The
Challenge
Rust-Oleum wanted to go beyond its core users to capture and inspire the next generation of DIYers. It saw how Millennials had grown up with social, where the things they
post "have to be perfect," as Lisa Bialecki, Senior Dir. Communications, Rust-Oleum, told Wednesday's Brand Insider Summit. They have a "fear of mucking up" or FOMU. The brand's idea was to
eliminate that fear and to celebrate the doing.
The Execution
With "Pride in the Making," Rust-Oleum focused on creative content. By leveraging consumer-generated
content and using real customers doing real projects, it created videos to share on social channels. "It is so hard for a brand to let go like that," said Bialecki. It put a casting call videos on
social channels and asked people to send in their videos.
"We weren't talking like a brand," she said. "We wanted to make it simple." By featuring people, the videos gained wider currency
because those people shared it with friends. "We had never focused on the smiles before."
Rust-Oleum has a creative studio of 8,000 passionate users of its product. It leverages insights from
their volunteers on every thing from a new label to a new color.
The videos appear in banner ads and on native and weather-triggered banners, pushing the viewer toward an action. Native, she
said, is performing very well. Launched a month ago, the weather-triggered ad tells viewers which day is perfect for taking on their projects because it's less than 90 degrees, more than 60 and not
too humid. Ideal conditions.
The Results
53MM impressions across FB & Pinterest in July
Brand lift was 79% higher than average for this vertical.
Brand life was 44% higher than average in North America.