In the past 2 years the RadioShack social team has had just as many failures as successes. For every article highlighting our innovative use of technology, there’s an equally as articulated report detailing what we learned from loss.
And, therein lies the sweet spot of marketing leadership: when you give your team permission to fail you also give them the tools to succeed. So, just in case you weren’t following our every move these past 2 years (unimaginable!) here’s a recap of my 5 favorite RadioShack campaigns along with a “behind the scenes” factoid for each.
1. LIVESTRONG Team 28
This program started as a brainstormed solution to a simple question: how do we allow people across the globe to support Team RadioShack and the 28 million people battling cancer? In addition to partnering with imc2 agency, we worked with UK-based shop Storm Ideas to build the custom “Twibbons” for the 2010 Tour de France bike race. Users were able to display their support for Team 28 by tagging the number “28” on their social avatars. It evolved into a 4-month multi-media platform that included a Times Square takeover in NYC and profile pics being broadcast live across the globe. Ultimately, it raised $30,000 for LIVESTRONG and the fight against cancer and remains one of my favorite activations.
FACT: The bright idea to transform the numerous Twitter and Facebook profile images into a mosaic of Lance Armstrong came from a Facebook fan.
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2. Twitter Powers Holiday Heroes
RadioShack’s award-winning 2010 holiday marketing campaign brought the “Holiday Heroes” theme to life by unleashing the power of Facebook, Twitter, foursquare and other emerging platforms. I’d certainly love to say we knew it would be such a huge success, but the list of unknown factors far outweighed conventional marketing wisdom. While our agency partners (and even some Twitter reps) thought we were crazy for using unproven, unknown hashtags for our Promoted Trends, we actually had a secret weapon. Our consumers. We used our fans & followers as an impromptu test audience to observe the shareability of the trends. Not only did the campaign increase awareness and engagement, it also sold phones. Imagine that. The video below is a recap of our #IfIHadSuperPowers Twitter trend.
FACT: Our first Promoted Trend flopped miserably. We were redeemed a week later after the next trend when Twitter CEO Dick Costolo sent an email informing the team we had broken a record for impressions & engagement during a trend.
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3. Product Launch: HTC EVO 3D
RadioShack is 90 years old so we rarely get the chance to party like rockstars, let alone with them. In this case, for the launch of the iconic EVO 3D phone we partnered with Sony, Sprint and HTC to release the device to the world in grand fashion. Whether or not you’re a fan of Paris Hilton, LMFAO or our other celeb attendees, you must admit this is an unexpected way to celebrate new technology. From Tweets and drinks to celebs and cars, the launch was covered across the country and came together in just 4 weeks.
FACT: The @RadioShack Tweets during the event were being curated & published by our intern back in Fort Worth as we funneled her pics, vids and updates. Long night.
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4. @RadioShackLIVE at the Tour de France
What do you get when you give 2 guys a box full of RadioShack gear and send them to France to experience the world’s biggest cycling race? More than 200 videos and 8 days of pure comedy. imc2 agency procured 2 of Second City’s funniest improv comedians – Jordan & Steve – and we shipped them all over France. In addition to our newly created @RadioShackLIVE Twitter account, our US audience followed the happenings on our Facebook tab which included a pair of virtual phones for tracking Tweets, videos, images and updates.
FACT: Honestly, though we received 100K views on YouTube we certainly anticipated more views. This is the best campaign you never saw.
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5. #S0RightLive
This campaign is easily the most memorable. Last December we hosted #SoRightLive, our first-ever live video webcast featuring RadioShack products and people. Powered by Twitter, Facebook, and Ustream, the event included 5 broadcast segments showcasing “So Right” gifts: from smartphones and RC cars to headphones and DIY tech kits. All segments were hosted by RadioShack’s own Ricky Cadden, Paige Guyton, Danny Ramirez and Lauren Kushnerick and we built out a full set at the Dallas Omni Hotel. The video below has some must-see highlights. The results? 80 million global impressions, 550 hours of video consumed in 1 day and an average viewing time of 20 minutes. Many thanks to Alyssa and Chris from Weber Shandwick whom I hope to borrow away from their agency at some point in my career.
FACT: We rehearsed until about 1 a.m. the night before the live shoot and were deliriously tired. Luckily Ricky and Paige were camera-ready the next day and all turned out well. Can’t remember being more proud of the team!
