Case study: Colgate combines social media with traditional advertising

Aims: Colgate, with its new Smile campaign, is joining the numerous brands including Bombay Sapphire and McCain attempting to combine their social media strategy with physical marketing efforts, and thereby linking their online and offline communities.

Strategy: Colgate created a dedicated Facebook page, where users are encouraged to upload photographs of themselves smiling. These images are collected and used to build large-scale collage posters, which are being displayed in supermarkets, shopping centres and other point-of-sale locations.

Results: Analysis by WaveMetrix has revealed that Colgate’s strategy is having a “positive effect on purchase discussion”. That is to say, visitors to the Colgate Smile Facebook page have become more likely to post comments about buying the product (eg. “going out to buy Colgate”), and even discuss how seeing the Smile posters made them “want” to buy Colgate. WaveMetrix described this activity as an increase from 6% to 13% “buzz about purchase” from the campaign launch to three weeks later.

What’s more, ‘Smile’ has driven a positive brand image, spurring consumers to identify Colgate with a sense of community and fun, as actual user-generated content from Facebook fans is being depicted on outdoor ads. Some 35% of consumers now perceive Colgate as a “community brand”, while 26% see Colgate as “fun” and “cool”.

Furlong PR’s Final Thought:

While WaveMetrix’s analysis doesn’t include actual sales figures to support the campaign’s impact on the bottom line, the ‘Smile’ campaign is proving successful in combining social media with outdoor advertising to both engage its online community and have a positive effect on purchase discussions.