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February 10, 2008
New Expectations: HP's IdolHands Contest
By now, most marketing excutives have heard about the short-tenure woes of the CMO in many organizations. In an article in The McKinsey Quarterly titled "The Evolving Role of the CMO" there were some interesting insights into the trends that are makig the job so difficult. One insight I thought was really relevant was how today's marketing executive must manage a rapidly expanding universe of marketing techniques, channels and skills. For example, in media alone the expansion of user-generated content makes traditional approaches to media planning and execution insufficient. Add to that the increasing demand to create immersive engagement in campaigns that create more lasting mindshare and viral extension.
As a case in point, take a look at HP's recently released Idol Hands contest. This is not your typical marketing program. This interactive, user-generated content program supports HP's $3,500 TouchSmart line of touch-screen PCs, billed as "The perfect PC for families looking for an all-in-one touch-screen PC with easy, convenient access to information, family schedules, TV, music, movies and photos."
The campaign is intended to get consumers to upload a homemade video starring their hands. And upload people are! Some of the video are dumb, some quite elegant. All in all, it represents a completely different way of thinking about and using a marketing budget. The concept is engaging, interactive and gets an audience focused on one aspect of the value proposition for the product line. Very clever.
Gotta run, now. I need to get back to editing my submission....I could really use the prize money.
Posted by jcioban at February 10, 2008 1:53 PM
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