Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014 - 36

social marketing

lesson #6:
do more with less. "our entire campaign cost us three machines and
some K-Cups," says Staples' taylor.
"Social is probably the most costeffective way of marketing. the key
is having engaging content that's
meaningful to your customers."

Creating a java buzz at Staples.
staples: making coffee buzz

Social media may be an ideal vehicle to create an emotional tug, but can be used for more
tactical bread-and-butter retailing. Staples, the
office supplies store, is broadening its assortment, including break room products like coffee and coffee machines.
The company isn't top-of-mind for that category, says Craig Taylor, VP, e-Commerce and
Marketing at Staples. So for International Coffee Day on September 29th, Staples saw an
opening. "The timing was perfect," he says, as
a new Keurig brewer was out, and Staples saw
an opportunity to lead the conversation online.
How would Staples typically promote a product like that? "Put it in a flyer and pile it high,"
says Taylor. Instead, the campaign revolved
around the hashtag #CoffeeBuzz, blogger
relations and a Twitter giveaway from @StaplesCanada.
In advance of International Coffee Day,
Staples sent a stable of "lifestyle and mommy
bloggers" a Keurig brewer and K-Cups. Staples
asked them to share their favorite coffee recilesson #5:
Leverage events to help shape and shift
perceptions. While hashtags from Mcdonald's and tim hortons were the top trending during the day, #Coffeebuzz trended
third in Canada between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
that made staples a major retail player on
social media on international Coffee day,
and helped to position the company as
being much more than a traditional office
products supplier.

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canadian retailer | holiday 2014

pes, and tell their readers and social followers that Staples would
be hosting surprise Twitter giveaways on September 29th.
On International Coffee Day, Staples tweeted three "Pick Me
up Hour" giveaways of Keurig brewers using #CoffeeBuzz. The
times coincided with typical coffee breaks-9 a.m., noon and 3
p.m. The tweets generated over 1.5 million impressions, says
Taylor. Page views for the Keurig SKu on staples.ca were up ten
times from a typical day.
every week, Staples still distributes 9 million flyers, but that's
talking at people not with them, says Taylor. Marketing must
do both. He notes that Staples used to have separate marketing groups for their online, catalogue and retail divisions, but
there's just one team now. "everything is integrated," he says. "If
you're not in the digital and social world, you'll be long gone."
ikea: writing the house rules

every household has unwritten rules, says Hilary Lloyd,
IKeA Canada's Vice-President of Marketing. That notion
formed the basis of a cross-platform TV, outdoor, digital and
social campaign that showed how IKeA understands what life
is like at home.
The campaign launched in
March with a TV spot depicting
lesson #7:
house rules that are easily relatintegrate with other marketing channels. "We take
able. Viewers were also invited
a 360-degree approach
to share the rules that make a
to communications, which
house a home using the hashgives us the ability for
tag #HouseRules. Submissions
push and pull, as well as
the opportunity to dial up
were also housed on a microor down the levers as nesite at ikea.ca.
cessary," says ikea's Lloyd.
Lloyd doesn't believe in
"#Houserules was a
social media campaigns for
cross-platform conversasocial's sake. "If the ambition
tion, each media working
with the other to create
is just to get people talking,
sharing around the rules
the conversations are empty.
that make home special."
They lack meaning for consumers and the brand. Social
campaigns should always ladder up to a larger brand purpose. In this case, to re-connect Canadians with life at home."
The company heard about rules covering everything from dogs

http://www.staples.ca http://www.ikea.ca

Canadian Retailer - Holiday 2014

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