A leader in the science and engineering space, our client, The Chemours Company, has participated in the celebration of industry milestones such as #NationalChemistryWeek, STEM Day, and Nobel Prize Week since 2016. For the last three years, we have analyzed high-performing social media content amongst the science and engineering industries and have proactively come up with a strategy that leverages these conversations to create unique, playful, and purposeful content that pushes the boundaries of the Chemours B2B portfolio. Pairing our content with a comprehensive social media rollout plan, this content has been used to showcase Chemours as a different kind of chemistry company; an organization that is committed to prioritizing innovation and discovery and that is dedicated to supporting STEM-based learning through various related scholarships and programs. Our efforts to celebrate industry milestones have resonated well across a broad audience—Chemours B2B customers and employees, parents, educators, and science enthusiasts alike.
In 2018, we capitalized on previous years' momentum by joining in the celebration of #NationalInventorsMonth. (Every year in May, the United Inventors Association, the Academy of Applied Science, and Inventors Digest magazine celebrate #NationalInventorsMonth to promote the positive image of inventors and the real contributions they make in this world.) To do this, we leveraged the Chemours legacy of chemical discoveries, inventions, and inventors—each of which has made a significant impact on the world we know today—and tied it to the larger celebration of #NationalnventorsMonth.
Everyone has either heard of or used inventions such as batteries, windshield wipers, refrigerators, and paper. But most haven't heard of the inventors behind these innovations. Chemours illuminated these "overlooked inventors" through an original animated music video called "Ode To the Overlooked". The video leveraged the "edu-tainment" style of Schoolhouse Rock to show how chemistry plays a far-reaching, hidden, yet pivotal, role in the life of every person in the world.
Starting with the production of an original song, the composition then was paired with playful animation in both a 30-second teaser-length music video and a full two-minute-long music video depicting nine "overlooked inventors" whose inventions we use almost every day. Using storyboard animation, we also created six GIFs to complement the videos and fill the social media space with spotlights on the individual inventors. To supplement our social media efforts, we encouraged users to visit a dedicated article featured on Chemours.com. The article brought "Ode to the Overlooked" full circle by showcasing the Chemours legacy of chemical discoveries and innovations, and how the company's portfolio of performance chemicals plays a vital role in inventions that we use in our everyday lives.
"Ode to the Overlooked" content spoke to the core Chemours B2B audience, but also achieved extended reach to an audience of parents, educators, science enthusiasts, and students. To reach this broad audience, the month-long campaign began with the launch of the teaser video on the Chemours Twitter page, LinkedIn page, YouTube channel, and website on the first day of #NationalInventorsMonth. The teaser video was followed shortly thereafter by the GIFs, which were posted over the course of the month on both paid and organic social media, and the full video was revealed during the third week of the campaign. Paid efforts targeted a primary audience of B2B customers in the chemical and engineering industries and a secondary audience of STEM/science educators/enthusiasts to help maximize exposure and investment. All organic and paid posts led users to both a video on YouTube and the supplemental article on Chemours.com.
By leveraging our content for the duration of #NationalInventorsMonth, we made Chemours the center of the science and engineering social media conversation throughout May 2018. With just $8,000 in paid social media, our efforts resulted in 3.1 million total impressions and 1.2 million video views throughout #NationalInventorsMonth.
Chemours was the most shared brand during #NationalInventorsMonth, earning 95% of all #NationalInventorsMonth mentions, and achieving an engagement rate of 5.4%. As a result of our campaign, Chemours' Twitter following grew by 7,700, and the content was featured by four publications including Adweek and The Drum. These results demonstrate the campaign's successful reach beyond the typical Chemours audience of B2B C-suite executives and customers to educators, parents, science enthusiasts, and students; our campaign encouraged all who saw it to see chemistry at its best and showcased Chemours as a different kind of chemistry company with a commitment to supporting innovation and discovery.
