CodeWeavers' Lame Duck Presidential Challenge Scores Huge ROI
Campaign Shows Earned Media + Interactive Spend in Down Economy Pays Off

Given what's happening with the economy, marketing/PR pros are seeking cost-effective ways to spend their PR/marketing dollars in 2009. The Haberman team lives in the world of earned media, and there's never been a better time to spend money on public relations and social media/interactive programs.

Nowhere is this more apparent than a story we just developed and told for software developer CodeWeavers. Challenged to create awareness for a product few people know about and drive trial among key, motivated influencers, we presented the Great American Lame Duck Presidential Challenge, a massive product-giveaway hinging on President Bush's ability to affect positive change in his administration’s waning days. In this case, the trigger was average gasoline prices dipping in the Twin Cities to $2.79 a gallon October 27. Our guerilla effort yielded:

--650,000 downloads valued at $45 million dollars – expanding CodeWeavers’ existing customer base by 400 percent.
--50,000 YouTube views in 24 hours of a video updating the public on the state of the phenomenon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6D8voHFoz4
--Intense blog and Web activity on sites such as Digg.com, Twitter.com, Slashdot.com and others. http://digg.com/software/CodeWeavers_giving_away_all_software_Tuesday_Oct_28th
--Triple the number of visitors to Codeweavers' site compared to this time period last year; well over 1 million visitors visited the site in one month alone.
--650,000 emails of new motivated evangelists who will likely refer the software to friends. (Blog reviews from this group have been very positive.)

Our interactive storyteller, Nathan Rice, said this is arguably more software downloads in 24 hours than any other company of this size in history. In accomplishing Codeweaver's goal, we also helped spark both short- and long-term sales by creating buzz among influencers who will refer an innovative, superior product. If even a fraction of these new users renew after one year, the ROI is huge. For instance, if 5 percent of participants renew (32,500 copies) at $70 per copy, the payoff is $2.275 million.

As Codeweavers, the Obama campaign and multiple other social media success stories have shown, organizations are now able to reach consumers directly in unprecedented ways. What must remain unchanged is the lens through which we tell our clients' stories: truth/authenticity, value/relevancy and the knowledge that the story is about your customers, not about you.

Fred Haberman, co-founder and CEO, Haberman & Associates