Creating advocacy with Icecards

Another simple solution to creating brand advocates and amplifying the advocacy of existing advocates is to enable clients, customers, or consumers to order free or low-cost brand merchandise, such as stickers and stationery to share with friends. At Icemedia, this idea has been developed into a turnkey brand advocacy programme that has been adopted by brands such as L'Oreal, O'Neill, adidas, Bacardi and MSN. The idea is simple: enable brand adorers and brand advocates to order free sets of branded contact cards, featuring brand artwork on one side and their own personal details on the other. These Icecards are personalized and ordered online via a simple customized plug-and-play module placed on the brand's website. They are printed using on-demand digital print technology, and then sent out by post to the brand adorer/advocate. Icecards have proved to be hugely popular in the teens to twenties market, with over 40 million cards ordered in the first 36 months since the idea was commercialized.

So what's so great about enabling brand adorers and brand advocates to order sets of free branded contact cards? Well, first the cards enable brands to identify who their brand adorers and brand advocates are: only people with an affinity to a brand will want to put its artwork on their contact cards. Knowing your brand advocates is important, because these are the people who drive your business growth.And because Icecards are ordered online, the ordering module automatically generates a quality CRM (customer relationship management) database of names and

Figure 3.2 Icecards - branded contact cards

Figure 3.3 The viral effect of Icecards

Figure 3.4 Icecards ordering process

Figure 3.4 Icecards ordering process contact details of your brand advocates, which can be used for follow-up marketing purposes.

Secondly, Icecards stimulate word of mouth. In research carried out by the Rotterdam Erasmus University on Icecards, it was found that 78% of all Icecards get handed out, and in 65% of cases the handing over of an Icecard triggers a brand conversation.12 In other words, Icecards provide brand advocates with an excuse to advocate your brand. In addition, a weblink (e.g. get your own free O'Neill cards at www.oneilleurope.com) on every card enables card recipients to order their own cards, adding a viral dimension to the campaign. Thirdly, Icecards strengthen brand loyalty and affinity, making advocates feel part of the brand family. Fifty-nine per cent of people who have ordered Icecards say that the cards improved their perception of the brand. Other advantages of Icecard-type brand advocacy programmes are that they drive traffic to a brand's website, they are adaptable (e.g. can contain promotional codes, feature uploaded photos, be used as VIP member/privilege cards, etc.), they leverage existing brand artwork, they make word of mouth measurable, and most importantly brand advocates think Icecards are cool! They are a fun and handy way to give out contact details when socializing, far cooler than office business cards, and as a status symbol they show off to people that the cardholder has a privileged VIP relationship with the brand.

Case Study I: Icecards - adidas International Marketing BV

Case Study I: Icecards - adidas International Marketing BV

Figure 3.5 Visuals of the adidas 'It's My Mania' Icecards

Campaign: 'It's My Mania'. Icecards campaign for promotion of the adidas Predator football boot.

Objective: To improve branding, develop a direct marketing channel and acquire data on its target market.

Activity: Icecards featured footballers from around the globe wearing the new Predator shoe. The campaign was initiated by sending out a handful of emails to football fans inviting them to sign up for the cards. The email spread exponentially as it was forwarded to friends who forwarded it to friends, reaching 180 countries around the world.

Results: One million Icecards were distributed to 50 000 adidas brand advocates in 46 days. The average age of the people ordering cards was 25 years old; 65% were male. Without any supporting promotional activity, the Icecards sold out in 180 countries around the world.

Figure 3.6 Screenshots of the Axe Snake Peel campaign

Campaign: Launch optimization for Axe Snake Peel, a new scrub shower gel for men.

Objective: To create awareness and buzz around the new shower gel.

Activity: On a special campaign website, accessible from www.axe.nl, consumers could watch Essential Scrub Work Out movies and order Axe Icecards. Two weeks after ordering, consumers received a set of cards together with a product sample. Each Icecard could be used as an in-store discount voucher (worth 1 Euro) for the new product.

Results: 45 000 sets of cards and samples were distributed in 45 days. Card orderers were between 15 and 35 years old, and primarily male.

Case Study 3: Icecards and sales - Cosmo Girl! Magazine

Campaign: A viral communication campaign to launch Cosmo Girl!, a new magazine for young women.

Objective: To generate buzz and compel word of mouth around the new magazine, increase brand awareness among the target group of 14- to 18-year-old females, and acquire CRM data.

Activity: The campaign was launched by an email offering Icecards to 14- to 18-year-old females. The link to order Icecards was only communicated on the cards and by using forward-to-a-friend functionality at the end of the online ordering process. This enabled Icemedia to

Figure 3.7 Icecard for Cosmo Girl! magazine measure the spread of the viral effect and demographics of the target group that was reached. Six months after ordering their Icecards, the target group was sent an email questionnaire. Its goal was to measure the effects of branding and purchasing behaviour.

Results: 10 000 sets of cards were distributed in 22 days. The average age of brand advocates was 16 years old and 99.1% were female. Seventy per cent of the Icecards orders used the forward-to-a-friend function - on average, the offer was forwarded to 2.4 friends. The post-order questionnaire revealed the following results:

■ 61% of girls who ordered Cosmo Girl! Icecards completed the survey six months later, indicating a high degree of loyalty and brand involvement

■ 91 % of respondents bought Cosmo Girl! magazine after receiving Cosmo Girl! Icecards

■ 70% of respondents said they had learned about Cosmo Girl! magazine through Icecards

■ 65% of respondents said they had visited the Cosmo Girl! website in the last month (this was six months after the campaign)

Continue reading here: Case Study 2 Condomi Size Him Up

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