Best known for batteries, the company has seen huge responses to a virtual snowball fight on Twitter and an ‘indestructible’ flashlight challenge using Tumblr.
For those people whose power went off during the huge snowstorm that hit virtually the entire country last month, batteries were a big priority. For some of the people who were lucky enough to have electricity through the storm, the name Rayovac took on a whole new meaning.
The brand encouraged thousands of Twitter users to participate in a virtual snowball fight, a move so popular that #rayovac became a trending topic.
“The snowball fight was really kind of, ‘Everybody’s going to be stuck in their house today. Let’s do something with this,’” says David Carlson, Rayovac’s creative director.
Now, Rayovac is expanding beyond Twitter with a new social media initiative. The company set up a Tumblr to show off its new “indestructible” flashlight and document a cross-country tour to meet up with people who might use it on the job. YouTube videos document those meetings, as well as tests of the flashlight’s durability.
As a result of the company’s efforts over the past few months, customer response on Twitter and YouTube has grown rapidly. Carlson hopes that trend continues.
“We, as an organization, are taking this all very seriously,” he says. “It simply makes sense for a value brand.”
Snowball effect
Starting the night of Monday, Feb. 1, Rayovac started hurling digital snowballs at its Twitter followers. By the time it was all over Wednesday, the company had more than 500 new followers, traffic on its website increased by 400 to 500 percent and the event generated more than 1,100 click-throughs to a widget that changed user profile pictures to include the Rayovac logo.
Within that 48-plus hours, a two-hour Twitter “event” encouraged users to ask questions about Rayovac, answer trivia questions and talk about their local weather. Those who participated had the chance to win prizes, including an iPod Touch and battery chargers.
The idea for the snowball fight was a spur-of-the-moment thought that two internal employees and two workers at a PR agency ran with, Carlson says. “We’re an organization that, we don’t have too many layers, so it moves pretty quick,” he says.
To spur interest, Rayovac reached out to its 10 “power bloggers,” all of whom are under contract with the company, Carlson says. Plus, Rayovac contacted about 300 other mommy bloggers and asked them to mention the snowball fight.
Shining a light
Rayovac was working on its indestructible flashlight project before the snowball fight came about, but even that idea moved pretty quickly, Carlson says. The flashlight itself was developed “purely within Rayovac,” a rarity for the company. It’s the result of surveys that found customers mainly wanted durability, brightness and value from a flashlight.
The YouTube videos featuring the flashlight haven’t quite hit viral status yet, but the main video featuring the light got more views in a few hours than most Rayovac videos have in two years, Carlson says.
“Fan growth and participation on Facebook has been astounding, and we have gained over 1,200 followers in the first few days,” he says.
The Tumblr about the Indestructible Tour includes Facebook comments, embedded YouTube videos and Flickr photos. The company Twitter account links regularly to the Tumblr, and the company has again pulled in its power bloggers to talk about the tour, though Carlson acknowledges mommy bloggers’ audiences may not be the target here. “We are looking to round ourselves out a little bit,” he says.
So far, the tour has visited three cities—Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Charlotte, N.C. There’s one more scheduled stop in Memphis, Tenn. How’d Rayovac pick the cities? Carlson says his team picked places where “we knew we could connect with somebody in that area” who would use the flashlight. The team has spoken to firefighters, a company that removes mold from homes, a sculptor, mechanics, and workers at a steel mill.
“We went through the rolodex trying to find people at fire departments we knew,” Carlson says.
He says he hopes to add more cities to the tour soon. “We’ve had people tell us, ‘Hey I’m in Pittsburgh!’” he says. “We’ve even encouraged people to come meet us at the restaurant we’re at.”
Viewers are getting a kick out of seeing the flashlight tests, too, Carlson says, and suggesting new ways to test its indestructibility. “People say, ‘Indestructible? Right,’” he says. “We’re doing those things as they ask for them.”
Contests, coupons and expansion
Along with these big pushes, Rayovac is keeping online fans interested with regular offerings of contests and coupons. Every Friday, the company runs a “fan Friday” promotion on its Facebook page, in which entrants can win gift cards, tickets to Six Flags theme parks or Rayovac products. Right now, Facebook fans have an opportunity to win an indestructible flashlight months before it’s available on store shelves.
Fans can also download coupons from Facebook, Carlson says. And most use them.
Eventually, Carlson says he’d like to see social media efforts such as Rayovac’s expand to the battery maker’s parent company, Spectrum Brands. Spectrum’s umbrella includes George Foreman grills, Remington razors, Cutter bug repellent and about a dozen other brands.
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