Presentation from Sharpie's Susan Wassel (PR Manager, Sanford Brands/Newell Rubbermaid) for the 4/21/09 GasPedal conference call on learning social media & word of mouth. Learn more at http://gaspedal.com.
1. Sharpie & Social Media
November 2008 – April 2009
Susan Wassel
susan.wassel@sanford.com
2. 2
Sharpie Situation
SHOW INSPIRING NEW WAYS TO USE SHARPIE MARKERS
Showcase
breadth of
existing
portfolio
Introduce
new
products
INCREASE PORTFOLIO RELEVANCE
3. 3
Leverage power of social media to showcase
new and existing Sharpie products
What We Did
The Social Media Landscape
▪ You Tube ranked #2 search engine (Google #1)
▪ 30 mm photos uploaded on Facebook daily
▪ 640% Twitter growth since November 2007
▪ 4 out of 5 bloggers post product reviews
Three in four US online adults now use social tools to
connect with each other compared with just 56% in 2007
500 fastest growing companies in the US were all reported
to have presence in online social sites in 2008
8. 8
Social Media – Rules of Engagement
Listen to the conversation online
Engage with consumers and online influencers
Participate in the conversation already taking place
9. 9
Listening: “Research”
Informally identified
Sharpie groups on
Facebook, YouTube, Flickr
Did not do any
“conversation mining” to
determine what was being
said about Sharpie online.
Believed most/all was
positive
Conclusion: Sharpie is
being talked about – let’s
join the conversation
11. 11
Sharpie Blog http://blog.sharpie.com
The Plan
Showcase content from real users to inspire and encourage use
Build community of Sharpie users, advocates
Give Sharpie brand a “human” voice
Celebrate Sharpie fanatics
Who are they:
Passionate “über users”
How they use Sharpie
and what they have
to say about the
product is inspiring
23. 23
zapposi was just admiring the stainless
steel sharpie the other day, someone
sent me a pic of it :)6:06 PM Feb 18th
Zappos CEO – one of the most talked about and
followed Twitterers – 130,000 followers
Highly Engaged Tweeters
25. 25
mike_miley@sharpiesusan thanks for the
Sharpie Pen which is key to my current
training. http://twitpic.com/1jy5r9:23 AM Feb
18th from Tweetie in reply to sharpiesusan
Apple Computer Trainer
Highly Engaged
26. 26
roogie@sharpiesusan Here is how
we use Sharpies at a large Freight
company, to ID the direction of
trailer leg cranks!
http://twitpic.com/1lhqb
Fed Ex Trucker
Highly Engaged
28. 28
Highly Engaged Celebrities ; )
» JanefondaPlease reach out to
@keyinfluencer. That would be great. I
appreciate you sending me tweet8:11 PM
Mar 3rd
45. 45
What We Accomplished
60,000 blog visits since October 2008
1,600 Twitter followers
90 Google Friends
40,000 You Tube Visits (Becks video)
Traditional Media Impressions > 1mm
ALL WITHOUT
Traditional communications support
Budget!
46. 46
What We Learned
Social media lets you talk direct to consumer with product news
The more you can talk, the more consumers you can engage
Soft sell
Social media builds relationships – loyalty, advocacy, ambassadors,
friends
Supports Sharpie biz objective:
Expose people to the full breadth of Sharpie’s portfolio
Share creative ways to use the product
Have fun, be real while doing it
47. 47
Need to Better Define, Understand Measurement and
Business Impact
48. 48
Applying the Learning
Social media is an opportunity that can be leveraged by many of our
brands:
EXPO, Prismacolor, Paper Mate, for starters
Education is key:
Educate and empower other brands to engage in social media
Brand passion is key
Minimal hard cost investment / intensive human resource
Human resource: avg. 10 hrs/week – plus OT!
Opportunity to engage consumers and build loyalty over time
Long-term proposition – SM not going away
▪ Pave path for receptivity to any branded message
49. 49
Social Media is Global – Sharpie is Global
Social media will play a large part in our brand building efforts
globally
Asia Pacific will account for 35% of global social networking
users by the end of this year, followed by Europe, the Middle
East and Africa with 28%, North America 25%, and the
Caribbean and Latin America 12%.
Need to understand and activate now in key regions
50. 50
millic @sharpiesusan I ordered some
personalized Sharpies today for my chef
husband!! 25 minutes ago from web
in reply to sharpiesusan
millic @sharpiesusan I DID! because I saw
you Tweet about it. Chefs LOVE Sharpies,
in the kitchen. I liked fun colors, but he
likes black 19 minutes ago from web
in reply to sharpiesusan
Social Media Sells Sharpies
51. 51
…and a few more
thanks for the customized sharpie idea
- we're giving out 750 of them.
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-
deals/908761/ :)
troy redington / troyredington 1mm monthly visitors