In recent years, the importance of special projects as a marketing tool has grown – this format allows you to increase consumer loyalty and has a positive effect on brand perception. This became especially relevant during the pandemic, when market players were more actively fighting for the attention of the audience in self-isolation. Speakers of the Nectarin agency section at AdIndex City Conference 2020 told how exactly digital promo allows you to attract new users and strengthen brand positioning, using the example of your own cases

Advantages and disadvantages of special projects

Today, a special project is an important part of the media split for almost any brand, says Valery Novikov, head of Nectarin’s media strategy department. Although market players are wondering what is more effective for business: direct advertising or a special project, they cannot be directly opposed. However, before launching the latter, it is worth remembering its advantages and disadvantages.

• The special project gives a high quality of contact with the audience and has a better effect on the mind of the consumer than direct product advertising. As a result, customers demonstrate higher loyalty and intent to purchase a product or service.
• The business result of a special project is easy to predict – the efficiency is clear already at the start.
• This format allows you to collect a large database of contacts, since in 90% of cases digital promos involve activity on the landing page.
• Among the shortcomings of the special project is a high dependence on creativity. If the idea does not “catches” the audience, then you will not have to count on high business results.
• Digital promo is a rather complicated format in terms of preparation and control after launch. Production, logistics, the formation of a prize fund – all this requires more time and effort than launching direct advertising.
• A special project requires more money than direct advertising. If we keep in mind all the features of the format, then with the help of a special project, a brand can solve almost any marketing problem, except for a permanent presence in digital, which is too expensive in terms of the cost of a contact. Things to keep in mind when launching a promo in digital
• Situational marketing is a guarantee that the campaign will be relevant to the brand’s audience.
• The target audience is divided into several groups, and separate work is carried out with each of them. This includes, among other things, the distribution of the budget to attract a certain segment, the use of certain digital tools, the launch of relevant targeting and adapted creatives.
• Teasers do not work to engage the audience in a display campaign, to be effective, you need to use brand content so that users understand where they are clicking.
• If possible, you should use viral marketing – you need to allow users to talk about the brand themselves using UGC (user generated content).
• The path of the user and the mechanic should be as simple as possible. Marketers should value the time and attention of the target audience visiting the site. These inputs were used by the project #samsebechefof the I love to cook brand. The campaign was launched during the period of self-isolation – for those who are tired of sitting at home without the opportunity to visit a restaurant or cafe. Users who have become more likely to cook at home were asked to upload a photo of themselves from the kitchen, choose a sign for a “home restaurant” and share on social networks. You could also upload a selfie and get an easy recipe recommendation. As part of the campaign, the brand raffled off prizes: gift certificates in Ozon and Metro, as well as Yandex.Station Mini. As a result of the project, the coverage plan was overfulfilled by 70%, and the average session duration on the landing page was two minutes and seven seconds.

The use of “quarantine” insights in a special project

An example of the use of situational marketing in a special project was Gallina Blanca’s Circular Journey campaign presented by Maria Danilova, Gallina Blanca’s Soups, Pastas and Sauces Development Manager. The brand set itself the task of increasing the coverage during the promotion period, involving the target audience in interactive interaction, including men and women aged 20-40 who work in the office and love travel. The love of travel and the inability to travel during a pandemic is the insight that formed the basis of the promo. On the page of the special project, users got acquainted with the assortment of Gallina Blanca, traditional dishes and traditions of different countries. Game mechanics were involved in the project: tests and timekiller games. Users collected points, uploaded checks from purchases of the brand’s products to the site and participated in the drawing of prizes, the main of which was a certificate for a tour to one of the countries of Gallina Blanca’s tastes. More than 25 thousand people participated in the project, and the coverage is more than 20 million users. Using this case as an example, the speaker noted that a special project allows you to involve the audience in a communication platform for a long time, and check mechanics is suitable for stimulating both online and offline purchases.

Personalized digital promo mechanics

As part of the section, Nectarin Account Director Olga Mordan and Nectarin Creative Director Elena Trunova presented two case studies of special projects launched for gender holidays. In each campaign, personalized mechanics were used, which made it possible to exceed the set KPIs. The first promo for the “I love to cook” brand – #not onlysocks – was launched by February 23 to attract a new audience and drive sales. The creative was based on jokes about banal gifts given by women. On the project page, it was necessary to write your name and the name of the man in the form and decide what to give for February 23: a dish from the proposed ingredients or a standard gift. After the choice, a comic quatrain with usernames and an image of a dish from the selected product appeared on the page. A similar campaign with similar objectives for the brand was launched by March 8 – #I’m kind of hinting. The basis was the insight of the female audience – girls do not like to ask directly, but prefer to have their desires guessed. In the “hint generator,” women could choose three desires, one of which was related to food – the dish was offered to be prepared by a man. As in the previous campaign, the recipient received a personalized poem with allusions and a recipe for a simple dish. Both special projects were announced in social networks, YouTube and media platforms. The objectives of each campaign in terms of coverage were exceeded by 26%, the average session on landing pages was about 20 minutes. The plans for clicks on special projects were also overfulfilled: for #non-onlysocks — by 11%, and for #however, I’m hinting — by 22%.

The effectiveness of a special project without a focus on interactive

Not every promo involves interactive mechanics, and the campaign of the margarine brand “Generous Summer” was an example. As Elena Trunova said, the purpose of the special project was to support brand awareness in the regions, the target audience is family women from 25 years old, whose hobbies are related to cooking, home and summer cottages. The creative idea of the project is “Russia bakes generously”. The campaign landing page described the unique selling proposition of the product and presented recipes for national pastries from different regions of Russia, including echpochmaks and Buryat boovs. The special project involved two mechanics: “Watch and Bake” with four video recipes for unusual flour dishes and “Read and Bake” — ten text recipes of varying complexity that can be used to cook with Generous Summer. The reach target was exceeded by 29%, by clicks by 7%, and by CTR (the ratio of ad clicks to the number of impressions) by 38%. Thus, the focus was placed only on the content, however, the campaign maintained a balance between the interests of the audience and the positioning of the brand as an expert in baking. As the speaker emphasized, the special project allows building consumer loyalty if the idea is relevant to their interests.