Mark Pack

Supermarket firm Asda is getting into the general election with an initiative reported by PR Week:

The supermarket giant is recruiting ‘Asda mums’ to keep an online diary on a new Election 2010 website, which is due to be launched this week.

The idea follows Asda’s dec ision to open up its website to online Q&A sessions with politicians from the three main parties.

Each party’s leader will also be posting a video on the website…

The political activity follows the steady rollout of the Your Asda social media website over the past year, along with an expanded presence on Twitter and YouTube.

The initiative was described as a ‘smart move’ by Mandate head of digital Mark Pack, who previously oversaw digital comms for the Liberal Democrats. ‘For Asda it will mean more engagement with its customers, more knowledge about what its customers think, people spending more time on its web properties and positive PR,’ he said.

‘It’s a smart combination of benefiting the company and the public good.’

You can read the full report on the PR Week website.