We all recognize the importance of harvesting a social media presence, but the biggest mistake we see in business’ efforts to implement some kind of social media strategy is their approach.
Businesses are adding social media components to their marketing plan as an addendum, a post-script.
This approach results in a regurgitation of ill-suited content simply posted onto every social media under the sun. Mattel did it right. For the 50th anniversary launch of “Sweet Talkin’ Ken,” the company created an integrated strategy that harnessed the power of social media marketing, supported by traditional marketing techniques.
Across Facebook, Twitter, & 4Square, Ken professed his desire to get back with Barbie after a 7 year hiatus. Ken shared photos and links of his every attempt to woo Barbie. With a 34% increase in Facebook fans during this campaign, it became clear that people were invested in this, albeit fictional, love story.
Ken left 4Square tips across major attractions such as the Metropolitan Museum: “Barbie could spend hours looking at the timeless art, and I could spend hours looking at Barbie.” Users could vote whether they thought Barbie should take Ken back via SMS texting, Facebook, Twitter, and barbieandken.com. This crowd-sourced component built strong collaboration and engagement between the brand & its consumers.
Incorporating traditional media, Mattel had billboards advertising the campaign in New York & Los Angeles. Ken appeared on a Canadian talk show and even made a guest appearance during Fashion’s Night Out.
Mattel saw major results. Beyond an increase in Facebook fans and 5 million page views, the most telling statistic of this campaign’s success was a 200% increase in engagement, measured through likes, comments, and posts.
On February 14, 2011, #BarbieandKen trended in 15 cities and the words “Barbie” or “ken” were tweeted every 2 minutes.
Though your business may not have the budget to scale this kind of major campaign, we can all think with a broader scope of view when considering what is our marketing strategy. It should be more than a sequence of promotions. It should be a simultaneous, coordinated effort to help you achieve your goal faster and with fewer resources.
Source: The Atlantic, Mashable
Sae Cho
Social Media Marketing Director
With a background in journalism, Sae Cho joins the Yo!Dog team as Social Media Marketing Manager. In this capacity, she will work with select clients to research, develop and engage a variety of social media channels, including Facebook and Twitter.
The approach is the difference. You should never let your campaigns just "run through the motions" of marketing, it will never gain momentum. It's all about coming up with engaging strategies like this example to evoke emotional responses in consumers. Excellent article!
Well, that is my first check out to your blog! We are a group of volunteers and starting a brand new initiative in a regional community in the exact same niche. Your blog supplied us valuable information to work on. You have done a marvellous task!
There is obviously a lot to know about this. I think you made some good points in Features also. Keep working ,great job!
I have been meaning to post something like this on my blog and you have given me an idea. Cheers.
This is absolutely crazy to me. My first thought was who are they targeting with this ad campaign. Did they actually find an increase in sales during this ad campaign? I think a company should really figure out who their focus should be on before thinking it's a success. I would hope a 5 year old wouldn't be watching a Youtube video of Barbie and Ken dating again. They are taking the innocence out of childrens toys.