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.
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Although Einstein Bros. Bagels had maintained a Facebook page throughout 2009, they saw that their number of new visitors had become stagnant with a total at a fan-base of around 5,000. Their campaign approach was designed to determine if direct marketing through Facebook could increase their overall sales, with a secondary goal of increasing feedback from consumers.
- Campaign contacted previous Facebook fans with exclusive free bagel offer
- Afterwards, a block ad was sent replicating offer to new fans
- Promotion lasted 24 hours and sent to all Facebook members
During the first week of the campaign in January of 2010, Einstein Bros. Bagels saw a 1000% increase in fans on their website. On January 25th of the same year, their fan membership jumped from 50,000 to 300,000 in a single day. Those 300,000 members were then used to create a profile of their typical fan. A second campaign was launched to reach those within their most prominent demographic and the fan base doubled again to 600,000. For the mere cost of a bagel, Einstein Bros. Bagels became the 54th most popular business on Facebook. To view the actual study, click here.
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In November of 2009, Cheerios began a Facebook campaign that primarily targeted mothers with young children. In order to entice this demographic to become a fan, they offered a free children’s book to charity for each new member that made contact through Facebook. The campaign launch was scheduled in a 24 hour block format where all Facebook members meeting the criteria would see the ad. The overall goal was to increase the company’s image as a responsible, caring business that relates to their customers.
- Facebook campaign aimed at mothers with small children
- Free book donated to organization First Book for each fan
- Goal was to enhance company image with mothers
On November 5th, 2009, Cheerios has 133,129 visitors to their Facebook page, which is a 1500% increase from the previous day. The overall engagement rate (.19 percent) was a record for the company and Cheerios eventually had over 84.5 million total impressions. Over 200,000 people have become fans of the page since the campaign launch with 124,000 books given away. You can view the actual case study here.
During the early part of 2010, Mars Corporation launched a massive media campaign to advertise a new product; M&M pretzels. While this promotion was featured on television, radio commercials, and in various forms of print, Mars Corporation began their campaign on Facebook to increase initial awareness. To entice customers to become a fan of the site, 40,000 coupons for a free pack of M&M pretzels were given away.
- Facebook campaign began one month before product launch
- All demographics and income levels targeted
- First 40,000 users to become a fan of M&M’s USA received a free sample
- Samples shipped within 48 hours of enrolment
The free sample campaign was so successful that Mars Corporation eventually gave away 120,000 packs of M&M’s pretzel candy instead of the original 40,000. A total fan increase of 9% was experienced during the one month promotion and it continued to receive hits long after the campaign ended. Mars found customers to be much more knowledgeable about the product at launch because of Facebook. You can view the actual case study here.
image source: Wikipedia
With a name like Sullivan, count on me to kick things off with a case study from the Emerald Isle.
Founded in the 1950s, Tayto (a division of Largo Foods) is a top Irish crisp manufacturer (that’s potato chip to you, mate!) with the lovable Mr. Tayto as brand mascot. A veritable cultural icon, Mr. Tayto has his own autobiography and even made an appearance as a fake candidate in the 2007 Irish elections with a number of write in votes to his credit, no less. Needless to say, after more than 60 years on the market, it was time to spruce up Mr. Tayto’s image. Cue Ray Swan and the good people at McCann Erickson Dublin, Mindshare and Boondoggle, who came together to create a multichannel marketing and PR campaign that made mouths water:
Objectives:
- Develop a campaign that allows the audience to engage with the brand
- Make Mr. Tayto relevant again
Results:
- An increase in sales of nearly 1 million extra packets of Tayto crisps
- 90 000 hits on Bebo and Facebook
- Tayto regained the title of Number 1 crisp in Ireland
How did they do it? Check out this entertaining case study video posted by McCann on YouTube, as well as the campaign website and “Mr. Tayto – Guess who’s looking for love?” and “Mr Tayto – Clothes make the man” videos. You can also get campaign partner Mindshare’s take on the Tayto triumph through their own online case study.
For the curious among you, know that Tayto crisps come in the following mouth watering flavours: Cheese & Onion, Salt & Vinegar, Smokey Bacon, Ready Salted, Prawn Cocktail (!), and Tex Mex.
After you’ve … dare I say it … digested this case of Taytos, have fun watching this stand-up routine by Irish comedian Dara O’Briain and get a bit of a sense of what a cultural phenomenon the Tayto really is on the “udder” side of the pond.
Enjoy!
Michelle
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Tod Maffin, COO and Senior Strategist at 