Leverage - VFS District 9

Online marketing allows small-medium sized business to leverage events, awards, training programs, and more without breaking the bank.

Read more posts about online marketing and leverage

There has been a lot of buzz lately about a sci-fi movie called District 9. The movie has received one of the highest ratings on IMDB.com and has received rave reviews from movie critics. Even more surprising is that there are no A list actors in the movie and the director has only directed 2 low budget movies.

How do you leverage the fact that the movie director, Neill Blomkamp, graduated from your school's film program?

This was the question that VFS had to ask themselves. Most large companies, who tend not to think outside the box, would send out a generic press release to traditional media. This strategy would work for about 3 days. The problem with this is that it is short-term, and VFS's target audience spend more time reading blogs and on Twitter than reading newspapers.

So VFS decided to create their own microsite highlighting all the VFS graduates who worked on the district 9 movie.


"Neill Blomkamp, director of this summer's must-see sci-fi thriller District 9, got his start at Vancouver Film School. That's not all: much of the talent behind District 9 originates at VFS, including co-writer Terri Tatchell, Visual Effects Executive Producer Shawn Walsh, and 40 other members of District 9's visual effects team."

The microsite is filled with facts about the movie and video on the behind the scenes of District 9. The site also incorporates the VFS twitter and Facebook page, encouraging viewers to follow and become a fan of VFS.

From the microsite viewers can learn more about VFS and the programs they provide. There is even a competition for visitors to input their email for a chance to win District 9 merchandise.

Why this strategy works?
This strategy provides VFS with long term leverage of the District 9 movie. The site will always be on the Internet and can be viewed by potential students from all over the world. Technology, and movie blogs picked up the site and promoted it on their sites to viewers that fit perfectly with VFS's target market. The strategy can be measured easily. VFS can see how many visitors go to the microsite and from there how many visitors view more info about VFS. They can measure engagement through the sign-up form, Twitter and Facebook page.

Is your business doing great things in the local community? Do you have a training program superior to your competition? Have your employees accomplished outstanding feats in their industry?

Make sure you leverage by using online marketing tools. To learn more contact MarketR

PR 2.0 - Crazy Haired Eggs and the Power of Twitter

MarketR and Toni&Guy Vancouver teamed up to deliver one of the most exciting egg hunts Vancouver has seen.
Toni&Guy Vancouver is one of MarketR's largest clients. This means almost all marketing, events, promotions, and PR is handled by the MarketR team.

After the success of the Toni&Guy Declares W.A.R. event, we were very excited to come up with another affair that was going to attract a lot of buzz.

After taking a look at the Calendar we immediately saw an opportunity during Easter. Egg hunts have been around for many years, but over time have become dull and are mostly geared towards young children.

The MarketR team came up with a way Toni&Guy could rejuvenate the Easter egg hunt in a way that was unique to Toni&Guy.

The 1st Annual Crazy Hair Toni&Guy Egg Hunt.

The Objective
Raising brand awareness while building upon the existing branding that Toni&Guy is a fun, and creative salon that is constantly thinking outside the box.

The Campaign
Over 40 plastic eggs were decorated with crazy hair by the Toni&Guy team and placed around the city. Inside each egg was chocolate and a Toni&Guy gift card valued at up to $100. (Values ranged from $5-$100).

Samples of the eggs:



Visit the Toni&Guy Egg Hunt FlickR page for pictures of all the eggs.


Results:
The Toni&Guy Crazy Hair Egg Hunt created large amounts of buzz for the salon.

People were talking about the egg hunt over Twitter.

(Twitter Screenshot)

The egg hunt was featured on multiple local blogs.

MartiniBoys.com

TinyBites.ca

"This was the coolest egg hunt I’ve heard about this year! 40 coiffed Easter eggs will be hidden all over Kitsilano and downtown Vancouver. Each contains the requisite chocolate plus a T&G gift card ranging in value from $5 - $100.

To join in on the scavenger hunt, follow the clues that will be tossed out Friday afternoon and Saturday morning on the Tony & Guy blog and their Twitter account."

FashionMagazine.com
Miss604.com
TheStyleSpy.com
People who found the eggs started posting pictures online.


The Toni&Guy Vancouver website doubled in traffic and the Toni&Guy Twitter account acquired 70 new followers. Because of the websites dynamic content, traffic continues to grow everyday.

(The first spike in traffic was when the campaign launched. Twitter, and Facebook messages drove traffic to the site. The second spike was organic traffic from referring sites talking about the campaign. The third spike was when the egg hunt actually happened. Community involvement such as conversations on twitter and users posting pictures of their egg finds drove traffic to the website.)

Take Aways:
-If you want your brand to be perceived as fun and creative, make sure your events and promotions are fun and creative. (Sounds simple, but so many companies don't follow this rule)

-Utilize your staff: We were able to harness the talent of the Toni&Guy team to decorate the eggs. Instead of paying a street team to promote the event on Robson St, we used the Toni&Guy staff who were already enthusiastic about the event and loved showing off the eggs they decorated.

-Do not underestimate the power of Twitter: All communications to local bloggers was done through Twitter. Once the event was covered by one popular blog the event was quickly covered by many others. By engaging Twitter users, conversations about the event grew organically both before and after the event.

Pushing VS Pulling

In marketing there are two common techniques, pushing and pulling.


Pushing means your marketing material is geared towards pushing your product onto the customer. This means offering incentives for employees or sales representatives to push your product or placing your product in areas were customers impulsively buy. Promotions are a form of push marketing, or advertisments that end with "buy now."

For example: Energy drinks love to use push marketing. You will see numerous street teams handing out products and promotions to potential customers. A lot of perks are given to retail stores to carry specific energy drinks, such as free tickets to events, price breaks, and merchandising material.



Pull, means your marketing strategy inspires consumers to demand your product. This technique requires you to use your head rather than your wallet. You need to come up with ways to relate with and engage your target market. Tools often used are sponsorship, product placement, PR stunts, and word of mouth.

For example: Apple Computers very rarely pushes. Instead they use product placement, PR and innovative advertisements to create consumer demand for their products. If you look at Apple computer advertising you'll notice that they never end with quotes such as "buy now" or "available at the following locations." The ads are never trying to push the product, instead the message is "this is who we are, this is our product, and this is what it does."

An energy drink company that focuses on pull marketing is Red Bull. By sponsoring events such as the soap box derby, concerts and Formula 1, Red Bull has created an image that is relatable to its target market.

Both Apple and Red Bull offer no price breaks to retail stores, and almost no perks for selling their product. However thanks to their powerful pull marketing strategies they offer something that other brands can't, guaranteed consumer demand. Stores like London Drugs know that although Apple and Red Bull products are priced higher and have smaller margins, the product is demanded by their customers. Because of this stores are forced to stock these brands.

So why don't all companies use pull marketing?
-It takes time to see results
-Consistency is key
-Coming up with creative ideas takes too much time and energy

These are the three biggest reasons small-medium sized companies don't use pull marketing.

Contact MarketR to learn how we can help you develop cost effective pull marketing strategies.

Twestival & Generation G

Last week was Twesitival, a initiative to raise money for charity: water. The initiative leveraged the power of Twitter, and encouraged Twitter users to hold local fund raisers on February 12 2009.


charity: water for Twestival

Twesitival was a huge success, and Vancouver had its very own event called yvrtwestival. Vancouver raised $4,000 by holding an event at the Opus hotel, with a raffle and silent auction. No money was spent on traditional marketing. Instead they focused on Twitter, blogs, social media and PR, which of course was all free.

Generation G

An interesting report from friends over at trendwatching.com talks about a growing trend towards giving. This is a big reason why Twestival was so successful and more importantly a great marketing tool for small-medium sized businesses.

The current economic situation has caused huge changes in consumer preferences. Reports show that consumers blame the huge losses in the stock market, jobs and pension funds on big business. Companies such as General Motors, and Citi Bank have lost huge amounts of consumer trust.

Some (U.S.) stats from Reputation Garage:
-As few as 13% of American consumers place their trust in big business.
-Only 39% of employees said they trust senior leadership
-Three quarters of consumers feel that companies don't tell the truth in advertising
-Three quarters of employees in big companies observed violations of the law or company standards in a 12 month period.

Consumers want to support local, small-medium sized businesses that are dedicated to giving back.

Tips:
-Support a local charity that is related to the industry you are in.
-Let customers and potential customers know how much give back.
-Giving doesn't have to be about money. Volunteer your time and services.
-Don't give the impression that you are a big business. Keep it local.

Innovate or Die

I am constantly writing about how the internet has revolutionized so many things. From electoral campaigns to the way we communicate with others. The internet has changed the game in every aspect of our lives.

Unfortunately some people decide to fight this revolution, and it becomes quite obvious that they are fighting a losing battle. Usually the reason they fight the internet, is because they don't know how to use it. They are scared of losing control and the negative affects it may bring their brand. The problem is that by fighting the internet, your brand receives more negative attention then if you had embraced it.

For Example: If you read the Vancouver Metro newspaper today, you would have read that a BC Transit bus driver was fired for having a blog. The blog chronicled his daily activities of being a bus driver in Vancouver. He said he started the blog because his family was interested in what an average day was like for him. Eventually his blog started to get more traffic, as more and more people were interested in the same topic. His blog was even linked to from the official BC Transit blog.

*Note: His blog was rarely negative towards BC Transit. In fact he often empathized with the company in when it came to poor bus service during bad weather.

How cool is that. Your employee takes the time to write a blog about working for your company. There are so many ways BC Transit could have utilized this blog.
Here are a few.
-Free advertising for hiring bus drivers
-A great feedback mechanism for ways to improve and to recognize what they are doing well
-Free advertising for the joys of taking the bus
-Build company moral

But instead they chose to fight it.
This is a perfect example of a company who is scared. They are scared of losing control and having proactive employees market the company. After all this employee is not paid to be a marketer, he is not restrained by any contract saying he can't say and do certain things, he is free to write whatever he likes. This is why personal blogs are so affective! People trust them.

When MarketR sets up Twitter accounts for companies, we make sure to set up a company account and personal accounts. Guess which accounts are more successful. Who wants to listen to the candy coated jargon a company spits out?

I love public transit. I think it is our responsibility to take public transit whenever possible. I do not like the company BC Transit.

The strategy to fight the internet has caused many more people to dislike BC Transit. Check out this forum about the incident. Now BC Transit has got people on other sites, that they have no control over, talking about how wrong the company is. They have got forums discussing the topic and how it was wrongful dismissal. Even worse they had over 100,000 people reading a front page story about the event.

Now they have something to fear. Why would anyone want to work for a company that mistreats their employees.

If you fight the internet, or put your head in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist, you will lose! I have seen it happen so many times, and it is not pretty.

If you have trouble embracing change, don't call MarketR, because we are change. Instead read the book, Who Moved My Cheese.

PR 2.0

As noted in a previous post, MarketR worked with Toni&Guy Vancouver to deliver an incredibly successful Fashion event on Thursday February 5th 2009. This post will explain why the event was so successful and how you can achieve the same success at your next event.

Step 1: Develop A Strong Theme
The reason for the show was that Toni&Guy had been in Vancouver for 10 years. Toni&Guy wanted to celebrate with a fashion show. This did not mean the theme of the show had to be about the 10 years in Vancouver. Instead, the MarketR team and Toni&Guy felt it would be more exciting to highlight fashion from revolutionary times in history. The show would highlight periods involving industrial, sexual and art revolutions. To end the show Toni&Guy Vancouver would show off their creative skills by delivering a collection inspired by the revolution happening right now. The show was named W.A.R. - WorldArtRevolution.

The theme was controversial, it got peoples attention and more importantly it was inspiring.

Step 2: Continuity
MarketR made sure that everything about the show revolved around the theme.

-Posters, tickets, flyers,

-The Venue: The Penthouse Night Club was chosen as the venue for the show. This venue was chosen because of the historical significance to Vancouver and it fitted perfectly with the theme of the show. The MarketR team decided to add a touch of Toni&Guy to the venue: Toni&Guy videos were projected onto the building, a red carpet and planters were set up at the main entrance, all inappropriate pictures were removed or covered with Toni&Guy images and a runway was set up.
-The Media and Press Packs

To fit the theme of the show all media and press packs were hand delivered in document envelopes marked "Top Secret." Envelopes were personally addressed and labeled with a return address and a Toni&Guy stamp. Inside the envelopes was a press-release, a personal letter inviting them to the show + a guest, a letter indicating that a donation in their name had been made to Beauty Night for the enclosed tickets and a mini poster to put up in his/her office.

Step 3: Use The Most Powerful Tool Your Company Has, The Internet.
Because Toni&Guy Vancouver has been a client for some time now, MarketR was able to leverage the blog, email newsletter, twitter account, Facebook marketing, and online contacts to take the fashion show one level above the rest.

-The Blog
MarketR set up a blog for Toni&Guy almost a year ago. Toni&Guy Vancouver Hair Salon Blog. The blog has been incredibly successful and is growing at an incredible rate.

MarketR constantly updated viewers with small bits of information as the event was being planned. When the team secured the venue or found a new act for the show, readers were the first to know. MarketR also developed a mini-site widget for the blog in order to create buzz. We gave away VIP tickets on the blog and had live picture updates on the day of the event.

-E-Mail Newsletter
MarketR has developed initiatives in order to build a strong client email list for Toni&Guy.

Updates regarding the show were sent on a weekly basis through email to a large client list. Chances to win VIP tickets, buzz about what would be in the gift bags and behind the scenes pictures created a feeling of engagement for clients before the event even started.

-Twitter
MarketR recently launched a twitter page for Toni&Guy and it has blown away expectations. We get reports daily about new people following the twitter page.

The twitter account kept followers updated about new blog posts. It was kept personal with updates such as "WHAT, one of the models is sick and is bailing out of the show!" When new door prizes were secured the twitter followers were first to know. Conversations with the Beauty Night were open for Twitter followers to see.

-Facebook
A Facebook page was created by Toni&Guy staff. This allowed viewers to see the Facebook page as a behind the scenes look of the show. Candid pictures and personal messages were posted here. MarketR stepped up the Facebook advertising during the run up to the show. This resulted in an increase of 40% in viewers to the blog site.

-Online Contacts
Probably the most important strategy in this whole campaign. MarketR built relationships with local blog writers and sent them invitations to the event. This started a chain reaction of blog posts about the show. Combined with all of the strategies above, the buzz began to grow quickly.

Vancouver.com
Style.by.fire.com
Miss 604
vancouver magazine
hummingbird604
Mall Vibes
canadianblogs.com
cosmetology association
Canada.com/North Shore News
and the list goes on...

The Result: Not only did the event raise $3,000 for the charity Beauty Night, but it created an incredible amount of buzz for Toni&Guy Vancouver.

By leveraging the power of the internet we were able to create a buzz before the event even started. Individuals were able to see the behind the scenes of the show and feel engaged in the event planning process. The internet was the reason why the event was so successful.

Look out for pictures, video and reviews to pop-up about the show next week, as MarketR circulates press packs about the shows success around the internet.

Call MarketR to plan your next event and see the result immediately.