When selling during special occasions, think about interaction. FILE PHOTO | NMG
In a sea of me-too social media marketing, Kenyan companies such
as Dairyland Products are seeking to differentiate themselves by using
creative and innovative themes that appeal to target markets and in
influencing purchase decisions.
In this drive,
Dairyland’s digital team used a puppetry show as a first by a Kenyan
brand to engage with consumers on Facebook on Valentine’s Day — a day in
which most brands want to reach the same market with a similar message
of love.
Dairyland’s innovation and differentiation in
such a flood of ‘love’ information saw it increase its online audience
by 20,000, gaining more than 450,000 impressions, more than 250,000
views, and lifting its sales by 11 per cent over the Valentine’s period.
“The show was a Facebook Live drama series called
Every Love Has A Story. It ran from February 7-14 and had five episodes.
It was about the mutual love between children and parents. Our aim was
to make Chocolart, Dairyland’s chocolate brand, top of mind for
consumers when it came to a Valentine gift,” said Saddam Suleiman, the
founder of Dragonfly, a creative agency that handles Dairyland’s digital
content.
The puppet characters were based on the Chocolart flavours,
being Father – Martin Crunch, Mum – Raisin Mary, Daughter – Daisy
Crunch, and Son – Kevin Mint.
To get consumers to
engage with the brand, they gave them a chance to act as directors of
the show, dictating the content and its flow live on Facebook.
“We
also engaged the audience by asking related questions on each episode
and the most humorous comment won a Chocolart gift pack. We also went to
some of the busiest roundabouts in Nairobi and gave out roses and
Chocolart to people on the roads. The Chocolart bars had an augmented
reality code that the audience could scan and watch all the episodes to
our series without having to log in to social media.”
In
using puppets as a different approach to communicating with consumers
online, rather than the usual posting of pictures or videos of the
brand, Dairyland sought to evoke warmth from its consumers, and
engagement as they participated in the show’s creation.
Consumers
were allowed to participate in the campaign, a factor that can
influence their purchase behaviours. Both these emotional connections
can increase purchasing.
Research by the National
University of Singapore found that the positive impact on sales from a
consumer engaging directly with a brand on social media translates into
around $25 per consumer in extra spending.
“Marketers’
positive statements of a brand on social media create a favourable
product reputation and image to influence sales. Hence, we posit that
the impact of marketer-generated content is similar to that of
persuasive advertising, positively influences consumers’ purchase
behaviour,” reported the National University of Singapore.
“Apart
from marketers’ diligent preparation of their own persuasive content,
marketers should conscientiously design campaigns to encourage
informative, and especially, persuasive communication among consumer
themselves on social media platforms.”
Another Kenyan company seeking to differentiate itself by innovating on social media is RBGT Group.
As a new entrant in the Kenyan cosmetics market, owned by four men, RBGT this month launched its range of products.
In
a female industry dominated by established local and international
brands, it chose to use micro-influencers, who have less than 500,000
followers on social media, to reach its market, and, specifically, young
Kenyan women, rather than macro-influencers, who have more than 500,000
followers and are the most sought after by big brands.
Under the brand name BIW BIW, it unveiled its first product, a 4-in-1 Face Cream on February 1.
It
piloted its marketing campaign with Sylvia Monayo, also known as
BintiPretty, on Instagram who has 102,000 followers on Instagram.
“The
video garnered over 10,000 views and 2,300 likes; this enabled the
company to sell one carton, which contains 36 tubes of cream, selling
each at Sh3,500, in just one month, generating a return on investment of
over 250 per cent from online marketing,” said Sebastian Wafula, a
digital consultant and a director of the Wafula Corporation, which is
handling RGBT’s digital marketing.
“Whereas other
companies opt for paid advertisements on social media, it chose to do
product demonstrations, letting the influencer incorporate it in their
daily lives.”
RBGT is now seeking to scale the campaign
by recruiting more than 100 micro-influencers to grow its customer base
and awareness.
- African Laughter
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