Social Networking Proves to be Powerful Platform

Arc Worldwide connects volunteers, business

The incredible power of social networking – whether to build interest for a humanitarian project or for a sport shoe – was never more obvious than in the projects that won First Place Mobius awards in Social Networking for Arc Worldwide in Chicago and Amsterdam Worldwide, The Netherlands.  Their success proved that social networking crosses all age and interest groups.

Arc Worldwide’s Building Blocks program for Whirlpool Corp. and Amsterdam Worldwide’s "Left Right Blogger Outreach" for ASICS SportStyle connected people in unique ways.
 
Whirlpool, which had long donated a refrigerator to every Habitat for Humanity house, in 2006 launched Building Blocks, a project to complete a block of Habitat houses in a week. Houses were built in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006, in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2007, and in Dallas, Texas, in 2008.
 
Building Blocks had been a purely local outreach effort until in 2008, an Arc Worldwide team proposed taking the program beyond just the participants to inspire people to get involved with a worthwhile cause and make a connection to Whirlpool's partnership with Habitat for Humanity.

Without a media budget, the Whirlpool team relied on free social media sites, like Facebook and the Yahoo! Live streaming video site, to connect with a wider audience. The Building Blocks Facebook fan page and Whirlpool.com shared daily videos of volunteers and their stories from the project site.

The Facebook page has attracted more than 1,300 fans and provides a platform for volunteers to share comments, photos and words of encouragement to build alumni and partner families.

“The Building Blocks Facebook fan page does an incredible job of capturing what a life-changing event it is for so many people. The volunteers for these events are so sincere and so genuine, their comments are so heartfelt,” said Scott Brown, associate creative director for Whirlpool.
 
Many of the fans weren’t initially familiar with Facebook or even using a computer. An FAQ sheet and Facebook 101 instructional document were provided to help users understand what it meant to be a Facebook fan and how to use Facebook. The page has also become an easy way to communicate quickly with volunteers.

Account supervisor Jennifer Roover even got swept up in the project beyond her role with the agency.  In Dallas, she was part of the staff, but when the project went to Atlanta in 2009, she returned as a builder.

“It’s an unbelievable and emotional experience. Many of the volunteers are Whirlpool employees, and they love being part of this event,” Roover said. “These experiences have forever bound me to the families we built homes for, and I look forward to participating in future builds year after year.”

Joining Brown and Roover on the Arc team were William Rosen, chief creative officer; Dan Fisher, creative director; Erica Rabenda, copywriter; Damian Van Horn, Flash developer, and Karen Tentner, project manager.

Amsterdam Worldwide puts ASICS on the minds of buyers

Blogging was the main tool for the ASICS “What’s a left, without a right?” campaign from Amsterdam Worldwide, but Twitter, Digg  and Facebook also became part of the effort to reach the target audience of  twenty-somethings in-tune with cultural movements, fashion, technology and the products they buy.

ASICS stands for “Anima Sana in Corpore Sano,” a Latin phrase expressing the  ideal of a sound mind in a sound body. But, despite its sports heritage and retro cool, ASICS SportStyle was relatively unknown compared to monolithic sports brands, the agency noted.

The agency handpicked influential street-style bloggers to get the word out about ASICS and enticed the bloggers with an object designed to create buzz.
  
The agency enlisted Freedom of Creation to create 10 iconic objects from the 1980’s, including a DeLorean and Rubik’s Cube. The items were separated into left and right halves, randomly paired and cast into a breakable cage with a personalized message and sent to the bloggers.

To complete their mismatched piece, bloggers had to search for the other half by enlisting the help of their readers, followers, friends and peers. This set off a treasure hunt that spanned 38 countries, 29 languages and hundreds of thousands of potential customers for ASICS SportStyle shoes.
   
The campaign far exceeded ASICS’ goals.  Pre-season orders rose by 18 percent, which was 13 percent higher than targeted, said Andrew Watson, creative director.

Beyond blog coverage, Twitter and Facebook engaged more than 200,000 people. One blogger, Philip Gaedicke of highsnobiety.com, persuaded the others to exchange their pieces for limited edition SportStyle sneakers. He then reunited each Left and Right at Bread & Butter, Europe’s biggest fashion-fair attended by 90,000 people, generating free exposure worth millions.

In addition to Watson, the Amsterdam team included Richard Gorodecky, executive creative director, Rickard Engstrom, art director; Dan Göransson, copywriter; Ben Jaffé, planner; Liana Pekelharing, account executive; Nicolette Lazarus, business development director,  and  Samantha Koch, senior producer.

“From a campaign costing just 8,000 Euros, this self-generating coverage and long-term advocacy is priceless,” Watson said.

The target audience continued the conversation, promoting ASICS daily across the world’s coolest blogs.  “The most creative campaign we’ve ever seen,” said Simone of www.FrizziFrizzi.it, one of the participating bloggers.