Yahoo Start Wearing Purple: Winner, Internet-based Loyalty Marketing, Promotional Web Site
AWARD CATEGORY: Internet-based Loyalty Marketing (Tie Second Place); Promotional Web Site (First Place)
CAMPAIGN: Yahoo Start Wearing Purple
AGENCY: Yahoo
CLIENT: Yahoo
Yahoo had a loyalty problem, so it created a grassroots promotion around one of it most coveted assets: the color purple. The goal was to promote purple as a “spirit of innovation,” and allow people to explore the Yahoo brand in different ways and in different communities.
The plan was to reinvigorate the brand through four very visible efforts.
The results? Two million unique visits were recorded at the Web site, 51,000 videos, (such as behind the scene video of the making of the bikes) were streamed from the site. An average of four minutes per visit was spent on the site.
- Purple Pedals put more than 1,000 riders across eight countries on purple bicycles outfitted with digital cameras mounted on the handlebars. When in motion, a photo was snapped every 60 seconds, geotagged and uploaded to the campaign microsite on Yahoo at http://www.StartWearingPurple.com, as well as Flickr photo streams. In all, 52,000 photos were uploaded.
- With help from Charlie Todd, founder of prank troupe Improv Everywhere, two “Purple Pranks” were produced. In one, called Elevator, a group of brand reps would break into song (Start Wearing Purple) on elevators in New York City. When the door opened at the ground floor the people standing outside were all wearing purple.
- Purple Products: Exclusive products were created and sold on the Web site, including purple sneakers, T-shirts and baby wear.
- Purple Pioneers were six hand picked individuals who exemplified what it meant to “wear purple” by doing extraordinary things. They were featured on the microsite and in an ad campaign. Short videos told each of their stories.
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