Wish You Were At Topshop

Last year (June 2011) Topshop launched its digital campaign for the summer. 

The Wish You Were At Topshop campaign is rather interesting because Topshop was the first in its industry to use Instagram.

THE CAMPAIGN

Client: Topshop

Agency: FreshNetworks

The campaign was mainly centred on the Instagram application for Ipad 2 and it linked experimental marketing with PR. 

Shoppers in the high street Topshops of London, Dublin, Liverpool, and Manchester had the chance to receive a free styling and make-up session. After getting all 'dolled-up', the shoppers were offered the opportunity to create a digital postcard with the Instagram application for Ipad2. Participants were then able to take the postcard home with them or upload it on their Facebook wall. A copy of the postcard also appeared on the Topshop gallery on the brand's website.

MY OPINION

I think this campaign was pretty smart. Nothing new in the experimental concept: we've seen free make-up sessions in Harrods, Selfridges, and other clothing shops before. However, the idea of linking this with the Instagram application was very clever (most of all at a time when Instagram was experiencing its boom). I believe audience participation is key to successful PR and digital campaigns. Moreover, I think experimental marketing can be very effective. Well done FreshNetworks.

Reverse Riots

After the London riots last year, 14 to 25 year-olds have become the age group holding the worst reputation in the UK. This is why vInspired, a youth volunteer charity, launched the Reverse Riots campaign.

Reverse Riots is a 'Do something campaign' and encourages young people to show the society that they contribute positively to society on social networking sites. The campaign uses celebrity endorsement, including Paloma Faith and Plan B. Audience participation is also a big part of the campaign. Youngsters from all over the UK are invited to take a picture of themselves holding a piece of paper in which they state how they positively contribute to their community, spread it online and use the hashtag #ReverseRiots on Twitter. 

Some lucky participants will have the chance to win a number of prizes or replace the Twitter profile picture of a celebrity on the London riots anniversary. 

MY OPINION

I think this social media campaign is very smart and I really like the audience participation factor. It seems like it will generate the media interest necessary to make it noticeable to traditional media and become mainstream news. 

Images from here.

Life. Live it.

There are a lot of smart and good campaigns launched by the Red Cross, many of which are focused on educating the target audience in order to empower it - a common strategy in health promotion.

Life. Live it. was launched in 2011 to educate children and teenagers the basics of first aid.

THE CAMPAIGN

The key message of the campaign is: some very easy procedures can save the life of a friend.

Tactics:

° A mini-website filled with resources that help teach children aged 5 to 11 some basic notions;

° A kit that teachers can  use to educate 11 to 16 year-olds;

° A Facebook page;

° A contest that gives the chance to win 1 to 3 'Pushover' frisbees signed by the Bombay Bicycle club. Contestants needed to share the Facebook status of the Facebook page;

° A Twitter account. 

MY OPINION

I believe this campaign has not much of creativity, but it is effective and to the point. Many health promotion or public information campaigns need to be direct and aim for concrete results. On the Facebook page you can read: 'if your friend had too much to drink and passed out - would you know what do to?' Simple and to the point, just like the campaign. 

#McFail - Beware of the Hashtag

From a brilliant example of PR to... a flop. Today I want to talk about the famous McFail.

(taken from here)

WHAT HAPPENED?

A few months ago (January 2012) the McDonald's started a 'hashtag campaign' on Twitter with the aim of generating some publicity and quality User Generated Content (UGC). They launched #McDStories and #MeetTheFarmers as promoted tweets.

It all started off pretty well with the McDonald's official account telling stories about the production of the burgers and cheese process... But soon enough Twitter users hijacked the hashtag and started tweeting disgusting stories and comments about past experiences at McDonald's.

                                                                 (taken from here)

(taken from here)

(taken from here)

(taken from here)

(taken from here)

Animal rights groups took the opportunity to share horrific images of McDonald's food.

The campaign lasted less than 2 hours. Rick Wion, social media director, had to call it off straight away.

WHAT WENT WRONG?

The social media team probably got stuck on the 'big idea', deciding to ignore the risks that it involved. The association between McDonald's and the word 'stories' was a dangerous one, and I refuse to believe that no one in the team raised their voice to question the campaign before the launch. With such a big name and a long history of complaints though, it was naive for the company to hope that it all would have worked out fine.

LESSON TO LEARN

UGC cannot be controlled on micro-blogging platforms such as Twitter. There is no chance for the companies to moderate the content and tone of what people think and publish. If you are really eager to launch a campaign that involves UGC, try to do it in a more controlled environment such as Facebook. There you can set your own rules before launching the campaign and then have the right to delete deleterious comments. Also, we must remember that the best UGC is usually spontaneous. If we try to force the public to write/talk about us, it can end very badly.