What they did

Ford started out the campaign the same way as it did in 2009: by selecting 100 influencers who would each receive a free Ford Fiesta with covered gas and insurance costs. This time it would be for eight months instead of the original six. In addition to selecting just consumers, this time Ford also featured a few celebrities and some of the influencers who participated in the 2009 Fiesta Movement. Like the first time, the influencers participated in monthly challenges, but only a few involved the Fiesta. Monthly themes revolved around different aspects of the car’s appeal and personality. These included adventure, travel, tech, entertainment, healthy living, and social activism. The original content was then used for TV and online commercials, digital ads, social ads, and even print ads for an entire year. Ford curated all the user-generated content on a microsite at www.fiestamovement.com.

Why it worked

By not including the Fiesta in each challenge, Ford could subtly promote the vehicle without bashing consumers over the head with it, which ultimately leads to annoyance and inauthenticity. Scott Monty, global head of social media for Ford, told Forbes that based on the 2009 experience, the brand wanted to emphasize lifestyle elements “rather than be in your face about product features.” He also added that it’s a more powerful approach because when people buy cars, especially people in the Fiesta’s target demographic, they’re interested in what it can do to support their lifestyle and not so much about specific product features. A key tactic to support this strategy was calling for content that would make the users look “cool or funny by discovering a piece of content,” because consumers aren’t excited to just talk about product features.

Another lesson that Ford learned the first year they asked for user-generated content was that the professionals could only help so much. When something is truly user generated, they couldn’t polish it up too well or it would defeat the purpose. That’s why, the second time around, Ford took a step back in the production of the content. However, the influencers were all made aware of the messaging that aligns with the Ford Fiesta brand and values. In addition to the advantage of the content being more authentic because it isn’t overly produced, Ford also saved money on the production costs — a win-win situation.

Because Ford hadn’t sold as many Fiestas in 2009 as it had hoped, the 2013 campaign was supported by paid TV. Although the creative content was drawn from the user-generated material, the paid TV ads also had features messaging intended to drive consumers to the showroom to make a purchase.

In the end, the 2013 campaign was another success. YouTube brand management software Octoly reports that the campaign earned 203 million organic views (versus only 21 million views of the Fiesta videos on its official channels).

What they did

The Do Us a Flavor campaign had a highly successful run in the U.K. where many people submitted ideas by mail. In 2012, Do Us a Flavor came to the United States, and instead of mailing in ideas, Americans would use the power of social media to make submissions. The campaign involved an online app that lived on a Lay’s microsite (see Figure 18-1 for a screenshot of the microsite). Participants would go to the site to name their flavor, choose the key ingredients, and then write a description or inspiration for the flavor. For those who needed a little push of inspiration, the app also had a Flavorizer component that featured celebrity chef Michael Simon. Chef Simon could recommend a flavor based on people’s Facebook profiles by aggregating their posts and photos to give a personalized expert recommendation.

Strategic Facebook sponsored posts also told people if their friends were submitting flavors. Lay’s own Facebook page was also full of posts about the contest. The first U.S. campaign was such a success that Lay’s brought it back in 2014. This time, the campaign involved all other social channels, such as Twitter and YouTube, and participants could make submissions via mobile as well.

Why it worked

People wanted to share their creations. Not only was it a fun, creative idea without too much production involved, but the winning idea would also take home a $1 million grand prize and, of course, endless bragging rights. And because so much of the promotion was organic word of mouth, from friends’ newsfeeds and posts, the campaign caught on and spread rapidly.

The U.S. campaign had 3.8 million submissions total, with 955 million organic story impressions, according to media agency OMD. Following the campaign, Lay’s gained 1.2 million new social fans, tripling its original fan base. The number of people talking about Lay’s, or PTAT (people talking about this), increased by 4,700 percent. Lay’s as a brand earned 1.26 billion PR impressions. All this resulted in a 12 percent increase in sales. As a result of this campaign, Lay’s was also able to gather a plethora of consumer insights. For example, 7,200 like the color red in their flavor names as opposed to the 3 who liked beige.

The first U.S. campaign resulted in three finalists: Lay’s Cheesy Garlic Bread, Lay’s Chicken and Waffles, and Lay’s Sriracha. All three of these flavors made it to store shelves, with one (Lay’s Cheesy Garlic Bread) being crowned as the ultimate winner. This engaged an even wider audience because, even if you hadn’t submitted an idea or voted online, anyone could now go into the stores, pick up one of the limited-time flavors, and have a say in which one was going to stay for good.

This campaign worked so well because it harnessed the influence of everyday consumers, and the marketing grew organically out of that. It was a brilliant idea that everyone could relate to, and there were multiple ways to participate. From submitting an idea, to voting online, to purchasing and trying the flavors, people could engage at all levels. Each of these opportunities was another chance to get buzz about the campaign, and it drove the exact results that Lay’s had wanted.

What they did

Using Snapchat with the name HeinekenSnapWho, Heineken engaged with fans by teasing out live mashups of the performances happening at the Heineken House. Those who added the Heineken user received a prompt to reply back with their birth dates, to confirm that they were at last 21 years old. Once confirmed, users could see Heineken’s clues about what surprise guests would be performing in the Heineken tent. If fans sent back a correct guess, they would get a preview of when that performance would be happening, and subsequently, know when to head over to the Heineken House because the surprises were not announced on an official lineup.

In addition to having surprise guests at the Heineken House, there was also a World Fusion bar at which mixologists infused different herbs into Heineken, creating exclusive drinks for fans. L.A.-based chef and former music producer Mark Trombino also served artist-inspired doughnuts. Even more, an artist in the house created live art inspired by fans’ Instagram photos tagged #HeinekenHouse.

Why it worked

Heineken is the first beer brand to leverage Snapchat, paving the way for marketers in their category on the platform. Eric Steele, creative director at Wieden + Kennedy (the ad agency that worked on the campaign) told Time that “When you’re at a music festival like Coachella, a lot of people are kind of fueling the rumor mill of who’s going to show up, who’s going to be the surprise act.” Heineken’s marketing strategy was deliberate in placing the brand into that conversation. Moreover, because the campaign required consumers to respond with guesses, there was a high level of natural engagement built into the campaign. In addition, the campaign offered exclusive content, which is always something buzz-worthy and sought after when there is a crowd of close to 100,000 people at the same event.

During a time when brands are still trying to figure out how to use Snapchat as a marketing platform, Heineken was able to successfully leverage the social channel to engage its target audience. As a result, Heineken is setting industry standards and recognized as being at the forefront of innovative social marketing.

What they did

Shot@Life describes Blogust as “A month-long digital dialogue, bringing more than 25 of the most beloved online writers, photo, and video bloggers and Shot@Life champions together to help change the world through their words and imagery.”

Blogust started in 2012 during the Mom 2.0 Summit, when Liz Gumbinner of Mom 101 said, “Comments are our currency.” It was from that that Blogust was born, and now it happens every August (BloGUST like AuGUST). Shot@Life wanted to bring together some of the world’s top influencers who cared about the issue of vaccines for children around the world.

For each day during the event, Blogust shares a personal story about Happy and Healthy Firsts. The Blogust contributors participate in a blog relay, with one blogger posting each day and then a Shot@Life champion posting each Saturday of the month. Every time someone comments on a Blogust post, Walgreens provides a life-saving vaccine (up to 60,000) to children in need around the world.

Why it worked

Thirty-one bloggers participated in the first event in August 2012. Comments on the Blogust posts unlocked donations that helped save more than 11,000 lives. The participants and influencers commented and shared enough to donate 36,000 vaccines. Walgreens has also been increasing pledge of donations each year, with the most recent goal of 60,000 donated vaccines.

The event was such a success and for a good cause that it’s now an annual event. It’s extremely easy to participate in — all someone has to do is comment or share in order to give a child a life-saving vaccination, so why would anyone not want to participate? The official hashtag is now #Blogust across all social platforms. The ease of participation coupled with the feel-good factor people get when they’re saving a life is unparalleled. And participants can even comment and share each day to keep giving vaccinations.

The campaign is inspiring while simultaneously raising awareness about the need for childhood vaccines. It puts the power in the hands of the people to help those in need, without having to spend a lot of time, money, or even effort to make a big impact. For those reasons, Blogust has been the success it is and has potential to grow year after year.

What they did

The #LikeAGirl campaign kicked off with a video (see Figure 18-3) that recruited boys and post-adolescent women to run, throw, and fight “like a girl.” Then the clip cuts to the reactions of young girls answering the same prompt. The difference was clear. Whereas the young girls embraced the idea of “like a girl” as strong and empowering, the others perceived it as an insult. In its ad, Always reports that a girl’s self-confidence plummets during puberty. According to Leo Burnett, the ad agency behind the campaign, only 19 percent of women have a positive association with the expression “like a girl.” This campaign was designed “as a stirring rally cry to reverse this connotation and champion girls’ confidence.”

The #LikeAGirl campaign asked women to share on social media something they proudly do with the hashtag “LikeAGirl” to change the negative perception of the phrase.

Why it worked

This was not just another campaign; this was also a social experiment. The target audience spoke to at least, but likely more than, half the population.

The message was extremely poignant because it pointed out a society-wide issue and asked for a society-wide attitude change. It was a change that many people could feel good standing behind, and it was something girls and women of all ages could relate to. It also had a call to action for everyday consumers to join in the movement on social media. The power of social media and influence today allows for a movement like this to be possible across states and even countries.

The original #LikeAGirl YouTube video earned more than 58 million views. The first video was released in June 2014; another was released in July 2015. As of August 2015, the video has garnered almost 38 million views. Not only is it one of the highest-awarded campaigns in the advertising and marketing space, but it has generated a tremendous amount of conversation about the topic and, naturally, the brand. Always and parent company Procter & Gamble have earned invaluable positive public sentiment and media attention as a result of this well-executed marketing campaign.