Nature Valley Granola Bars presents the Where’s Yours? Video Contest. http://www.wheresyours.com/VideoContest.aspx
It’s the contest that gives nature lovers the opportunity to video their favorite outdoor adventure and share it with the entire world, and have the chance to win the outdoor adventure of a lifetime.
But hold on to your video cameras because the entrance date ended and now you’ll have to wait until next year to enter. Sorry!
I thought this promotion belonged in the Gone Wild Category because it’s a great example of the uses of the online promotional elements that I think it often takes to penetrate today’s new interactive niche audiences. As a strategy, General Mills had to reach out to an active outdoor recreation audience, this happened through a contest of creativity, interactive media, and self promotion, which was as easy as videotaping themselves roughing it in their favorite outdoor environment. The tactics were composed from a mix of sponsored search marketing, viral marketing, passive social media marketing and passive link building – meaning they really didn’t mean to do it.
The Tactics
Social Media Marketing – Advertising through relevant high traffic blogs can be a powerful narrowcast tactic because it functions as a call to action advertisement to the target audience, but it also provides a level of search engine optimization gained through increased inbound links – and Google loves this sort of thing. A backlink check suggests there could have been better use of blog reviews and blogroll links. I mean this promotion was candidate for advertising on dozens of high traffic outdoor recreational blogs, and it all could have been arranged within a few working days. But maybe the next time.
Viral Marketing – This is a great example of viral marketing through the video sharing Website YouTube. In addition to providing video entertainment, YouTube provides an interactive medium with definite commercial value. As of 2/15/2008 there were 419 subscribers to the Where’s Yours? Video Contest YouTube channel with 155,000 channel views. And it’s not over yet. If Nature Valley runs this campaign annually the participants should increase exponentially as the promotion spreads virally through the outdoor community.
Sponsored Search – Many say sponsored search is only a supplement to SEO, but this is a great example of using sponsored search for online promotions. Google AdWords referred Internet users to the Where’s Yours? Video Contest Website who otherwise would never have known about the promotion. I know this as a fact because I was one of those Internet users who was referred to the vodeo contest Website while doing a Google search on the keyword “canoeing”. I also noticed the same AdWords advertisement showing for other keyword searches like hiking, camping and kayaking.
The promotion could have gained much more publicity with increased social media marketing or rich media advertising, or even sponsored search marketing. But overall I really like this campaign and although it’s funded by a large corporation it’s a simple campaign that could be scaled for a small business with a reasonable online marketing budget.
The Rules and Winnings
The Grand Prize
The grand prize winner and a guest will be invited to explore the remote northern and southern reaches of the world, in two separate vacations valued at over $61,000!
• Part one: South Georgia & The Falklands near the Antarctic Peninsula where it’s possible to see 100,000 penguins in one place!
• Part two: Arctic Svalbard – a remote chain of islands only 600 miles from the North Pole famous for its “midnight sun”.
• Activities: walking along wild beaches, whale watching, kayaking among sculpted icebergs and rugged hiking to witness wildlife at play.
Second Place
The second place winner and a guest will be invited to experience the natural wonders of the Galapagos Islands and the sacred valleys of the Inca.
• See blue-footed boobies perform courtship “dance” rituals 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador, and explore Peru’s land of the Inca in sites like Cusco , Machu Picchu and Pisac.
• Activities: snorkeling with playful sea lions, kayaking and swimming in the Pacific Ocean as well as a trek through the gateway of the sacred valley in Pisac.
• Round-trip coach class air transportation for two (2) to Guayaquil, Ecuador
• $6,274.60 that can be used toward taxes and travel costs
Total Second Place Prize Value: $22,856.80
Third Place
The third place winner and a guest will be invited to follow Nature Valley on the trail pioneered by Lewis & Clark in the Pacific Northwest.
• Head west to discover for yourself the beauty of the Columbia River, the majesty of the Cascade Mountains and the wonder of Hell’s Canyon.
• Activities: Kayaking excursions, jet boat travels, rugged hikes and a visit to Celilo Falls where Lewis & Clark described a gathering of 10,000 Native Americans
• Round-trip coach class air transportation for two (2) to Portland, Oregon
• $3,931.60 that can be used toward taxes and travel costs
Total Third Place Prize Value: $12,703.60
Once a team of judges will select the top 10 finalists then online voting will take place from 2/21/08 through 3/13/08 to determine the top 5 winners. The final winner will be announced on 4/4/08 on the YouTube homepage.
You can also check out the Nature Valley Flip Video Camcorder weekly give away.
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