The Client:
Mekanism is a San Francisco and New York-based creative production studio housing film, animation and digital content creators. They specialize in viral campaigns, commercials and branded entertainment to inspire measurable brand loyalty for clients as diverse as Microsoft, Unilever, eBay, Sobe, Lipton Brisk, AXE, PG&E, and Sprint, among others.
The Challenge:
When TRUST and Mekanism first hooked up in 2007, the studio already had an impressive and growing portfolio of work that included viral, web, live-action, and branded entertainment. Mekanism enlisted TRUST to refine their core brand message, syndicate and seed client content and build awareness for the Mekanism brand across advertising and entertainment. In short, TRUST's mission was to transform Mekanism into a household name.
The Strategy:
To elevate Mekanism and its clients to the next level, TRUST needed to employ a multi-tiered strategy, one that blew past traditional PR, utilizing social networking and video syndication while creating what was essentially an in-house marketing team, executing comprehensive planning for each project. TRUST's multifaceted plan included:
- Extend the brand message digitally: TRUST researched and worked with multi-silo trades, blogs, and social networking hubs relevant to the target market, putting each brand's core message and achievements in front of the right audience.
- Market with syndicated content: TRUST developed target-specific online tactics and content to support the existing marketing efforts of the company and its clients.
- Follow up with the right analytics: Using the best, most relevant tools - TRUST tracked search volume, buzz factor, and overall traction of each campaign to get an accurate picture of its impact.
- Traditional public relations: Targeted announcements, distribution, aggressive follow-up, and interviews for news articles from online, print and TV affiliates pointed toward key demographic groups. Included content syndication (message/content distribution on branded HTML collaterals) across online communities with seeding, widespread distribution, and embedded URL inclusion to drive viewers back to relevant media.
While each component played an important role in TRUST's overall executions for Mekanism, a "seeding and syndication" strategy lay at the core of its efforts. Armed with Mekanism's unique content, TRUST engaged in an online saturation campaign:
- A Viral Explosion: TRUST peppered the media, along with shortened, image-driven press releases, across an array of forums and video-sharing sites.
- Comprehensive social media efforts: TRUST created a continuously updated locus of Mekanism-centric content and information on all the social media channels.
- Overrun the Blogosphere: TRUST launched a targeted effort to blanket the appropriate industry blogs with relevant links.
The Results:
Mekanism and TRUST saw immediate results, helping the studio rapidly ascend to the upper tier of the advertising industry. A few key TRUST/Mekanism collaborations that helped catapult Mekanism to the status of go-to production studio included:
- Mike's Hard Lemonade: TRUST coordinated a blog and content campaign to support advertising program of MHL and drive traffic to website. Seeded and distributed content to hundreds of online sources across key target market and demographic online groups and forums.
- PG&E Let's Green This City: TRUST coordinated syndicated distribution across a wide range of online and offline green lifestyle-supportive partners, blogs, and Web-based video content providers to gain exposure and drive traffic back to site.
- Sprint Connectile Dysfunction: TRUST distributed content across technology, gadget, and targeted online news organizations to promote Sprint's website. Campaign greatly increased traffic to Sprint's site.
