3M EPR Campaign
The brief was to find an innovative way to direct users to the 3Mbeseen.co.uk microsite, which provides useful information for parents trying to keep their children safe with products incorporating 3M Scotchlite™ Retro Reflective Materials on their clothing as the evenings begin to draw in.
Drew Davies, E-marketing Specialist at Chameleon Net, advised on a Pay Per Click (PPC) strategy, but wanted to further increase user traffic by using a more imaginative approach. The answer lay in using a new form of e-PR (electronic Public Relations) to identify and communicate with online parental opinion leaders to show how being seen could save lives at this time of year.
Drew compiled a shortlist of those blogs run by parents. Amongst his parameters were that they were UK based, had quality content and a good readership.
He says, "My method was to contact the bloggers, honestly describe the project, and ask if they would like to find out more about the reflectors and receive some sample product". It was important that Chameleon Net followed a strictly 'ethical' blogging procedure, which ruled out tactics used by some other advertisers such as posting commercial content as a blog comment.
The response was overwhelmingly positive. One blogger wrote that whilst being "easy to wear and easy to see", the fluorescent bands are also a big hit with her children, who "think they are great fun, and love wearing them when we're out on the bikes".
Drew continues, "As a result of our work bloggers have been posting information about the accessories and using a URL extension, so that we could track the traffic specific to the e-PR campaign. In addition, we've been able to pass information to 3M about schools, PTAs and other community groups who were also interested to be contacted about the reflector products".
Mark Orsborn, the Senior e-channel executive at 3M commented, "We had wanted to use an e-PR approach for this campaign, because we know that there is a stong community-based interest in our accessories. We've enjoyed the interactive nature of the project, reading the blogs and receiving feedback from the blogging community".
UNICEFUNICEF is the largest organisation in the world dedicated to improving the lives of children, their families and communities. Fundraising plays a very central part in supporting UNICEF's cause, and ongoing development and use of web technologies is considered key to future success.
Chameleon Net has been working with UNICEF for over 9 years to help them establish a strong presence on the web, and support the organisation's ongoing requirements for design, development, e-marketing and technical support.
Interesting links:
www.3Mbeseen.co.uk
Chameleon Net's Online PR Blog Post
Our original involvement with UNICEF saw us develop the original .org.uk website, and since then we have provided ongoing design, development and support expertise. Amongst other things, we have been engaged in projects to develop a donations facility, a multi-site search, and UNICEF's overall e-commerce platform.
We also provide a tailored hosting and support package, including full application monitoring and on call tech support, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and a resilient and secure environment for the servers that support UNICEF's numerous sites.
E-commerce Projects
The most significant contribution Chameleon Net has made to UNICEF's online success has been the development of their e-commerce systems.
Consumer E-commerce Site
Chameleon Net redeveloped UNICEF UK's online consumer shopping platform. This system provides website visitors with a simple and easy method of buying UNICEF cards and gifts, other merchandise, school resources and adding donations to their orders.
The site is the second generation of this system, and allowed UNICEF not only to apply its experience of conducting e-commerce for 5 years, but also offer new products, new creative ordering features (such as personalisation options) and improved usability.
It also provides UNICEF with enhanced customer relationship management features and a whole package of back-office processes including improved product management and reporting.
Corporate Cards Site
UNICEF's B2B online sales activity includes a dedicated site, designed and developed by Chameleon Net, that allows for corporate customers to buy Christmas cards.
The site is unique in that it allows businesses to order online, utilize a range of personalization options, track their orders and order history, dynamically generate print-quality PDFs, and liaise online with the printers and fulfillment house.
Once again, UNICEF content managers and stakeholders third parties have administrative access via an integrated back-office. This makes site management, reporting, and communication between those involved in any given transaction fast and easy.
Inspired Gifts
The latest addition to the UNICEF e-commerce platform is the Inspired Gifts storelet which allows people to buy virtual gifts.
Visitors can select from a range of gifts that will help to save, improve and protect the lives of children. Gifts includes providing nutrition, water, education and shelter to those who need it most. With every purchase the customer can send a customised gift card to the recipient.
Although the Inspired Gifts storelet has its own look and feel, it is integrated with the overall e-commerce platform, so shoppers can mix and match items in their baskets, including regular cards & gifts, virtual gifts, and educational resources.
Following launch just prior to Christmas 2005, Inspired Gifts generated over £150k for UNICEF in less than 3 weeks. On-line post-purchase customer research with customers has shown an overwhelmingly positive response to the offering and the site itself.
Chameleon Net and Diabetes UK
Diabetes UK today launches www.diabeteschallenge.org.uk, a groundbreaking fundraising website that taps into the social networking phenomenon and harnesses the reach and networking capabilities of sites such as Twitter, Flickr and Facebook. The launch coincides with Diabetes UK's 75th anniversary.
Created by digital agency Chameleon Net, Diabetes Challenge is a fun and interactive site that enables anybody to challenge themselves or someone else to raise funds for Diabetes UK by taking on a given challenge. It is geared to attracting fundraisers from beyond the charity's traditional supporter base.
Smarter fundraising through Challenges
Using the Challenge website, people can lay down a challenge of their choice – to a person of their choice, including friends and family members. Challenges can be anything from climbing Mount Everest to bathing in baked beans or making a colleague a cuppa everyday for a week – anything goes!
Celebrity challenges will also feature on the site, the first being presenter Dominic Littlewood who is taking on a jungle expedition in Thailand which he hopes will pull in £2,750.
Visitors to Diabetes Challenge can access progress updates on all live challenges such as who's challenging who, what they're doing, who's donating and how much has been raised so far.
The site also provides a focal point for people taking part in marathons, fun runs, overseas challenges and other events on behalf of Diabetes UK. These fundraisers can direct donors to their profiles at Diabetes Challenge, where contributions are commission-free, compared to those charged by intermediary fundraising sites.
Strong focus on social
Challenge has social networking at its heart - users can share content and their progress via their social media networking thanks to connections with Twitter and Flickr.
Users will also benefit from Facebook integration via the new Facebook Connect API. This means they can post updates direct to Facebook, such as new challenges and donation notifications.
Says Amanda Neylon, Digital Media Manager at Diabetes UK, “Diabetes Challenge is an exciting and innovative use of social media. Its objectives are to attract new supporters through the challenge concept while giving existing fundraisers a tool to make supporting us easier, more effective, and more fun. Chameleon Net, with its expertise in web development and social media, has proven a great choice as the creators of Diabetes Challenge.”
Embracing tech innovation
Not only is the charity breaking new ground in its use of social media, but behind the scenes Diabetes UK is innovating too by connecting the site to its supporter systems in real time using web services. This allows for valuable data such as registration details and donation records to be passed along and stored so that Diabetes UK can better understand its supporters and tailor future communication.
Dan Martin, Marketing Director at Chameleon Net, said, “It's essential that charities embrace technology developments in order to get smarter about fundraising, understand their supporters better, and give people ownership over how they engage with their chosen charity. The Challenge website is an exciting step forward that uses the latest social tools like the Facebook Connect API and seamless back-end integration. It's a great example of Diabetes UK and Chameleon Net's commitment to online innovation.”
Looking at the Aesthetics of the Challenge Site
I think that it is crucial research to look at the functionality and detail of the challenge site, in order to get an idea of what Diabetes like and how similar they like to keep there branding. It is a little difficult to do on here so I have printed off examples and have analysed them by hand - besides it'll be nice to get off the computer for a bit!
