Overview: Using photo activation to drive social networking
American Eagle Outfitters sponsored Spring Break promotions at beachside and mountaintop destinations, where they knew thousands of vacationing college students would flock to spend the week in the warm sand or fresh powder. The goal: to connect consumers to the retailer’s online platform, promote the musical performers and livebloggers featured at the Spring Break events, increase brand awareness and seasonal sales, and drive traffic to its social networking sites.
Beyond Spring Break
Picture Marketing created an integrated program that featured significant social networking placement on Photo Access Cards and Microsite pages. Participants had their photos taken in Cancun and Squaw Valley; in the Cancun market, 3,836 photos were captured over one week with a single camera. Over 70% of the photos were visited at least once, generating nearly 14 unique views per photo as participants shared the images online. The result: 37,555 photo views, all from a single camera for a single week at one destination. Over 20,000 Facebook hits originated from the photo views, helping to grow the company’s impressive online fanbase. Remarkably, even one year after the original promotion the photos were still generating hundreds of hits and Facebook visits per month.
Goals and metrics
• Over 5,300 photos were captured over one week with just two cameras.
• Of the individuals invited to see a friend’s Squaw Valley photo, 77% viewed the image at least once.
• Viral activity for the Cancun photos created nearly 13.83 unique views for each individual image.
• Total unique photo views: 43,400
• Facebook hits originated from the photo views: 22,642
