Sharpie Challenges Consumers Online

Oak Brook, Ill. — Newell Rubbermaid used a one-day YouTube “takeover” as a key tactic in its back-to-school program for Sharpie markers. The company says its post-campaign analytics suggest brand engagement is deepest when traditional marketing ties in with and is brought to life by digital and social media components.Sharpie staged the takeover of YouTube’s home page on Aug. 27 as a means of showcasing consumer-generated artwork made with Sharpie markers and pens. Teen-targeted banner ads on Hulu, Facebook, MTV, AOL and Alloy (a fashion and celebrity gossip site) encouraged participation and drove consumers to Sharpie.com and YouTube. Thousands of individual submissions were combined into a pixilated, interactive mosaic.The ad, designed and produced by the Chicago agency Draftfcb, racked up 62 million impressions in a single day, compared to the industry average of 50 million for YouTube’s home page. That same day, traffic to Sharpie.com spiked at 72,000 visits, roughly seven times more than typical campaign traffic, and Sharpie’s Facebook page received 11,508 new “likes” – a single-day high – to bring the total Facebook fan base to more than 2 million the day after the takeover. On Twitter, Sharpie gained 6,000 followers in the week leading up to the takeover. The newest data released in October shows a 12% increase in Facebook “likes” between July 4 and Sept. 29. Sharpie’s Twitter following increased by 471% in the same period.“I think of social and digital as a lifeline to our fans,” says Sally Grimes, vice president of marketing for Newell’s office products division, adding that digital accounts for 25% of the Sharpie brand’s marketing budget.The YouTube takeover was the splashy centerpiece of a “Start With Sharpie” campaign that combined digital and traditional elements: print ads with QR codes; TV; the brand’s first-ever cinema ads; a redesigned website; social media; new packaging; P-O-P; and new back-to-school and limited-edition products including five new Sharpie permanent marker colors chosen by Facebook fans.The campaign, which ran from June through September 2011, put fans and consumers at center stage. Previously, Sharpie had used celebrity endorsements in a move to capitalize on free publicity. Sharpie “first catapulted into the limelight because you’d open People magazine and see a celebrity with a Sharpie, signing autographs,” says Grimes.In June, Sharpie merged two sites, its product hub Sharpie.com and its community hub Sharpieuncapped.com, into one socially optimized destination (Sharpie.com) where users can create a profile, upload and share Sharpie projects, view how-to videos, and connect with the brand on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the Sharpie blog. From July 28 to Sept. 28, the revamped Sharpie.com saw a 250% increase in total page visits, outperforming each of the original online properties. From June to September, the Sharpie.com gallery of user-generated art saw a 175% increase in uploads compared to the same period in 2010.The new packaging – the first major redesign in more than a decade – is the result of 18 months of research and is insight-driven: Consumers aren’t using Sharpie products for strictly utilitarian purposes like labeling; they’re also using them as a means of creative self-expression. In addition, it wasn’t Sharpie’s distinctive black and red packaging that came to mind when consumers thought of the brand. Instead, “They thought of the iconic cigar-shaped markers and the multitude of colors” they come in, Grimes says.Sharpie made in-store elements “definitely a big part” of the campaign, focusing on educating and inspiring the consumer, Grimes says. Both the packaging and in-store materials offer assistance with product features and benefits, calling out suitable applications for a fine vs. an ultra-fine or chisel tip, Grimes says. In-store graphics also point shoppers to Sharpie.com. Cross-merchandising tactics placed Sharpie products next to school supplies like folders and book bags that could potentially become “blank canvases” for Sharpie art.

Sharpie Challenges Consumers Online

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