Estes Model Rockets
Launch America User Generated Content (UGC) Contest
Position: In-house Creative Director & Brand Strategist
Estes Industries and SpaceX were in the midst of negotiating a new licensing deal for Estes to be the sole manufacturer and distributor of the Falcon 9 model rocket. The Estes C-Suite wanted to show Elon Musk and the Space X team that the company was committed to the new relationship by supporting the historical first launch of the Falcon 9 rocket. With a turnaround time of just two short weeks, the internal Estes team was challenged to think up and execute a brand awareness campaign that also included bottom of the funnel (BOF) eCommerce goals, and KPIs.
This campaign had several challenges to overcome. The first was the short timeline, the second was having combined objectives of merging a brand awareness campaign and BOF marketing objectives into one initiative. The third challenge was the team didn’t have the assets needed to keep the initiative going for the full 30 days the Falcon 9 was going to be in orbit.
Keeping the eCommerce goals in mind, the team turned the campaign into a User Generated Content (USG) Photo and Video contest to combat the challenge of not having the necessary assets on-hand. We crafted a contest to encourage model rocketeers and space enthusiasts to build and launch their own rocket to celebrate the launch.
Rockets that can carry a crew into space are payload rockets, which also are some of the most challenging and exhilarating model rockets to build and launch. By offering a collection of payload model rockets to sell on the landing page, the Estes team believes they could meet the campaign’s eCommerce goals.
The team launched the UGC campaign on the day of the historic Falcon 9 launch. For the next 30 days, the digital marketing team encouraged rocketeers to buy, build and share their rocket building and launching experience on the Estes contest app. The continuous flow of real users showcasing their creations on the Estes social media pages enabled the team to meet and beat the eCommerce goals. In addition, the digital marketing team farmed enough assets for three months of organic social media posts.
Results included:
› 61% increase in YoY Facebook followers through paid and organic posts
› 195% increase in Instagram followers
› 117% increase in video views
› Social Media Marketing
› Social Media Contest
› User Generated Content (UCG) Campaign
› Digital Design
› UX Design
› eCommerce Promotions