Philly Pretzel Factory is driving sales during National Pretzel Day – coinciding with the Pennsylvania presidential primary – by inviting consumers to share photos of pretzels made in the top candidates’ likeness on Facebook, showcasing how brands are increasingly tying in their sales strategies with current events.

Philly Pretzel Factory is celebrating National Pretzel Day, which takes place today, by rolling out a Facebook campaign that also taps into the anticipation surrounding the presidential primaries. Consumers are encouraged to visit their nearest Philly Pretzel Factory location to retrieve their complimentary pretzel and upload a photo of their favorite candidate in pretzel form on Facebook via the #PretzelPrimary hashtag, a move that could fuel additional in-store traffic.

“I think that tapping into highly big, publicized and newsworthy events will increase interaction and make people more aware that National Pretzel Day is happening in this instance of the presidential pretzels, in addition to learning more about our brand and franchises in general,” said Adam Terranova, marketing manager at Philly Pretzel Factory.

“In the past, we also did initiatives with Villanova’s win and with Tim Tebow as some specialty, fun social and PR campaigns that we ran for brand awareness and to interact with our loyal fans in a fun way.”

Same-day excitement
Each guest who visits a Philly Pretzel Factory store on April 26 will receive one free pretzel in celebration of National Pretzel Day. The first 100 people to stop by will also earn a card enabling them to receive a complimentary pretzel every day through the duration of May.

The brand is complementing its in-store sales push with a strong mobile-first campaign that leverages the anticipation of the Pennsylvania presidential primary, also occurring today.

Philly Pretzel Factory has created special pretzels designed in the likeness of the Democratic and Republican front-runners – Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz – and is inviting consumers to share and like images of their choice for the next commander-in-chief on Facebook.

Consumers can search the #PretzelPrimary hashtag on Facebook to view other users’ choices and upload a photo of their own recently-purchased pretzel.

By encouraging Facebook fans to share these photos across their networks, Philly Pretzel Factory is well-poised to enjoy a spike in brand awareness as well as an uptick in sales.

Individuals may feel inspired to stop by a Philly Pretzel Factory store for a warm pretzel after voting in the Pennsylvania primary. They can later upload or share a photo of their chosen candidate in pretzel form, if they feel so inclined.

Stoking social media frenzy
Philly Pretzel Factory is not the only food marketer joining the fun of National Pretzel Day. Snyder’s of Hanover is also giving away thousands of bags of its Pretzel Pieces at baseball stadiums around the United States, and is supplementing the frenzy with a social media campaign.

The company’s fans can visit its Twitter and Facebook pages today to participate in product giveaways and upload posts via the #PretzelsBaby and #NationalPretzelDay hashtags.

Both pretzel companies will likely find many of their target customers on social media. Snacks are inherently impulse purchases, which makes it likely for an individual to spot a friend posting about a delicious-sounding treat and become inspired to pick one up for himself or herself.

“[Leveraging social media and mobile to boost sales] is very important,” Philly Pretzel Factory’s Mr. Terranova said. “We have Twisted Tuesday coupons, and over two years, sales were up 16 percent the first year and 12 percent the second year – this is a primarily social campaign that is bringing our sales up.”