Jewelry Companies, What If You Are Out Of Women To Target?
Get the MEN then. This was exactly what Malabar Gold & Diamonds did.
Logo of Malabar Gold & Diamonds
To be honest, I would be surprised to receive images of earrings and necklace in my emails. I would not know what to do with them. Yet, Malabar Gold & Diamonds took a very different approach.
The company is the flagship company of Malabar Group, a leading diversified Indian business conglomerate. Established in 1993, the company has now become one of the top 5 jewelry retailers in terms of turnover. ($3.5 Billion) While it's primary based in India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Malabar has kept up with the rising trend of digital media.
In July 2014, Malabar launched its "She Is Mine" digital campaign. Spanning over 1 months, participants are encourage to talked about the special lady in your life. I like the idea that it does not limit to your partner but extend to any special "her" in your life. By submitting the story to Malabar Gold & Diamonds Blog, an internal jury will choose 3 best stories. The winners will be presented with prizes such as diamond earrings from Malabar. I wouldn't mind submitting one if I could express my feelings towards my special lady and win the prize at the same time
Official Blog of Malabar Gold & Diamonds
In my opinion, the top 3 objectives of "She Is Mine" campaign are as follows,
- Increase traffic to the official blog
- The contest is hosted using Malabars official blog instead of other social platforms such as Facebook. In this way, users are brought to the blog and traffic is generated.
- Increase brand awareness, especially towards male target audience
- While traditionally targeting women, this is the first time that any jewelry company uses social media to involve men. It helps the company to break through the clutter and deliver their content to a new group of audience.
- Establish emotional connection with the customers
- By asking for stories related to the special one, Malabar has build an emotional bond with these participants. Both the participants and their loved ones can relate to the brand in a different level.
In addition, Malabar has used their Facebook and Twitter to publicize the event. At different dates, the company uses different platform to remind interested fans to participate. However, based on the basic metrics on the the Facebook and Twitter posts ( Likes, Comments & Retweets), it seems that they have more fans on Facebook (472 Likes, 62 Comments, 134 Reposts) compared to Twitter (0 Retweets, 0 Favorites). 0 is probably not the best number you want to see on your social media metrics. V, Malabar has tweeted about their rationale for creating the "She Is Mine" in the form of slides on Twitter. I like that. That is genuine.
v.s.
Malabar's Facebook & Twitter Posts
And the campaign actually had a great turnout. Over 500 stories were submitted in their official blog. According to Shaji Kakkodi, who heads the online store, the company hopes to "reach over 10 million people online." Leveraging on the User Generated Content (UGC), "She Is Mine" campaign has garnered a lot of traction, especially in the male customers.
However, "She Is Mine" can be better. While having a great target selection and strategy, it has not follow through till the end. I was not able to find the stories of the winner. I would love to see photos and even brief interviews. I believe there's more publicity that can be generated. Moreover, if the stories are judged by the fans. I believe it can generated even more earned media. Plenty of word of mouth is lost in execution in this campaign.
Neverthless, Malabar has shown an example to think outside of the immediate target audience. In such disruptive times in digital media, it is only normal to choose an unusual but effective target audience.
Yuwan: "I'm a guy, too! Get this shiny thing off me!"
Thank you for taking another bite!
James