Advertising Case Studies

The below are actual posts to an automotive Facebook page…

On April 25 CUSTOMER X wrote:

“Over the weekend when we went to trade-in our 2002 Hyundai Accent that we purchased from DEALER in ‘09 we found out that DEALER had completely lied to us about the vehicle’s history and had shown us a fraudulent CarFax report. The car had been TOTALLED in 2003! We were told it had never been in an accident. The car was hardly worth anything for a trade-in and we’d had nothing but trouble with it the entire time we owned it. We had to replace the transmission TWICE and it still didn’t run right. We were ripped-off for thousands of dollars more than the car was worth. I’d never purchase a car that had been totaled. I’ll never buy another car from DEALER and will make sure everyone I know never does either. Will also be reporting DEALER to the BBB and the FTC.”

On May 11 CUSTOMER  X wrote:

“There’s no better testament to a company’s commitment to its customers than seeing how it reacts when faced with a complaint. I am happy to say that DEALER comes through in this respect. Over the past couple weeks I worked with GENREAL SALES MANGER and SALES MANAGER to address some issues I had with a vehicle I purchased, and both men were very courteous and seemed genuinely concerned with making sure I was taken care of. I am happy to say that a satisfying solution was reached and overall DEALER handled the situation in a professional manner. Thanks!”

Lesson learned:  You can’t control what people say about you, but you CAN control how your organization responds to negative feedback.

Diligence.  Speed.  Communication.  Resolution.  Those are the pillars of Reputation Management, a key component of our social marketing package.

In the above example, we identified a complaint on Facebook, notified the client, opened communication between the GM and the unhappy customer, and were able to facilitate a resolution that made both parties happy in just a few short days… BEFORE it turned into a problem.

Social Media Case Study – French Creek Outfitters

Social Media is of course here to stay. It represents a true fundamental shift in the way companies communicate with their customers.

French Creek Outfitters, for those not familiar with the brand, have been around since 1993. They have established themselves as a leading online and offline provider of a full line of sportsman gear, and feature thousands of different items in hunting, fishing, camping, athletics, hiking, paintball, clothing and footwear.

They have a very loyal following who by and large became loyal followers/patrons via traditional advertising mediums such as Print, TV, Radio and Direct Mail.

They came to Stream Companies because they recognized the need to have a Social Media presence; to have the ability to interact and engage with their customers in an online forum and reward them for their loyalty.

JUST THE FACTS…
“Consumers who actively engage with social media are more positive about their connections with brands: 35% of those who use social media say they believe ‘companies are genuinely interested them’ compared with just 16% of all consumers.” – Alterian Study

RISING TO THE CHALLENGE…
“We knew we needed to be more socially active with our current customer base as well as all potential new customers,” said Derek Freidland, Director of Marketing, FCO. “The need to engage in an online forum was readily apparent. We just weren’t sure how to go about it. That’s why we called on Stream Companies.”

Our challenge was clear. We needed to establish the aforementioned Social Media presence French Creek Outfitters sought. We needed to create a Social Media presence which would tell the world that they (French Creek Outfitters) are in fact “genuinely interested in them.”

We then needed to establish a following/liking of their Facebook Page. Furthermore, we needed to achieve a steady, ongoing, continued growth of followers/likes.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS…
The decision was made to take maximum advantage of the one Social Media application that…

• Has more than 400 million active users
• The average user has 130 friends
• People spend over 500 billion minutes per month on

The decision was made to design and develop a French Creek Outfitters Facebook Page.

SPREADING THE WORD…
Our next challenge was to promote the Page. After all, what good is it if no one knows about it?

So we set out to utilize ALL applicable mediums at our disposal to get the proverbial word out re: the French Creek Outfitters Facebook Page.

• First & foremost, we added a link to their Facebook page on their homepage. A relatively simple thing to do yet often overlooked.
• We created a series of geo-targeted Facebook Ads.
  • See above re: overlooked, simple
• We told their customers…
  • We created and blasted a series of emails to their database.
  • The direct approach works every time.
  • Tell those who are already customers/patrons of this exciting new way to interact with their favorite sportsman retailer
• We told the general public…
  • We featured a prominent reference to the Facebook Page as well as some of the benefits of “liking” them via all TV & Radio spots

THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING…
Still not quite sure what that means exactly but we can say the French Creek Outfitters Facebook Page has been a success.

How can we say that?

First, over 450 people “like” the page since its inception in November, 2009. Secondly, we have achieved the aforementioned steady, ongoing, continued growth of followers/likes – currently averaging between 3-5 new followers/likes a week.

Finally, we can call it a success by the amount of interaction as seen on the page between French Creek Outfitters, their fans and with each other via questions, wall posts and photos.

NEXT STEPS…
Our plan is to improve upon our success by creating new ways and taking full advantage of all new mediums at our disposal to get the proverbial word out re: the French Creek Outfitters Facebook Page.

Ours is not a “build it and they will come” world. On the contrary…We built it then it was our job to get them to come, and to keep coming… And that’s precisely what we’ve done AND will keep doing.

Scenario:
Transition current in-house advertising of Pennsylvania’s largest privately held automotive group to Stream Companies.

Objectives:

• Increase vehicle sales
• Create a standard operating procedure for 18 unique dealerships
• Bring accountability and tracking to a multi-million dollar ad budget
• Create an interactive marketing strategy, as well as continue print, radio, and television campaigns
• Build, launch, and maintain 45 plus websites

Solution:
Implementation of monthly, quarterly, and yearly processes brought stability to the advertising efforts of the entire organization. Diligent reporting and planning enabled better accountability and tracking of the advertising budget. A strong web presence was established where there was none, continuously maintained and positioned atop the most popular search engines. Each dealership and department was given its own website, constantly updated with new content.

Benefits:
Stream Companies was able to make an immediate sales impact, recording record months for various dealerships in the organization including Volkswagen, Hyundai, and Nissan during the worst automotive market in decades.

Words from the Client:

“I want to thank the entire Stream organization especially David & Jason for what they bring to the table.  I’ve never felt in my entire life in the automobile business that I really sat across from the table with people I believe are partners.  I feel as if they should share in our success as they guide us through the great maze of advertising as to how to spend our money and how to measure.” -Fred Beans

Scenario:
Bring mulch sales, very much a traditional physical marketplace, online.

Objectives:

• Increase mulch sales
• Develop an easy to use web platform where customers can shop, measure, and order mulch online
• Market the website GotMulchPA.com

Solution:
Design, development, and deployment of www.gotmulchpa.com, Mainline Garden’s online mulch super-center – the only website of it’s kind in the area.  Customers can use the site to research, measure, and shop Mainline Garden’s entire mulch inventory.  Turnaround time on the website was 30 days in order to meet the demands of the short mulch selling season.

Benefits:
Stream Companies was able to produce unheard of online pay per click conversion rates of 39.37% for Mainline Gardens.   The campaign yielded a cost of $3.54 per order with a 60 to 1 return on investment.

Words from the Client:
“The people at Stream are advertising guru’s.  They’ve not only revolutionized how to market a garden center… they’ve helped us make our business more efficient with business solutions that increase productivity and sales.“ - Jody Camp

Scenario:
Bring the highest possible level of exposure to Symphony Management Consulting at the HR2009 Tradeshow in Las Vega as premier sponsors of the show.

Objectives:

• Create a comprehensive tradeshow marketing plan, including pre- and post-show initiatives
• Design an eye catching, interactive tradeshow booth
• Get a positive response list to their private after party
• Gather as many leads as possible from their show and during their pre and post show advertising push

Solution:
Design and execution of the creative, project management and logistics for the tradeshow marketing campaign were handled by Stream Companies, including the giveaway of a 2009 SmartCar.  Open collaboration with the client helped create the successful theme “Bringing Harmony, Composition and Movement to The SAP HCM World.” Timely, well organized and boldly designed marketing pieces, including direct mail, booth design, video display, and online & email marketing Stream took the Symphony brand and put it in the spotlight for the HR2009 show while staying within their budget.

Benefits:
Symphony captured approximately 720 booth visitors contact information and about 20 solid leads at the trade show.  They’ve closed 1 definite sale from the event in excess of $300K with about a $50-$75k profit.   Web traffic visits increased by 16% during the 2 ½ months of the tradeshow campaign, compared to the previous 2 months.  Since the trade show, Symphony has increased account registrations, for email newsletters, webinars and whitepaper downloads by over 50% compared to the previous time frame.

Words from the Client:
“Thanks for all your help last week …you certainly took some of the stress off putting that booth together!! [at HR2009 in Las Vegas] I want to thank you and your team for the fantastic job you did….I can’t tell you the number of people that stopped by (both attendees and exhibitors) telling us how great our booth looked and how much we stood out from the crowd. We even had other exhibitors taking pictures of our booth to take home so they have some ideas for next year.”

Jill L. Hatton
Executive Vice President
Symphony Management Consulting