How to Turn Brand Awareness into Consumer Action
Aka: How we helped Persil ProClean amplify their reach for the 2017 Super Bowl
What was the challenge?
Our client wanted to use social media to reach as many people as possible during the 2017 Super Bowl. As a relatively new laundry detergent in the U.S., Persil was running a Super Bowl commercial primarily to help increase brand awareness. Yet to us, there is using social media to simply spread a message, then there is using social media to connect with people. It was up to us to take the challenge further than increase brand awareness and “be active online”. Instead, we wanted to use social media to get people to take action and show ROI.
How does social media fit in?
The Super Bowl has become iconic to consumers for three things: the game itself, the halftime show, and the commercials. Yet on the brand side, the Super Bowl is to marketers what tax season is to accountants: a flurry of activity, late nights, and constant tinkering and checking to make sure that when the big day happens, our investments of time and resources produce results.
Yet even the most inspiring, clever, funny, or emotional commercials leave a gap in getting consumers to engage with the company, and that is where using social media comes into play. 27.6 million tweets were posted about the 2017 Super Bowl (TechCrunch), so if a brand wanted to make sure their message was heard, getting online was key. We knew that our target audience was already on social media and seeking inspiration for their Super Bowl parties. We started our conversations about the Super Bowl a month prior to give them the tools to have a successful party. But for us, social media was more than just a way to engage with consumers, but became our best chance to influence behavior. This is because we gave consumers what B.J. Fogg refers to as the “ability to act”.
How do you influence action in consumers?
B.J. Fogg, the founder of Stanford’s Persuasive Technology Lab, created the following behavior model to describe how behavior occurs and therefore how to change behavior:
The theory behind the model is that every person’s behavior has to do with the presence of three variables: motivation, ability, and a trigger.
- Motivation: the sensation we get from something, anticipation for something, or sense of belonging to something (ex: going to a comedy show because it provides the sensation of laughter).
- Ability: how simple it is for someone to engage in the behavior at a particular moment of time (ex: you can actually find a new restaurant on a map, instead of hoping you stumble on to it).
- Trigger: the specific prompt or call to actions that must be present to get someone to act (ex: “Call your local dealership today”, “in theaters now”, “share this to win”).
If the story in the commercial works and the audience laughs, cries, or gets inspired, then they are motivated to engage with the brand. If the audience is motivated, then often the commercial can act as the trigger by showing that the item is available for purchase. What often ends up missing, particularly during the couch-and-snack filled Super Bowl Sunday, is the ability to act on the offerings that the commercials present. This is where social media can become a boon to brands. By being active online during the game, whether it is by commenting on the game or boosting existing content, brands can move from the television screen to the phone screen of potential new customers.
So, what was our solution?
By understanding the needs and expectations of our target audience (moms), we created and promote useful content on social channels, which increased interactions with the brand prior to the airing of the commercial. The content took the form of short videos and printable downloads related to the Super Bowl, meeting the needs of moms working to keep the party going. Both the content and commercial drove traffic to our landing page where visitors could request a free sample of Persil detergent.
In creating a landing page that allowed people to get a free sample, we created a middle step between the Super Bowl commercial and the purchase of Persil Proclean. This gave consumers the ability to engage with the brand, after they had the motivation (an engaging commercial) and a trigger (“try it now”).
What were the results?
Through the creation of the content and landing page, we were able to dramatically amplify Persil’s reach online. In fact, we were able to generate:
150,000 requests for samples of Persil
+62.41% improvement in CPM (from the year prior)
+3000% increase in web traffic (from the year prior)
Super Bowl commercials have always been a high-cost, high-risk, but potentially very high-reward endeavors. Yet by leveraging social media and making sure that we gave our customers the ability to immediately engage with Persil, we were able to strengthen their reach and create value for their customers on the day of the Big Game.
