Many try, few succeed. I’m talking about successfully integrating mass media with social media. But it looks like Hardee’s might have found the sweet spot with their new “Name Our Holes” campaign.
Many of you probably know that Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr are basically the same company, but just called different names in different markets. I happen to live in a Carl’s Jr market, so I heard about this campaign from my friend Tim, who just happens to be the guy conducting the “consumer research” in the videos.
The whole thing works because it includes all of the necessary mass and social media elements
- The videos are edgy, funny and memorable.
- The TV spots encourage the consumer to get involved and contribute the the fun they’re seeing on TV at the website.
- The website does more than just repeat what consumers already saw online. It offers up a few extra “too edgy for TV” spots so that they can be spread around the web.
- The website allows consumers to participate at various levels of engagement. If you want to record a webcam video, you can. If you’re not that kind of person, you can do a write-in. And if you just want to watch and vote, you can do that too. Too many campaigns rely on getting super-engaged consumers to participate. The reality is that they’re aren’t too many of those out there.
- The website facilitates sharing. They make it easy to embed links, post them on Facebook or Tweet them.
- Then they figure out how to make even the lesser engaged consumers feel like they’re a part of the process by emailing them a custom video featuring their content! I’m not the type of person who records webcam stuff, but I did submit a name for their holes and found it to be pretty cool to see my name on their commercial.
- Most importantly, the whole campaign stimulates on and offline word-of-mouth. Yes, it’s cool for consumers to spread the videos around using social media platforms. But it’s even cooler when consumers talk about and recommend the brand because they came up with a funny name. Plus, Hardee’s really wins because they don’t even need to use the silly, sexual innuendo names.
- The campaign will continue to live when the TV commercials are long gone because Hardee’s gave consumers permission to call they whatever they want. A great example of letting consumer take control of the brand.
Nice work, Hardee’s. Really nice work. And I gotta say that my friend Tim’s great role as the straightman makes the videos even funnier.
Our dog and best friend, Brady Stewart, lost her fight against a nasty auto-immune disease called Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia today. IMHA is a terrible disease that is impossible to diagnose until it has already started destroying the dog’s blood and immune system.
Those of you who know me and my wife, Brenda, know that Brady was an amazing dog and a huge part of our personal and professional lives.
- Brady was an official mascot for the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas where Brenda created a patch program designed to teach the girls about proper pet care, the efforts of the Humane Society, and humane education. The program has helped over a hundred dogs get adopted from the San Antonio Humane society since 2003. The Brady’s Badge Patch can still be earned by Girls Scouts for performing education activities and community service on behalf of animals and animal serving agencies. The Badge is a picture of Brady’s likeness. Brady was adopted from the Bexar County SPCA Humane Society in San Antonio, Texas, where the Brady’s Day event was held annually by the Girls Scouts of Southwest Texas. For more information on the Brady’s Badge Patch Program, contact Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas Store or Resource Center at 210-349-2404.
- One night in 2004, Brady got a little crazier than usual after a bath and had a bad accident jumping off the bed. She broke a vertebrae in her spine and needed to have it surgically repaired. After the surgery, Brady was paralyzed in her back legs for over two months. The vets had all but written her off to be paralyzed the rest of her life, until one day, she wagged her tail. From there, Brady worked hard to eventually regain feeling and movement in her back legs. A year later, and after hundreds of hours of physical therapy (swimming, treadmills, acupuncture), Brady was back running and playing, with only a minor limp to show. She was a real testiment to fighting hard for those you love and never giving up.
- Brady was a fixture around the Flying Dog Brewery in Denver. She would often come to work with me and spend most of her day greeting visitors, following me around the brewery or sitting in meetings – but she spent most of her time sitting on my lap.
- Brady always welcomed new dogs into her home, especially those needing a home. Together, Brenda and Brady helped 3 stray dogs find homes and welcomed several temporary visitors.
- And all of this almost didn’t happen. Brady was about 2-3 weeks old when Animal Control found her roaming the streets of San Antonio. Luckily, some nice person from Animal Control, took her home and hand-fed her until she was strong enough to go over to the Humane Society to be adopted. Somehow, Brady always beat the odds.
The doctors at VCA Alameda East Vet Hospital, which is one of the country’s most respected veterinary clinics, said that Brady had some of the worst allergies they had ever seen. Considering the back surgery, rehab, allergies, and auto-immune disease, Brady was an incredibly tough dog. But more importantly, she was an incredibly special dog that made friends and fans out of everyone. She will be missed more than words can say. Brady was lucky to have dedicated and loving people in her life, including Dr. Carrie McLoughlin in San Antonio, and Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald at Alameda East. Their amazing efforts and compassion made our time with Brady so meaningful, and at the end of it all, Dr. Fitzgerald helped us, and Brady, through the most difficult fight yet. We are especially grateful.
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This video already has over a million views, so you might have seen it already – but here's my question. Where was the "tipping point" for attracting more people to dance? Hmmmm….
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Look, I love Johnny Cash too. But I'm sick of hipsters constantly playing Johnny on the jukebox because he was the original outlaw in "Outlaw County". Well, not so fast, my white belt wearing friends – check out this commercial from the early 90's.
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Pepsi is releasing a new flavor in their Sierra Mist family and has hired local reps to find influencer marketing opportunities. Their reps are out sourcing sampling opps that range from skateboard events to backyard BBQs.
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A great take from Ben McConnell on what promotes word of mouth – the good and the bad kind.
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Comic books, scrabble tournaments and visiting EVERY Starbucks in the world. Dos Equis got it all wrong, THIS IS THE MOST MOST INTERESTING MAN IN THE WORLD. (Found via Rob Walker's Murketing blog).
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AdAge covers 5 beverage brands that are aggressively growing in the down economy. What's the common thread between all of the brands? Sampling, influencer marketing and targeted sponsorships.
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Great blog post to use when you need to talk some sense it to co-workers about social media.
I love hearing stories about how people got a job or a new client in the marketing industry because almost every story is unique. It seems like whenever someone gets their dream job or client, the story includes a chance meeting, a connection through a long lost friend or a creative way to get the decision maker’s attention.
Those stories are entertaining, but not surprising because:
- More people than ever are looking for work or new clients and the competition is stiff.
- A simple resume just doesn’t do it anymore. If you’re playing the numbers game and just blasting out as many resumes as possible, you might as well be trying to contact the potential employer/client by way of telegraph.
- Potential employers don’t have time to read resumes. At best, they skim the resume for one or two key points. Potential clients aren’t even giving your self-promotion materials that much time.
I really like this story of a guy who tweeted his way into a job at CP+B. Alex Bogusky says in this piece that it was as simple as this guy getting their attention in a way that was consistent with his own personal brand. So in other words, this guy activated his job search as a very specific and niche marketing campaign.
Although this hasn’t resulted in a job, I found a guy named Brandon Doyle on Facebook who was looking for a very specific job with my current employer. He took a chance and used Facebook advertising to get my attention. Not that I pay attention to Facebook ads, but it caught my eye and I loved the fact that he found a different way to get our attention.
Those are two really creative and effective ways to get attention. If you’re looking for a new gig, what are you doing to get the attention of your dream employer in your job search?
