For the final class projects, we were fortunate to gain hands-on experience this quarter using Radian6, a leading social media monitoring and engagement platform. Working in teams, students selected a brand to monitor and three competitors (i.e., a peer group). As you will see from the Slideshare presentation links below, the brands selected by the class ranged from airlines, sandwich shops, and frozen yogurt chains to NFL quarterbacks and private U.S. universities.
Using the Radian6 platform, the teams set up their topic profiles and then monitored the social media conversations of their brands and their competitors to gauge the volume, tone, and topics of these conversations; which social media channels and influencers were driving these conversations; and based on this information, what actionable insights and recommendations they uncovered for their brands in terms of future communication strategy, as well as other functions within the organization (i.e., customer service, HR, management, product R&D, etc.).
This was a great experience and we are thankful to Radian6 for the opportunity to participate in their Higher Education program (Gen and the community managers provide great support and ideas). I highly recommend the program for any instructor looking to provide their students with practical hands-on experience setting up and conducting a social media listening program (and to help give them an edge with internships/job opportunities!). Have a Happy Thanksgiving!Professor Matt Ragas mragas@depaul.edu College of Communication DePaul University
Review of the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project 2011
I. Summary of the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project 2011
Smirnoff is the world’s number-one selling premium alcohol according to Smirnoff. With that in mind, that means there are people all over the world drinking Smirnoff at different occasions, places, and times. Smirnoff began to wonder how people used their vodka in different parts of the world. What kind of drinks did people make with it? Where did they go to drink it? Were they celebrating? What was the occasion? What other activities did they do while they drank Smirnoff? To answer these questions, Smirnoff began the Nightlife Exchange Project in 2010. Most alcoholic drinks are drank during the night when people go out so the project focused on nightlife around the world. Consumers would post about their nightlife experiences with Smirnoff and then Smirnoff would take the most interesting and exciting answers to create 14 giant parties around the world. Each party would celebrate another countries nightlife and consumers would get a chance to experience Smirnoff through the perspective of people from another country. This project was so successful in 2010 that Smirnoff is doing it again in 2011, but taking it up a notch
Smirnoff has asked consumers to go to their Facebook page and submit their posts about nightlife. The “Nightlife Exchange” section will prompt questions about music, places, dance, food, drinks, and more to get the best perspective of how you celebrate your nightlife. You are also able to see other people’s posts and you can even “like” your favorite ones. Smirnoff will again be hosting gigantic parties around the world and if you participated in exchanging your ideas on nightlife, you may win an invite to the party in your country.
One of the biggest trends that Smirnoff noticed from last year’s project and parties, was that dancing is something people love to do around the world. That is why this year, the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project is teaming up with Madonna to find her next backup dancer. Madonna is the Queen of the dance floor and a global icon, just like Smirnoff. People submit an entry video of themselves dancing on Smirnoff’s website and the finalist get to perform in front of Madonna at the culmination of the project on November 12, 2011.
II. Critique of the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project 2011
This is a completely original campaign and Smirnoff is doing an excellent job of executing it. Smirnoff is relying heavily on the digital world for this project to succeed and because of that, they are trying their best to utilize all of their tools.
Facebook is a heavy player in this project. Smirnoff is posting information about the project on there as well as providing all of the tools necessary to enter the project and see what it is about. I enjoy that you can see others’ posts and what they are doing with their nightlife. You are even able to get ideas of what Smirnoff and other global fans are doing in their region by clicking on their country in the “Around The World” section of Smirnoff’s Facebook. You can get ideas for new recipies, where to go out, what to do, and even what to eat when you do go out. This is a really creative idea and Smirnoff is even pushing it on twitter. They are engaging with people and tweeting them back about their ideas and various tweets regarding Smirnoff. It’s excellent that Smirnoff is having an open dialogue with it’s fans and consumers rather than using these platforms as just a monologue where only Smirnoff provides information.
A critique I have for Smirnoff is that they did not take advantage of mobile marketing for this campaign. Since this campaigns was done before, they have an idea of places that are popular and fun all across the globe. Smirnoff could have teamed up with FourSquare and used check-ins at these places to provide tips about Smirnoff, the project, or even perhaps made a special badge. Smirnoff has all of this information about locations where people drink Smirnoff and they did not fully take advantage of it. I really think that FourSquare could have been used as a great push to get people to buy Smirnoff, participate in the project, and become more connected to their brand.
With that being said, I still think that this is a fascinating campaign. I am intrigued to see how the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project 2011 culmination will go this weekend when the exchange parties all over the world occur and Madonna picks her next backup dancer.
For more information about the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project 2011, visit any of these websites:
Mello Yello’s crisp citrus taste is one that the majority of us are familiar with. The company recently relaunched its brand image by creating a new campaign called “They Call Me Mello Yello”. The name of this campaign is based off Donovan’s hit song from 1966, and since a retro remix has been made, the new song is tied to this campaign. This campaign reaches out to people in today’s most effective way by interaction through social media.
This video doesn’t have to do with the new Mello Yello campaign, but it gives a good idea who the brand targets, their style of advertising, and why they refer to their product as “smooth”. “Smooth” Mello Yello Ads.
The official Mello Yello website offers a free download of the new song. It also has a quiz that people can take in order to measure their smoothness called the “How Smooth Are You?” quiz. Once the quiz is completed, the website offers the option of sharing the quiz results on Facebook or through e-mail with your friends. The website also contains basic company and product information.
The Facebook page has a new app called The Retro Smooth Photo Generator. This app allows people to upload photos and transform them into retro hipster photos with just the click of a button. The Facebook page has 100,207 likes and 885 people are taking about it. Under the information section there’s a brief company overview, a link to the website, a link to the twitter page, and a link to the free song download. The Facebook page also has a link to the Smooth Quiz. There’s a “MY Nation” tab that allows users to share videos and photos and be aware of what kind of buzz is going around about Mello Yello. On the Facebook wall anyone is able to post about their experience with Mello Yello and share any kind of photos they would like. Mello Yello keeps up with their posts and gave away a package of free gifts to their 100,000th fan.
The Twitter page is updated several times a day. It provides a link back to the Facebook page so that consumers are able to access both extremely easily. They engage with their followers quite frequently and often offer to ship free Mello Yello to people who have never tried or who tweet that they are thirsty.
Critique of “My Name Is Mello Yello”:
The original Facebook page was consumer-created and not as interactive or engaging as it is today. BFG Communications is a marketing agency that reached out to the owner of the page. They worked together to create the most effective ways to interact with consumers. More than seventy five percent of the Facebook fans are twenty-five years old or younger which shows that Mello Yello is doing a wonderful job targeting the younger technology savvy generations and raising awareness to those who aren’t as familiar with Mello Yello as those consumers in the ‘80s were. I believe that the Facebook page is doing a really good job answering questions, frequently updating new posts, providing fun activities, and engaging in conversation with their audiences.
The Mello Yello website is a fun way for consumers to view how the company represents itself. I think it’s a really smart idea to link the quiz to social media because it creates buzz and drives other people to the website as well. I think the website does a good job letting viewers know that the song is linked to the brand. Offering a free download of the song is always a good idea because there are always those viewers who are interested and would enjoy adding the song to their playlists. One thing the website could include would be adding a section of a live media feed. Since Mello Yello’s social media presence is growing, it’s always a good idea for a company to show its engagement on those sites and guide their viewers without having to search in Facebook or Twitter themselves.
I think there are several improvements that Mello Yello could make on their Twitter page. Although there is absolute engagement between the brand and their followers, every single tweet was offering followers free product. This can be both good and bad. It can be good because everyone loves free things, it will create buzz, and they will quickly gain more followers. It can be negative because everyone will follow expecting to get free products from the brand and become let down if they don’t receive what their friends did. I would assume that Mello Yello only tweets a certain amount of followers back and offers free beverages. Although every tweet including a free giveaway could potentially become a problem, I view it to be pretty cool and also a great marketing tactic to create word of mouth. It shows people how much Mello Yello cares about their consumers and social media followers. I would suggest that in order to improve their Twitter page, they offer more than just free giveaways. There are several ways to get creative and engage with an audience. If I were on the social media team for the new Mello Yello campaign, I would engage with consumers by encouraging them to take the Smooth Quiz and then asking them how they did. I would also encourage followers to post pictures of themselves and incorporate the Mello Yello product. Since Twitter limits users to 140 characters, I believe it would be really interesting to see how creative followers could get if the brand offered free product as a competition. An example of this could be whoever can express (by writing and photo) why they love Mello Yello in the most creative way wins something.
Overall, I believe the “My Name Is Mello Yello” campaign is a great way to relaunch an already well-known brand. Mello Yello is not changing its product or launching a new product. The point of this campaign is to incorporate the remix of the “My Name Is Mello Yello” song into their brand and make great efforts to reach out and interact with their consumers through social media.
Review of Barbie and Ken Campaign
Summary of Barbie and Ken Campaign:
In 2004, right after Valentine’s Day Mattell split up Barbie and Ken seven years. This past February was the celebration of Ken’s 50th anniversary and the launch of “Sweet Talkin’ Ken” on Valentine’s Day. Mattell created a social media marketing campaign to reunite Barbie and Ken by using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and Youtube. The website www.barbieandken.com was the main site for the campaign in which users could vote if Barbie should “take Ken back”. This site interacted with users as they could vote users the “Love-o-meter” and give their opinion if Barbie should take Ken back. Using social media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare, users could follow Ken and his journey to win Barbie back. Barbie’s Facebook and Twitter page would have updates from Barbie(@Barbiestyle) about the different things Ken (@OfficalKen) would to do try and get her back and ask followers advice as to what she should do.
“I think @http://twitter.com/BarbieStyle“>BarbieStyle and I are perfect for each other. If you do too, vote YES for her to take me back!”
“So. Confused. Need to make my mind up already! Yes or no, do I get back together with @http://twitter.com/OfficialKen“>OfficialKen?”
Not only did this campaign use social media, but before Valentine’s Day, Mattell released billboards in NYC and LA and a 2 page spread in US weekly with “Barbie I Want You Back- Ken” slogan on advertisements. A bakery in NYC also featured a Barbie Valentines Cupcake. Barbie then featured the cupcakes on her Facebook to show all her followers. Mattell also partnered with Dylan’s Candy Bar which featured Barbie and Ken candy and advertisements. Barbie’s YouTube page was also created where a video was posted showing Ken creating a match.com account to find the special one, Barbie. This campaign lasted from January to February 14th and Barbie’s Facebook page had a 34% increase of fans and 200% increase of interaction with users. On Febuary 14th #BarbieandKen was a trending topic in 15 cities, including Chicago.
Critique of Barbie and Ken Campaign:
Mattell did an excellent job in bringing Barbie back to life through the Barbie and Ken campaign. Barbie for the past seven years and has had no engagement with their fans, and Mattell needed something to bring Barbie lovers together. Barbie and Ken’s Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare allowed for users to see what Ken was trying to do to win Barbie back and also allow users to respond to Barbie if whether or not she should get back with Ken.Barbie’s twitpic of the US weekly allowed for users to comment and interact with other followers, and Barbie.
The barbieandken.com website was a great way to allow users to interact and vote if they wanted Barbie and Ken to reunite on Valentine’s Day. This was a creative way to see Ken’s “grand gestures” and link users to Barbie and Ken’s Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare. The Foursquare account also allowed for the public to follow where Ken was checking in, such as the bakery shop for Barbie’s cupcakes. This was a unique way to let users see where “Ken” was going to try and get Barbie back. I think the social media coordinators for this campaign could have created a special deal for anyone who checked into the bakery to buy the Barbie cupcakes.
Barbie and Ken now share a Facebook and Twitter page since they have been reunited. I think that Ken should have remained a separate Facebook and Twitter page so that users could tweet and comment to Ken’s handle. Barbie and Ken 2,699,026 people who “like” the Facebook page, 83,087 followers on Twitter, and 6,287 subscribers on Youtube. Twitter and Facebook are updated daily by “Barbie” or “Ken” and respond to comments. Overall, this campaign has helped sustain engagement with Barbie and Ken followers and allowed for users to follow a fun and engaging social media campaign in which Ken was trying to get back Barbie.
Review of “Dew XP: Rank Up Your Game” Campaign
Summary of ”Dew XP: Rank Up Your Game” Campaign
The Mountain Dew “Rank Up Your Game” promotion began October 10 and runs through December 31.The “Game Fuel” promotion allows players to earn extra experience points (XP) and bonuses in the new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.The game will be released on November 8.
When consumers purchase specially marked Mountain Dew products, they receive codes they can enter on the site to redeem combat cards and XP points.Mountain Dew has a YouTube page with over 200 videos.One of the videos shows the audience what this campaign is all about.
For the campaign, 470 million codes were produced.These codes are distributed between both Mountain Dew products and Doritos.Consumers are given an incentive if they buy both.When you purchase both products together, you are given even more XP points.
Mountain Dew uses Facebook as a platform for their campaign.The Mountain Dew page has over 6 million likes, and they also have a link that takes viewers to a more specific Game Fuel XP Page.
They also have a Twitter account with 47,507 followers.They use this to respond to these followers and answer questions.There is not, however, a specific twitter for the Game Fuel campaign.
Critique of ”Dew XP: Rank Up Your Game” Campaign
Overall, I think this is a very strong campaign.In previous years, Mountain Dew has represented other video games, such as Halo 3.They created new, limited- time-only flavors for the games.However, this is the first year they offer codes in order to benefit the consumer in the game.I think this is a huge strength in this campaign.This campaign compared to previous ones provides a mutually beneficial relationship between the company and consumer.
Their official site does a good job at promoting the specific campaign as well. They provide a link to bring the viewer to the specific “Rank Up Your Game” page. The also have links to all of their social media. The site does a good job at helping viewers find this campaign.
The “Rank Up You Game” site is easy to navigate and find.It is the first site that appears when you Google Mountain Dew.It also has two applications that allow you to update your status or tweet about the campaign and redeeming your points.
However, if you use this application to update your status, the status appears on the main Facebook page.It does not take your attention to their specific “Rank Up Your Game” page.I think this would have been helpful in order to separate posts about the campaign from generic posts about the product.That’s the purpose of having separate pages in the first place.
Other than that, their Facebook has a great two-way conversation between the company and its consumers.They respond often and quickly to users’ questions/ concerns.They even have polls where consumers can vote for their favorite new flavors associated with the new Call of Duty, along with other polls.
I believe this campaign would benefit from a separate twitter account though.Their feed has a mixture of tweets about the promotion and generic tweets about the products.Similar to the Facebook page, this makes it hard to navigate through if you want to find specific information regarding the Game Fuel campaign.Mountain Dew has great response to followers though.
Other thoughts for this campaign would be to utilize even more social media tools.For instance, they could use QR codes where people are purchasing their Mountain Dew.These could take consumers right to the site and allow them to quickly redeem their points.
Also, I think they could use foursquare especially when the game comes out.Maybe when people check-into Best Buy or wherever they purchase the game, they can have a promotion on foursquare.An example could be a “buy one get one free” on a 20 oz. bottle of Mountain Dew with the purchase of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.The stores usually just have these at the check out counter anyway.
Overall, it’s a very effective campaign that utilizes social media.There are certain weaknesses they could improve upon, but “Rank Up Your Points” is a strong campaign.
Review of Heinz’s “Our Turn To Serve” campaign
Summary of Heinz’s “Our Turn to Serve” campaign
Heinz Ketchup has teamed up with the USO and the Wounded Warriors Project (WWP) to honor U.S. troops and veterans by sending them digital “thank you” cards. With Veterans Day just over a week away, the “Our Turn To Serve” campaign was created as a means to raise funds to support the WWP’s cause, which is to aid injured service members, and to show appreciation for our soldiers. The USO will send out each note to a veteran or soldier to commemorate the holiday. The campaign started in late October and will run until November 11.
The promotion began in restaurants across America, as 20-ounce bottles were distributed to select eateries, displaying a “Support our troops” message on the labels. The backs of the bottles contained a QR code that, when scanned with a smartphone, would allow customers to write a “thank you” note to men and women in the military. The Heinz Facebook page is the central feature of the campaign because it requires more interaction with the brand to help the charitable cause. On the company Facebook page, “Our Turn To Serve” has its own tab on the sidebar and is the first thing someone sees when visiting the page. There, Heinz encourages visitors to “Like” Heinz Ketchup and/or send a “Thank You” postcard to donate money. For every “Like” Heinz receives, and for every “Thank You” note sent, Heinz will donate 57 cents to the WWP. The Facebook page also provides a link to the WWP’s website where people can make their own donations to the organization.
When you click the link to the campaign’s website or to the digital “Thank You,” you are essentially led to the same site that has a similar setup to the Heinz Facebook page. By clicking the “Thank You” note button on that page, you are guided through a simple three-step process. First you must select a design for your postcard, then you create the actual message you want to send, which has a 200-character limit. The third step lets you preview your message and gives you a chance to have the USO send the note any veteran or you can choose to send it to someone you know.
Apart from the digital “Thank You” opportunity, Heinz has also begun to sell special-edition bottles through major grocery chains that contain the “Support Our Troops” labels. The bottles also encourage consumers to visit the company’s Facebook page and the WWP site. Heinz’s Twitter page does not seem to place much focus on the campaign as of right now, but it did provide a link to the “Thank You” postcard website in one recent tweet.
Heinz plans to donate up to $200,000 to the WWP from the funds raised by Facebook “Likes” alone, but in total, it will donate more than $300,000 to the nonpartisan organization. Heinz said that the company has a long history of helping veterans and soldiers, having converted its plant during WWII to produce parts for planes.
Critique of “Our Turn To Serve” campaign
I think that the main idea behind the campaign is fantastic. It gives people a chance to thank U.S. troops and veterans for the great service they do to our country in a manner that is almost too simple to reject. Converting Facebook “Likes” to donations is an affective way to get people to interact with the Heinz brand for a great cause. The thought of having a “Like” benefit something else besides the company itself has appealed to many people, which is evident in the positive feedback Heinz has received on Facebook.
I also thought that the use of QR codes on ketchup bottles was very unique because it focused on the charitable cause while still promoting Heinz’s association with WWP. I noticed that fans like to post pictures of the special-edition bottles on Facebook. I think that Heinz should encourage people, either through Facebook or Twitter, to send pictures of the ketchup bottles that contain the QR code and campaign message as a way to create more engagement. It is a minor tactic, but it could be a good way to keep fans involved.
Heinz is doing good a job of maintaining communication with fans and concerned consumers on Facebook. Looking through previous posts, it is clear that someone is monitoring the sentiment of fans on the page, as Heinz is quick to respond to people with issues concerning its products. Fans have been providing excellent feedback on the “Our Turn To Serve” campaign, but Heinz has only put up about two posts that address it. The campaign is very much present on Facebook, but I think that Heinz would benefit from reminding fans to inform their friends of the campaign or to send a “Thank You” postcard while they still have time.
Heinz has also done well with keeping its Twitter page updated, tweeting at least once a day. Again, I must commend the person(s) in charge of the company’s social media because they provide timely customer service assistance. My only issue with their Twitter handle is that it has only mentioned the campaign once, so far. I think that Heinz should consider creating a separate Twitter page for “Our Turn To Serve” to devote more time and effort to raising awareness. I think that Heinz could reach more people via Twitter that would be willing to “Like” it on Facebook and make a donation to the WWP. A separate Twitter account would also allow Heinz to separate this campaign from the launch of its new Balsamic Vinegar ketchup. A lot of the tweets and Facebook posts from fans involve their interest in the new product, which could take some focus off of the campaign.
The Heinz website makes it easy to find information about the campaign under “Promotions,” which is a plus. The website dedicated to “Our Turn To Serve” is very simple and straightforward, but in this case, I think it works because it facilitates the process of creating “Thank You” messages and getting additional information. As for YouTube presence, Heinz does not have its own channel. I think it should consider, possibly for next year, making a video promoting the campaign and making it available on YouTube. I think it would get a good response from viewers and could result in additional sharing via Facebook, Twitter, etc. More exposure can only help the campaign.
Review of ALDO’s “Shoes for Life” Campaign
Summary:
The ALDO Group is a Canadian corporation that operates an international chain of shoe and accessory stores.Their “Shoes for Life” campaign for Fall 2011 is the first of its kind for the company, which usually does not advertise commercially.The campaign surrounds ALDO’s 2011 fall/winter line of footwear for men and women, with the theme of the season being “Get Lucky.”The campaign is casino themed, and invites customers to play three separate interactive games online (entitled “Rockin’ Roulette, Spin & Win, and “Magic Hat Trick”), with the chance to win 2 free pairs of ALDO shoes per year - for the next 25 years (hence the “Shoes for Life” title).When a player wins all three games, the player automatically receives a coupon to save 15% on an ALDO purchase, and their name is entered into the drawing for the “Shoes for Life” winner.The three games are completely chance-based, with the player needing to choose a “lucky shoe” from the fall/winter 2011 collection.The campaign has its own website, which provides a richly interactive and visually pleasing experience for the viewer.The brand’s Facebook page has an easy-to-spot link to the campaign website.The company’s twitter, however, pays little mention to the campaign.
Critique:
As far as positive critique is concerned, I believe that this campaign is an excellent way to advertise the fall/winter 2011 collection, because the actual product is heavily incorporated into the content.When playing the games, the entire footwear collection is literally passing before the player’s eyes, and the advertising is seamlessly blended into the experience.Sometimes, I notice that campaigns like this fail to adequately incorporate the product.Therefore, I believe that this is an area in which ALDO has excelled.Also, the brand has an excellent engagement level on their social media sites.Their Facebook page encourages users to upload pictures of their ALDO shoes to the page’s wall, and the ALDO account always comments on the content promptly.The brand’s twitter is also expertly monitored, with several tweets per hour that engage and respond to customers.As far as customer service is concerned, the brand is definitely capitalizing on social media to connect with customers and address any concerns or questions.Finally, this campaign has been running since early September, which means that the brand has avoided the mistake that a great deal of company’s make when they launch a campaign that is far too short to actually pick up steam.
It is important to note that this is ALDO’s first attempt at an interactive experience, which means that there are many things that they can improve.First, there is a lack of adequate integration between their social media sites and the campaign site.As I stated earlier, the actual campaign site is a completely different URL than the company’s official website, which can make it difficult to find if unaware of the campaign.While a link to the site is provided on the brand’s facebook page, there is a lack of campaign promotion through the brand’s status updates and wall content.Also, the brand’s twitter page does not mention the campaign. Since the campaign has it’s own website that is separate from the company’s official website, I believe that it would be fitting for the campaign to have it’s own twitter account that could be easily located from the company’s official twitter.Also, I believe that the campaign has the potential to make better use of social media.ALDO could have included a foursquare element, with special promotions available to customers who check into the “Lucky” ALDO store (which would change intermittently).Also, an iPhone App would have been useful for making these games portable.
Overall, I believe that this campaign was a good effort for the company’s first step into this type of advertising - and it is the advertising itself that I feel is the strongest element of the campaign.The product is seamlessly showcased through the content of the websites, allowing customers to engage with the new shoe collection.This makes for excellent promotion of the merchandise – which, ultimately, is the objective of this type of campaign.
Review of TOMS One Day Without Shoes & One for One Campaign
Summary:
Toms Shoes is a nonprofit company founded in 2006 by young entrepreneur, Blake Mycoskie after coming home to the United States after a trip to Argentina. On his trip, he found that many children had no shoes to protect their feet. With every pair of shoes sold, a pair is given to a child in need. The company name “TOMS”, comes from the word tomorrow meaning, shoes for tomorrow. The canvas and cotton fabric shoes are made completely out of recycled materials, and have rubber soles. They even manufacture several vegan styles as well. Today, over 1,000,000 pairs of shoes in more than 20 countries have been given to children under the One for One movement.TOMS are sold at over 500 stores nationwide and internationally.
In 2011, TOMS began selling eyewear with the same one for one concept. For every pair of sunglasses sold, a child in need will receive either prescription glasses, medical care, or sight-saving surgery. The company survival and growth relies on social media. The One Day Without Shoes and One for One Eyewear campaignare both social movements that are based on word of mouth and taking action. If you go to TOMS’ website, you are easily able to connect with their facebook page, Twitter handle, Youtube videos, and blog. The website is very user friendly and has a huge consumer interest. If you click on “Our Movement” page, you are given the option to share your TOMS story, where many users post pictures and stories about how they wear their TOMS and how they have helped someone in need, or their feelings on going shoeless for a day. You can also “Screen” the TOMS documentary, upload your TOMS pictures, and easily register for the One Day Without Shoes.
The company is very active on their facebook page. With over 1,00,000 likes, TOMS continues to update posts and asks people to put up their pictures of how they wear their TOMS, similar to the website. They also show a list of events that are taking place around the world, and how you can get involved. The latest campaign Movember, for men’s health, offers limited edition styles of TOMS to support the Movember Foundation. On their Twitter page, TOMS has a large group of 896,892 followers, and they often reply to their supporters.
Critique:
TOMS seems to be doing a great job with respects to social media however, I think that they could take it even further. In 2009, TOMS started a Vagabond Tour, sponsored by the Dave Matthews Band, to promote their One Day Without Shoes Campaign where Mycoskie and volunteers went to college campus around the U.S. to create awareness as well as hype about the movement. I believe young college students to be their target market for this social movement. With the One for One campaign, TOMS should make an effort to go to more college campuses.
Because education is such a large part of the movement, TOMS should take advantage of social media for its next One Day Without Shoes Campaign. Although they already upload photos and share stories via the website and facebook page, they should take it a step further and have a Twitter-chat for people who choose to partake in the campaign so that they can talk about it with others. They could break it up by geographic locations so that supporters not only upload pictures, but they can actually talk to other people around the world who participated.
Review of Jell-O’s “Pudding Face” Campaign
Summary of Jell-O’s “Pudding Face” Campaign
Jell-O launched their current “Pudding Face” campaign in mid-2011 with commercials that featured different characters accused of stealing another person’s Jell-O pudding.Although they deny the claims, their guilt reveals itself by the large grin they cannot wipe from their face after eating the pudding.Jell-O deemed this phenomenon “pudding face” and the commercials quickly became popular with audiences of all ages.
In conjunction with this commercial campaign, Jell-O integrated a social media element.Jell-O decided to monitor the overall “feeling” of the American population by the use of happy and sad emoticons on Twitter.For this campaign, Jell-O launched a new website called “Jell-O Pudding Face.”This website features a stream of all happy and sad tweets on Twitter, with the live feed running on each side of the web page.In the middle, there is an animated head whose mouth can transition between a frown and a smile depending on the perceived mood of the American people.The idea behind this campaign is that there should be more happy tweets than sad ones, and that if the overall mood of Americans is sad, more people should be eating Jell-O so they too can have a pudding face.
Jell-O took this campaign further by buying an interactive billboard in New York City at the corner of West Broadway and Grand.The billboard features the same face as on the website, with electronic readers of the current percentage of happy faces versus sad faces on Twitter at the moment and an adjustable mouth on the face that moves according to mood.If the American population’s frown percentage rises above 51%, Jell-O will randomly give away free coupons to Twitter users if they respond to the giveaway with a :D rather than a frown.The :D emoticon is what Jell-O hopes to make the universal emoticon for the pudding face.
With success from the “Pudding Face” campaign, Jell-O decided to further expand their social media reach and release an app for the iPhone and iPad.The app features cubes of Jell-O that will dance to the beat of music on the person’s iPhone.The user can choose their favorite color of Jell-O as well as the music and watch the cube dance.The “Jiggle It” app is free to those with the necessary software and has an interactive element as the users control the flavor of Jell-O and the song used.
Jell-O relies heavily on their Facebook in order to spread the word about their social media campaigns, such as the free app.They also use Facebook in order to share season-appropriate recipes with their followers.For example, they posted a jack-o-lantern pie recipe during October, and post at least one recipe a week.Jell-O also used Facebook in order to announce a promotion they did for Halloween when they gave away free brain molds (recipients only had to pay for shipping) from the Kraft website that came with a free Halloween-themed recipe booklet.Jell-O posts to their Facebook at least once a day, encouraging a two-way conversation with its fans, and asking questions related to Jell-O or upcoming holidays, such as what Jell-O flavor are they missing or what are their fans dressing as for Halloween.Jell-O encourages people to share their Jell-O preferences and experiences, as well as just to talk about how their day or workweek is going in order to generate buzz on the news feeds of more people that will involve Jell-O in some way.Jell-O posts polls often in order to gauge the moods and preferences of its followers, and they answer almost all posts on their attached discussion board as well.
Critique of Jell-O’s “Pudding Face” Campaign
Jell-O’s Facebook page is undoubtedly the best aspect of their promotional campaign.With frequent posts and a friendly, two-way conversation constantly flowing with its’ 265,000+ followers, the Jell-O Facebook is the place to go in order to get more information on products, talk with fellow fans, or explore the current promotions and offers from Jell-O.However, during the month of October, the only promotional posts I saw were links to the “Jiggle It” app commercial on YouTube and the offer for free brain molds for Halloween.The links for the brain mold offer could have included the promise of the free Halloween recipe booklet as well in order to generate more buzz and excitement about the giveaway.I had to scroll all the way to September 29th in order to get a link to the Pudding Face website.
Jell-O certainly knows how to permeate multiple sources for a broader audience, as their Facebook page is linked on Kraft’s official website.Obviously Jell-O is confident in their Facebook presence and ability to engage their audience as they choose this social media outlet rather than their official website, which had little more than the full list of flavors and recipes.The homepage of both Jell-O and Kraft linked directly to their Facebook page, encouraging the audience to “join the conversation” by liking the Jell-O Facebook Page.
Other than this, Jell-O’s integration techniques are relatively poor.Just as the Facebook page barely makes mention of the Pudding Face campaign or its website, the Jell-O website is kept entirely separate from the Pudding Face website, as are the Twitter handles.Luckily, I knew about the Pudding Face campaign myself because it is likely that I would not have found it from the Jell-O Facebook page, and definitely not from the Jell-O website.Just so, the Pudding Face website does not link out to the Jell-O website, where there is a much more comprehensive list of the different Jell-O products. I think that this separation is detrimental to the effectiveness of the campaign, as linked websites would allow for greater traffic on both sites.I also think that the Facebook page, although a tremendous place for conversation and establishing rapport, could be used more often to highlight the Pudding Face campaign as well as the Jell-O website.Because these two websites are separate, it is all the more important that the Jell-O Facebook page makes mention of both on a regular basis.Because they do such a great job talking with their publics, they are able to promote their campaigns and products without seeming pompous.
Aside from the Facebook page, command of social media outlets is relatively weak for Jell-O.There is a YouTube account that features only nine videos, two of which are Pudding Face commercials, and one of which is the Jiggle It app promotion.I feel as if the YouTube account would be a great place to share videos of the live billboard in New York, as many people will not get the chance to see it in person.
The Twitter accounts took me a while to find, as the official, verified Twitter handle for Jell-O has only five tweets, with the last one sometime in September.After doing a couple searches, I found the Pudding Face handle, named Jell-O Mood Meter on Twitter.This handle has more followers as well as more tweets (3,050) but has not been used since September 9th.On this Twitter, Jell-O responds to the different situations that were followed by a frown face on their live feed, acknowledging each Twitter user and their situation as unique, and offers them free pudding in order to feel better.They put out a significant amount of tweets each day, but the handle is used too infrequently to be effective.It is likely that there would be more people tweeting about or to Jell-O if this promotion was linked to their Facebook page and updated just as often.
In summary, Jell-O has definitely used Facebook and their Pudding Face website in order to demonstrate how they are social media savvy, but their inability to integrate the different social media outlets to present a united front shows they still have some techniques to learn when using social media campaigns.
Review of National Audubon Society’s “Birding the Net” Social Media Campaign
Summary of“Birding the Net”
Birding the Net is the National Audubon Society’s recent, social media campaign. It provides audiences, both new and old, with an opportunity to participate in bird watching … digital style. The campaign’s goal is to cultivate an interest in bird watching and create an awareness of Audubon’s many conservation, restoration, and education projects through this virtual bird watching game.Prizes are offered to winners, including a trip to the Galapagos Islands. The campaign runs from October 10 through November 7, 2011.
This campaign has been blessed by the goodwill of many. Jeff Goodby, co-founder and co-chairman of Goodby, Silverstein and Partners and a National Audubon supporter, is the mastermind behind the campaign.The agency donated their time to develop and launch this campaign. Other partners, such as Canon and Nikon donated prizes valued at over $25,000, and ad space was donated from over 100 major websites, valued at over $700,000.
The National Audubon Foundation coordinated the launch of this promotion with the release of the film, “The Big Year,” starring Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson.This comedy, about three men in a bird-watching competition, opened in theaters on October 14. An interview of “The Big Year” cast was conducted by Audubon CEO David Yarnold and is posted on Audubon’s YouTube channel.
To play the game, you must go to the “Birding the Net” Facebook page and “like” Birding the Net. You will then be taken to the “Birding the Net” app.Now it’s time to find some birds!There are over 30 species of birds, which are located on over 100 websites. Hints and links for websites that have the birds and bird cards can be obtained by following two guide birds on Twitter, @rufhummingbird, and @floridayscrubjay.When you see a bird, simply click on it to collect the card. The cards are multi-media and contain information about the species, audio clips of their song, and images. The Facebook app automatically collects your cards and tracks your progress.You can spot the same species more than once to acquire extra cards to trade with friends. This trading is also easily manged through the Facebook app.
If this is not enough digital saturation, you can even get a virtual birdhouse to install on your website or blog from the Facebook app.Simply select a birdhouse, enter the URL for your website, select the points where the birds land, and a script will be generated to add to your websites code, placing the birdhouse on your webpage. You will have birds landing on your page in no time.
Critique of “Birding the Net”
This campaign has done a great job integrating Facebook and Twitter, as well as utilizing YouTube.“Birding the Net” is played via a Facebook app, but the clues for spotting birds and collecting cards are tweeted through two designated Twitter handles. A video tutorial for how to play “Birding the Net” is posted on the National Audubon Society YouTube channel. A brief promo clip of the campaign and the interview of cast of “The Big Year” are also available on this channel.
This campaign is perfect for generating conversation about Audubon and bird watching.Tweets and Facebook posts are an efficient way to reach new audiences. “Birding the Net” is estimated to have reached 5,000-10,000 players.
However, I was disappointed to discover that the “Learn More” icon below “The Big Year” ad on the Audubon website does not link to more information about the movie, but instead takes you to an Audubon membership website.I think this cheapens an otherwise classy campaign. There are plenty of ways to integrate membership opportunities.It immediately felt deceptive to me; so much so, that I even questioned that it may have been a website error.
Audubon has a sponsored Google ad for “Birding the Net” that directs to the Facebook app site.I would have preferred the link to go to the Audubon splash site, which has much more visual appeal and easily links to the Facebook app site. If they are going to spend the money for a paid ad, it should link to a page with a strong visual presence.
For a campaign that has such a well-designed digital aspect, the rest of it really missed the mark. The campaign is far to short, at less than a month. For a campaign that has such potential to grow through social networking, it is ashamed not to capitalize on that opportunity.
Audubon is very late promoting it.It took 7 months to design the digital portion of this campaign; plans for campaign awareness should have been ready to go at the launch. They just released an “Angry Birds” fans challenge on October 28.This should have been released prior to or simultaneous with the campaign’s launch. How many “Angry Birds” fans do they think they can reach in 10 days? Those fans will just get rollng with the game as the promotion ends. Another press release was published October 26, recognizing the supporters of the campaign. Considering that the campaign ends November 7, this seems ridiculous.
The quality of the work is also inconsistent. While the birding portion is state of the art, the quality of the YouTube videos, especially the “How to Play” tutorial is very amateur looking, and lacks clarity.
My overall opinion of this campaign is that is was a missed opportunity. They had a great idea, and generous contributions, but they dropped the ball short of a successful campaign.
This group blog is a project of professor Matt Ragas and his Digital PR class (PRAD 391) in the College of Communication at DePaul University. We review and critique current PR and marketing campaigns in which social media and digital tools/services play a major role. We welcome your comments and feedback. We may be reached via e-mail at: mragas@depaul.edu. Please Note: The opinions expressed on this blog do not represent the views of DePaul University or the College of Communication.
Summary of Heinz’s “Our Turn to Serve” campaign
