Our picks for the top PR, marketing and social media campaigns of 2014

Top PR and Social Media Campaigns of 2014

As 2014 comes to an end, our team reflected on some of the best PR, marketing and social campaigns the year had to offer. Whether it was as extreme as Ebola or as casual as ‘Alex from Target’, here are the top five that made the cut (in no specific order):  
  1. Phillip Singh, Intern: AT&T #SummerBreak campaign
AT&T launched a social media campaign for Summer 2014 that followed a group of eight high school graduates as they spent their final months together before venturing off into the real world. The campaign was such a huge hit that AT&T launched a second campaign the same summer with a new group. The campaign was successful because it massively appealed to the target audience: teenagers. AT&T was able to combine the things that the teens of today can’t get enough of: reality television, cell phones and just about every social media platform out there. The “cast” of friends uploaded YouTube videos, Instagram posts, and Snapchats on the #SummerBreak account which garnered a huge following. It was extremely personal and interactive because followers were able to see the adventures (parties, roundtrips, beach days, etc.) in real time as they were happening, instead of watching an edited episode. This could very well set precedence for the future of reality entertainment and I think its genius. AT&T Summer
  1. Danielle Cobb, Communications Coordinator: Doritos #crashthesuperbowl campaign
For the past couple of years, Doritos has launched Super Bowl campaigns where customers can create their own commercial in hopes of it being aired during the big game. User generated content is always a win in my book. It’s a great way to have people engage with your brand, build awareness and source content all at the same time. Plus, people come up with awesome ideas that Doritos probably wouldn’t have on their own. Doritos
  1. Molly Borchers, Senior Communications Strategist: How a humble little ad became the world’s biggest marketing win
This isn’t actually a campaign, but an advertisement turned viral. Enter the MailKimp. MailChimp, an email marketing company, underwrote the first season of the podcast Serial, which is the most popular podcast in the world. (We’re rabid fans here at WOC.) The quirky little ad, heard before every episode, became a meme itself thanks to an adorable mispronunciation of the brand name (listen here: https://soundcloud.com/mollyfitzpatrick-2/mailchimp-promo-on-serial). Serial producers actually created the ad, getting people on the streets of NYC to read the lines. Then started the buzz on Twitter. Serial2 Serial Serial4 This humble little ad is the runaway marketing success of the year, with more viral success than many Super Bowl ads that cost millions of dollars to air on TV.  From Oct. 3 (the day the show premiered) to Nov. 21, 1,300 tweets mentioned the hashtag #MailKimp. More than 2,400 tweets mentioned Serial and MailChimp together, equivalent to about 12 percent of the 20,200 tweets related to the email vendor during the same timeframe. The ad even spawned a MailKimp Twitter handle and people are gushing about it on Reddit. How’s that for brand awareness?
  1. Julie Wright, President: Community Outreach for a High-Density Residential Development
This was my favorite (W)right On Communications campaign of the year. We organized a series of community open houses for a client with a 13-acre redevelopment project in a tight-knit, well established coastal community. Our team did a great job getting the word out and driving attendance. We coordinated closely with all of the project’s stakeholders—developer, property management, architect, traffic consultants, landscape architects, engineers—to make sure everyone was prepared to speak accurately on the project and answer neighbors’ questions. Traffic, construction timeline, parking, safety, density, height—neighbors had a lot of questions about how they would be impacted by the increase in density. At the open house, we provided visual displays and handouts, directed neighbors to online materials and invited them to attend a series of open houses. We followed up via mail to all neighbors, thanking those who attended and notifying those who couldn’t attend about the online materials and open houses. Overall, we created many opportunities and methods for people to learn about the project and provide their input. Several people came forward to say that they really understood how the project could improve and enhance the neighborhood. Community Meeting
  1. Erica Schlesinger, Communications Strategist: Lay’s “Do Us A Flavor” campaign
This year, Lay’s held their second “Do Us A Flavor” contest where fans were asked to submit their ideas for the next big chip flavor. It had a big enough “WTF” factor (read: interest) to create buzz past the initial “ask” – with flavors like Cappuccino, it was hard not to join the conversation. The campaign leveraged a number of popular digital mediums, especially social media, to get and keep the audience involved. It also built upon an existing popular campaign – sometimes, sticking with classics is the way to go. Lay's    

5 Social Media Lessons from my Green Tea Party Protest

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Here’s what I learned trying to bring back Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass after my favorite tea was discontinued.

I discovered Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass a few years ago and became hooked on its soothing, subtle flavor. All other green teas were too bitter or tasted like grass. Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass became a daily ritual for me.

But late last year, I had trouble finding my beloved product. In January, I discovered that Good Earth had overhauled its product line in a rebranding and my favorite flavor had been discontinued, tossed aside in the pursuit of the millennial market.

I did what any devoted customer in the 21st century would do: I complained to Good Earth on its Facebook page. The company responded, steering me to their new product, Citrus Kiss – part of a sassy new lineup that also included Tropical Rush, Sweet Chai of Mine, Wild Chaild, etc.

Yes, Citrus Kiss contained green tea as well as lemongrass, but it also contained stevia (a natural sweetener) which means it tasted nothing like Green Tea Lemongrass (GTL). Unacceptable! And a waste of my money!

I started a Facebook page called Bring Back Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass. Other disgruntled fans of the former product found the page and ultimately it drew nearly 200 fans.

In the process, I learned five lessons about social media that I’ll share below. You’ll have to read to the end to find out whether I scored a victory or not:

1.       It’s not the size of the audience but the depth of their engagement that matters

The Good Earth page has over 64,000 “Likes.” My page has only 749. However, my protest page attracts more comments on its material with real conversations taking place between commentators than the brand’s page. The small number of people involved are very invested in the cause and know that they’re part of a community that cares just as deeply (and who would never steer them to a pre-sweetened alternative!). Bring back Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass!

2.       You can’t buy engagement

Early in my protest, I would go to Good Earth’s Facebook page and comment using my page’s identity on the complaints of other ex-GTL customers. My message was always respectful. I just wanted to let the poor tea drinker know our page existed and that they could find others who shared their passion for the product there.

Then, suddenly, Good Earth’s social media folks banned my page from commenting on their page. That made me mad and I had to get even.

So I spent $30 or so to grow my page’s following quickly – targeting fans of Good Earth’s page specifically. The campaign added 100 followers in a flash. But those folks, like Good Earth’s thousands of followers, didn’t interact like the ones who engaged organically. So I didn’t continue it. Instead, I would occasionally post as myself on Good Earth’s page with a link to the Bring Back GE GTL page. That strategy was slower but far more effective. I would have done it more often but I’ve got other things to do besides fighting to bring back Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass.

3.       The Facebook algorithm is a beast and must be fed continually or atrophy

Once I had more of an audience, I felt Good Earth would take the page more seriously. However, I noticed that if I got too busy to show my page some love for a few days, my next post would get fewer likes or comments. On the other hand, if I kept up my activity, I saw more interaction.

Another helpful activity was to continually like, comment on and tag commentators in replies (if their settings allowed it). This helped stimulate more engagement, which raised the visibility of the posts so that more people saw them. But it was also a strategy that recognized we are all human and social media must always be approached as a conversation and not just ad copy or canned responses.

4.       Social media is a conversation

That’s truly the only approach that works.

I shared my picture on the Bring Back Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass Facebook page so people would know I am real and just like them. I made some really cool connections, too, which has become my favorite part of this experience.

Al and Sheila from New Jersey mailed me a few GE GTL Decaf teabags after they won an eBay auction of some of the discontinued stock. I loved Al’s note that came with the bags. I mailed one of those teabags back to Christina in Tulsa who had tipped me off to the eBay sale in the first place. There were so many others… Inna from San Clemente. Lisa. Chanan. Nigel.

One person credited GE GTL with getting him through MBA school. Another said it got her through chemo.

It’s also true to say that we were all having a conversation with Good Earth on its Facebook page, too—or at least trying to. But did we get anywhere?

5.       Social media is powerful

It worked. Sort of. At the end of April, Good Earth announced that they would be bringing back a limited supply of GE GTL. In late May, they began taking orders. They were sold out in five days. I got two of those cases, or 12 boxes of 20 teabags. My Facebook friend Paula also found me five boxes at a CVS in Escondido since I shared some of this information on my personal Facebook page, too. (Thank you, Paula!)

The question now is whether the new Good Earth products are generating the sales the company had hoped for when they ditched their loyal customers. If not, they should bring back the classics, Good Earth Green Tea Lemongrass and its decaf cousin.

Our mighty little community demonstrated the marketplace demand, and, now, Good Earth has a national network of passionate product enthusiasts they can activate the minute they decide to do so.

So, Good Earth, what are you waiting for?

 

P.S. For those of you who care about the business side of this, Good Earth was started in Santa Cruz, Calif. in 1972. It was acquired by Tetley in 2005, a subsidiary of Tata Global Beverages.

In January 2011, Tata shut down production of Good Earth in Santa Cruz and moved all the ops to New Jersey. In 2013, it launched the rebranding and basically did away with the company’s heritage and its product lines.

 

Why You Should Use Infographics to Communicate Visually

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For a business, it is important to send the right message to your audience, but it is equally important that the audience can understand your message. After all, not everyone is an expert. Today, any individual can access the Internet and find very specific answers to very specific questions, but if their questions involve you or your message, how do you know that they’ll remember that information?

Information graphs or “infographs” are visual tools that communicate information simply and aesthetically. They take profuse and in-depth knowledge and present it clearly and concisely through visual representation. Infographs typically contain statistical information about a specific topic or field of work, but have also been adapted to communicate themes and ideas as well.

The value of infographics as a communication tool can be attributed to the way our brain processes information. For instance, right now you’re reading this article, line by line, taking in everything in the chronological order it was written. Because we read in a linear pattern, our brain cannot process information faster than we can supply it. The brain can process visual information up to 60,000 times faster than text, however. When you look at a picture of, let’s say a beach, every element of the photo is interpreted simultaneously, so you know the image is of a beach. Even when viewed separately, say separate images of palm trees, sand, or waves, you can infer that a beach is connected to these themes. However, after just describing a beach to you, you had to process that information linearly (e.g. palm trees -> sand -> waves = probably a beach).

Infographics are a valuable communication tool. When communicating with your audience, as a business or otherwise, an infograph brings a level of professionalism and expertise in a given topic through your ability to clearly convey complex data or information. Additionally, people want more visual content. In fact, there has been an 800 percent increase in “infographic” searches on Google throughout the past two years. The viral potential for visual content is at its highest. Who knows, maybe your next infographic could be your breakout in Internet immortality.