07.07.11
When Kimberly-Clark's Huggies brand Hong Kong launched its Facebook fan page with a Baby-Bus campaign last Valentine's Day, it had no idea that within just three weeks the fan base would surpass 115,000 to become the second largest Facebook brand page in Hong Kong. But much to the surprise of the team behind the wildly creative marketing idea, that's exactly what happened.
Facebook is an important social media platform in Hong Kong, with a higher level of penetration than even the United States. Roughly 52% of Hong Kong's population is on Facebook and some of the most active users are pregnant women and new mothers.
The Kimberly-Clark campaign invited parents to upload their baby's photo to the Huggies brand Facebook fan page. Through interaction and activities taking place on the Facebook page, the Huggies brand Hong Kong fan page appeared in Facebook newsfeeds 10 million times in a city of seven million residents in just one month. More than 4000 photos were submitted, and the 60 most popular ones were featured on 10 double-decker buses that roamed the city. Due to overwhelming response, Kimberly-Clark purchased additional space on a 30-foot outdoor advertisement in one of the busiest locations in Hong Kong.The billboard featured all 4000 participating babies, allowing every parent to be a winner.
Part of the success was due to integration of online and offline activities for brand engagement. The goal for participants was to get their babies displayed on massive advertisements offline and share their joy with everyone in the city, while they were also uploading and sharing the images with family andfriends and the online community.
The parents' reactions to outdoor advertisements were extremely touching. Kimberly-Clark also held an event inviting winning parents to take photos with the buses as well as meet and greet other parents who participated in the activity.
Interestingly, only 7% of online traffic was generated via paid media on parenting forums while 88 percent was generated via word-of-mouth. Facebook is using the Huggies campaign as a case study for social media marketing.
With this successful launch of a Facebook fan page, the Huggies brand team in Hong Kong continues to drive brand engagement with consumers to build brand awareness and loyalty via online and offline integration; leverage its iPhone pregnancy app; and strengthen Huggies Club customer relationship management capabilities.