experience matters

Hot on the heels of fellow Digital Agency Razorfish’s report on The Digital Mom (worth a read), we recently launched an initiative with Mercedes Benz which taps into the idea of Mom as influencer-in-chief in more ways than one.  While “blogger outreach” programs are nothing new, (PR firms have been conducting them for some time), there is something to the idea of putting your product and brand in the hands of a real person who’s got an audience willing to listen and letting them say what they want.

Amy Allen fits the profile of the Gen X Mom who not only would consider purchasing a car like the Mercedes GLK, but influences all the purchases her family makes, not to mention the influence she has within her own community of peers. With several thousand followers on Twitter and blog that discusses the realities of all things mom related—Amy Allen is an uber “Digital Mom” who’s savvy about products, motherhood and wired to the teeth.
What we did with Amy was simple, Mercedes Benz handed over the keys of ther GLK model to her and she wrote about her experience with it. Was this bought media? Sort of. Real Girls Media works with individuals like Amy on these types of reviews and handles the media arrangements. There is a cost involved. But what’s interesting is how this takes the concept of a “media buy” and evolves it into something slightly different than it used to be. Traditional buys were placed in targeted content destinations whether it be ESPN.com or on Yahoo! But enter the digital mommies, daddies, kiddies, etc. who are curators of communities and more than ready to try out your products as long as they can say what they want.

It’s an evolving dynamic. Upon looking at Amy’s blog post—she generated nearly 500 comments in just over a day (there was an gift card incentive), but if you peruse through the numerous comments, an insight or two can be found:

“This is a good looking ride. Impressive that it’s so affordable – I don’t associate Mercedes with affordability. Does it get good gas mileage?”

There’s an opportunity for Mercedes Benz to engage right there. What was the thought behind producing a more affordable ride—and does it get good gas mileage?  One of the things we’re thinking about more is the distribution of content and experiences knowing that the action doesn’t always happen on your properties or the traditional content properties we’ve come to rely on in the past. It’s interesting to see how the digital (insert niche here) will play role in the battle to be seen, heard and found on search engines and elsewhere.

Written by David Armano