WATERisLIFE Campaign
WATERisLIFE is a non-profit organization that strives to bring clean water to those in need. Their long-term goal is to save lives and transform villages in dire need of water to self-sufficient thriving communities. As with any non-profit looking to raise awareness, WATERisLIFE needed support.
Their social media marketing strategy team took a unique approach. Instead of starting a new Internet trend to build awareness, they decided to end one. The challenge was figuring out how to do so without offending followers of the trend while inspiring action at the same time.
The organization set out to reverse the popular ‘#firstworldproblems’ trend used to voice silly complaints of the privileged -- tweets such as the ff:
- "I hate it when my phone charger won’t reach my bed."
- "When I go to the bathroom and I forget my phone"
- "I hate when my leather seats aren’t heated."
- "When my mint gum makes my ice water taste cold"
WATERisLIFE filmed a documentary featuring the men, women, and children in Haiti reading the hashtagged tweets. The video showed them in a real setting where their poverty and strife is apparent, a stark contrast far detached from the tweets they were reading. The contrast highlighted #firtsworldproblems as downright ridiculous and ignorant. The project took a team of eleven people four months to complete.
The video ended with a striking notion – “First world problems…aren’t problems.”
The video was an absolute success. The message was received with gratitude as audiences began to share what they were thankful for in place of first world problem complaints. In just four days the video received over 1 million views. Since it’s debut, the views have more than doubled.
Ultimately, the campaign generated a generous response of 1 million days worth of clean water for poor communities.
Dove: Real Beauty Sketches
Dove beauty supplies had a very specific goal in mind when they launched their Real Beauty Sketches campaign in April of 2013. They wanted to generate more sales and leads by reducing their overall environmental footprint and increasing positive social impact. Their social media marketing team took a close look at their biggest consumer group -- women. They investigated a striking trend in behavior of the self-perception of women and came to a single significant recognition:
Women are their own worst critics.
The challenge was to create a campaign that encouraged beauty as a source of confidence. Dove hired an FBI sketch artist to illustrate real women and produced a video documentary of an experiment they conducted. The artist produced two portrait drawings of the women without seeing their faces -- one as described by the subject of the portrait and another as described by an acquaintance of the subject. The difference between each sketch was astonishing.
Whilst the women focused on their physical flaws, their acquaintances saw and described the beauty in them. When the women saw this notion reflected on the portraits, they were moved. And so were the viewers.
To date, over 114 million people have watched the video which went viral on social media outlets. The compelling video also became the number one viewed online video ad of all time within a month of launching. It also holds the record for the most shared video ad of all time.
Frito-Lay: Do us a flavor
Frito-Lay, the popular snack company, wanted to develop a campaign that would increase consumer engagement with their brand.
So the company created a campaign that allowed their audience to know that their opinion matters, that they have a say and that the company is listening.
The campaign was aimed at engaging with consumers through social media channels and to stretch beyond the shelf life of an average marketing splash.
The ‘Do Us a Flavor’ campaign accomplished both. The initial launch of this campaign was in October of 2012. The company raised the bar to encourage everyone to participate by offering $1 million dollars to the winner (or 1% of the 2013 net sales for the winning product).
Over 3.8 million people across 14 countries submitted their ideas for the next flavor craze through a Facebook app created by Frito-Lay. The campaign generated 955 million organic Facebook impressions and 1.26 billion PR impressions, boosting sales by 12%.
As planned, the campaign didn’t stop there. It stretched into 2013 with three finalist flavors:
- Cheesy Garlic Bread
- Chicken & Waffles
- Sriracha
Early this year, the company stocked shelves with these consumer picked flavors and once again took the decision to the social media channels. Consumers could try the new flavors and vote for their favorite online.
And the winner…Cheesy Garlic Bread!
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