Today, it is no longer a question if companies use social media to promote their product/service/campaign, but rather how they are going to do it — and above all, if they can do it well. Earlier this spring, leading Turkish mobile communications company Turkcell looked to promote new smartphones bundled with a mobile Internet package. The company needed to hone in on where they could best reach their target market for the campaign to be a success. Turks are only third in the world for hours spent online each month, so Turkcell wanted to attract these heavy Internet users – who distinctly avoid online advertising – in a unique and engaging way. The verdict? A live, time-sensitive competition through Twitter.
What Turkcell Did
Turkcell created a campaign that combined the use of Twitter and live video streaming. As seen above, the video showcased the smartphones packed in festive gift boxes and covered in colorful post-its. Turkcell prompted its Twitter users to ‘unpack the box’ by tweeting what was written on the post-its by using the hashtag #turkcelltweet. Users unfold one post-it each time they tweet to uncover the gift underneath, but are unaware of the total number of post-its, prompting them to tweet more as an incentive to win.
The competition ran live for 3 hours a day for a total of 7 days. Along the way, users could also participate in games such as Pictionary, Trivia and word puzzles to win minutes and other mobile data perks. The final challenge of #turkcelltweet was for users to try to get a celebrity to re-tweet the message, which would ultimately win them a new smartphone.
Impressions
For a campaign that ran for only a week, the impressions Turkcell made were impressive:
- Generated 56,734 tweets tagged with #turkcelltweet; the hashtag was a trending topic in Turkey for the entire duration
- Reached 3.6 million people among 35 million Internet users in Turkey
- Celebrity re-tweets by Turkish musicians and singers Sertab Erener, Nil Karaibrahimgil and Ozan Doğulu
- @Turkcell now has over 94,000 followers
- Named one of the 15 best Twitter marketing campaigns — ever!
Nice simple post and great case study that you identified here showing the simple power of creating a really addictive experience with a good incentive and then just letting people share it. The only missing thing was a bit more of your point of view not just on why this was a great campaign, but what it means for other brands considering a similar approach. Was this a one hit type of campaign? Could using a similar approach work for another brand? That additional step would make for the ideal post and is something you have done well in previous weeks. Just remember that what makes a story like this unique are the takeaways that you are able to identify and then share with your reader. (4)