Explanation/Overview/Purpose

In mid 2013 Ximo CEO Eric Laver had the idea to create a crowdsource campaign for a new product line to be added to the existing line of energy/weight loss supplements.  The product was technically already funded and (we thought) developed, but the Crowdfunding movement seemed an underutilized and perfectly adaptable marketing angle for a network marketing product.

 

The senior staff (including Eric Laver, Melissa Edwards the Office Manager, and I)  brainstormed for a week, came up with our ‘angle’, the name, the time frame for development and implementation, and zeroed in on RocketHub as our crowdsource platform. 

 

The campaign would require a dedicated website, a fully developed identity and approach to ‘justify’ using crowdsourcing in such an unorthodox way, 3 videos, soundtrack, scripts, interviews with several select distributors from in and out of state, a print media campaign, an online sales funnel going from both the crowd funding site to our website and vice versa, a feedback loop allowing us to respond quickly to thousands of distributors, an email campaign, AND  fully developed package design including a box and a packet - both reflecting the identity of the new product.  The deadline was set for six weeks - yes, I said 6 weeks for all of that… And we knew it could be done.  Here is the result.

The Product was a powdered version of our proprietary formula with no artificial colors or sweeteners, and was meant to be added to hot drinks as well as cold - unlike our liquid version.

 

The goal of the product identity was to convey it’s purity, simplicity and its ability to be added to coffee, hot chocolate and tea.  I was given full creative control over the project including Web, Video, Identity, Print and anything else that came up.  Melissa researched all relevant croudsourcing info and product manufacturing logistics, she and Eric created the new formula, and Eric Coordinated all distributor interviews from three states, and the customer service staff built the systems to accommodate the deluge of orders to come.  We were on fire!

We had several of our top distributors in mind.  I produced a custom audio track and ad libbed what I ‘thought’ the interviewees might say.  This was overlaid into a dummy track which essentially became the final video narrative. Eric called in an extremely talented videographer Joe Kenmore, who was familiar with the industry, to shoot the final product.  The quality of the main video was paramount, and no one could do it better.

 

With a solid outline, timing, music track, script, and solid Creative Direction all built into the ‘sketch’ the guest distributors were brought in and Joe went to work directing and filming.  Once filmed I worked with his editor - I would create sketches of the right takes and edits on a simple video editing program which they would translate into high-quality edits.  All three videos were made this way.

 

*BTW That's me narrating;)

The marketing campaign required cards and brochures branded with the product, video, and website.  These were included in all outgoing products.

The videos were added, profile built, and funding options designed and implemented.

I settled on using Squarespace for our dedicated website.  It was called ‘XimoRocket.com - a play on the XimoRocks name.  This Kind of play has been non-stop marketing gold for our distributors and company alike!)  Squarespace was chosen because it made the creation and implementation of forms and other media quick and easy - and we were on the clock!

as orders poured in, many of the distributors gained access to the product while in development.  Our website gave them a means to reach us instantaneously with feedback of their experience with the effectiveness of the product.  Melissa and Eric revised the formula on-the-fly, manufactured it, and sent it out to distributors three times during the course of the campaign.  This allowed us to precisely tailor the product to our distributors tastes effectively in real time!!!

Distributors were kept apprised of the projects progress throughout the campaign using an email campaign.

Built after the initial product sketches, the actual product design appears slightly different than was on the initial marketing collateral.  Still reflecting purity and simplicity it got positive reviews from the distributors.  The most difficult part was coordinating with the manufacturer on proper labeling of nutritional information.

Product package options were created and available instantly after the campaign had come to a close.

The Rocket Hub campaign netted 15000 dollars in six weeks, paid for three high quality videos, produced invaluable and authentic interviews with our top distributors, refined and launched a new product, and changed the face of our company.  It was a resounding success!