way to help sell gum, then to show off just how fun bubble gum can be for kids and adults alike?
This sticky strategy, combined with some strategic PR and marketing efforts have resulted in increasing Big League Chew’s Instagram followers two-fold on the channel since the beginning of February.
At the start of February, the channel had 5,825 followers. Through engaging content and strategic partnerships with brands throughout spring and into summer, the channel is closing in on 11,000 followers, an increase of nearly 90% during that time.
Through the brand’s partnership with New Balance, teaming up to create BLC-inspired baseball cleats at Dick’s Sporting Goods, coinciding with the celebration of National Bubble Gum Day with Dylan’s Candy Bar, Big League Chew gained 686 new followers on February 7th.
The announcement of the new Slammin’ Strawberry Pouch to the BLC lineup in February was a big hit, resulting in high engagement with nearly 1,300 likes and nearly 500 new follows.
In February alone, the channel had a growth of nearly 3,000 new followers with these combined efforts.
Sometimes, like in sports, you receive that fortuitous bounce or roll and in the case of Big League Chew, some fortuity came their way in March. Beginning with a fun collaboration with Bettinardi Golf to create unique putters and other golf equipment and later, engagement with high-profile athletes in Major League Baseball like Washington Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton, in the National Football League, with David Long, Jr. of the Los Angeles Rams and National Pro Fastpitch athletes, Gwen Svekis and Emily Crane, helped to draw new eyes to the channel and the product. This resulted in 1,128 new followers in March.
Fun social media takeovers such as the ones with Prep Baseball Report where Big League Chew took over their Instagram for such things as the MLB Draft coverage in June, Hall of Flavors promotion in July and special promotions with Dick’s and Walgreens gained over 700 new followers during that time period, each month showing a large increase over the previous month.
Media coverage has been great as well. Big League Chew founder, Rob Nelson has been featured in a handful of outlets across the country to talk about the popularity of BLC along with the 40th anniversary of the legendary bubble gum.
Always engaging with fans on Instagram, Big League Chew’s channel is full of fun Q&A’s with Nelson, polls for followers about their favorite flavor of gum and fun trivia and games through Instagram stories, designed to gain more eyes on the product.
Maroon PR continues to elevate Big League Chew’s brand awareness to further heights and seek new ways to have more people understand the unique “gospel of gum” that matches the vision that Rob Nelson set out 40 years ago.
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