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The global leader in uniformed footwear.
Part of the Hi-Tec group, Magnum Footwear are the global leader in uniformed services footwear. Supplying footwear to both military and individuals throughout the world Magnum are renowned for innovative, technical shoes that deliver comfort and longevity.
Magnum Boots developed the Elite Force 8.0 WPI boot, revolutionary footwear for the uniformed services that uses ‘Ion-Mask’ technology to make it waterproof and blood born pathogen resistant.
With unique technology backed up by the Magnum brand the Elite Force was launched in September 2010. The company sort social media to promote the brand, technology and product and drive awareness to allow Magnum Boots to engage with it audience, encouraging them to talk about the launch of this revolutionary product.
Inteact with consumers and add value to the brand.
Whilst Magnum Boots had existing presence in the most popular social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) these channels could not effectively create the right conditions for one-to-one dialogue with the consumer, as the discussion would of been open to view by all. Therefore a ‘social media mechanic’ was developed to present a platform where their consumers could interact and add value to the brand. The mechanic was to act as a catalyst where incentives would be given to advocates to actively promote the product within their own social networks.
From qualitative research the 9xb team identified and defined who Magnum’s audience were online and the type of dialogue they had within the digital community. Understanding their daily engagement, a framework was developed under the concept of ‘Field Testers Wanted’. This played on the fact that the majority of the audience were in the uniformed services and Magnum’s main brand proposition was to attract advocates through the usage of their products. The framework would invite the general public to become ‘Field Testers’, encouraging the consumer to demonstrate their loyalty to the Magnum Boots by uploading content to either the main website or onto social media sites to demonstrate their respect for the brand. A Field tester would sign up for an account on the site and then be asked to provide one / or all of the following elements to support their application:
- YouTube video – the user would be asked to add a video of them wearing their Magnum Boots in action or simply testing them to YouTube and then embed the link on the Magnum Boots site
- Flickr – the user would upload images of themselves using their boots, the images could be in any situation
- Testimonials/reviews – the user would be asked to leave testimonials and reviews which would be syndicated out to the Magnum branded social media platforms
- Social bookmarking – the user would be asked to bookmark the pages and comment about the Magnum brand
On submission the Magnum Boots marketing team reviewed the submissions and depending on the quality, the user would be awarded ‘Field Tester’ status. The new Field Tester would win a free pair of boots and became a brand ambassador for a year.
A global hit and an award winning campaign.
Within 2 months of launch the mechanic was in the top 5 results for the search term ‘Ion Mask’ with references across 75 personal and industry related blogs. The mechanic generated over 1,000 submissions to become Field Testers across 131 countries with a select 35 becoming full time Field Testers.
In the first six months the mechanic generated 29,324 visits of which 82% where new visitors (total visits for life span of mechanic 80k over 1 year.) Over 3,500 submission were received in total including 150 YouTube videos (ranging from people falling down stairs to soldiers filming themselves in Afghanistan). It created 1,500 likes and mentions across the web 2.0 community and developed over 1,500 natural seo links (no forced optimisation activity undertaken) within first two months of activity.
The innovative nature of this campaign was rewarded when we were delighted to pick up the Best Digital Marketing Campaign at the Insider Magazines Digital & Technology Awards 2012.
