A Digital Marketing First? Burt's Bees Wants to Pollinate Your Electronic Calendar Consumers must opt into the advertising initiative that adds weekly events to their electronic calendars via Apple, Microsoft, Google and Yahoo.
By Geoff Weiss
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Nature-friendly beauty brand Burt's Bees wants to pollinate your electronic calendar.
To promote its latest Brightening Face Care line, the Clorox-owned company will permeate as-yet-untapped legions of Apple, Microsoft Outlook, Google and Yahoo calendars via ads that appear as appointments.
Consumers must opt in to the program by clicking a link, whereby eight weekly events will be added.
After eight weeks, however, the ads end and Burt's Bees gains no access to any additional calendar content, the company's global marketing manager, Lauren Aplin, told Entrepreneur.com.
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While the appointments begin with jokey prompts -- "A meeting to discuss your mind-blowing beautimousness…Imaginary lunch will be provided." -- the promotional messaging starts rolling out around week four.
Six of the eight reminders contain no product mentions whatsoever, though in the final week, consumers are offered a free sample and a coupon.
"What better way for a brand to provide a moment of delight than in a place we often view as a meeting- and task-driven environment?" Aplin said.
As opposed to merely diffusing ad materials via social outlets like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Burt's Bees' infiltration of personal calendars represents a more intimate level of access to consumers' daily routines.
But Aplin noted that the company made a concerted effort not to seem invasive.
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"We considered the personal nature of calendars and what constituted "too much,'" she said. "We've also made sure that the invites will be reflected as "free' time on the consumer's calendar, so we're not interfering with their daily schedules."
The calendar campaign will be supported by an email blast to Burt's Bees consumers slated to roll out today, while a website dedicated to the initiative will go live on April 29.
Aplin calls digital marketing a critical playing field for the brand's deeply loyal consumers, and believes that targeting them through their calendars represents a first in digital marketing.
"We consider ourselves students of the digital space, so while we're always testing new tactics to drive conversation and engagement, we're also always learning," she said.
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