Seriously social, the power of social media

How does a brand launch a campaign that within a week has 56,000 people truly engaging with it and forming a mass of communities all eager to get involved? Through the super power of social media and the personal way it can communicate and strike an emotional cord with thousands, plus the rapid word of mouth and buzz it generates.

 

Here’s a look at how social media bought an online competition to life, gave it cult resonance and stopped it from becoming just another Facebook group that no one really cares about.

 

Back in November 3, the UK’s most sociable mobile network, launched its “Seriously Social” competition to find the UK’s most popular party planner through social networking giant Facebook.

 

The competition ran for only a week so needed a rapid burst of momentum. To kick-start entries, Amplify targeted a combination of blogs and super-influencers to seed the competition including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and party databases such as Tillate and 4Clubbers. Amplify also liaised with several key Student Unions and union personnel.

 

Entrants submitted details of their dream party and a shortlist of 25 wrote and posted their party manifesto on Facebook pages designed by digital agency, Glue. The party planner with the most people signed up as a fan of their party page by the end of the week was declared the winner and allocated the incredible £25k prize pot to turn their party idea into a reality.

 

The winner, Michael O’Shea, generated an outstanding 17,000 fans for his party via an intelligent use of social media. The theme for his party was The Great Gatsby. With such a great hook Michael cleverly targeted numerous Facebook groups with a link back to this theme. A promoter himself, Michael also tapped into his extensive online contacts list and party database to help make his campaign a phenomenal success.

 

The competition also struck a chord with Student Unions, who utilised all on and offline channels available to them to encourage support from their student or alumni entrant. 3 Seriously Social could be found on union home pages, in student e-mail inboxes and at student club nights via DJ shout outs.

 

As a result of this exposure to the competition, generated through word of mouth alone, an impressive 56,000 Face-bookers signed up to become fans of their favourite entrants party page and help them campaign to win.

 

The extensive online networks that entrants had access to helped them spread rapid word of mouth, creating a snowball effect of engagement and buzz. The responses they received showed a genuine desire to interact and get involved. The party planners formed their own communities and their fan pages got people talking about how to help win and shape their chosen party. Most importantly 3 was fully integrated within the campaign without losing an emotional connection and by being the facilitator of something believable and real.

 

Fans of Michael’s party can track plans online via his blog and a host of social media including Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, Bebo, Last.fm as well as getting involved themselves with daily polls for acts and tickets and watching the £25k spend-o-meter!

Become a fan of 3’s Seriously Social Party Competition on Facebook.

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