Social marketing company Bo.lt and Rickshaw Bagworks recently released a new design contest that invites customers to enter a design-your-own messenger bag contest.
Specifically, each contestant customizes a messenger bag, then personalizes their contest entry page by uploading a picture and adding custom text. Once the entry is ready for submission, the contestant encourages contacts in their social networks to vote for their entry. The contest is open for 14 days and the submission with the most votes wins the bag they designed. “Customize your dream #swagbag, add pictures and tell us why you should win the bag.”
The power of design contests
This contest is the first of it’s kind to successfully integrate three hot Internet trends:
- Product customization – enabling the consumer to visually co-create their own version of a branded product
- Personalization – allowing the user to add some personal flare to their creation
- Social media marketing – encouraging sharing of a unique, branded creation
The result is an interactive, digital brand experience that is much more valuable than just browsing a standard online shopping page.
Gallery of entries
Social sharing is evolving – more than just “liking” a product
In the past year, the Facebook “like” button has transformed the Internet, with over 35 million people liking favorite products. What will consumers share beyond their favorite standard products? Adding a level of co-creation to social media marketing campaigns will increase the chances that consumers will want to share a product.
Beyond just “upload a photo and share to win,” this creative marketing campaign inspires consumers to boast about their specific rendition of a product. Additionally, they are able to style and tailor their submission page without needing any technical skills, creating a unique curated page. Sharing of user-generated content is infinitely more compelling than sharing static product content.
Share your creation on Facebook
A smooth end-to-end experience
An important part of the success of this marketing campaign is that the end-to-end contest entry submission flow be easy and well thought out. From inviting contestants to get started to a follow-up email confirming the entry, the process is intuitive, short and easy. User experience and professional polish are key.
Unfortunately, many online contests suffer from usability blockers like asking for private data, requiring a login for submission, or not creating an actionable and valuable customer experience. The Bo.lt / Rickshaw Bags contest is easy and fast to enter, and the overall flow effectively communicates the tone of the Rickshaw brand. Any customer ‘barriers to adoption’ have been omitted in order to attract the highest conversion rate possible.
Filed under: Market Trends Tagged: | contest, Facebook, innovation, product configurator
[...] Design contests: Social media meets customization [...]