Planner's Favourite: E.ON, Carl Jr. and The Royal Marines
This is the fourth round of our 'Planner's Favourite' series where we ask a respected planner from the media industry to judge a selection of campaigns that are running on our platforms. -Ed.
E.ON: Talking Energy
E.ON wanted to provide a forum where people can debate the major energy issues of our time. We all want cheap, reliable and renewable energy, but sadly probably can't have all 3 - the Trilemma. They wanted an online customer service channel where they could engage with some of their fiercest critics. It is the 6th most viewed sponsored channel this month with over 76K channel views. This is a first for an energy company and a brave attempt to tackle a difficult topic they traditionally have avoided discussing in public. This campaign was supported by press activity.
Carl Jr: How You Eat a Burger (US)
Looking to grab the attention of its target customers (young men), Carl's Jr. sought out a new kind of network buy with YouTube, with which it challenged 9 of the site's most popular "stars" to create videos showing how they would eat Carl's new Portobello Mushroom Burger. The nine YT stars uploaded into their own accounts - capitalizing on their subscriber base. Each video contains an annotation which drives to the Carl's Jr. brand channel. The idea was to create a community around Carl's Jr. to leverage the target's online behavior. The channel had nearly 1M video views in 24 hours, thousands of comments and tweets, and Carl's is the #1 most-viewed sponsor channel of the day. The campaign also won the OMMA 2009 Best in Show Award.
Royal Marines: It’s a State of Mind
This follows a high-profile online and TV campaign from the British Army geared toward targeting young men interested in signing up to the armed forces through interactive gaming-style missions. The Marines YouTube channel is targeted at 16-24 yr old males and features four sections - RMC Training, Extreme VS Marines, State of Mind, and Ambush and Assault. Each section has rich video content, bringing to life the Royal Marines' state of mind - the ethos which sets the Royal Navy's apart from any other armed forces. Videos will be reviewed monthly, with fresh new content and training videos added on a regular basis. The channel has had over 50K views, is the 6th most subscribed sponsored channel.