I promised you a couple weeks ago that in 2010 I would focus on social media integration and real business. Well, I’m starting a little early.
Trident has released a new gum called Trident layers, which appears to be some sort of neapolitan ice cream-type multi-flavor concoction. (Personally, I’m okay with my gum tasting like just one thing, but perhaps I’m not hip enough for today’s confectionary trends).
Last Friday (December 18, 2009) Trident ran this full-page ad in USA Today, which was comprised entirely of actual tweets from real, uncompensated fans of the new gum. The brand found the tweets using Twitter search, and approached each person with gum coupons in exchange for featuring their 140-character love notes in the ad.
The ad asks readers to visit the brand on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/tridentlayers. I’m not sure that particular tactic was successful, as the account has just 190 followers (a far cry from USA Today’s 1+ million readership).
I might have preferred the call to action be to visit Trident on Facebook, where they have more than 250,000 fans, and are using a nifty coupon app to give you 75 cents off your first pack of the new gum.
The ad also includes a QR code in the bottom left (which I snapped with my nifty Microsoft tag reader). Doing so also takes you to the Twitter account. Handy if you’re reading the newspaper without Internet access nearby, and it also provides another tracking mechanism for the brand. (Note: I’ll be writing more about it next year, but marketers really need to get ready for QR codes. It’s going to be BIG and soon).
Overall, I love this effort. It’s a great example of taking a traditional tactic and making it social, instead of using social as a separate, magical silo.
If you see other examples of social media and print convergence, let me know will ya?
Meanwhile, what do you think of this campaign? Innovative, or much ado about nothing? And if you’ve tried this three-layer gum, drop a comment please. I’m curious.
I think this is a great example of social media integration with traditional media. Trident knows that a full-page ad is going to get people’s attention, but they also realize that the impact of that ad will be almost impossible to track with some tie to the web.
Leveraging real comments from users (and promoting access to more of them via the Twitter account) is a brilliant use of crowdsourcing content. Can you imagine how long the marketing team could have labored over convincing copy for that ad?
With Google leading the QR code charge, I think you’re right in saying that these 2D interactive bar codes need to be on the radars of marketers.
.-= Mike Templeton´s last blog ..Twitter Continues Making Headway With Businesses =-.
I agree Mike. I think using real tweets is very compelling, although the ad layout doesn’t “feel” particularly authentic. Thanks very much for the comment.
Jay
I appreciate their efforts to bring social media to traditional adv and really applaud them for taking the step. Unfortunately they failed as someone did not take into account the had so few followers on twitter. I am guessing they wanted to increase that or did the agency not know they had so few? There is a disconnect here.
What is interesting here is that generally we scream that it is not about the followers in twitter but in this case it is. If they had more followers the ad and its contents would have more credibility and thousand of bloggers would have blogged about the success of the ad and not that hey they ran a full page ad that had tweets in it. They missed the boat here and did not give enough weight to the other social media channels/tools.
I am a one flavor of gum kinda person too.
Look forward to the QR code blog next year.
Suzanne
Hi Suzanne. As Karthik states below, it’s of course not all about the follower count, but it does feel a little slight when you click through and see that number. Can’t avoid it.
I concur that blogger outreach should have been done before the ad ran, instead of after (I was tipped off by someone working on the program). Thanks for the comment.
Love this approach and I don’t see an issue with ‘just 190 followers’. It was always about what those 190 people are saying about your brand and how often they’re saying it – than then number of people who are saying anything. I do understand that Trident is a mass-market brand and need numbers – but that’s for sales.
Remember, it is also an extremely low-involvement brand – I mean what does one expect a user of Trident to say…it costs pittance and you forget all about it to the extent that it becomes a commodity. So, if they’re trying to get people talking in such innovative ways – more power to them!
But Jay, you’re absolutely right about having a ‘call to action’ – add an activity to that – this process would help Trident identify the number of people who have come from the print ad and those people may be worth deeper engagement because they’ve chosen to perform something…mentioned on print, into the digital sphere.
Really good point about being a low involvement brand. Gum (even three layer gum) is still gum. I like the QR code as mentioned, but since you can’t track visits to twitter.com/tridentlayers (unless they have some sort of Twitter analytics I don’t know about), measuring success of this is going to be a challenge. Great comment, thanks very much.
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Admire Trident’s approach in integrating social media & print ads; commented too. [link to post] /by @jaybaer
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Thanks for this example. I’m not sure I am wowed by the effort but it is helpful to look at these early efforts. Keep the examples coming!!
I absolutely will Joanne, and if you see some social media integration examples in the wild, please let me know.
At the risk of getting into tactics and going too granular, I think the print ad could have upped its “compelling” factor by featuring the avatars and Twitter handles of those persons who tweeted. The variety of backgrounds and personalities could have helped illustrate some of the gum’s appeal to its audiences, and it would suggest community a little more over brand (self)-serving purposes. But I agree, an intriguing first start.
.-= Heather Rast´s last blog ..Trust: Can’t Have A Customer Relationship Without It =-.
Damn, you’re always so smart. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that, but I didn’t. I agree, having the avatars would have made it more interesting visually and would have made it feel more genuine. Would have taken away from the hero shot thought, I suppose.
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Interesting article discussing integrating social media with advertising (via @jaybaer)…[link to post])
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Interesting… good first step but hope brands will move farther into total integration vs just bolting SocMe into traditional ads.
Like you, I think 2010 will be the year… but I’m wondering if to really integrate SocMe with Adv you have to fundamentally rethink the role and goal of your adv campaign. Whereas we used to advertise to drive sales, maybe today the role of advertising is to instigate conversations? What’cha think Jay?
@TomMartin
.-= Tom Martin´s last blog ..I Was Wrong. =-.
I concur. I see social media as the backstop to traditional advertising. Whereas you used to drive ad viewers to retail, and then to the Web, now you’ll drive them to social media. Creating a unified experience where the ad can generate interest, and social media can convert interest into action (soft lead), which leads to a sale, is how I see this funnel developing. In some ways then, social media is taking the place of email newsletter – which used to handle a lot of the soft lead/nurturing duties.
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Love @JayBaer’s comments on QR Codes: “It’s going to be BIG and soon” [link to post]
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I absolutely think the print ad was an interesting example of good media integration. Again though, just sending people to Twitter without giving something in return won’t generate much excitement…Are they planning on continuing this campaign with updated Tweets?
Haven’t tried the gum, but it reminds me of that gum that Willy Wonka made that has the flavors of a three course meal in every stick.
.-= Cheryl Andonian´s last blog ..Happy Holidays =-.
I was thinking the same thing! This is straight out of Wonka. I’ve got to go get some of this gum and check it out (see, it’s working).
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RT @jasonpinto: Love @JayBaer’s comments on QR Codes: “It’s going to be BIG and soon” [link to post]
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CASE STUDY – Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads [link to post]
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Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads [link to post]
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nice piece of integration between social media and print advertising. some great suggestions on how to improve the process [link to post]
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interesting campaign by Trident [link to post]
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RT @edlee: nice piece of integration b/w social media & print advertising. some great suggestions on how to improve.. [link to post]
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Nicely done Trident RT @jaybaer Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads | | Social Media – Convince & Convert [link to post]
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RT @jaybaer Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads | | Social Media Consulting – Convince & Convert [link to post]
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Real time consumer feedback for ad purposes. Nice
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RT @jaybaer Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads [link to post]
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Interesting example of corp media integration RT @jaybaer Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads [link to post]
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RT @kathysacks: RT @jaybaer Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads [link to post]
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Excellent multi-channel marketing integration! RT @jaybaer Trident Integrates Social Media/QR Code with Print Ads [link to post]
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print ads go digital [link to post] (via @minervity) #trident
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RT @conradlisco: Trident blends social and print advertising [link to post] /via @rnadworny
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Jay,
Interesting to me, while this is a good idea, it seems a little too much about applying outbound offline tactics to online social environments. Its acknowledging the community, true and involves them, true, but it seems tactical. I try not to promote my own clients in a situation like this, but I’m compelled to call your attention to Panera Bread http://bit.ly/8UKLkl, a brand that has 150,000 + fans on Facebook and and active Twitter stream. If you check out the link above you’ll see an idea where there was a print ad suggesting rivals around the world who need to break bread, everyone form Tiger and Elin to the PC and Mac guys, to heads of state. What made it work so much better were these two things. One, Panera is a social brand to begin with; its cafes welcome people to hangout and connect. And two, the ad was in and of itself social, both in its message and in it purpose of stimulating conversation. Too many brands are jumping on the social media bandwagon for SM sake itself with no real social strategy or commitment. In the future the brands that are really successful will be the brands that learn to *be* social not the brands that learn to *do* social. Great that you are on to this subject. As you know, I write a talk a lot about how social media will, in fact, need more creativity, not just conversation.
.-= Edward Boches´s last blog ..Can Pepsi buy its way into community and social media? =-.
Hi Edward. Thanks so much for the comment. Honored to have you here (readers, you need to subscribe to Edward’s blog).
I LOVE the Panera example. Very nicely done. I agree that the ad being ABOUT conversation makes the Panera ad ring more authentic. I’m not sure that Panera being a cafe matters as much, and I’d say Panera has an additional advantage of having been around a bit with its social outposts.
Trident is a little different because it’s a launch. No history of this gum on Twitter or Facebook, so that cold start makes it a bit tougher. Maybe they would have been better off to try this after the gum had been out for a while? Of course that doesn’t fit very neatly into the rollout strategy.
And as to creativity, you’re dead on, as usual. If this Trident ad didn’t include actual tweets, I daresay we wouldn’t be talking about it. As an ad, it’s okay. As a first step, and a marker for what’s to come (hopefully), it kicks ass.
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@jaybaer, good post and Q on trident, [link to post], left you a long comment about another example from panera [link to post]
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Saw this in Sunday’s time. It’s the way forward. RT @conradlisco: Trident blends social and print advertising [link to post]
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Trident Layers uses Tweets in new print ad [link to post]
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Trident blends social and print advertising [link to post]
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I just read this post by @jaybaer —> “Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads” [link to post]
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Nice integrated print/Twitter campaign from Trident: [link to post]
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RT @maggiefox: Nice integrated print/Twitter campaign from Trident: [link to post]
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@jaybaer, clever Trident ad but it’s really just a modern take on 3 out of 4 dentists recommend… [link to post]
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Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads (via @JayBaer) [link to post]
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RT @JoshSPeters: Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads (via @JayBaer) [link to post]
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RT @larrybrauner: Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads [link to post] Great example of offline-online/Twitter integration
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Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads [link to post] Great example of offline-online/Twitter integration
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Interesting article discussing integrating social media with advertising [link to post] @jaybaer @tridentlayers
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Trident blends social with traditional for the perfect marketing mix: [link to post]
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Trident blends social and print advertising: [link to post]
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Great example of social media integration with traditional media – [link to post] @jaybaer #qrcodes #qrcode
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RT @johnfoleyjr: Great example of social media integration with traditional media – [link to post] @jaybaer #qrcodes
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RT @johnfoleyjr: Great example of social media integration with traditional media – [link to post] @jaybaer #qrcodes #qrcode
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Trident as another successful Social Media study case: Trident Social Media Integration with Print Ads [link to post]
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Trident integra su estrategia impresa con redes sociales #twitter #wikot http://ow.ly/QryA
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Innovative Multi-channel, authentic Tweet Advertising RT @jaybaer Trident Gum Marketing Social Media with Print Ads [link to post]
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RT @tweetmeme Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads | | Social Media Consulting – Convince & Convert [link to post]
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Mais uma marca 2.0: Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads | | Social Media Consulting – Convince & Convert [link to post]
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[link to post]
Trident Integrates Social Media with Print Ads | | Social Media Consulting – Convince & Convert
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