Coke Zero: ‘Tis the Season to get Ugly

With Christmas just a little over two weeks away, it’s difficult to ignore all the holiday-themed advertising around us. While consumers are bombarded with thousands of Christmas messages on a daily basis, advertisers are now being forced to think of unique and creative ways to break through the clutter and reach their target market. What better way to do this than reach them personally through social media?

A recent example of a company that created a successful holiday-themed social media campaign is Coca-Cola. With the help of ad agency, Droga5, the company launched the “Coke Zero Sweater Generator”, a website consumers could visit to create their own customized ugly Christmas sweater. After designing a sweater, it would then be posted in an online gallery where the public could vote for their favourite designs. To gain more votes, users were encouraged to post their designs on their Facebook and Twitter profiles. The company also encouraged fans to connect with each other using the hashtag, #sweatergenerator. The campaign began in mid-November and lasted for just two weeks. On December 1, the 100 sweaters with the most votes were actually created and sent to the designers. 

A screenshot from the "Coke Zero Sweater Generator" website.

While the final results of the campaign have not yet been released, it was recently announced that nearly 18,000 sweaters were created within the first 36 hours of the website launch. I can only assume that this number grew within the two-week campaign period. In fact, I saw multiple friends on my own Facebook account post photos and links to their ugly Christmas sweater designs.

The campaign is successful for multiple reasons, including the fact that it demonstrates that Coca-Cola understands their target market. After conducting research, they realized that ugly Christmas sweater parties have become a holiday tradition for millennials. They were able to tap into this insight and create an entertaining and memorable way for consumers to interact with their brand. In addition to this, because users had to share their designs to gather votes, the brand received additional exposure across social media. By actually producing the top 100 sweaters, the brand will continue to gain more attention, as they will very likely become a topic of conversation when consumers actually wear them to their ugly Christmas sweater parties. 

While the “Sweater Generator” may be forgotten about after people pack up their sweaters for the season, as Coca-Cola demonstrates, it’s important for advertisers to understand what’s relevant in their target market’s life all year round. Regardless of the length of the campaign, if advertisers can tap into a trend their target market follows, they will likely find success. 

Source: http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/2308300/coke-zero-helps-millennials-design-the-perfect-ugly-holiday-sweater

Stanfield’s: A “Brief” Success

Nowadays, it’s unusual to find a company or brand that isn’t associated with a specific charity. Most companies see it as their social responsibility to raise money and awareness for charitable programs or organizations. Not only does this provide the company and it’s employees with a sense of fulfillment or pride as they support a good cause, but it also helps create a positive perception among consumers. With so many companies supporting different causes, how do brands stand out and generate consumer support? By engaging them on social media, of course.

A recent example of a company that used social media to support a charitable organization was Stanfield’s. Stanfield's is a small, Canadian company that sells undergarments to men. With the help of ad agency, John St., Stanfield’s created a social media campaign called “The Gitchhiker”. The campaign followed a testicular cancer survivor, Mark McIntyre, as he hitchhiked across Canada wearing nothing but Stanfield’s underwear. If he made it from coast to coast within 21 days, Stanfield’s promised to donate $20,000 to the Canadian Cancer Society. To create brand engagement, Stanfield's encouraged consumers to visit their Facebook page and website. Visitors could use these sites to donate money to the cause, as well as give Mark gifts, challenge him to dares, and offer him rides or a place to stay during his trip. All of this worked together to help raise money and awareness for cancer research.

A screenshot of Stanfield's Facebook page during "The Gitchhiker" campaign.

The campaign was a huge success, as it helped raise over $30,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society. In addition to this, it generated 47 million social media impressions, and Stanfield’s sales increased by 50%. The campaign also received attention from traditional media outlets as well, as many local news programs featured stories on Mark as he travelled through their towns.

There are multiple reasons why this campaign was successful. To begin with, it engaged and entertained consumers, as they were able to follow and participate in Mark’s journey every step of the way. Once consumers started following his story, they couldn’t help but want to see how his trip would end, thus creating brand loyalty. Although one of the campaign goals was to raise money and awareness for cancer research, Stanfield’s itself benefited from the campaign, as they were promoted the entire duration of Mark's trip. Any time consumers saw Mark in the news, watched his video blogs, or followed his updates on Facebook, they were being exposed to the underwear brand. This ultimately helped Stanfield’s generate a positive brand image among consumers across the country.

"The Gitchhiker" campaign is an excellent example of a small, Canadian company using social media to support a good cause. Although the campaign was time consuming and had to be constantly monitored, it was still relatively inexpensive to produce, as it relied on consumer participation to be successful. While this form of customer engagement can be risky, as Stanfield’s proved, by creating a unique social media campaign to support a charitable organization, it can help boost a brand's sales and public image. 

Source: http://vimeo.com/59412129