Disney Studios is known for their massive marketing budget when it comes to promoting new films, which often runs their return on investment (ROI) much lower than it needs to be in many cases. Other production companies had claimed that a high ROI could not be achieved through social marketing, and Step Up 2 the Streets was essentially Disney’s test product on MySpace to determine if such a campaign would be cost-effective.
- Disney released numerous advertisements on MySpace to spark interest
- Advertisements were not aimed for a hard sell; merely to communicate the brand
- Fans were allowed to communicate to the director and the stars through MySpace
- Over 49% of opening weekend attendees remembered the MySpace ads
By the time that Step Up 2 the Streets launched, Disney had over 156,000 friends on MySpace and several million hits over the course of the campaign. Almost half of the opening weekend respondents remembered seeing the MySpace ads and cited that it was one of the reasons they saw the movie, which was exactly the type of online image Disney had hoped for. More about this study can be found here.
Activia launched a Facebook campaign targeting women aged between 20 and 50 in April 2010. The main goal was to bring the brand closer to the consumers and develop brand awareness, focusing on the product Activia drink. This was possible by asking consumers to compete in five different challenges through different stages. The campaign was mostly online, while one final challenge extended to a small offline event. Promotions were supported by television and POS terminals and created a big buzz around.
Users posted pictures with Activia products and spread the word. The main winner went to an organized trekking trip to Indonesia climbing a volcano 3726 m high. She reported back by writing blog posts every few days, so others could follow and see the whole great experience. With the right engagement the brand become more searched, more sheared, developing a 52 % increase in branded search and a 620 % increase in referring page views, not to mention the mouth-to-mouth communication. The campaign was one of 20 of the most innovative Facebook campaigns.
Image via Wikipedia
When Levi’s decided to launch their “Ready to Work” campaign in 2010 that featured their new lineup of outdoor clothing, the company focused on the residents of Braddock, Pennsylvania since the area residents were trying to revive the local steel mills. They took these resident’s rugged image and featured it in several Facebook ads that were targeted at the 18-34 year old demographic. Levi’s also tested Facebook-only 40% off discounts during this campaign to have a measurable conversion rate among the viewers.
- Campaign designed to introduce new line of denim clothing
- Featured a rugged, All-American steel town
- Targeted the 18-34 demographic
Within 15 minutes of the campaign launch, Levi’s saw the traffic to their website double as consumers cashed in on the 40% off incentive. Traffic to the Levi’s Facebook page saw 1500% more interactions, with their total amount of fans increasing by 35% over the course of the campaign. A spokesperson for Levi’s stated that the Facebook campaign was a very cost effective way to drive in new business and they will definitely use similar approaches in the future. To view the actual study, click here.
Image via Wikipedia
Clorox had been advertising their Green Works brand of environmentally-friendly products for several months on Facebook without a noticeable boost in awareness or revenue. A new Facebook campaign was started in 2010 that aimed to raise community awareness with several different initiatives ranging from a $3 off coupon to helping the company decide where to send charitable donations. Another goal was to have fans register at their Green Works homepage on the web.
- Campaign designed to increase awareness of Green Works
- Various incentives offered for visiting Facebook page
- Target audience was females aged 25-54
Clorox almost immediately discovered that the $3 off coupon was by far more effective than any campaign they had implemented to date. A .11% engagement rate was record setting for the company, which was later connected to a 12% increase in brand awareness in a Nielsen study. More than 20,000 fans voted and submitted comments for the charitable drives as well. Over 33% of Clorox’s Facebook visitors for the 2010 year can be directly linked to this advertising. To view the actual study, click here.
Houlihan’s Restaurants, a chain that competes with the Appleby’s of the world, has taken a unique approach to marketing themselves online. Eschewing common advice to “go where the eyeballs are,” Houligan’s created a closed online community, letting it promote exclusive invitations to tasting events and other member-only events.
Backed by a 200,000-person email address list, the chain started by identifying its most active customers (those who participated in surveys, RSVPed to offers, etc.)
The chain’s community runs on the private-label Ning service. About 15 to 20 per cent are active members. “We gauge that by hits to the HQ site (when an e-mail is sent asking for feedback, to do a survey, etc),” Houligan’s digital marketing manager said.
Here’s a good lesson that the goal of Twitter efforts should not be to simply increase the number of Twitter followers (or Facebook Fans, or…). As noted by social-media-optimization.com, the objective of the Celtics online efforts is to drive people to their web site.
Celtics.com features GameTime Live, an application that features real time scores, tweets, and blogging with supporters throughout the world. The team beta-tested GameTime Live during the 2009 postseason, and more than 50,000 unique visitors checked it out during the triple-overtime loss to the Chicago Bulls in Game 6 of the first round.
It’s remarkable how many marketers, though, fall into that trap of trying to boost numbers for the sake of numbers.This is why setting an ROI goal is so critical. Are you trying to sell e-books (like me <grin>)? Then which specific page on your web site are you plugging?
Back to the Celtics:
YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/bostonceltics)
With less than 700 subscribers, the Celtics YouTube channel is not attracting a lot of attention at the moment. Most videos get around 1,000 views. However, the team recently began distributing exclusive locker room footage on YouTube which will drive more people to this channel and increase subscribers. This is a great example of providing different content for separate digital channels in order to make them more valuable in users eyes.
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/bostonceltics)
With over 450,000 fans in its Facebook page, the Celtics are the second most popular NBA team on Facebook. Similar to the exclusive locker room video for YouTube subscribers, last week the Celtics launched 3-Point Play, an interactive stats prediction game for fans on its Facebook page.
Twitter (http://twitter.com/celtics)
With almost 22,000 Twitter followers, the Celtics have built up a good following. In addition to Tweeting quotes from press conferences and team events, the Celtics are also using Twitter to offer seating upgrades at games. The picture below was from earlier today.
I really like the stuff on Social-Media-Optimization.com. It’s worth adding their feed to your reader.
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Tod Maffin, COO and Senior Strategist at