Case Study
Web 2.0's Marketing Impact on Low-Involvement Consumers
Asle Fagerstrøm
The Norwegian School of Information Technology
Gheorghita Ghinea
Brunel University
Abstract
What happens if you create a campaign based on the target segment's dreams of being a designer, in combination with a recognized brand and medium that have the same target segment? For SCA Libresse, the relationship with its consumers is a vital competitive factor. From dialogues with the target segment, the company's marketing managers recognized that many young girls have an interest in fashion and design. Therefore, SCA Libresse developed its campaign: Libresse, Let's Design. The winning contribution was to be sold in 180 stores in Nordic countries. The result was overwhelming: 90,000 designs were submitted, and the number of Web site visitors doubled. Most important, SCA Libresse witnessed an increase in sales during the campaign period. Using the Libresse, Let's Design campaign, this article discusses how brand awareness and positive attitude toward a brand can be created by use of the Internet in an interactive and social way.
Keywords: Web 2.0 marketing; interactivity; involvement; interactive marketing.
Introduction
Since it was commercialized in 1997, the Internet has brought new benefits to marketing. In the early stage of Internet marketing, marketers focused on the medium's ability to lower costs and its greater capabilities for the distribution of information and media to a global market. In a critical examination of the Internet's commercial development, Hoffman, Novak, and Chatterjee (1995) point out that the most important consumer benefit associated with online shopping is the access to greater amounts of dynamic information to support consumers' decision making. The interactive nature of the Internet and the hypertext environment allow for deep, nonlinear information search that the consumer initiates and controls (Hoffman, Novak, and Chatterjee 1995). The authors conclude that the benefits that the consumer gets from electronic commerce arise primarily from the structural characteristics of the medium and include availability of information, provision of search mechanisms, and online product trial, all of which can lead to reduced uncertainty in the consumer's decision process.
Today, most marketers consider Internet marketing to have a broader scope because it not only refers to digital media such as the Internet, e-mail, and banner advertising but also includes management of digital customer data and electronic customer relationship management systems (Hanson and Kalyanam 2007). In general, Internet marketing comprises creative and technical aspects of the Internet including design, content development, advertising, and sales. The term "Web 2.0" is used to describe changing trends in the use of technology and design in the marketing process. It was introduced for the first time in 2004 by Dale Dougherty, a Web pioneer, at a conference brainstorming session. According to O'Reilly (2007), Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. The rules for success entail using the Internet in an interactive and social way to engage consumers (O'Reilly 2007).
Web 2.0 marketing is an emerging concept, and it is not easy to pin down exactly how it can engage consumers. However, Moran (2008, p. 24) defines Web 2.0 marketing as "any way to get attention for your message using people connected to the Internet." In addition, he categorizes Web 2.0 marketing into four types of social media: content, personality, interest, and fantasy. Content-based social media marketing builds around individual messages-for example, YouTube hosts videos designed to be shared with others. Other content-based social media sites do not host the content but rather link to it. Personality-based social networking sites allow each member to create a profile description, which again can be linked to the profiles of colleagues and friends, forming a network. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have become a significant personality-based networks for targeting adult segments. Interest-based social media marketing involves communities formed around specific subjects on message boards, blogs, and so on. These communities give companies the opportunity to interact with consumers and, most important, listen and learn from their experience and ideas about product improvements. Specialized search sites like Twingly allow category searches for blogs on a specific topic. Finally, virtual worlds such as Second Life are also social media. Marketing though a virtual world is fantasy-based social media marketing.
Types of social media are emerging fast. What is important, according to Moran (2008), is the need to pay attention, so that when a new type of social media appears, a company can recognize it and consider whether it could work for its next marketing campaign. The following section describes how SCA Libresse succeeded in increasing sales using a Web 2.0 marketing campaign.
Libresse, Let's Design
SCA (2010) was founded in 1929 as a merger of ten Swedish forestry companies. The company has since then expanded into personal care products, tissue, and packaging. Europe is its main market, but SCA also holds strong positions in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Australasia. One of SCA's (2010) main business areas is feminine care products (personal care), which it markets in more than 90 countries. Its largest regional market for feminine care products is Europe, where SCA is the third largest player. In Europe, the products are marketed under the brand name Libresse. The competition in this market is very tough. The two strongest players are SCA Libresse and P&G Always, though in recent years, private brands have also developed a strong position in Nordic markets.
In addition to the price of the product, the relationship to the consumer is important for SCA Libresse to stay competitive. SCA Libresse has reported that in addition to demographics (i.e., gender and age), two main characteristics mark the target segment for feminine care products: First, the consumer often sticks with the brand she chooses the first time around; and second, the consumer is not very involved in the product category. This scenario makes for a challenging situation for the marketing department. To achieve brand awareness and positive attitudes toward the brand, the company undertook additional research to understand the target segment. Results from its market research (surveys and focus groups) showed that the target segment has varying interests; however, fashion design was one of the most dominant, with as many as 25% of the respondents, aged 14-25 years, reporting that they would want to work with fashion and design. The owners of Libresse saw this consistency as an opportunity for their 2007 campaign.
A two-month online design competition was created as the main campaign activity for the Nordic market (excluding Iceland). Other campaign activities included advertising, sales promotion, and public relations. The company opted to use print, television, and stores as communication channels. Moreover, SCA Libresse created a package crafted exclusively for the online design competition. The target segment was invited to design a pair of underpants on the Libresse Web site. The competition was open to everyone, though the main target segment was girls between 14 and 25 years of age. Girls who were attracted to the invitation were able to use a design tool to choose patterns and color (see Figure 1). With help of the drawing program, a participant could create the underpants by choosing from templates and complete figures, as well as by freehand drawing. The Libresse brand name was strategically placed on the top left of the Web site. The Web site also showed the jury and the attractive prizes.
Figure 1. Design Tool on Libresse Web Page
When the participant was satisfied with the design, she could submit it on the Libresse Web site and join the design competition. Moreover, she could invite friends by blog or Facebook to vote for her design. If she did not want to design a pair of underpants, she could vote for her favorite pattern and, in addition, send it as a postcard. Every week the winner in each country was lined up for the final decision. The winner of the design competition would obtain a cash prize, and her underpants would be launched in 180 JC stores (a fashion chain for teenagers) in the Nordic countries. Thus, a girl's dream of being a fashion designer could well be realized through the Libresse Web site.
Campaign Outcomes
One goal that SCA Libresse had for the Web 2.0 campaign was to increase the number of visitors to each country's Web site by 25%. As Figure 2 shows, the number of visitors increased from 277,657 to 483,036-in other words, an increase of 205,379 visitors (+74%). The average time users spent at the Libresse Web site also increased by 60%, from approximately 12 to 19 minutes.
Figure 2. Visitors to the Libresse Web Site
The response from the target segments was enormous. As many as 90,000 pairs of underpants were designed and submitted to the design competition by girls in the Nordic countries (see Figure 3). Sweden had the highest participation with 40,500 designs submitted. Norway was second with 17,100, and then Denmark and Finland, each with 16,200 submitted entries.
Figure 3. Numbers of Submissions in the Nordic Segments
SCA Libresse also witnessed an increase in sales during the campaign period, though due to competitive circumstances, the exact increase in sales was unavailable for publication.
Within the blog world, the design competition was one of the major topics during summer 2007. On their blogs, some girls urged readers to vote for their underpants on the Libresse Web site. One blogger wrote, "Do you have an idea for a nice panties pattern? Then you should check out the Nordic design competition Nordic Design Challenge in collaboration between Libresse and JC." One girl stated on her blog: "Thanks everybody who has voted for my submission!! And you others should vote ... in case you think my underpants are nice." Another blogger wrote, "Myself and S have joined a competition where we shall design a pair of underpants. The winner gets their underpants launched in JC shops. That's cool! Go to www.libresse.se to see ours and others submissions."
In addition, SCA Libresse achieved double gold awards for its Libresse, Let's Design campaign when the International Public Relations Association (2008) announced the winners of the Golden World Awards 2008. The competition included 404 participants from public relations agencies in 52 countries worldwide. Of the 117 finalists, 28 category winners were named. The Libresse, Let's Design entry won the category for "Best Use of Internet" and shared the "Creativity Award." The Libresse campaign also won silver in the Eurobest 2007 advertising competition and a silver award in the Swedish public relations competition, Spinn, in 2007.
Concluding Comments
The Libresse, Let's Design case reveals a key to marketing in a Web 2.0 world: Give consumers a reason to engage. Consumers must have some incentive to spend time and energy to share their thoughts, opinions, and experiences on a company Web site. For example, the target segment of Libresse reported that they were not much involved in the product category (feminine care products). Their engagement in information search and attribute evaluation therefore should be limited (Petty and Cacioppo 1986). Libresse decided to respond by peaking young girls' design interests. The competition campaign by SCA Libresse succeeded in achieving brand awareness and a positive attitude toward the brand, most likely because the brand Libresse has become closely associated with fashion design (positive cues).
In addition, by exposing more people to the brand and providing information about the product and the benefits of using it, SCA Libresse has likely increased some consumers' involvement in the product category (Petty, Cacioppo, and Schumann 1983). Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that some consumers in the target segment have increased their motivation to undertake product-relevant thinking. For those consumers, persuasion has occurred through product assumption, attitude toward the brand, and ultimately intention to buy the brand. Thus, this case study demonstrates that by using the Internet in an interactive and social way, companies can achieve brand awareness, positive attitude toward a brand, and increased sales in the target segment.
With regard to Moran's (2008) four categories of Web 2.0 marketing, the Libresse, Let's Design campaign used primarily content-based social media marketing. Libresse made it possible for the young girls in the target segment to fulfill their dream of being a designer by letting them design and submit a pair of underpants on the Libresse Web site. Indirectly, the company also made use of interest- and personality-based social media marketing by making it easy for the girls to invite friends through blogs or Facebook to vote for their design.
Other Web 2.0 companies have made use of a different mix of social media marketing. For example, Absolut Vodka (Elliott 2007) launched a new campaign in 2007 that included commercials, online ads (www.absolut.com), print ads, billboards, event marketing, and fantasy-based social media marketing. Absolut Vodka invited drinkers to imbibe "in an Absolut World," a fanciful, even surreal, place where common sense prevails. On Planet Absolut, for example, men can get pregnant, the garish billboards in Times Square are replaced by masterpiece paintings, and lying leaders are exposed by their Pinocchio noses. The idea is to reengage the brand's target segment, primarily urbanites aged 25 to 35 years, with the idea that Absolut is the quintessential vodka, the standard by which the consumers can judge other things. The goal is to encourage a dialogue between customers and the brand, in contrast with previous advertising, which was more of a top-down presentation from Absolut to its target segment.
Another example is the personality-based social media marketing by Nike, that is, the Nike Challenge (Men vs. Woman). According to Nike, it is the world's largest running club, in which men and women compete by registering online (www.nikeplus.com) and logging the kilometers thy run. In the 2009 campaign, more than 160 million kilometers had been logged on nikeplus.com; more than 900,000 challenges and 1.7 million goals had been created; and more than 140,000 training programs had been launched by runners in 180 countries around the world. Nike succeeded in strengthening the community feeling by launching a challenge to existing and new members, with a unique and engaging initiative in which everyone is invited to join.
To explain the effect that these Web 2.0 marketing campaigns have on consumption is not that straightforward. The reason is that the communication campaign often is holistic, and social media marketing generally is supported by other digital and traditional media. In addition, Web 2.0 campaigns can include cobranding with another leading brand, as in the case of the Libresse, Let's Design campaign, which cooperated with JC stores. Thus, further research is needed to expand understanding of the effects that these campaigns have on their target segments.
References
Elliott, Stuart (2007), ‘In an "Absolut World,' a Vodka Could Use the Same Ads for More than 25Years," The New York Times, (April 27, 2007), available at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/27/business/media/27adco.html, (accessed February 9, 2010).
Hanson, Ward and Kirthi Kalyanam (2007), Internet Marketing & e-Commerce. Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western.
Hoffman, Donna L., Thomas P. Novak, and Patrali Chatterjee (1995), "Commercial Scenarios for the Web: Opportunities and Challenges," Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3 (3), available athttp://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol1/issue3/hoffman.html, (accessed March 3, 2010)
International Public Relations Association (2008), "Libresse Let's Design," available at http://www.ipra.org/detail.asp?articleid=830, (accessed September 25, 2009).
Moran, Mike (2008), Do It Wrong Quickly: How the Web Changes the Old Marketing Rules. Upper Saddle River, NJ: IBM Press.
O'Reilly, Tim (2007), "What Is Web 2.0? Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software," Communication & Strategies, (1), 17-37.
Petty, Richard E. and John T. Cacioppo (1986), Communication and Persuasion: Central and Peripheral Routes to Attitude Change. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Petty, Richard E., John T. Cacioppo, and David Schumann (1983), "Central and Peripheral Routes to Advertising Effectiveness: The Moderating Role of Involvement," Journal of Consumer Research, 10 (2), 135-46.
SCA (2010), "Corporate Web Site," available at http://www.sca.com/, (accessed February 2, 2010).
About the Authors
Asle Fagerstrøm received the M.Sc. degree in Marketing, and diploma in Education, in 1993 from the National College for Teachers of Commerce, Hønefoss (Norway). He received the degree as Associate Professor in Marketing in 2006. Fagerstrøm is Associate Dean at The Norwegian School of Information Technology, Oslo (Norway). At present he is a doctoral student at The Norwegian school of Management BI, Oslo (Norway). His research and publications focus on topics such as online consumer behavior, consumer behavior analysis, behavioral economics, and human-computer interaction. E-Mail: fagasl@nith.no.
Gheorghita Ghinea received the B.Sc. and B.Sc. (Hons) degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics, in 1993 and 1994, respectively, and the M.Sc. degree in Computer Science, in 1996, from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; he then received the Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from the University of Reading, United Kingdom, in 2000. He is a Reader in the School of Information Systems and Computing at Brunel University, United Kingdom. Dr Ghinea has over 100 refereed publications in his research interests, which span human computer interaction, semantic media management, and perceptual multimedia networking. E-Mail: george.ghinea@brunel.ac.uk.
