Snuggle up to this marcom challenge: You have a product traditionally sold through linen departments to parents of kids ages 3 to 8. Now make it appeal to pre-teen girls.
Crown Crafts, Inc., an Atlanta-based maker of home textile accessories, rose to the challenge in 1998 when it spurred demand for its "Pillow Buddies" line of animal-shaped velour pillows in a new age demographic. The pillows were already a big hit with younger kids, but were virtually unknown among pre-teen girls.
Crown Crafts overcame stifling budget limitations by leveraging strategic partnerships with other national brands targeting the pre-teen market. Its yearlong campaign, which included a 14-market satellite media tour, a Web site and a contest, ended with a bargain basement price tag of $311,000.
Even more impressive is the ROI the manufacturer scored for this low, low price. By the end of the 1998, Crown Crafts saw a 40% sales increase in its juvenile business over 1997. And this jump was fully attributed to the Pillow Buddies pre-teen promotion, considering it was the only promotion running, says Garet Hayes, senior account executive at Ketchum Atlanta, the agency responsible for creating the campaign. Another bonus: the campaign yielded more than 23 million editorial media impressions, nearly 4,000 contest entries, and over 60,000 hits on the Pillow Buddies Web site (www.pillowbuddies.com).
Unusual Bedfellows
Forging co-branding opportunities proved a critical strategy for Ketchum in introducing Pillow Buddies to a new niche market. To catapult the product line into teen-land and make it a "must have" for teeny-boppers, Ketchum looked for opportunities to piggyback on well-known brands catering to the same audience. In the end, relationships with heavy-hitters such as All About You magazine, Teen magazine, Blockbuster Video, Pizza Hut, Maybelline, and NBC's "Saved By the Bell" helped shore up Pillow Buddies' credibility among pre-teen girls. Seizing opportunities for product placement and brand-building, the partnering companies collaborated on market research and provided contest prizes. Blockbuster even went the extra mile and sponsored radio promotions in Denver and Austin, along with TV spots on the WB network in Austin. The home-video giant also distributed a press release of "Top 10 Video Picks" based on movie preferences cited by girls in an exclusive Pillow Buddies phone survey.
To pull off a seamless campaign, Ketchum also tapped the expertise of some less visible partners. Among them:
- D.L. Blair - a sales promotion agency specializing in sweepstakes, games and contests, which helped run the contest.
- BBDO South Advertising - an Atlanta-based agency that conducted focus groups and developed magazine ad inserts.
- NFO Research, Inc. - a market research company tapped for expertise in facilitating the phone survey.
- Arthouse - a Web design shop responsible for creating the Pillow Buddies Web site.
More Than Animal Instinct
In developing its strategy, Crown Crafts relied on much more than gut feeling when it decided to use slumber parties as the central theme for its market expansion. Focus groups and surveys conducted by various research partners revealed that 96 percent of pre-teen and teen girls attend sleep-overs, primarily in the summer. The research also catalogued girls' slumber parties likes and dislikes. Those findings inspired content for "The Ultimate Slumber Party Survival Guide" a main attraction at the Pillow Buddies Web site featuring a chat forum, snack recipes, ghost stories and harmless pranks.
Survey findings also led to the development of "The Ultimate Slumber Party," the first contest ever run by Pillow Buddies and Crown Crafts, according to Crown Crafts brand manager, Laurie Berkin. To enter the contest, girls were prompted to write essays of 50 words or less describing their idea of a dream slumber party. The payoff: a chance to win an all-expense-paid trip to L.A. with four friends, replete with free Blockbuster movie rentals, a Pizza Hut pizza party, makeup giveaways, tickets to "Saved By The Bell," a photo shoot, and, of course, Pillow Buddies animals.
Contest details appeared in the May issue of Teen, and in the May, June and July issues of All About You. Ketchum also distributed a press kit to national wires, dailies and local market dailies - and secured Penny Warner, author of over 25 teen party books, as a spokeswoman for its satellite media tour. (During the tour, Warner donned pajamas and touted party ideas and activities.) The satellite tour generated media interviews that reached more than 3 million people, says Berkin.
Market research provided in the press kits proved a definite draw for number-hungry journalists, but one particular pitch angle proved to be the clincher. Pillow Buddies got extra ink when contest organizers revealed that 60% of pre-teen girls wished heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio would make an appearance at their slumber parties. Leo, it seems, was last year's ultimate party animal.
(Crown Crafts, Inc., 770/644-6262; Ketchum, 404/877-1851, BBDO, 404/234-1700).
No Time for Sleeping
Ketchum and NFO Research, Inc., asked 253 girls to describe what they like about slumber parties and found that:
98% like to hang out with friends
92% like to stay up really late
92% like to listen to music
76% like to talk about boys
74% like to watch a movie or video starring a hot guy
Other favorite activities include pigging out, telling ghost stories, surfing the Internet and putting on make-up and nail polish.