InSinkErator Evolution PRO SeriesA Social Media PlanThis is a social media campaign submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of ADPR 4953: Social Media in Advertising and Public Relations Spring 2010.

2010

Nicole Cirone, Katie Fanella,Lauren Lakomek, and Jessica Landry

5/6/2010

InSinkErator: The PRO Evolution SeriesLaunched in 2006, the InSinkErator Evolution PRO Series was designed to specifically

satisfy consumers’ wants in a food waste disposal. Earning a Net Promoter Score of

78%, far above the average of 16%, this series has earned the “world class category”

status. Using new technology, InSinkErator has created a sophisticated and

contemporary product line that meets consumers’ most important wants, grinding

finely, quickly and quietly. “Become part of the Evolution…Grind More. Hear Less.”

Buyer Persona Meet John and Linda

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John and Linda are celebrating their

35th wedding anniversary by building

a beautiful new home on Lake

Geneva in Wisconsin. John, the CEO

of a mid-size software company, and

Linda, a retired accountant, have

achieved great success throughout

their lives both fiscally and personally.

Having four grown children and two

young grandchildren, these empty

nesters have always dreamed of

retiring on the water.

SWOT Situational AnalysisStrengths

• Easily navigable website, clean, modern design

• Well established, 75 year old company

• Invented the first disposal in 1927

• Go-to brand as it is the choice of 9 out of 10 plumbing professionals

• We Come To You™ In-Home Service Warranties

• The easiest disposers to install

• Quick-Lock Sink Mount Available only from InSinkErator

• Technology competition doesn't have: Dura-Drive Induction Motor

• Colored parts to match kitchen decor

• Environmentally-friendly

Weaknesses

• Biggest challenges: Resources (money and manpower) and time within the company

• How to get consumers to come back since they only buy a disposal on average only once every 8-10 years?

• Website has great potential to be helpful, but consumers could face difficulty navigating the content. Where do I click next?

Opportunities

• Individuals are already talking about the high quality and high satisfactition levels with this product.

• Practical for those who can't compost at home

• Garbage disposal creates bi-product: bio gas. this can be used to fuel garbage treatment facilitates and other locations

• More municipalities requiring garbage disposals be installed

Threats

• Premium line is at a higher cost to consumers

• Not as prevalent internationally

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IssuesLong product life cycle InSinkErator should not have to apologize for the durability and quality of their product.

However, since the Evolution PRO series is so reliable, consumer disposals typically last

for at least 8-12 years and consumers do not have a real need to connect with the

company or brand again until the end of the product cycle. Social media participation

would give consumers a reason to engage with InSinkErator even if they are not in need

of a new product. It would also give consumers a reason to return to the official

company website.

Unaware of the benefits the InSinkErator Evolution Series offersThere are a significant number of consumers unaware of the benefits that the

InSinkErator Evolution PRO Series offers. The MultiGrind feature allows consumers to grind

almost any type of food waste, while the SoundSeal feature is at least 30% quieter than

the typical food disposers. Both are benefits that no other disposer has been able to

offer. Also, food waste disposers play an important role in responsible waste

management and environmental protection through a number of different ways.

Therefore, social media provides the ideal opportunity to inform customers of the

various benefits.

Comments to be shared, but nowhere to share them Though it is known that InSinkErator is talked about positively online through data

collected by the company’s email surveys, 24/7-customer service and testimonials

submitted online, the World Wide Web is much larger. On the internet, there are many

InSinkErator brand advocates who have stories and comments to share about the

product. However, there is currently no official InSinkErator forum for them to post them

on. There are some conversations occurring in outside channels, such as Amazon.com,

but, currently InSinkErator.com only allows consumers to send in feedback using a

general comment sheet. Social media participation would encourage more

conversation in regards to InSinkErator products, with the company itself and other

consumers. Social media allows the conversation to start and get people talking to one

another.

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Target market’s social media use is rapidly increasingFor the Evolution PRO Series, one of the InSinkErator’s main target markets is

homeowners over the age of 50. This demographic is increasingly participating in social

media as 19% of 45-54 year olds and 10% of 55-64 year olds are currently active on

social media sites (http://royal.pingdom.com/2010/02/16/study-ages-of-social-network-

users/).

Allows for easier brand monitoringThe InSinkErator disposer team currently only informally monitors what is being said

about the product on the web and a formal monitoring system has yet to be

established. By creating profiles for the brand on social media websites, brand

monitoring would be significantly easier. It would also offer another branch of customer

service that would greatly benefit consumers.

Demographics of the Target Market• 50+ year old homeowners

• Married couples

• Educated

• Financially stable with a large amount of disposable income

• Located nationally, but quickly expanding worldwide by energized brand

advocates

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Social Technographic Profile• Part of the fastest growing demographics adopting social media.

• Currently participate in social media but are not concentrated in specific areas.

• Spend their time only visiting general media outlets, blogs and hobby sites.

• Majority are characterized as “Spectators”

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Proposed Social Media Plan

Goal One Increase awareness of the InSinkErator Evolution PRO Series among the main target

markets, specifically homeowners over the age of 50.

Objective To increase awareness of the InSinkErator Evolution PRO Series among potential

customers by 20% by the end of 2010.

Strategy

Provide information on the InSinkErator Evolution PRO Series, in addition to the main

product website, using the most prevalent social media channels.

Tactics:

1. Utilize social monitoring tools to formally monitor where relevant conversations are

occurring.

• Online social monitoring tools:

o http://www.socialmention.com

o http://www.icerocket.com

o http://www.search.twitter.com

These tools will allow the InSinkErator team to monitor social media sites though

the use of keywords. A set of keywords that are relevant to InSinkErator will help

establish where consumers are participating, what they are saying and how they

engage. It will also help decipher the tones consumers use when talking about the

InSinkErator product, whether it is positive, negative or neutral. More importantly, these

tools will help target in on key bits of information from the wide realm of social media

sources.

2. Utilize the social media platforms that are most relevant to the target market.

• Create accounts for the InSinkErator disposer brand on the most relevant social

media outlets used among the target market.

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o YouTube Account

o Twitter Account

o Facebook Page

YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are a few of the top social media sites in which

that the target market is participating. As “spectators,” they enjoy watching videos and

reading online forums and customer reviews. If utilized properly, these social media sites

can encompass all of those above mentioned aspects. Creating profiles on these three

sites would be highly beneficial for InSinkErator.

Timeline:

Begin a six-month trial period starting June 2010 to see where the consumer is going

and what they are talking about. This information will help implement new creative

strategies and tactics to promote the InSinkErator brand, which, in turn, will raise

consumer awareness.

Measurement:

The objective will be achieved if the amount of online conversations increase by 20%

after the implementation of social media profiles.

Goal Two Encourage visitors to return to the InSinkErator website even when not shopping for a

new product.

Objective:Increase the number of return visits to the InSinkErator website by 10% by the end of

2010.

Strategy

Create online platforms on the InSinkErator website for consumers to actively

participate in.

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Tactics:

1. Establish a recipe aspect to the company website in which the InSinkErator team will

post recipes for consumers to enjoy. Each recipe will also list all the ingredients that can

be disposed of using an InSinkErator.

• Recipes will be in accordance with the season (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer)

• Consumers can submit recipes and InSinkErator will tell them what ingredients

can be disposed of using the Evolution PRO Series or other model of disposal.

The recipe section of the website uses information relevant to the target audience

to generate more traffic to the company website and to encourage consumers to

return even when they’re not in need of an InSinkErator product.

2. Establish an official forum on the company’s website. The forum will be dedicated to

comments that consumers have about the InSinkErator disposer. It will give consumers

an official place on the website to share their thoughts on the product. The forum will

also allow the brand to display positive comments about the brand.

3. Utilize the already identified male blogger.

The InSinkErator disposer team has already established a blogger whom they

would like to run a product blog. He would be the perfect voice for the target

audience. When there is no longer a scheduling conflict with the blogger, the blog

should be draw in consumers through the use of interesting content and interactive

elements. This could include videos, photos, contests, etc.

Timeline:

Begin the recipe site before Memorial Day 2010. Set up recipes in which

barbeque food will be prominent and relevant for the upcoming holiday and summer

barbeque weather. This will attract the target market that is most likely to be hosting

such parties and how the InSinkErator will be ideal for clean up. This site should be

continued throughout the year, changing the recipes every season to incorporate

seasonal recipes relevant to particular holidays and festivities.

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Measurement:

In order to establish if the objective has been achieved, the InSinkErator team

needs to look to the company website analytics. If the number of return visitors has

increased by at least 10%, the company website tactics have been a success.

Goal Three Create a strong social media presence that provides the opportunity for two-way

conversations for both consumers and the company.

ObjectiveTo create and maintain a presence on social media sites that result in at least 500

Facebook fans, 300 Twitter followers and 750 YouTube views by the end of 2010.

Strategy

Create profiles on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and actively participate on all

networks, engaging and responding in a timely fashion.

Tactics:

• Create a Facebook Product Page

o Dedicated to brand advocates that are interested in engaging with

others about the brand

o Utilize discussion sections to encourage consumer-to-consumer

interaction

The Facebook Product Page is the ideal meeting place for brand advocates.

Consumers can engage with the brand, while also engaging with other brand

advocates. The Facebook page will also be an effective way for InSinkErator to post

information about the product in order to raise awareness and encourage

engagement.

• Establish a Twitter account

o Focus on customer service

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o Provide assistance to consumers

The Twitter account should mainly focus on customer service. Consumers often

turn to Twitter to reach out to brands about questions and concerns. In order to be most

effective with this platform, InSinkErator has to constantly monitor the account so that

consumers receive timely responses.

• YouTube Account

o Upload official InSinkErator spots from modern product demos to vintage

advertisements

o Allow for user-generated content

YouTube is a great platform to display official InSinkErator videos. Videos are an

effective way to catch consumers’ attention while also providing them with important

product information. The YouTube account would also allow InSinkErator consumers to

upload their own videos. User-generated content is often very popular among

consumers and is a great way to humanize a brand.

Timeline:

The Facebook Product Page will be implemented before Memorial Day 2010

coinciding with the recipe site. This Facebook page will reinforce the recipe site and

vice versa. The Twitter account will also be implemented immediately as a way to cater

to already existing customers and answering questions for interested customers as well.

The first YouTube video will be implemented immediately. It is important that InSinkErator

gets their name out there and also establish a foundation for late tactics that will allow

the user to not just passively know about the product, but actively engage in product

related promotions and product media.

Measurement:

This success of the objective will be measured by the amount of fans, followers and

views InSinkErator gains by the end of the year. This can easily be established by looking

at the brand’s social media accounts.

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Monitoring By making a shift to formally monitoring the consumer conversation online, InSinkErator

will be able to precisely answer the questions who, what, when where and why of WOM

online, and be able to engage and interact with brand advocates. At the same time,

if negative comments arise, it is important for the brand to immediately address the

situation and continue to protect their positive image. Two free tools to do so are Social

Mention and IceRocket.

Analytic ToolsTweet Stats (tweetstats.com): Monitors Twitter activity

While using Twitter for social media monitoring. Just plug in your twitter name to receive

information on daily and hourly tweets and what users reply most to your tweets. This

will help determine what consumers are talking about and help you to effectively

respond to questions and concerns.

Facebook's New App Measurement: Monitors user activity and interaction

SiteCatalyst is a product that allows marketers to monitor the performance of their

brands on websites by tracking traffic metrics such as page views, referrals, and time

spent on a page. This new product allows marketers to see just how users interact with

their Facebook applications. Ideally, this product should allow marketers with no

technical background to have an immediate analytics tool that shows a robust set of

metrics of how their brands are doing on Facebook.

Google Analytics (www.google.com/analytics): web analytics that gives rich insights into website traffic and marketing effectiveness

Web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing

effectiveness. This will help you track how many people are coming to your site and tell

you how many people are engaging in the new recipe page as well. It generates how

much of your content is generating traffic and how successful your marketing is.

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All these tools are great to determine whether or not you need to change some of your

approaches or change any techniques that do not seem to be working for you. You will

have instant results at your fingertips that will help you determine the right moves to

make.

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