Advertising That Works: Ben 10

Here’s the second case study I promised last week:

The Ben 10 Ultimate Alien Hangout was a comprehensive promotion by Bandai America for its Spring 2008 Ben 10 toy line. The Ultimate Alien Hangout called on fans to complete their original Ben 10 toy collection (before the new Ben 10 Alien Force toy line hits shelves).

There were several components to the Ben 10 Ultimate Alien Hangout promotion, including television, public relations and promotions support; however, the core of the promotion was the online sweepstakes. The promotion kicked off on February 20, 2008 with an online sweepstakes. The grand-prize winner receives a complete Ben 10 bedroom transformation, and a hundred runner-up winners receive original show artwork or Ben 10 toy packs.

For the contest, Bandai partnered with the home makeover show Designing Spaces to illustrate a visual of the room transformation. The sweepstakes also benefited from an on-air promo on Cartoon Network, which urged fans to enter the sweepstakes online.

The promotion, handled by Mr. Youth, consisted of a street team accompanied by a Four Arms costumed character. A glass-display truck display – a truck with a Ben 10 Ultimate Alien Hangout bedroom displayed on its bed – also drove through 10 cities and generated additional impressions.

Public relations, handled by The Rogers Group, outreached to a variety of traditional and new media outlets. For example, public relations outreach included local market event listings to support the street team, as well as general market media that focused on toys and/or cartoons. A radio news release targeting parents also broadcasted a call to action to enter the sweepstakes. Outreach to the online community – including regional focused sites, parenting/mommy and sweepstakes blogs – shared both news of the online sweepstakes and the location of the Ben 10 Street team.

The contest received over 211,765 sweepstakes entries and tons of coverage online and in traditional media.

Takeaways:

• Do you notice a recurring theme with these case studies? They all use multiple channels to promote. The internet is a given, but they also use street teams and cross promotions to spread the word.
• Designing Spaces. Probably the last cross promo I would have expected for a cartoon contest! But it worked. Sometimes stepping outside of your industry can work wonders on a campaign.
• Unique prizes. These weren’t prizes kids could get at the store. By offering special collectors’ items, I’m sure they increased their sweepstakes entries substantially.