Zócalo Group town square blog

Reality television shows featuring entrepreneurs pitching their products, have picked up steam and now Wal-Mart has brought that spirit online. Launched in January, the retail giant’s “Get on the Shelf” contest encouraged contestants to submit videos pitching their product ideas for a chance at Wal-Mart.com exposure, retail and shelf space in select stores. The innovative campaign just opened voting this week to whittle down to three finalists before the next round of voting determines the winning product. The contest has already seen more than 270,000 votes, submitted via Facebook or mobile text, with the site getting 92,000 page visitsdaily, exceeding the brand’s expectations.

#BrandHit Learning:

1. Take a risk! Wal-Mart is one of the first retail chains to use social media to get new products on store shelves, a la American Idol.
2. Target Difference Audiences. While Wal-Mart actively pursues moms and other consumer audiences purchasing their products, the brand focused on targeting those who want to SELL through Wal-Mart’s coveted mass distribution.
3. Find inspiration. Getting ideas for new social media campaigns often comes from other brands’ campaigns.

St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow will bring lots of green, from our own dyed Chicago river to the seasonal mint Shamrock Shake from McDonald’s. No stranger to jumping into social media, McDonald’s took a bit of a risk connecting the famous beverage to the Irish jig in an effort to start the meme #Shamrocking. Encouraging consumers to tweet a photo of themselves dancing with their shakes using the hashtag, recipients actually didn’t enjoy the termas much as they like the frosty treat.

#BrandMiss Learning:

1. Weigh the cons. Social media can be a lot of fun — but it can also spin a conversation a bunch of ways. So, examine all the angles. Make search engines your best friend and don’t forget to check out what hashtags could mean.
2. Don’t be afraid to change courses. Keeping up with the conversations in real time is key, which is why active monitoring and real-time engagement analytics will give a brand a chance to figure out what to do when the responses aren’t so favorable. In turn, you can quickly troubleshoot to find a direction that works for your campaign as quickly as possible.