Social Media Really Does Work- Case Study
The following case study clearly reveals how innovation in marketing using social media is extremely powerful. The case study emphasises the importance of creativity and innovation and how marketing teams must look within and do for their brand what they would love themselves. Looking within, listening to your gut and acting upon it systematically is what innovation is all about. As more and more marketers debate the power of social media, what I say is that these marketers should not blame mediums for their lack of innovation and creativity. Social Media channels like Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter etc are mediums that will work for creative organizations and not for organizations that are trying to port traditional mass media / offline strategies online.
This case study that I present is a real one that I personally ideated for my company Bril (www.brilindia.com).
It all started off with this simple nostalgic post of a Bril Ink bottle, that sparked the idea: Click Here to see this post that went viral.
Campaign: Bril Nostalgia Photo Contest (Click Here to See the first post announcing the contest)
Make people share their best and most loved school or college photo using an authorised facebook app that was setup on the Bril facebook page (www.facebook.com/brilconnect ).
GO TO http://www.facebook.com/brilconnect and scroll down to see 100s of happy photos shared by participants. or just Click Here for the photo feed.
Objective of Campaign: To make Bril reconnect with parents / adults (Bril’s potential customers) who have used Bril Ink during their school days by leveraging nostalgia (a very powerful emotion) and Make Living Fun for all participants. A campaign that is all about the participant and his / her life.
Prize: Brilslate Android 4.0 Tablet worth Rs. 10,999/-
Campaign Cost: Rs. 20,000/- including cost of prize, facebook promoted post cost of Rs. 8500/- plus shipping and handling charges
Steps Participants had to take to Participate in the Bril Nostalgia Photo Contest:
In order to participate people had to:
- ‘Like’ Bril’s Facebook Page www.facebook.com/brilconnect (The app ensured this was the first step that people had to complete before taking them to step 2)
- Enter their contact information (Name, Email ID and Mobile Number)- This built a good email and phone database that could be used later
- Upload a school or college photo that they felt was their best
The participants were informed that Bril will feature as many photos as possible, on the Bril Facebook page after affixing Bril’s Logo and a link to the photo contest.
While it was made clear that sharing their photo, tagging and liking were not mandatory and not at all a criteria to win the contest (Satisfying Facebook’s contest rules), participants were encouraged to Tag friends in the photo and others they loved, once it got featured, just to share the joy and Make Living Fun by rekindling nostalgic juices of their loved ones.
Campaign Result and Reach:
Bril received over 292 entries in 2 weeks.
People started participating for the fun of participating, and voluntarily and enthusiastically shared their photo and tagged all their friends (once it was featured with the Bril Logo and a link to the contest). This made the campaign truly viral as people were enjoying the process without worrying about winning.
Each person shared / tagged 10 people on average.
Our study showed that each person had on average 400 friends on facebook
So what was the campaign reach?
292 people X 10 people tagged on average per person = 2920 people reached directly
Let us say each one of the tagged people have an average of 300 friends who would have seen that tagged person’s photo
This makes the reach: 2920 X 300 friends/person reached directly = 876,000 people who saw the Bril brand, the contest and came to Bril’s facebook page
The real reach was even more because of the comments, likes etc that happened on each photo.
Cost per person reached: Rs. 20,000/876000 = Rs. 0.0228 per person reached.
Leads generated as a result of this campaign: 292 (Only participants considered, but Bril’s lead capture system captured on average 10 leads more per day during this campaign (14 days) in addition to the participants)
Cost per lead captured: Rs. 20,000/292 = Rs. 68.49 per lead
Bril’s facebook fanbase grew from 12,000 fans to 20,000 fans in a matter of 2 weeks thanks to this contest
In comparison:
Average cost of a single 10cmX5cm ad in a leading English daily: Rs. 300,000 (Approx).
Approximate Reach (Not measurable): 300,000 people
Cost to reach: Rs. 1 per person with no real brand engagement
Max. Number of leads that a good ad generated (Based on an ad released in a leading national english daily by Bril in September): 250 leads
Cost per lead: Rs. 300,000/250 leads = Rs. 1200 per lead
Bril’s Mission: To Make Living Fun for parents and children through world-class products, services and opportunities.
The contest was in perfect sync with the company’s mission as people started to enjoy the process of participation rather than play for the prize and started sharing good old memories with people they love, taking the Bril brand out to their friends and family happily.
Who’s Idea was it? In-house by Jayaram Rajaram, Bril’s Managing Partner, who is also the Managing Director & Chief Dreamer of ELSA Learning Private Limited. Jayaram is a hands-on innovator, entrepreneur who actually implements in his businesses, the innovation strategies that leaders, organizations and teams are taught as part of BrilArt@Work workshops (www.brilart.com ) .
Jayaram’s Linkedin Profile: in.linkedin.com/pub/jayaram-rajaram/7/217/947
Campaign Executed and monitored by: Bril’s Social Media Partner Scion Social