For Social Media Campaigns: Dole Out Creativity, Not Cash

This week’s Mashable write-up on @EdgeShaveZone Anti-Irritation Campaign grabbed my attention from the moment I read its title: “Twitter + Random Acts of Kindness = A Successful Social Campaign.” It reminded me of Coke’s “Happiness Machine,” which we profile in The Dragonfly Effect.

In 2009, Coke was looking for a new way to connect to young consumers. They knew that spending on traditional media wasn’t unexpected enough to grab attention, so they needed to try something new. Just before final exams, Coke delivered a vending machine to a university cafeteria. But this was no ordinary vending machine: when a student paid for one Coke, she got ten, and others got special treats as well: flowers, a pizza, balloon animals, and even a ten-foot-long sandwich.

The students in the cafeteria were delighted by the surprises and as they shared the treats with fellow students, the good will was tangible. Coke posted the video (above) of the machine in action on YouTube and promoted it with a single tweet. Within two weeks, the video had been watched 2 million times. It concludes: where will happiness strike next?

Although traditional Coke ads would reach a larger audience, Coke’s initial data suggest that the Happiness Machine has had a much more meaningful impact with consumers. Coke spent less than $50,000 on the video and proved the power of surprise as a means to establishing a deep emotional connection.

Now, Edge is taking a similar approach: since September, 234 people have benefited from random acts of kindness from the @EdgeShaveZone Twitter account. As part of Edge’s Anti-Irritation Campaign, a team of two devotes its full-time efforts to seeking, responding to, and relieving irritation across Twitter, much of which is conveyed using Edge’s #soirritating hashtag.

The team has given out a good share of pricey prizes: iPads, game tickets, and even a MacBook Pro. But they’ve found that it’s the more creative responses that make their campaign memorable. “A lot of times we didn’t even have to give out prizes to solve irritations,” the campaign’s community manager Kevin DeStefan says. “We had one computer programmer, she tweeted us saying that it was so irritating that she was having to program for old browsers. And obviously we really couldn’t do much about that irritation, so we sent her a video of a dancing panda, and that made her day.”

In about three months, @EdgeShaveZone has gathered over 2,000 followers, the #soirritating hashtag has been used about 6,800 times, and has garnered attention from numerous media outlets. Why has this campaign created so much buzz? Because Edge is utilizing the four Design Principles of grabbing attention:

1. Personal: they respond to personal tweets with personalized responses.

2. Unexpected: Edge doesn’t respond to every tweet, and their responses aren’t always what you’d expect.

3. Visual: sending people videos and physical goods demonstrates that Edge wants to end irritation. They show, don’t tell.

4. Visceral: the Edge team is spreading happiness left and right.

Bottom line: when it comes to grabbing attention, don’t think you need to buy a Superbowl commercial or give away 100 iPads to get noticed. The social web is making it easier than ever to reach out and touch your target audience. With a little creativity, you can easily stand out from the crowd.

Please add to the discussion by sharing your examples of campaigns creating meaningful impact with their customers.