Shamrock’d!
Issue 13 | December 2009
Agency
OgilvyOne, Malaysia
Creative Team
Executive Creative Director: Selina Ang, Copywriter: Sara Samantha, Tan Senior, Art Director: Martin Ng, Web Designers: Soh Kian Teck, Teo Choong Ching
Production Team
Project Management: Ee Seet Ling, Programmer: Calvin Tan
Other Credits
Account Management: Lim Shu Min, Loh Ee-Lin
Date
2009
Background
Guinness needed to raise awareness about its St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Malaysia. But this Irish holiday lacked relevance and appeal to Malaysians.
Idea
To get Malaysians into the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day, Guinness spread the Irish spirit of mischievous fun online with an application on Facebook. This media choice fits Guinness brand values perfectly, Facebook being both fun and sociable.
The application that was created let users “shamrock” photos of their friends with cheeky St. Patrick’s-themed items such as a green moustache, leprechaun ears and a green beard. Among groups of friends, each “shamrock’d” photo became a talking point, generating buzz and awareness about St Patrick’s.
A drive-to-event element was built into the application. Each “shamrock’d” photo earned the user a virtual gold coin. These could be accumulated and redeemed at themed St. Patrick’s Day events in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.
Results
Compared to the previous St. Patrick’s Day campaign, there was an increase of over 275% in contest participation.
Over 26,000 photos were “shamrock’d” on Facebook and attendance at the St Patrick’s Day events exceeded the client’s targets by an average of 70%.
Our Thoughts
You simply can’t ram a product message down people’s throats on Facebook but what you can do is get people to play games with each other and spread the word that way.
In many ways this campaign is a lesson to other brands how to use social media. It plays to friendship – you would only deface the photo of a mate – and it plays to self-interest. You can also win prizes. It’s involving, it’s fun, it’s cheap, it’s win, win, win.