Is Cottonelle rolling in the social media space?

Keith – thanks for bringing it to our notice.
Great thoughts!!

I give them a C grade because if I was not an avid
SM follower, I would not have known what it was
about – not all the match ups were clear.

Most importantly, for me, they did not ask what
“I” thought. They should have a live poll that
counts % Over vs % Under.

My $0.02

Cheers,
Prince
Prince´s last blog ..Poll: Are you afraid of Digital Infection?

I think it’s brilliant. They’re getting people engaged over toilet paper and getting permission to put their brand in front of them over and over. I saw it first on Hulu which was a great strategy as well. Thanks for the write-up – had just shared the link moments before you posted this. Clearly some momentum. Would be interesting if they could find a way to link Foursquare into it (pun intended).

Prince, I guess it boils down to what their objectives are. If they meet or exceed those objectives then the grade would be higher or lower respectively.

Cari, I guess I have the same answer for you. It’s brilliant if people are actually engaging. However,I m not convinced people really want to engage with their toilet paper of choice. Again, what are their objectives? Big marketing spend for what seems like a closed loop. After you vote…. what’s next?
keithburtis´s last blog ..Is Cottonelle rolling in the social media space?

Keith,

This is a great article. Especially as a conversation starter. Now that you have the post, it might be nice to see you reach out to Cottonelle with an “inquiring minds want to know” approach to this campaign. I certainly would like to know their objectives here.

Now, on to the critical feedback to cottonelle.
The plumber and housekeeper vids are ‘nice’ but they miss the opportunity to have that man-on-the-street authenticity and I think that creates a disconnect in this case.

Also, if they really wanted to let this roll (pun intended) they should have provided the cottonelle poll branded graphics go as a free download for users to create their own ‘over under’ vids. That would allow the SM savvy kids (and adults) as well as the active social web users to really get involved.

Lastly, the landing page is forced – they are trying to hard. In my opinion. It still looks like it was done by an ad agency especially with the flash website. This would be fine if this site had real value as a flash site, but from what I could tell, the purpose of the website could have been just as easily fullfilled without flash and with a more typical approach. Just my opinion.

I give it an A+ on concept and quality of the idea. For distribution and outreach I give it a B-. However, from a conversion standpoint, I think they are putting things in the way of true engagement for the poll and with the brand so I say it gets a C+ because that’s what matters the most. Right?

Good stuff Keith. Can you get them on the phone to comment on their side?

Justin, it would be tremendous to get them on the phone. In fact in my opinion monitoring is part of the overall social media and digital package. So far they are getting an F there. They really need to be coming to blog posts like these and extending the conversation. If they don’t it’s just a campaign and it will die out as quick as is ‘rolled’ in. I have no idea if this is all agency run (suspect it is) or if Cottonelle is actually taking a proactive role in the creation of their content.

I will say this. In order for them to be successful at leveraging consumer generated content they need to ask how they will control the output in a world where no control exists. With the whole theme I suspect that there is a very good chance that they will get crude and crazy submissions. In this case they will need to have some way to filter the content so that the idiots don’t take over. They ask on the twitter account for submissions but they really have no channel for that.

I’ve written posts like this in the past around TGI Fridays and Petsmart and we never seem to get any extended conversation from the brand. Seems like a missed opportunity to me.
keithburtis´s last blog ..Is Cottonelle rolling in the social media space?

Interesting, 3 big companies with no feedback.

That is like paying big money to be an exhibitor at a big conference and having booth space, having some signage for your brand and business but just putting a fish bowl on the middle of a table with a note that says drop you business card in the bowl and we will pick someone randomly for x prize. No reps there, not one working the crowds and shaking hands, just the “dressed up” booth.

I say that’s as bad, if not worse than contributors going crazy with off color submissions. At least the off color submissions are relevant (and probably noticeable).

And you are right, how do you control something that can’t be controlled? You can’t, so let it roll. If people get crazy, no worries, they can already do that – with or without the permission of the company. Wouldn’t it be great if crazy things happened “with that that boring toilet paper company and that boring toilet paper campaign”? I mean, this is right on the tipping point – they want to see it tip over, but are trying to keep guide ropes and tie-downs on it just in case… That’s counter the purpose of this medium.

Use the tools and the medium to create interest and engagement with the brand. Once you step into this arena you have to let things ride (you gave up control when you left Marketing 1.0 and used Marketing 2.0).

Geez I sound so silly saying all this.

Justin, I don’t think I could have said it any better myself. What color would the “off color submissions’ be? Yep, I went there.

Hi Keith,

Thanks for a great post. I would give the campaign a B. I do think the campaign is a bit fragmented though with the end objective.

Erika

Keith, you’re on a roll now. I appreciate your approach to the bottom line.

Your analysis is thoughtful AND you’ve attracted thoughtful commenters (sans me) as well.