Intel Sponsors Social Media Scavenger Hunt at Moms Event in San Antonio

I finally got to participate and the annual Manic Mommies Escape when it was held in San Antonio this last weekend. In case you haven’t heard, the Manic Mommies are a couple working moms who have been hosting a podcast pretty much ever since podcasting was invented. I’ve written about their amazing online community building before. The Escape is a kind-of moms’ retreat.

Because of their large listenership and community building (one is a full-time PR person), they’ve gotten some big sponsorships. Let me tell you about a couple.

Intel used social media tools like Twitter and Foursquare with Escape participants. First, an Intel rep led a presentation with tips on how to choose the right computer for your needs or your family's needs, in this case. They have a handy tool for this online.

Then they had participants form teams of four for a social media scavenger hunt in downtown San Antonio. They had a list of 10 locations where teams would go, check-in using Foursquare, follow the instructions that Intel had set up in the Foursquare Tips section, and post a photo on Twitter via Twitpic. Teams that went to at least five spots were entered into a drawing for free laptops that were awarded the next day.

Key to this promotion was that it was integrated into the goals of the event for moms to network with each other and meet other moms as well as to experience San Antonio. And they learned a bit about Intel in the process.

Another big sponsor is Chevy. Moms were able to test drive different models, including the new Cruze and a Corvette Grand Sport (there was a big line for that one). The test drive route took the moms to see a San Antonio mission and they were entered into a drawing for free tickets to a suite at the Spurs game that evening.

Finally, there was a hospitality suite where moms could test out the new XBOX with Kinect that lets you get on your feet to play without a remote control.

So if you’re wondering how to integrate social media into a promotion strategy. Intel provides a great example.

Chevy's Road Trip Challenge Shows Off Fans Using Social Media on the Road

As I mentioned in my last post, Chevy is the lead sponsor for the Manic Mommies podcast. So it was only fitting that our meet up in Austin would be at a Chevy event. During the week leading up to South by Southwest, Chevy held an Amazing Race-type event for bloggers and fans across the country. They drove in Chevys to Austin from all parts of the country in teams stopping to do various fun and silly tasks along the way. Challenges included arm wrestling a short order cook, visiting odd tourist spots and museums, donating to a local Goodwill store and washing someone else's windshield.

The event on Thursday was a reception for the teams as they arrived. Team Detroit was the winner based on who completed the most challenges and had done the most interacting with their community on Twitter and their own sites. You can hear interviews with the road trippers here.


Christopher Barger (pictured here with Kristin Brandt of the Manic Mommies), director of global social media at General Motors, told me that this Chevrolet’s SXSW Road Trip Challenge was a way to engage fans and create some fun visibility for the brand. As you can imagine, the expectation is that when folk are in the market to buy a car, they’ll think of Chevy and give it another look than they might have otherwise.

And that’s why Chevy is a sponsor for the Manic Mommies. At their Escape events, GM has been there with cars to test drive and to cart participants around. They know the value of engaging women – who are more and more the decision makers in car purchases.

Success Story of Community Building with Social Media

On Thursday, I had the pleasure of meeting Kristin Brandt, one of the co-hosts of the Manic Mommies podcast. She’s in Austin for South by Southwest (SXSW), which is a totally cool annual interactive-music-film festival. She organized a meet up for listeners in the area. About 10 women were there, most from Austin. Two of us drove from miles away.

Why would we do such a thing? Because this is a show that has developed a strong community – better than any other podcast I’ve participated in, which is why I’m telling you about it. Here’s an excellent example of how social media can be used to build and engage a community.

First a little about the Manic Mommies. The hosts are Erin Kane and Kristin Brandt who started podcasting on somewhat of a whim about five years ago. Though they didn’t deliberate much on the name of their show, they chose Manic Mommies because one of the definitions of “manic” is “overly busy.” Their tagline is “The podcast for buzy moms trying to do it all!… and then some.” The do have a sizeable following of men as well.

The structure of the show is two working moms who talk about what’s going on in their daily lives, and they occasionally have guest interviews. The biggest appeal is that they have no pretension. They are like friends you haven’t met yet.

  

Here are some examples of their community building success:

• They have a huge number of listeners, so much so that they’ve attracted sponsors like Chevy and others.
•  More listeners call in with comments than they have room for to include in their weekly show.
• They have an active Facebook fan page with 3,850 fans and ongoing conversations.
• Using Big Tent, they have set up a forum with free memberships and a "Gal Pals” section with added benefits for those who pay a nominal fee. There are multiple new discussion threads started every day. And it hasn’t waned since it was launched over a year ago. This group has about 2,000 participants.
• They blog on their web site regularly and sometimes have contests for readers and listeners. They also have a blog column for Real Simple.
• They host an annual “escape” event where women travel from across the county to spend time together. The 2009 escape was capped at 150 people and sold out in less than two weeks. They’re planning their fourth Escape for November 2010.
• They have their own line of calendars for moms through Mead that you can buy online or in stores like Target.
• They have their own line of swag through Café Press and Company Casuals.
• They have an awesome iPhone ap.
• They have a Tastebook cookbook with recipe contributions from listeners.
• They have an active online book club.

Oh, and by the way, this is their hobby. They both have full-time jobs and young children.

Their success didn’t happen all at once. They didn’t start out knowing they’d be here five years later. But it wasn’t accidental either. They have been clear from the beginning about who their audience is. They have been strategic about going for some opportunities and saying no to others. And they’ve been flexible to adapt as technology and other environmental factors changed.

That is the challenge for the rest of us as we integrate social media into our work. We typically have had an idea of where a certain effort would take us. Good media relations will likely lead to media coverage. Good event planning will likely lead to successful events. But it’s hard to say where good social media work will take us. Like with the Manic Mommies though, it could take us beyond our wildest imaginations.

Mommy Podcasts do Nichecasting with a Capital N

I decided to take my own advice and look for some podcasts that are related to my hobbies rather than just those about my profession. For over a year, I’ve pretty much only been listening to PR/communications-related podcasts – really good ones that I’ve recommended here before (see posts on April 12, April 30 and May 28, 2007).

But a couple of weeks ago, I started exploring other topics. Here’s how it went: Let’s see. What are my hobbies? No time for scrapbooking or music or exercise or… Hmmm. So what then? Well, I can stock a child’s backpack in 120 seconds. I can cook a 30-minute meal in 20. And I can kiss an owie and make the hurt go away. Yep. That’s it. Mommyville.

So I started looking for “mommy” podcasts. I happened to hear Shel and Neville talking about Manic Mommies on For Immediate Release. And soon after, I heard Eric Schwartzman of On the Record Online talk about MommyCast – which he listens to as a dad. So I tried out both and am hooked. TOTALLY.

These are not little podcasts that reach a few hundred people. Manic Mommies was recently awarded Best Parenting Podcast in the Winter '07 Podcast Peer Awards. MommyCast is a Webby honoree and has sponsors like Huggies, Oral B and Nesquik. Their deal with Dixie is reported to have been for $100,000.

And these women are savvy. Both podcasts have other online features, like branded merchandise for sale. Manic Mommies is planning an “Escape” conference for moms this fall in Newport. MommyCast has an excellent online media kit. And – are you sitting down? – it states that according to Nielson NetMetrics, more than 2 million people listen to MommyCast.

Personally, thanks to these two podcasts, I’ve so far learned that either I’m not as crazy as I think I am, or I am that crazy but at least I’m not alone.