| In mid-March, Motorola announced the launch of Moto 360, a truly modern timepiece, designed by Motorola, powered by Android Wear. From the moment it was announced, consumers and industry influencers were anxious to get their hands on the watch. But Moto 360 wouldn't be available for purchase for another six months, and the brand need to sustain conversation and create buzz-building momentum for the device during the intervening months. By listening to the social chatter, Motorola uncovered that fans were in love with the round form factor and could not wait to customize it. And our most passionate fans were on Google+. So, Motorola launched the Google + Moto 360 Community, which used the Moto 360's stylish, round, customizable form factor to galvanize a culture of creators and invited them to connect with each other and the brand by giving them an advance chance to create and concept "cool." Consumers were armed with a template and empowered to let their creativity take over— design a custom watch face, for the chance to win one of the first Moto 360s released, and have their design included in future updates. The results? Over 11,000 consumers joined the conversation, submitting more than 1,300 watch face designs, which were judged by a jury of Motorola product executives and tech influencers. Widespread consumer excitement generated more than 200 million earned media impressions, all without any paid media support. And when Moto 360 officially launched on Sept. 5th— it sold out in two minutes. |
For months, rumors swirled about the release date of Motorola's first smart watch, Moto 360 – the category busting, flagship partner on Google's upcoming Android Wear platform. And the first smart watch to boast premium materials, drool-worthy style and a completely round form factor.
As Motorola (and Android) social fans and media influencers speculated about all the unconfirmed details about the device, they began to grow increasingly impatient for an official release date from the brand. It became clear that Motorola needed to create a positive groundswell of renewed excitement for Moto 360, in addition to generating broader awareness and buzz, ahead of its official announcement and US and global-market on sale date.
But with no paid media budget for any pre-launch activities, Motorola also knew social media would have to lead the charge.
Through social listening and ongoing community engagement and management, Motorola knew what its core Google+ "tech-and-design focused" social fans really wanted: if they couldn't yet buy Moto 360, they at least wanted a chance to better "experience" the device's unique form factor and design for its uniquely round watch.
Motorola knew there was a huge opportunity to unite these fervent social fans through a "hyper-influencer" niche community and connect them under a singular CTA – one that harnessed their energy, inspired them to create, "hack" and share. And one that gave them the brand attention and access they were itching for…
Results
As of June 2014, Motorola was the first mobile device brand to use Google+ to allow consumers to experience a new device ahead of release, and ultimately, impact future iterations of the device.
- 200M+ earned media impressions with zero dollars of paid media support
Program garnered influential media hits from notable industry pubs and influencer outlets such as The Verge, Mashable, BGR, PC Mag, Engadget, IBT, USA Today, etc., which maximized reach
- From Google+ community launch (May 21) through official contest close (June 24), 11k+ members actively engaged in the Moto 360 Design Face-Off Challenge on Google+:
- Contest received over 1.3k design submissions, exceeding target goal by 86%
- More than 40K+ votes/comments and 2.3M+ views to the top 10 design gallery
- As of Feb. 2015, we have over 23K active members that are still engaging with each other, the brand and creating new designs
- On launch day (Sept. 5, 2014), Moto 360 sold out in approximately 2 minutes via .com (moto360.motorola.com)
