Is a lighter just a lighter simply because it can fire up the tip of a cigarette regardless of its cost? Not if it’s a Zippo, the brand says, and therein lies the challenge of gaining market share and proving the value of a branded lighter that is more expensive than its generic counterparts.
The Zippo Manufacturing Co. took this challenge to China last year where it staged six musical events—one per month—to convert buyers and build advocates among younger adults. Zippo is just one brand upping its marketing in the “BRIC” countries. Global marketing spending is expected to jump in this year, with Brazil, Russia, India and China leading the way.
Jack Morton is the brand experience agency that handled strategy and the events. The firm ranked No. 17 on the Promo 100 with an estimated $81 million in 2009 U.S. net revenue. The call for entries for the 2011 Power Ranking (formerly the Promo 100) is now open.
“Our target audience from the underground rock scene are a very cynical bunch so we worked hard to present Zippo in a way that connected with this audience,” Ben Taylor, president of Asia-Pacific for Jack Morton Worldwide said. “The brand was always presented in an honest and raw way, we didn’t try to overshadow the music but neither did we hide in the corner.
He explained how the program worked.
The Objectives:
1. Boost Zippo awareness among the target audience
2. Highlight a line of Zippo merchandise
3. Drive Zippo sales by 20% (over a year period)
4. Begin to build a database of Zippo brand advocates
5. Amplify reach to China-wide level through media channels, particularly online media
6. Reinforce Zippo’s strong link to music and music lifestyle culture on a local Chinese level
The Campaign:
The “Zippo Hot List Night” was a six-month campaign that centered on one event per month featuring well-known rock acts and up-and-coming acts. Zippos sponsorship of the events relayed its support of grass roots rock music in China. New Zippo purchasers received free tickets to attend the events.
The Partner:
Plastered 8, a local T-shirt brand, produced a series of stylish T-shirts, which celebrated “The Zippo Hot List Nights” and rock music in Beijing. Audience members won shirts the night of the events, which were MC’d by a well-known Chinese rock musician. Zippo ambassadors mingled with the crowd wearing Zippo fragrance and apparel and lighting up peoples’ cigarettes. The stage design included two LED Zippo-Meters which acted as “cheer-meters” to gauge average popularity of the performing band.
In-Venue Marketing:
Branding and product displays at the venue, flyer handouts, free stickers, Zippo onsite sales, Zippo lighter giveaways and Zippo branded drinks. Dealers were selected to present onstage Zippo awards to the bands; a very popular perk among the dealer network that helped bring them onboard.
Out-of-Venue Marketing:
People who purchased Zippos at retailers were given tickets. Pre-event promotional materials were produced and distributed to dealers who were briefed in detail about the campaign and the events. Plastered 8 helped drive awareness with people buying rock T-shirts at their stores and through email. Zippo girls distributed event flyers on the street near a venue where the target hangs on weekends. Event stickers and flyers were available at the ticket office.
The Results:
* An average of more than 400 people attended each event
* Casual interviews indicated that most of the audience would come back for more Zippo rock concerts.
* Onsite data collection yielded a database of 123 on average per event
* Sohu (Internet portal) & Jiepang (one popular location-based services): Boosted interest in the event and generated a 2,133-person database.
* Dealer feedback indicated ticket promotion effectively improved Zippo sales in Beijing by more than 20% YTD.
* Journalists from 20 key publications and five highly followed bloggers attended and whose subsequent coverage further propelled the Zippo brand.
“It wasn’t just music events but underground music events,” Taylor said. “The people who are fans of this genre of music and follow these bands in Beijing are also “early adopters” of fashion trends. Having Zippo appeal to this demographic has a ripple effect throughout the wider community.”
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