My brother just received his Droid Incredible in the mail. My mother just ordered the same phone on a shopping whim yesterday. I’m deprived of a smartphone for the time being.
Although I don’t own a smartphone, I am quite fond of some of the buzz-campaigns that cell phone carriers are rolling out to promote their new products. Yes, some newsworthy events (cough cough… Gizmodo “finding” the iPhone 4 at a bar) make their way into mainstream news outlets like the New York Times. But what about campaigns that do not necessarily make their way into newspapers and cable news networks.
An Image of the DroidLanding Twitter Page
Enter the “DroidLanding” scavenger hunt…facilitated on one medium: Twitter.
Verizon Wireless essentially played a game of hide and go-seek with customers across the nation. The company placed 21 Droid X phones in different locations across the U.S. prior to the phone’s launch date of July 15th.
Here’s an excerpt from a Verizon Wireless press release explaining the competition:
RVINE, Calif., July 13 /PRNewswire/ — Find the DROID X and it’s yours. That’s just what Todd Leykamp of North Hollywood did this Monday. Leykamp participated in Verizon Wireless’ nationwide scavenger hunt [and] got his hands on the company’s latest Android phone, the DROID X by Motorola, which is not available for purchase until this Thursday. The hunt was announced and executed on the company’s Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/droidlanding, which currently has over 22,000 followers. GPS coordinates were provided at 1:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon and participants inserted these coordinates into Google Maps to lead them to the DROID X’s destination - the famous Pink’s Hot Dogs in Hollywood, CA. Los Angeleswinner Todd Leykamp found the DROID X in 56 minutes!
Verizon, in my opinion, did a great job of targeting the early adopters of the new Android-based phone. The company captured an audience that new about the phone and its features, understood how to use Twitter as a news and information source, and, finally, move from an online social media space into the physical world.
The company took the campaign a step further than using one online outlet. Verizon taped DroidX searchers and interviewed them before uploading this footage to YouTube. Not only do the videos show the actual scavenger hunt, but they also reveal the reasons, such as new phone features, that drove Twitter followers to hunt for a phone.
What’s interesting about this campaign is that Verizon made use of two different social media outlets without promotion in mass media outlets. Additionally, the company integrated both outlets- Tweets about the YouTube videos and YouTube videos mentioning the Tweets. Unlike some companies that occasionally use Twitter and then let their stream die out, Verizon Wireless continued the life of the account after the hunt was over. Finally, the company produced a force of synergy between creative and media- the Tweets had a distinct “Droid” brand and voice while the actual placement provided an Out of Home experience.
The one point of criticism I have is that Verizon did not weave in its new brand, “Rule the Air”, into this promotional event. With such a brand in its infant stage (less than a few months old), I feel that sending an image separate from “Rule the Air” would diminish the power of the new brand. But I’m just a college student, so what do I actually know? Overall, I think Verizon made their mark in a positive fashion with avid Twitter users.
Now if only Apple could produce a similar campaign… hmmmm. I guess there’s not a large budget after providing free bumpers for all iPhone 4 customers.