During the spring of 2013, the country experienced an extended cold front with seemingly no end in sight. Recognizing the delay of car care season and the critical timing of spring as the main selling period for the car care industry, our challenge was to ensure Turtle Wax was top of mind for consumers when winter broke. Our plan was to place the brand into the news cycle and social conversation during car care season to generate timely brand buzz. To engage and mobilize our mostly millennial male social communities, Turtle Wax called on fans and car lovers to celebrate spring and the return of car wash season by sharing car wash photos – shirtless in the driveway or a freshly waxed car – tagged with #Waxonshirtoff. Led by our spokesperson, ESPN’s Mike Golic, the program featured a cause component with each posted photo submission triggering a $1 donation to Hartford’s Camp Courant – an organization close to Golic’s heart.This program had it all and was a shining example of converged media success. It featured an innovative UGC component, targeted paid support and fan acquisition, a philanthropic angle, a major spokesperson who resonated with our audience and an integrated media relations/social media strategy. With a limited budget, we developed a nimble program rooted in analytics and driven by hyper-targeted paid media optimized in real-time. To reach and mobilize our current community as well as increase reach and awareness, we leveraged Twitter’s Promoted Tweets, Facebook fan acquisition (helping grow our community from 8,000 to 125,000 in 6 months) and select Promoted Posts within Facebook to a targeted segment of auto/car care enthusiasts. Wayin Hub/Microsite: To leverage our best asset of the program - fan photos - we partnered with Wayin Hub to provide a branded, interactive hub of activity. Powered by Wayin Hub’s customizable aggregator, a Turtle Wax branded microsite allowed us to capture, curate and display engaging content and enabled users to upload and customize images directly from the microsite via a pre-populated tweet function. It also hosted our ambush video featuring Mike Golic spreading the #Waxonshirtoff movement. Facebook Ads: By setting up Facebook ads with multiple copy/creative versions, we were able to test and optimize toward high performing ads that allowed us to acquire 50,000 news fans at a mere .8c per fan (industry average was $1 CPF) to give #Waxonshirtoff a farther reaching, more engaged fan base. Promoted Tweets: Working closely with Twitter, we developed promoted tweets within their newly launched suite of ads tools to engage specific Twitter handles, optimize keyword targeting and look-a-like targeting. Scoring tremendous community engagement and excitement for Turtle Wax on the cusp of a spring warm front, our campaign ensured Turtle Wax was top of mind the moment car care season started. Twitter was so impressed with the program and the innovative way by which we used their platform, paid support and the Wayin hub, that the Twitter team requested permission to pitch the program on our behalf to top-tier trade media (AdWeek, Mashable, TechCrunch, etc.). AdWeek highlighted the program’s success in a piece entitled “Turtle Wax Winning the Social Media Race with New Campaign," which led to solicitations from sports agents, media companies and more. This helped Turtle Wax earn multiple earned media placements, including NFL pro bowlers Devin and Jason McCourty sharing their shirtless #Waxonshirtoff pictures and ESPN rock star Adam Schefter calling out Mike Golic in a Facebook post that was shared with his community of 2.4MM Twitter followers and 300k Facebook fans. Other Measures of Effectiveness & Results: - 33.6 MM social and traditional impressions - ESPN’s Mike Golic reached 25 key markets via radio to encourage tweets and #Waxonshirtoff participation to win great prizes and benefit Hartford’s Camp Courant - 7% engagement rate for Twitter Promoted Tweets (industry average is 1%) - .9c cost per fan for Facebook fan acquisition (industry average is $1) - 100,000 new, qualified fans over the past year (with an extremely low unlike rate) - 1,000 total entries on Instagram/Twitter - Twitter using the #Waxonshirtoff program as a case study and best practice - Zeno VP of Digital Engagement Greg Tedesco was asked to lead a panel at AOL headquarters in New York City during Advertising Week, discussing the converged media best practice and success story of the #Waxonshirtoff program
