Listen up health and science marketers: General Electric is out to prove that new and emerging social media platforms are not just for retailers and consumer-facing brands any more. GE’s most recent campaign, the #6SecondScience Fair, ran from August 8 to August 15 and relied on user-generated content in the form of mini science lessons.
The campaign made use of video-sharing app Vine when it challenged its audience, “How much science can you fit into six seconds?”
During the week-long campaign more than 400 videos were entered covering a wide range of topics from photosynthesis, dissection and rocket science, to making ice cream, bubbles and fake blood. Contributions came from GE, Vine users and pre-determined Vine influencers. Some of the best mini videos were shared on Facebook, Twitter and the #6SecondScience Tumblr, which acted as the hub of the campaign.
The campaign is a lesson in virality and showed marketers a few things. First and foremost, it proved that health and science brands can and should utilize content creating apps and platforms, like Vine, to leverage user-generated content. Additionally, GE made a strong case for cross-platform promotion and the importance of partners and influencers to encourage participation and increase virality. Another important takeaway? GE’s successful campaign didn’t include a prize or winners, but it still generated a major response, demonstrating how creative campaigns don’t necessarily need an extensive prize budget if the premise behind the promotion is unique, engaging and fun. Finally, the marketers behind the #6SecondScience Fair considered timing of key importance. GE first started sharing six second science lessons months ago, but waited until the more timely back-to-school season to launch the campaign officially.