Client: Sennheiser USA (Old Lyme, CT)
Lead Agency: Hummingbird Media (Katonah, NY)*
Campaign: Sennheiser Sound Tour
PR Budget: less than $50,000
Sennheiser
is a German electronics company with a heritage of producing high-end
professional audio components. This summer, it went direct to consumers
in the US and Canada to increase awareness and drive sales of its music
and gaming headphones among 18- to 26-year-olds. “Brand awareness
was low in the US,” says Stefanie Reichert, Sennheiser USA's VP of
strategic marketing. “We have a high conversion rate once we... put
product on people's heads. They tend to buy on the spot and then word
of mouth kicks in.” Reichert says Canadian marketing agency The
JetStar Group conceived and orchestrated the “Sennheiser Sound Tour,”
which would let consumers in more than 30 cities sample the headphones.
Hummingbird Media was hired to drive local coverage and attendance.
Nicoll PR, which worked previously with Sennheiser, would help with
broad, national consumer electronics and tech outreach. Strategy Tactics Jeff
Touzeau, president of Hummingbird Media, explains that each team
created photo and video content, including webisodes of activities and
interactions with consumers and Sennheiser-sponsored musicians.
Touzeau, Sennheiser's in-house marketing team, and The JetStar group
worked together to circulate content through the microsite, sennhiesersoundtour.com, a Sound Tour Facebook page, and Sennheiser's corporate Twitter
account. The teams also leveraged Sennheiser's corporate Facebook page
and YouTube. Reichert says that Facebook was extremely important
because it's “where this audience lives.” Various contests were designed to drive microsite traffic and product trial. For example, one required consumers to watch a webisode and answer three questions online for a chance to win headphones. Results Reichert says Sennheiser didn't have a corporate Facebook page until January 2009, and the Sound Tour and corporate Facebook pages now have about 20,000 fans total. She notes that fan numbers “exploded” during the campaign. As
of August, Reichert says market research company NPD indicated that
Sennheiser headphones were the highest selling on all online retail
sites, with 26% market share. “We've never done this type of
campaign before, and we learned so much about our customers that will
help us create better products and plan additional marketing
activities,” Reichert adds. Future
Teams
of six men and six women who had personal experience with the brand
would be selected from an open casting call and trained to lead the
tour. Reichert explains that having “regular people” (as opposed to
marketing pros) interact with consumers was key to credibility. Because
the campaign was built on live interaction, the awareness and
attendance in local markets would be a key component. Social media and
localized media relations would be the primary drivers.
The
tour kicked off in June at Summerfest, an 11-day music festival in
Milwaukee. To maximize reach, the women's team went on to cover the
eastern US and Canada, while the men's team covered the western
regions. They made a total of 132 appearances at retail locations,
festivals, landmarks, museums, and other regional attractions.
Reichert
is “very pleased,” with the results of the campaign, noting that YTD
sales are up about 20% over 2008. The teams reached 120,500 people
directly, and Touzeau estimates the campaign garnered 100 million
online impressions. Local print and broadcast coverage included 380
stories in outlets such as ESPN Radio, KRQE TV in Albuquerque, and The
Hartford Courant. The microsite has attracted 10,813 unique visitors since its July 1 launch. Twenty-two webisodes were filmed and distributed.
Reichert
says Hummingbird will now work with Sennheiser “on a national level and
take over all PR initiatives going forward.” The team is preparing for
a new product launch at the consumer electronics show in January.
