Tenthwave Surfs the Interactive Tide

If you’re in the business of specializing in interactive promotions, you’re swimming upstream at a fast pace to keep up with all of the changes. Clients pummel agencies with questions: What should I be doing with all those Facebook fans? How can I measure return on my investment in interactive promotions? And what, exactly, is Pinterest?

“Everything is blurring because mobile and digital and interactive really encompasses web sites, online and social,” Tenthwave Managing Partner Steve Caputo says. “Those are the areas where interactive promotions are being developed.”

There is no better way to illustrate Tenthwave’s specialties in interactive—including tying those capabilities to shopper and retail marketing, entertainment, sports and events—than to share the ins and outs of some of its recent promotions.

An acquisition promotion for eBay combined the “More the Merrier” 2011 holiday sweepstakes with ongoing Facebook ad buys that lifted eBay’s fan base to 3.3 million from 650,000. The sweeps used a custom Facebook app to locate fans top 10 Facebook friends and match them with gifts based on their Facebook profiles. Phase two now exists as eBay social shopping on Facebook. Tenthwave consulted on the concept, design, development, hosting, administration and app development for the program.

In another example, a Twitter campaign worked behind the scenes to drive people to a “Food Truck for Dogs” in Boston to sample Purina’s Chef Michael’s dog food brand. The posts increased awareness, fueled online conversations and provided an online experience for fans that weren't in Boston. 

“For programs like [eBay's] we’ll mirror the experience, so if people aren’t on Facebook they can go to the brand website for the same experience. AS more marketers engage consumers on Facebook rather than on brand sites, we're developing more Facebook applications,” Caputo says.

The key is to understand how to make interactive promotions meaningful to the brand is by using the right tone to gather and mobilize consumers, and to then convert them to advocates, Caputo says.

Tenthwave is now approaching 20 employees in its technology department, up from eight last year. The 70-person agency is in a growth mode, investing in the company and building its technology, digital and strategy departments because the demand and need is there.

“We build to the client’s objectives and needs from the ground up rather than pull it off the shelf,” Caputo says.