Molson Canada: Case Study Analysis The Future of Social Media as a Marketing Viable Tool
Executive Summary Social media overview •personal communication •engage customers • create dialogue •connect with consumers •creating new prospects
Executive Summary Molson’s Cold Shot Campaign How a well intended branding promotion can lead to unexpected outcomes. •discussing the issues •reviewing the perspectives; and •sharing recommendations on strategies
Company Overview Molson •One of the oldest companies in Canada •most preferred brand status •ranked fourth in global market share. •a socially responsible company with a Code of Conduct •supports several charitable causes •sponsors entertainment and sporting events
Issues Social Media Positive: •create word of mouth through buzz and virtual marketing •traditional media is passive •people actively engage social media
Issues Social Media Negative: •ethical issues like false advertising •marketing to vulnerable markets •endorsement relations •lose control of their brand and its intended branding message.
Issues Molson’s Cold Shot Campaign Challenges: •Contest contradicted the Code of Conduct •Privacy issues of photo contest •Negative stereotype of college students •Endorsing bad behavior on campus and in dorm rooms •Future consequences for students
Perspective of Molson Executives The “Cold Shots” promotion •19-24 target market through Facebook •engage the target market and possibly garner “brand ambassadors” as a result
Perspective of Molson Executives Galbraith, a Molson spokesperson, also stated that the contest was a way to highlight “celebrating good times with friends after the academics are for the day.� She further stated that social media is a new experimental phase of the Molson marketing mix and there would be some lessons learned .
Perspective of University Administration •Protecting the reputation of their institutions and their students. •Perceived to encourage students to behave in activities that could harm themselves or others. •exploited the stereotypes that they constantly battle as “party schools.”
Perspective of University Administration The dean of Students Affair at St. Francis Xavier University: “these kinds of programs put added stress on our ability to ensure that students have a very positive, successful academic and non-academic development”
The chair of Ontario Committee on Student Affairs, the University of Guelph : “encouraged irresponsible drinking behavior that did not match the Molson Code of conduct and that it had not consider privacy issues of conducting a Facebook photo contest.”
Perspective of Students •Students that participated •Students that did not participate •Students that did not give consent to be photographed
Conclusions After reviewing the case study the initial conclusion was that Molson made the right decision in stopping the contest at that time. •designed to showcase “celebrating good times with friends after the academics are over for the day.” •determined after evaluation that the campaign was promoted by the agency at the launch giving away spring break trips and the chance to show that their school “parties the hardest.”
Conclusions The second premise was that the campaign : •create brand ambassadors for Molson by using Facebook. •designed to connect to 19-24 year olds that were attending college and universities. •grow the membership The outcome: •campaign showed minimal participation by students with only 200 photo entries (Rouse, 2007) •the top school only submitted 67 photos by November 23rd, with 26 photos for the second place university. •not certain that the additional 1500 Facebook members can be contributed to the contest
Conclusions The last premise was that Molson’s Cold Shot campaign followed their Code of Conduct standards. •promote responsible behavior and decision making in reference to drinking •demonstrated that it is a socially responsible company. It was determined that: •failed to live up to Molson’s standards as outlined in the Code of Conduct. •misinterpreted and misunderstood so the negativity and the photo entries overshadowed the campaign. •attempted to save the brand image by pulling the contest The result of the evaluation: •did not achieve the goals of branding. •acknowledge the issues and concerns of the students and university by pulling contest from Facebook.
Recommendations Short term solutions for using emerging social media tools: •enhancing the current cause marketing arm of Molson via Facebook •introduce a concept of Party With A Purpose Campaign. •create a scholarship program that is promoted through social media to engage the 19-24 target market.
Recommendations Long term approach: •create stand alone online communities around those campaigns with minimal branding to offer a safe, fun environment. •great success with this approach that allows consumers to connect with one another and your company about a mutually admired cause that is free from hard sells of products