Radio Shack's Holiday Marketing Focused on 'So Right'

Social and mobile efforts play off "so wrong" gift giving.

foursquare-soright-badgeRadio Shack’s holiday marketing stocking is chock full of digital for the second year in a row, as its “So Right” initiative gets into full swing this week. Mirroring a 2011 trend for multichannel campaigns, the brand’s Facebook page will serve as a communications hub. On Friday, the Fort Worth, TX-based retail chain will launch “The Great Giftervention” app on the social site.

“It will let Facebook users upload pictures of gifts that are ‘so wrong,’ right?” Adrian Parker, social media director at Radio Shack, told ClickZ News. “The inspiration centers on people who get you gifts that are ‘so wrong,’ such as a Christmas sweater or a last-minute gift purchased at the gas station or any number of white elephant gifts that don’t represent the season. Every week we will select a ‘so wrong’ winner and make their gift ‘so right.’ ”

To encourage participation, Parker said the contest would award the best photos with tech gifts like an iPad. “So Right” will be supported across media channels, he said, including paid Facebook and Twitter ads in the coming days.

Radio Shack has seen its customers who use Foursquare spend 3.5 times more than other customers in multiple campaigns during the last year, Parker said. In 2010, the brand launched a “Holiday Heroes” badge on Foursquare that helped it rapidly go from zero to 20,000 followers on the mobile app. Radio Shack has since grown to 55,000 Foursquare followers. So, a geo-social push is also part of the brand’s yuletide mix.

This year there’s a goodwill tilt, as every unlocked “So Right” badge will result in a $1 donation to LiveStrong, the cancer research foundation headed by Radio Shack spokesperson and bicycling star Lance Armstrong. Foursquare users can unlock the badge by checking into Radio Shacks and various so-called “So Right” hotspots nationwide, such as volunteering centers, exercise gyms, and other venues.

Typically, Radio Shack has been running “Check-in Specials” and “Newbie Specials” on Foursquare. For the latter, users who have never before checked into a Radio Shack get up to 20 percent off qualifying purchases for doing so. Non-newbies can get 10 percent off, while mayors get 20 percent.

About the cause marketing effort on Foursquare, Parker said, “It’s great to deliver value in form of a donation instead of a discount.”

Meanwhile, the social media director can only hope “So Right” goes as well as his company’s holiday digital efforts a year ago. The 2010 campaign recently garnered a Groundswell award from the Forrester Consumer Forum in Chicago.

“We found that sweet spot for conversations and conversions last year,” Parker said. “We combined Foursquare with Twitter’s Promoted Trends with Facebook as the epicenter. We’ve shown that when we put the right social tools in place and combine it with compelling promotion of our product, we can drive sales results.”

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