How does a modern-day company get its target audience to pay attention? According to Steve Wax, a Managing Partner at Campfire who spoke to a crowd of students Monday, it’s all about “telling a good story,” and maybe stealing a car while you’re at it.
The Marketing Undergraduate Students Establishment hosted Campfire, a New York-based social media agency known for creating shocking campaigns for Shark Week, True Blood, Snapple, Verizon FiOS and Audi, among others.
For an Audi campaign, Campfire staged a robbery of the first Audi A3 in America right out of its New York showroom in an effort titled “The Arts of the H3ist.” The project, described on their website as “a spy movie come to life,” was designed to play on consumer curiosity by constructing the illusion of a real-life mystery.
Next, by actively creating hype around the theft by spreading “wanted” posters and ads for the car all over the city, television and the internet, creating short films based on the incident, and coercing consumers to help track down the car. The campaign proved to be a success for Audi: throughout, the Audi website got two million hits, and their sales reflected that. This is “viral marketing,” Wax said.
In discussing the company’s principles, Wax explained that the “demographic of interest has become more important than age or gender.” For instance, in developing their Audi campaign, Campfire found it essential to spread their story to the right people before letting them take the spreading into their own hands via internet blogs, among other media.
Wax claims that the key for tangible products is to “put the stuff in people’s hands and let them talk about it” in order to create an “authentic voice.” For their True Blood project, Campfire achieved this by sending television bloggers mysterious black envelopes with letters written in dead languages that vampires on the show would have known.
Event Lead for MUSE and College sophomore Brett Neustadt approached Wax because he wanted to hear about “pull-advertising rather than push-advertising,” as Wax said Campfire is known for creating a “lean-forward, tangible experience for its target audience.”
Many students were impressed by the presentation. College sophomore Ramie Jacobson, a Communications major, said he enjoyed the presentation. “I came to learn about non-traditional advertising,” he said.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.
