Remember Memorex? It s back and streaming live!

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1 Remember Memorex? It s back and streaming live! Padilla Speer Beardsley, Memorex / Minneapolis, Minnesota NEED/OPPORTUNITY Memorex became a household name in the 1970s with an iconic television commercial featuring jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald. Decades later, with cassette tapes and compact discs no longer considered revolutionary, the brand felt as dated as the commercial. But quietly, Memorex had been working to reposition the brand carving a niche in the crowded consumer electronics market by targeting mothers and families. Consumer Electronics Association studies (referenced in the following section) show that U.S. mothers women in households with at least one child under age 18 spend an average of US$822 on consumer electronics products each year. This is more than 50 percent of total household spending on consumer electronics. A scan of competing consumer electronics retailers showed that the Modern Mom is an untapped demographic when it comes to this category. Memorex had started selling electronics, including ipod sound systems, but without any advertising to support the products, sales and awareness were low. Recognizing the need for a radical marketing makeover, Memorex turned to Padilla Speer Beardsley. INTENDED AUDIENCE/STAKEHOLDERS The communication team s primary audience is Modern Mom and her family. Demographics of Modern Mom Female years old At least one young child (baby, toddler, tween) Lives in the U.S. Speaks English College educated Middle class Psychographic Traits of Modern Mom - Being a mom is only part of how she defines herself. - May not have a graduate degree, but she s intelligent - Fun-loving, particularly as it pertains to her kid(s), with a good sense of humor - Has a tight-knit group of girlfriends - Actively uses Facebook to connect with friends and family - Doesn t have a ton of spare time - Isn t an electronics expert Significant Behaviors of Modern Mom Researches consumer electronics products online prior to purchase, explores blogs, online news sites and retailer websites Consults her social network, often through Facebook, for brand and product opinions Frequently watches television with family, but doesn t consider this to be passive family time; instead, sees this as quality family time 1

2 The team s secondary audience is Yo Gabba Gabba! ( Gabba ) fans, as many are parents with young children. According to Gabba research, a high percentage of the TV show s viewers fit the demographic and psychographic traits of Memorex s Modern Mom. In addition, the Gabba fan base is hugely passionate and socially connected, which the team felt would lend strength and credibility to the campaign. Memorex s tertiary audience also considered to be a conduit is mommy/family bloggers. These bloggers are considered to be an audience because they served as brand ambassadors, hosting contests and events with guidance from Memorex. They also offered a direct connection to Modern Mom and served as trusted advisers and product reviewers. To better understand Memorex s stakeholders and help inform them about the campaign, significant primary and secondary research was conducted. PRIMARY RESEARCH For primary research, a WeTime survey was conducted to determine the role that consumer electronics play in family life. The team polled 2,000 parents in the U.S. for the survey. Key findings included: The most popular together-time activities for families are watching television or movies. Listening, singing or dancing to music are also popular. Product reviews on websites or blogs are the most influential sources of information leading to an electronics purchase. SECONDARY RESEARCH For secondary research, the team reviewed findings of three studies by the Consumer Electronics Association: Moms and Social Media Influencing Technology Purchases; 12th Annual CE Ownership and Market Potential, 2010; and Online Social Media Habits of Consumers. Key findings included: Online mothers are more likely than the general online population to purchase consumer electronics as a result of reading information online (64 percent versus 43 percent). Social networking sites are a top online destination for mothers 84 percent of online mothers visit social networks compared to 74 percent of all online adults. Among mothers, 94 percent visit Facebook most often. Video-sharing sites are another top destination, visited by 65 percent of mothers compared to 56 percent of all online adults. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Between 11 July and 16 September 2011: 1. Raise awareness for Memorex s 50th anniversary and two key products (PartyCube, PurePlay) among Modern Moms by generating 100 million positive, targeted impressions through earned and paid media. 2. Directly engage 5,000 Modern Moms and children through the video contest and Ustream event. 2

3 3. Increase the number of people who like Memorex s Facebook Fan Page by 20 percent, emphasizing Modern Mom and her family. 4. Increase sales of two key products PartyCube Sound System and PurePlay Portable Speaker. SOLUTION OVERVIEW The team positioned Memorex as the champion for Modern Mom and family time, tying the brand to popular family activities such as Facebook, watching television, listening to music and dancing. Capitalizing on the occasion to celebrate Memorex s 50th year in business, and seeing a strong connection between Memorex s target audience and the fans of the hit TV series Yo Gabba Gabba!, Padilla created an entertainment-driven campaign with broad appeal. Primary and secondary research shows Modern Moms largely rely on social media for product information; therefore, the team used Facebook, blogs and websites to entice mothers with a Gabba-themed video contest featuring Memorex giveaways. Family bloggers were engaged as brand ambassadors, bringing the campaign to life through parties in 16 cities. The campaign culminated with a virtual 50th birthday party for Memorex featuring Yo Gabba Gabba! characters, which streamed live across America on Ustream, family blogs and Facebook. IMPLEMENTATION AND CHALLENGES Strategy One: Engage Modern Mom and her family through Facebook video contest Partnered with popular children s show Yo Gabba Gabba! to promote Memorex s 50 th birthday. Encouraged parents to submit videos of their children dancing to original Yo Gabba Gabba! songs for the chance to win Memorex prizes, including one grand prize a trip to Los Angeles to attend the live Ustream birthday party. Further spread the word about Memorex by encouraging contest participants to ask friends and family to vote. Challenges: o Selecting finalists without alienating participants or upsetting fans whose children weren t chosen as finalists. o Choosing a voting method that would be acceptable to the majority of participants. o Ensuring participants understood the legal rules and the consequences of violating the rules. o Informing finalists who used automated voting services (a violation of the legal rules) that they were disqualified without creating a crisis or backlash on Facebook. o Coordinating the voting process among Memorex, Yo Gabba Gabba! and Padilla on a small budget. 3

4 Strategy Two: Create a virtual birthday party to be featured live on Ustream.com with Yo Gabba Gabba!, the grand prize video contest winner and Memorex product giveaways Hosted Memorex presents the Yo Gabba Gabba! It s Time to Dance Birthday Party live on Ustream, 9 16 September. In partnership with Yo Gabba Gabba!, produced a 15-minute live-to-tape event featuring recurring Gabba guest Leslie Hall as host and appearances from the Yo Gabba Gabba! cast of characters. During the event, showcased the winning video submission, unveiled a six-tier, cobranded birthday cake and distributed wrapped PartyCube and PurePlay products to instudio guests. Hosted giveaways of Memorex products and Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! tour tickets to virtual guests, along with a live chat featuring the Yo Gabba Gabba! cast. Challenges: o Producing a high-quality television show on a viral video budget. o Ensuring the inclusion of the Memorex message feels natural and appropriate for an audience of parents and young children. o Convincing a toddler the video contest winner to show off her dance moves when prompted. o Showcasing Memorex products without creating a video that feels like a long commercial. o Moderating thousands of comments during the Ustream event. o Managing giveaways during the Ustream event, including responding to upset fans who didn t win anything. 4

5 Strategy Three: Conduct three phases of online media outreach to bloggers and journalists who reach Modern Mom and her family. Connected with web editors at national magazines and family bloggers in three phases to raise awareness for the contest submission period, contest voting phase and virtual birthday party. Developed a mat release, Tips for your toddler s birthday bash, associated with Memorex products. Offered bloggers the opportunity to host reader giveaways of Memorex speaker systems products. Challenges: o Engaging media and bloggers to produce multiple rounds of coverage without any financial incentive. o Creating opportunities for Memorex s products to be favorably reviewed without cannibalizing future opportunities for coverage tied to the Facebook video contest or Ustream event. o Executing a successful media relations campaign entirely online with little lead time. Strategy Four: Engage family bloggers as brand ambassadors to post reviews, host giveaways and participate in the virtual birthday party. Engaged 16 bloggers to serve as birthday ambassadors. Blogger ambassadors posted three times first, a review of a Memorex product; next, a giveaway of a product among their readers; and finally, a post to raise awareness for the Ustream virtual birthday party. Created Memorex and Yo Gabba Gabba! party kits for bloggers to host and blog about their own party during the Ustream event. Each party included 16 guests, a co-branded birthday cake and music played on Memorex products. 5

6 Challenges: o Identifying bloggers who had broad reach among Modern Moms and would be willing to provide in-depth reviews for Memorex s products and partnership with Yo Gabba Gabba! o Coordinating 16 parties to be hosted on the same weekend. o Ensuring blogger ambassadors actually hosted a party, picked up their co-branded birthday cake and supplied images and feedback to the Memorex team following their events. MEASUREMENT/EVALUATION OF OUTCOMES Objective One: Raise awareness for Memorex s 50th anniversary and two key products (PartyCube, PurePlay) among Modern Moms by generating 100 million positive, targeted impressions through earned and paid media. Results: Generated over 65 million impressions on blogs and other online media. Created over 30 million impressions via Facebook advertisements. Generated over 3 million impressions via social media. 6

7 Objective Two: Directly engage 5,000 Modern Moms and children through the video contest and Ustream event. Results: The Facebook page s Dancey Dance Video Contest application was viewed 19,354 times. Most users were in the target demographic mothers ages The Ustream event was viewed from 5,250 computers. Most viewers watched the video with numerous children present, likely resulting in more than 15,000 impressions from the event. Objective Three: Increase the number of people who like Memorex s Facebook Fan Page by 20 percent, emphasizing Modern Mom and her family. Results: Between 1 July and 16 September 2011, Memorex s Facebook Fan Page received 1,130 new likes a 48 percent increase in the fan base. Memorex s fan base on Facebook increased among women between the ages of 25 and 34; 54 percent of the fan base is women between the ages of 25 and 54. Daily post views increased during targeted media coverage. Fan interactions dramatically increased, with both post views and feedback more than doubling. The number of monthly active users increased from 876 per month on 1 July to 5,301 per month on 16 September (graph below). Objective Four: Increase sales of two key products, PartyCube Sound System and PurePlay Portable Speaker, during mid Result: Key product sales more than doubled during the course of the campaign (e.g., Best Buy PartyCube sales: 208 per week in May, 448 per week in June, 579 per week in July, and 369 per week in August). 7