Social Media Marketing Hits and Misses: How 2007 Hot Holiday Brands and Products Performed Online

SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING HITS &
MISSES
How 2007 Hot Holiday Brands & Products
Performed Online
Special Report from Oneupweb® A Leader in Integrated Online Marketing
INTEGRATED ONLINE MARKETING · 877-568-7477 · ONEUPWEB.COM ©2008-ALL INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED AND THE PROPERTY OF ONEUPWEBExecutive Summary
Purpose & Scope
In September of 2007, Oneupweb looked at twelve "hot" holiday
products and websites. The goal of our study was to examine how
each was, or was not, using social media to improve holiday traffic and
sales. We also looked at some major competitors of these products
and brands to see what social initiatives they were utilizing.
Our ensuing pre-holiday study found that each of the hot products/retailers had creatively and Once again, the products and/or merchant
extensively used online social media, while not all of sites studied were:
their competitors had followed suit. Social marketing »Nintendo Wii strategies and tactics being employed included blogs, podcasts, forums, interactive video tours, social »Taryn Rosenetworks and virtual worlds. The study took a verbal snapshot of these activities and those of some major »Coach competitors. We then followed their implementation »Prontothroughout the holiday season with the intent of doing this post-holiday analysis. »Webkinz
This follow-up, post-holiday study examines these »Starbuckssame online retailers and their evolving social media »Casio Exilim strategies and tactics to see who did what online and how well it worked. For each marketer we posed a »iPod Touchseries of questions we wanted to examine as the season progressed. In addition, we identified three general »Pleoquestions we would be investigating. These are: »A Thousand Splendid Suns
1. Will elements of social media be »Sephoraintegrated into the marketing mix as shoppers go online this holiday season? »Target
2. What are competitors doing?
3. Will the integration of social media into holiday marketing campaigns impact the sales of these products?
INTEGRATED ONLINE MARKETING · 877-568-7477 · ONEUPWEB.COM  ©2008-ALL INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED AND THE PROPERTY OF ONEUPWEBFindings
The 2007 shopping season fell short of expectations. According to
Comscore, overall retail sales rose approximately 5 percent, while
online sales recorded a healthy (but lower than expected) 19 percent
growth. Shoppers made their purchases later, looking for bargains.
More importantly, they passed up a number of luxury items such as
jewelry and watches, opting for more practical household goods. The
"flowers, greeting cards and gifts" category was down by 19 percent
while sales from practical items such as furniture and appliances-
items often purchased offline-were up a remarkable 70 percent.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ... Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Without definitive sales figures for each of the hot retailers, we focused on their online traffic and that of their competitors. Generally, more traffic equals more conversions and sales. This analysis provides an interesting and, at times, illuminating context to look at these marketers' activities during the 2007 holiday season.
Five of the websites we examined in September of 2007 maintained and/or built upon the social media strategies they initiated prior to the holiday season. Each of these companies recorded brisk holiday traffic and/or sales. These are:
»Nintendo Wii
»Coach
»Pronto
»Pleo
»Sephora
INTEGRATED ONLINE MARKETING · 877-568-7477 · ONEUPWEB.COM ©2008-ALL INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT IS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED AND THE PROPERTY OF ONEUPWEBFindings (cont.)
Five other sites chose, with varying success, to change their social media strategies, abandon some tactics and refine others. Some, such as Starbucks, were responding to market pressures and a declining economy, while others such as Target proactively created new initiatives. These included a separate online toy catalog with a "sticky note" feature that lets consumers add comments and questions on any catalog page. Webkinz expanded in popularity and sales aided by their child-friendly social network... [download for more]