Regiftable.com: Using a Microsite to Generate Word of Mouth Marketing

Challenge:
How do you deliver credit education to consumers during the holiday season when spending is at an all-time high?

Position:
Money Management International, a nonprofit financial education organization, assumed that consumers would be looking for cost-saving resources and strategies. Our take was that, if done correctly, regifting may be a suitable alternative to purchasing holiday gifts. In addition, regifting seemed to have a polarizing effect; something we hoped would translate into measurable buzz.

Solution:
We decided that the best way to deliver our message would be in the form of a holiday-themed microsite, Regiftable.com. The site's main feature was the ability for visitors to share their regifting stories which was tied to a contest to encourage online and offline word of mouth. In addition to stories, the site featured many interactive elements, such as the ability to create personalized gift certificates as an alternative to purchasing, or recycling, gifts as well as "Regifting Robin" which amazed visitors with her psychic abilities.

Goals:
Our ultimate goal was to educate consumers on the wise use of credit during the holiday season. We planned to measure effectiveness by monitoring site traffic, visitor interaction, and media exposures during the campaign which launched on November 1, 2006 and wrapped on December 3, 2006.

Results:
Regiftable.com generated nearly 600 media exposures (e.g., Associated Press, CNN, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, etc.) which translated into 230+ million media impressions. The site was also featured on the homepage of Yahoo!, MSNBC, and within blogs such as LifeHacker. Nearly 100,000 consumers visited Regiftable.com contributing 700+ user generated stories and viewing 583,000+ pages.

Needless to say we were very pleased! Regiftable.com educated consumers on alternatives to holiday spending and, hopefully, reduced the stress associated with making it through the holiday season with their budget (and sanity) in tact.

Credit Information
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Client: Money Management International
Agency: In-house
Budget: $25,000
Date of Campaign:11/1/ 06 - 12/31/06