Mattel had a clever, timely and inspirational campaign when it put Barbie in for the presidential race. The brand set up news conferences, sponsored events for the White House Project and got the designer who dressed Michelle Obama to make Barbie an outfit. But even with all of these cool details in place, the company faced a deadline that could potentially stop all of the word-of-mouth it had earned: Election Day.
In their presentation at SocialMedia.org‘s BlogWell conference in Los Angeles, Mattel’s social media managers, Travis Harding and Jessica Kimiabakhsh, explained how they used a variety of social media platforms to get fans interested and continue advocacy, even after Barbie’s presidential campaign was over.
Some key points from their BlogWell presentation:
- Find ways to stay relevant even after one-off campaigns. Harding and Kimiabakhsh decided to use Tumblr as the hub for all of Barbie’s presidential material, instead of building a microsite, so they could easily transition their content. They saw this as a great opportunity for earning followers and keeping their attention.
- Don’t put all of your eggs in all of your baskets. While it’s important to be consistent, posting all of your content on every social media site isn’t necessary. They explained how knowing the strength of each platform was key to making more meaningful interactions and not spamming fans.
- Partner with great causes. To make Barbie’s run for the presidency more meaningful for fans of all ages, Mattel sponsored the White House Project’s EPIC Awards and promoted Take a Girl to the Polls Day.
Check out Harding and Kimiabakhsh’s presentation.
If you like this presentation, see more great social media case studies like it live at SocialMedia.org‘s BlogWell conference April 17 in New York.