A recent case study in Advertising Age examined Sharpie’s new campaign designed to encourage consumers to associate the Sharpie brand with creativity and expression. The goal of the “Uncap What’s Inside” campaign was to inspire consumers to “uncap” their creativity and express their individuality as a low-cost way to “accessorize their lives.”

Newell Rubbermaid – which owns the Sharpie brand – decided to take a new approach for the campaign that incorporated the company’s traditional print strategy with elements of social media via Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and a community Web site, sharpieuncapped.com, to showcase user-generated Sharpie creations.

“Traditionally we have had a really strong return from our print buys. That is why print continues to be a critical piece of our plan,” said Sally Grimes, vice president of global marketing for Newell Rubbermaid. “But I would say we absolutely acknowledge it’s a new world out there in how brands interact and engage with their consumers. And that’s a reason why social media has become part of our plan with our community site.”

We have help many of our own clients recognize the potential impact that social media can have on their brands. Social media gives organizations a new platform to actively engage with their customers, monitor perceptions about their brand and disseminate news and other information in an unfiltered way. More and more our clients are coming to us asking for counsel on how to develop and integrate a social media strategy into their existing PR and marketing plans.

Here are some things to consider if your organization is looking to dip their toes in the social media waters.

Know your business objectives – It’s important to understand that social media is another tool in the PR toolbox. Any social media initiatives should be tied directly to your organization’s overarching business objectives in order to have a positive impact.

Know the medium – Before establishing a presence, it’s critical to understand what type of audiences each social media platform attracts. For example, the audience for Twitter may be thought of as younger, technology savvy youth. However, because so many businesses and professionals are active on Twitter the age brackets with the highest number of users are 25 to 54 years old.

Anticipate what could go wrong – There are several widely-known examples of companies whose social media campaigns backfired. Because of the viral nature of social media, there is always a possibility a campaign could go sour. Consider possible worst-case scenarios and potential solutions before rolling out a campaign with social media elements.

For more information on developing a social media strategy send us an email at info@communiquepr.com.