The BISSELL Deep Cleaner suffered from low interest in the category, low awareness levels and a low budget. The goal to drive online sales and reach the brand's 'time-pressed mom' was challenging. Using social media and a celebrity sock puppet, PHD found a creative way to educate moms on the value of deep cleaning.
Research showed that while moms are particular about clean carpets, they feel that if you can't see the dirt, then the carpet is clean enough. With all the time moms spend doing chores around the house, they felt that deep cleaning the rugs wasn't necessary.
Getting on-the-run moms to listen to the message about more cleaning was a challenge. The good news: With her family dominating her day, moms have rapidly adopted social media to keep up with friends, share photos of her family and read blogs about the latest celebrity gossip or parenting tricks. This presented an opportunity – that moms are not afraid to share in a little bit of dirt.
A rudimentary sock puppet became the promotion's spokesperson and was featured in TV tags and online banners. Moms were asked to share their "dirty little secret" via a quick carpet test. The "White Sock Test" asked her to vigorously rub a clean white sock into the carpets of a high-traffic area in her home. For many, the sock turned dark brown! This simple task illustrated that vacuuming alone leaves dirt in the carpet. The sock puppet asked moms to upload a photo of the evidence to BISSELL's Facebook page, which automatically entered her into a giveaway.
The campaign generated colossal involvement as moms became hooked on hearing cleaning tales of other moms just like her. She was able to play an Instant Win game, view cleaning demonstrations, connect to BISSELL's Twitter and share 'dirt' on the contest with friends.
The "education" campaign drove online sales increases of a massive 743%, while traffic to Bissell.com increased 61%, and traffic to the Deep Cleaners pages increased 86%.
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