Social Media and Flip Video: The Perfect Marriage

Traditional media was once the only way people could spread information to mass audiences but new technology and social media have changed all that.  Cheap digital cameras and social networking sites like YouTube and Facebook have enabled common Internet users to become their own media outlet and share information with their social networks.

Just as traditional media shares information with the public, social media shares information with social networks.  The new Flip Video™ digital camcorder is perfectly suited for social media because it empowers people to take and share video more easily.  To maximize on this connection to social media, Flip Video™ has created a "community" using many forms of social media.

Their Facebook page allows Flip Video™ users to share their favorite videos and ask technical support questions from other fans.  Their MySpace page has exclusive videos from the Vans Warped Tour '09, forums, and comments.  Their YouTube channel has videos of "example Flip-able moments" like a flash rave on the beach, two babies playing together, a giraffe, etc.  Their Twitter account posts special offers, discounts, and contests.  They also send out a newsletter to more than 465,725 fans that you can sign up for from their Web site.

Some British girls use the Flip Video™ to record their weekend shenanigans.

Without social media, the Flip Video™ would probably not have as much success.  Social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook enable people to share their videos easily, so a simple, highly portable camcorder like the Flip Video™ just makes the video sharing process easier.

In addition, social media has created a culture of people who like to share information about themselves with their social networks and the public, so they will be more interested in being able to shoot video wherever, whenever.  More private cultures and individuals would probably not be as enthusiastic.

¡Social Media Fiesta!

Generation Y (13- to 29-year-olds) are a pretty influential group.  This may seem surprising considering not all of Gen Y can even legally drive, but more than half of all household vehicle purchases are influenced by Gen Y, according to a 2006 Resource Interactive report.

Ford appears to be aware of this statistic.  The 2010 American launch of the new Ford Fiesta targets Gen Yers with a hip-yet-goofy online campaign called the "Fiesta Movement."   The Fiesta Movement integrates a ton of different forms of social media and really lets customers get involved with the car.  Ford selected 100 young, cool "agents" to drive a Fiesta (for free!) for 6 months, complete a series of "missions" (one each month) with their Fiesta, and chronicle their experiences on blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, and any other social network or sharing site you could think of.

How many people do YOU think can fit in a Fiesta? Find out on the Fiesta Flickr page

Why am I suddenly noticing this now?  The "agents" were set to work back in April, and the Fiesta Movement is almost finished!  Answer: CollegeHumor.  One of Ford's "agents" got Jake and Amir, two relatively famous online personalities from CollegeHumor, to take her Fiesta for a road trip this week. They are Tweeting (@jakeandamir) about where they are in the country and the first fans who find them get a free dinner.  They have also been posting videos of their Fiesta adventures and their fans have been very responsive so far.

Without any traditional media ads placements, this Fiesta Movement campaign and partnership with CollegeHumor demonstrates an emerging trend of marketing to 13- to 29-year-olds using just online buzz.  (Just look at how unexpectedly popular Snakes on a Plane was thanks to online buzz!) It also demonstrates companies' growing interest in Generation Y as a profitable and influential market segment.

Free (Burgers) For All!

It is October 1st and, as promised, T.G.I. Friday’s® has emailed me a free burger coupon.  This would be more exciting if I weren’t a vegetarian, but I’m still pretty thrilled.

This free burger journey began when I was watching TV with my roommates and a commercial for T.G.I. Friday’s® came on.  Three young men sat at a table and told us about T.G.I. Friday's® new Jack Daniels® Burger.  Then, the middle guy, Woody, told us that we could all receive a free burger if 500,000 people became “fans” of his page on Facebook.  We were all on our laptops at the time, so I suggested that we all become fans of Woody right then and there.  A few weeks later, we all have free burgers coupons, and Woody has over 977,000 fans.  Oh, and did I mention that T.G.I. Friday’s® now has hundreds of thousands of fans’ Facebook information and email addresses?

This is a prime example of a social media marketing campaign.  T.G.I. Friday’s® integrated TV commercials, a Facebook fan page, YouTube videos of Woody, and “Meet Woody” events at T.G.I. Friday's® Restaurants all over the country, all to deliver the same message.  This campaign was well tailored to everything I’ve heard about Generation Y and experienced as a member of it.  We love multitasking (according to a 2008 Nielsen study, teenagers are the most likely group to use both TV and the Internet together), we love feeling involved with our brands (through the fan page, we felt like we got to know Woody and T.G.I. Friday’s® better), and we love free stuff!

It is too soon to tell whether or not this was a successful campaign monetarily speaking, but there are some factors we can evaluate.  This was a successful campaign because Woody was aiming for 500,000 fans by September 30th and reached that goal several days ahead of time so he upped the ante to one million.  It also appeared to be successful based on the amount of fan involvement on Woody’s fan page.  Facebook users were leaving comments and posting photos, and a lot of them were very positive.  Like these:

“just wanted to say thanks again for the free burgers we found our coupons in our spam boxes and went to fridays for dinner tonite, which was great! because i was having a not so good day and this always helps :) so again thanks”

“ROCK ON WOODY!!!!!!!!!”

“I Got My Coupon!!! Thank You For The FREE BURGER!”

Unfortunately, as with any piece of technology, there are some flaws, and many fans were posting angrily about coupon printing mishaps or missing emails.  So far, Woody has been handling those situations with the grace and good customer service.  T.G.I. Friday’s® has extended the deadline to submit email addresses, increased the number of free burger coupons to one million instead of 500,000, and instructed everyone with printing problems  to request to have their coupons mailed.  

You know what they say, "A satisfied customer tells 3 friends, but a dissatisfied customer tells 300."  These technological glitches and upset customers may end up negating any positive effects of this campaign if T.G.I. Friday’s® is not careful.

Another problem T.G.I. Friday’s® is facing is that many restaurants have closed since the economic downturn, and many fans are left with nowhere to redeem their coupons.  Also, like many online forums, people have posted crazy things like viruses, chain letters, profanity, adult content, plugs to other sites, and other things on Woody’s Facebook fan page.

We shall see in the weeks to come whether this campaign increases brand loyalty, revenue, or customer base.  If nothing else, T.G.I. Friday’s® has gained a lot of information about their Generation Y customers.