World Cup excitement continues…retailers getting social!

The Digital Essentials, Part 3

Developing a robust digital strategy is both a challenge and an opportunity. Part 3 of the Digital Essentials guide series explores five of the essential technology-driven experiences customers expect, which you may be missing or not fully utilizing.

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The World Cup tournament is about half way through and as upsets (Spain’s surprising early elimination) and surprises (USA moving to the Round of 16) are occurring we are seeing more brands are jumping on the global outreach bandwagon!  In my previous posts, I have discussed how other companies are leveraging social media, especially Twitter, for real-time consideration around live events that drive specific brand and product awareness.  JCPenney, including itself as one of these retailers, has launched a new strategic campaign to one of the largest audiences watching the World Cup this year, the Hispanic market.  Taking it a step further, they have specifically targeted women (even though men hold the largest demographic percentage of viewing the games), it is the women who tend to be the shoppers for the family.  In the US alone, 112 million households viewed the last World Cup, half of which were Hispanic households.[1]  Sr. manager of media relations and corporate affairs at JCPenney states “JCpenney will be focused on connecting through culturally relevant messaging and extending media reach and delivery to the Hispanic consumer.”[2]

Geared towards Hispanic women, JCPenney’s campaign consists of tweets offering a chance to win “Free Kicks”(great pun on a soccer term and shoes).  This campaign has targeted these women promoting the US national team and all of the World Cup games.  On June 26^th, Germany and USA hashed it out on the field while JCPenney (using hastag #JCPFreeKicks) offered a chance to win a pair of shoes every time a free kick occurred.  For each free kick that happened, JCPenney created a separate tweet and to win, one had to be following @JCPenney and also retweet that particular tweet.  The results were pretty outstanding with an overage of 500 retweets and 80 likes, JCPenney kept it fresh and exciting with creating each unique tweet.
JCPenney also promoted campaigns on Facebook that followed yellow cards and header goals during the games as well.  Providing real time interaction with consumers, the retailer awarded gift cards to those who utilized certain hashtags when these things occurred during the games.
Along with other companies, JCPenney’s efforts are focused on the World Cup timeframe but want to continue to grow market share and commit to the Hispanic consumer moving forward.  JCPenney found a perfect opportunity to connect with the Hispanic community through this global event.  It is amazing the different ways each company and brand are creating different strategies!  We have two more weeks left so as the tournament winds down and we move towards the semi-finals and finals, we will keep watch on how these companies change their strategies and continue their conversations post-tournament!
 
[1] Source: http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/jcpenney-scores-on-twitter/
[2] Source: http://www.jcpenney.com