Burton Snowboard is a Cult.
Seriously, fans of the Burlington, VT based snowboard maker are some of the most loyal customers on Earth.
I’ve always been impressed with the way the lifestyle brand markets their winter gear, ski/snowboard equipment and clothing — but today’s website takeover at Burton made me smile ear to ear at the intelligent use of social media engagement.
In case you missed it, Burton temporarily redesigned their homepage with a live streaming video showcasing the lobby of their headquarters, along with a flash box on the left hand side of the screen where people participate in real-time discussion.
What’s the hook?
Viewers are encouraged to watch for ‘clues’ that help solve puzzles. If you answer the puzzle question correctly, you win a prize (Burton gave away $1,000 to the first fan who showed up to their offices decked out in full snowboard gear).
Social Media Engagement: Creating Raving Promoters
Burton has some kick-ass marketers and Web developers, that’s for sure.
The reason this sort of campaign is so effective is because it rallies to base of hardcore fans and gets them excited about the brand they love. I heard chatter from several coworkers about the online contest — I mean, guys who rarely show emotion in the workplace were giddy over the chance to win a pair of sunglasses!
Let me break down my analysis of why this campaign is so effective:
- Viral Promotion — Traditional marketing is limited to the number of people reading or viewing the channel you advertise with, but social promos like this are designed to grow exponentially. The hardcore fans discover the contest and share it with their friends (who share with their friends…). The prizes are also a compelling reason to participate.
- Trust — TV ads rely on disruption, hoping to pound a message into your brain that sticks, and is totally dependent on volume. The Burton campaign is based on recommendations. Think about it, your friend is a hardcore fan and shares info about the campaign in places all their friends can see and participate. The friends are more likely to trust the brand because it was vouched for by someone inside their circle. Pow — now the brand has ‘street cred’.
- Lists Building and Tracking — The Burton team got this step right. They encouraged people to enter their prize giveaways using social networking sites like Facebook. In order to qualify to be entered, you needed to take a screenshot of a specific Burton web page, add it as your Facebook profile picture, then become a fan of Burton and comment on their page. During other giveaways you had to call a phone number, but the number was changed for each new giveaway, so no one could ‘game the system’ by programming one number into a phone or computer. Notice also the email form that encourages people to sign up for prize notifications.
OK, I could write an entire white paper on this campaign, but you get the picture already. Inbound marketing like Burton’s prize giveaway and website repurposing is a kick-ass way to grow the base of fans by empowering current fans to ‘spread the love’.
Throw in some free schwag, especially to a group of young hipsters who spend a lot of money with Burton and appreciate freebies, and you’ve got a winning strategy (don’t forget, the strategy is to sell more Burton gear and create new raving fans).
Good to see a Burlington, VT based business doing it right.
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