Yahoo!: SOCIAL BIKE

Credits & Description:

Category: Best Use of Digital PR

Advertiser: YAHOO!

Product/Service: MOBILE APP

Creative Director: Cleber Paradela (Agência Tudo)

Creative Director: Roberto Cipolla (Agência Tudo)

Creative Director: Pedro Fonseca (Agência Tudo)

Copywriter: Rafael Moreno (Agência Tudo)

Art Director: Tiago Vilas Boas (Agência Tudo)

Account Director: Daniel Jotta (Agência Tudo)

Account Manager: Camilla Carvalho (Agência Tudo)

Account Analyst: Ana Paula Rossi (Agência Tudo)

Production Director: Iron Neto (Agência Tudo)

Production Manager: Ana Cácia Pereira (Agência Tudo)

Project Manager: Guilherme Ramos (Agência Tudo)

Promotion Manager: Priscilla Bernardi (Agência Tudo)

Social Media Manager: Carlos Kiwi (Agência Tudo)

Director Brand Marketing: Ligia Carmo (Yahoo! Brazil)

Consumer Marketing Manager: Gisele Perasolo (Yahoo! Brazil)

Consumer Marketing Analyst: Mayra Attuy (Yahoo! Brazil)

Social Media Director: Gustavo Mills (Brand Connect / ELAV)

Account Manager: Marcelo Mazzei (Brand Connect / ELAV)

IT Director: Jan Schnurle (Brand Connect / ELAV)

Media placement: Online media - Yahoo.com.br - Sep/01/2010



Summary of the Campaign

Yahoo decided to promote the use of bicycles as an alternative means of transportation on the World Carfree Day. To do that, we created a mobile application that offered users a new way to ride their bikes. The action also included a night ride with 300 cyclists, online media coverage, newsletters, an event with bloggers and opinion leaders, donation of bike racks to the city and PR coverage.

In addition, Yahoo! joined another brand in a social media and cross-branded action that led to the production of a limited series of bicycles dubbed Houston Yahoo! Social Bike. All this was broadcast through a dedicated content channel on Yahoo! and generated an impact that was much bigger than expected.



The Situation

Brazil has a fleet of 34.5 million motor vehicles, one of the biggest fleets in the world. The country is also the world’s third largest bike manufacturer, but cycling is still considered a leisure activity by most people. Bikes have become a popular alternative means of transportation in many countries, but not in Brazil.



The Goal

Goal:

To generate visibility for the Yahoo! brand in Brazil; improve the relationship with existing consumers; and attract new users.



Objective:

To generate 150 thousand unique visitors.



Target audience:

Brazilians who live in large urban areas, early adopters of new technologies, and people who use cars as their main means of transportation.



The Strategy

The agency decided to take advantage of the World Carfree Day on September 22 to spread the word about the campaign. In order to do that, it invited opinion leaders involved with cycling and technology to a breakfast a few days before the WCD. A content channel about the topic was also published on Yahoo!; it called the attention of bike enthusiasts and encouraged common people to start pedalling. On September 22, Yahoo! promoted a "bike night" exclusively for 300 beta testers. The action was widely covered by the press and featured on social media networks. The content channel kept going on even after September 22; it eventually became a source of information for all Brazilians who wish to trade their cars for a bike. There were more than 1,300 quotes about the event in the press, which shows how big of an impact it caused in the whole country.



Execution

The agency divided the process into three steps: before, during and after.



Before (15 days before):

- PR and social media strategy

- Special channel with content from prominent columnists

- Editorial promotions

- Online ads on networks

- Email to database

- Video documentary campaign

- Internal marketing action



DURING (September 22):

- iPhone app launch

- Buzz event

- PR and social media push

- Editorial promotions

- Online ads on networks

- Documentary video



AFTER (2 weeks):

- iPhone app upgrades

- PR and social media recap

- Editorial promotions

- Online ads on networks

- More content provided by columnists - continuous flow of information

- Bicycle parking lots in São Paulo



Documented Results

- Among the 25 top apps in the "Social Networking" category of the Apple Store.

- A video tutorial for the Social Bike app reached first place in the tech category on YouTube.

- 251,367 unique visitors to the channel in one month.

- 1,300 quotes from the press, including 80 newspaper articles and more than 1,200 tweets.

- More than 1,500 downloads of the Social Bike iPhone app.

- 52,000 clicks on the campaign banner and on the sponsored search campaign.

- 149,000 clicks on editorial news (200% more than average).