If you're in the vicinity of Croke Park this Thursday, watch out for crowds of people dressed all in black, wearing geek-chic glasses and signature hairstyles, as Ireland's top marketeers turn out for the 3XE Digital mobile marketing conference.
The event boasts an impressive line-up, with experts from Twitter and Microsoft scheduled to talk and a presentation by Ed Melvin, digital strategy director at Publicis Dublin, promises to be among the highlights.
Ed will be giving insights into the phenomenally successful “When it rains it pours” mobile campaign that Publicis designed and implemented for Murphy’s stout in the summer of 2012. Not only did the campaign lead to the brand’s first sales growth in seven years, but the majority of pubs that ran the promotion saw an increase in footfall and in sales generally as a result. The Cork Vintner’s Association hailed it as the most ingenious pub promotion they’d seen in years.
Essentially, the campaign involved giving away 1,000 free pints of Murphy’s every day it rained in Cork, redeemable through the “When it rains it pours” app.
The idea was a riff on the “Budweiser Ice Cold Index” strategy which involved giving away free, or discounted, drinks depending on how warm it was. Melvin says the Budweiser campaign was interesting, but turned out to very difficult to deliver on the ground.
When Publicis got its brief from Murphy’s in 2012, they realised they’d have to deliver a breakthrough idea that would get noticed, but they didn’t have anywhere near the media spend of the likes of Guinness. “So we said, ‘What if we use the marketing weight of a bigger incumbent against itself?’” Melvin says.
They decided to deliberately parody the Budweiser campaign, an approach that appealed to the core base of Murphy’s drinkers in Cork. “It’s a very Cork style, to kick back against the bigger incumbents.” Publicis had the strategy nailed, but they still had to make sure the delivery was seamless. Word of any failing in implementing the campaign would quickly spread on social media, so they carried out extensive trial runs to iron out potential kinks.
Key advice
The campaign turned out to be such a success that it’s still running.
“It’s been vital for the brand in the last few years.” And his key piece of advice to other mobile marketeers? “You need to earn the right to be in people’s pockets.”
Tickets for the event can be bought on 3xedigital. com.