On Digital

Irfan Kamal July 14th, 2008

In deciding how effectively a new product (or service) can leverage social media, among other factors, I look for whether the product offers a genuinely different/unique and communicable benefit that’s relevant to a socially addressable demographic, i.e. a market that can be efficiently reached or influenced through social media.

As a pet (dog) owner, I’m interested in solutions that can help clean up after my happily shedding dog.

Let’s take a quick look at Eureka’s recently launched Boss 4D pet-friendly vacuum cleaner.

1. It does appear to offer a different/unique benefit.

According to Eureka:

Combining the cleaning know-how of Eureka with the odor elimination strength of ARM & HAMMER(R)’s Pet Fresh technology, which offers two times the odor fighting power of traditional ARM & HAMMER vacuum accessories, the new Eureka Boss 4D Pet Fresh features unique tools to tackle pet owners’ top cleaning challenges — removing pet hair and eliminating pet odors — to create a purr-fectly pet-focused cleaner that outcleans the leading upright by 45 percent** at half the cost.

I’d include both the affordability and the superior cleaning capability as different/unique benefits.

2. The benefit is simple enough to communicate easily.

Pet hair and odor cleanup is tough!  What’s not to like about an affordably priced vacuum cleaner that is good at tackling this tough problem?

3. The target market can be reached or influenced through social media and is large enough to make social media marketing efficient.

According to the American Pet Products Manufacturer Association (APPMA), the average pet owner is a 46 year old female.  There are over 70 million pet-owning households in the US alone, which implies a sizable market segment 45 years old and under.

Eureka presumably has detailed information on the actual shape of the demographic distribution of pet owners; this would influence the specific types of social media that might be useful.

All considered, given the extremely high percentage (over 60%) of pet-owning households, it’s very likely that there’s a substantial percentage of pet owners who participate in some form in social media (and even if they don’t participate, they will probably be influenced by a household member’s participation).  It’s likely that this segment can be reached as, if not more, efficiently through social media than competing media (including television and print).

Some social media ideas

Here are some possible approaches for Eureka’s Boss 4D social media outreach:

Youtube comparison video: Eureka claims its Boss 4D vacuum is better (and cheaper) than Dyson’s Animal vacuum – why not show the Boss 4D’s superiority, i.e. show what it means to clean “45% better”.  A couple of Dyson Animal vs. other vacuum videos have gotten a total of over 40,000 views.

Social networks: There are a number of social networks and forums for pet owners, including dogster.com, catster.com, petster.com, petside.com, among others — participation and listening in these venues can both provide insight and generate word of mouth; also worth monitoring are forums and answer sites (e.g. Yahoo Answers) focused on cleaning

Meetups: Dog meetups nationwide are listed on meetup.com and provide a great combination of online & offline word-of-mouth creation opportunities

Blogs: There are thousands of pet and home/house care blogs that would reach this audience; an outreach program targeted at prominent influencers would be helpful; setting up and promoting a Eureka blog with cleaning tips and pet care information is also worth considering

Product reviews: Monitor and, if possible, respond quickly (clearly identifying affiliation) to issues mentioned in product reviews (e.g. Amazon.com provides a forum for each product, and also has a 2,000-member strong Vacuum community).

• Case Study , Social Media , Strategy
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