Company: Marketing Maven, Camarillo, California, U.S.A.
Company Description: Integrated marketing and Public Relations (PR) firm, Marketing Maven, is the second fastest growing PR firm in the nation. Marketing Mavens’ rapid growth can be attributed to the progressive marketing methodologies and quantifiable ROI attained for their clients. Founded by Lindsey Carnett in 2009, the agency specializes in marketing lifestyle and consumer products, services and events.
Nomination Category: Communications & Marketing Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Small-Budget Marketing Campaign of the Year (<$3 million / €2 million)

Nomination Title: Hot Iron Holster’s Marketing Campaign

Tell the story of this nominated marketing campaign for the judges (up to 525 words). Describe the genesis, planning, execution, and results to date of your campaign. If applicable, remember to describe what's unique or innovative about your campaign:

Hot Iron Holster is a heat resistant, silicone pocket for curling irons, flat irons or hair dryers. Is it made of 100% silicone and consists of two parts: a roomy pocket for styling tools and a flap that grips household surfaces.

Marketing Maven developed a marketing strategy for Hot Iron Holster in July 2012 after meeting at the Cosmoprof trade show. Marketing Maven began executing the marketing strategy with Hot Iron Holster to launch their product via the Internet, mass retail and salons (trade) from August 2012 and continues to work with Hot Iron Holster to secure media, grow brand ambassadors, social media and increase the multi-channel distribution both domestically and globally.

Research: Effective launch campaigns require a foundational understanding of the target audience and their needs. To provide efficient multi-channel marketing support, the Marketing Maven team research print and online advertising including national women’s magazine (i.e. OK Weekly and Cosmopolitan). A thorough study of social media platforms and an assessment of their advertising provided an idea of budget necessities for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram. To help with exposure and get Hot Iron Holster right in front of the consumer, The Marketing Maven team researched live consumer activation events and helped Hot Iron Holster attend an Oscar’s gifting suite, Pamper Me Fabulous and other women’s expos to earn media attention.

Objectives: The objectives of the launch campaign include

1) increase web traffic via media placements and social media,

2) earn television placements to demonstrate how Hot Iron Holster works, and

3) grow the social media community to help increase brand awareness.

Execution: The campaign began with branding initiatives by creating informative and important foundational content including the development of a comprehensive press kit to distribute to media. After creating branded content, the Marketing Maven team reached out to influential media with timely and quirky topics to magazine editors, newspapers, television like the Today Show, online news and blogs after the creation of an editorial calendar for pitching and social media. In an effort to increase Hot Iron Holster education, the Marketing Maven team branded all social media channels to help with brand and product awareness.

With an annual PR budget of $36,000 and a minimal ad budget of $4,381.64, these are the results achieved: over $500,000 of product sales both online and retail and a very large global licensing deal in the works!

Budget: Total PR, marketing and social media advertising spend to date from the start of the campaign in August 2012 to date is $40, 381.64.

Results: Media placements earned by Marketing Maven led to 31,388,563 earned impressions with a $1.05 Cost Per Mille (CPM) for public relations editorial efforts. Social media advertising led to 3,709,115 impressions with a $1.99 CPM for social media advertising.

Marketing Maven’s launch campaign strategy provided Hot Iron Holster with a 3,422.62% in Facebook likes, 212.32% increase in Twitter followers, 8,100% increase in Instagram followers, 2,340% increase in Pinterest followers, and 4,436.11% in website traffic referrals.

The launch campaign included timely and targeted efforts including a Black Friday/Cyber Monday Facebook offer that resulted in a 1,684.58% capture rate.

Provide a brief biography of the leader of the team that planned and executed this marketing campaign (up to 125 words):

By constantly staying on top of the latest social media trends, Account Executive Aljolynn Sperber became familiar with the most influential online individual and best SEO/SMO practices. She assisted clients such as a major beverage distributor identify their key influencers to help build online brand awareness amongst the Hispanic community. An advocate of using Social Media as a tool for customer service, she has helped clients like Baby Trend with their online reputation management. By using promotions and social media advertising, her execution of social media initiatives have led to increased sales for clients and top trending topics in Twitter. Her talents of managing social media campaigns have enabled clients to grow online visibility and gain customer brand loyalty. Sperber holds a B.A. in Spanish.