Pay with social media

The buzz word most used by marketers these days is “millennials”. Every company seems desperate to target this tech-savvy demographic with considerable influence and know-how over social media.  What better way to engage these millennials than by blending experiential marketing and social media together!

iHeartRadio made it a mission to increase their number of millennial radio listeners by visiting them at college campuses around the country. The company set up vending machines filled with swag at each campus and the only way to get the swag is by “paying” with an Instagram photo. Each uploaded Instagram photo signals the vending machine to spit  out a iHeartRadio-branded T-shirt or a pair of sunglasses.

 

"It's a mobile-first generation that we wanted to engage with and typically you've got college students who are away at school, and iHeartRadio is a natural way for them to stay connected with their hometown radio station," said Chris Williams, svp of iHeartRadio programming. This marketing effort proved wildly successful, garnering 5.7 million impressions on Instagram in its first week of launch.

iHeartRadio is not the first company to test out social vending machines. Brands such as Old Navy, Nike, and Westin Hotels have also tried similar marketing ploys. Will this effort lead to an increase in iHeartRadio listeners? We will have to wait and see.

Source: AdWeek