2011 SAMMY Award Finalist, Best Social/Mobile Integrated Campaign: MEDL Mobile App Incubator
publication date: Aug 30, 2011
Best Social/Mobile Integrated Campaign: MEDL Mobile App Incubator
MEDL Mobile Brand: MEDL Mobile App Incubator Executives Involved in The Campaign: Andrew Maltin - CEO / Co-Founder Dave Swartz - CCO / Co-Founder Campaign Brief: When we first started the company and began to tell people about it, the constant reaction was “I have a great idea for an app”. We began to realize that there were masses upon masses of people who had great ideas, but no know-how or capital to even begin developing it. So here began the App Incubator Initiative. Co-Founders Dave Swartz and Andrew Maltin needed a way to reach the masses, and increase MEDL Mobile brand awareness through a medium in which people were genuinely interested. They decided to leverage the intrigue in app building and make it available to the general public, through what they dubbed the App Incubator. The MEDL Mobile App Incubator would become a way for app lovers, independent developers, and enthusiasts of every kind to be able to submit their app ideas for a chance at development, and subsequently 25% of the revenue. The objective was to connect to the people that were already buying apps, and drive traffic back to MEDL. An Incubator page would be incorporated to the MEDL Mobile website, and eventually a matching branded app would be developed to enable users to sign up, submit their ideas at inception and check in on the review process. Eventually this tank of ideas would grow to over 75,000 submissions, a challenge in itself to review let alone develop. In order to maintain contact with the fans submitting apps, social media seemed like the best vehicle. We built associating Facebook pages and Twitter accounts to enable our users to contact us with general questions and inquiries regarding the status of their submission. Every day dozens of people post on our various social media pages about the status of their submissions, and encourage others to submit their ideas. This idea of being constantly in touch with our audience allowed us to reinforce the fact that there was someone on the other end of the line. We heavily weigh the merits of every single submission, so to be able to reiterate that directly was key to the entire campaign. Beyond that, it also helped keep us accountable in making the review process a priority. From the Incubator bore some really genius, yet quite simple ideas from some really interesting everyday people. For example, A Note to God, submitted by a high school student from Sacramento by the name of Allen Wright. Allen wanted a non-denominational way for people to be able to communicate with their own higher power. Every note that is submitted is stored anonymously, and then made available for others to see what the world is praying about. The secondary goal behind this app was to show the world that we have a lot more in common than we think. Another great example of app developed via Incubator submission is Military Regs, submitted by American Serviceman Joshua Patterson. Military Regs provides a database of regulations across all of the American Armed Forces, made available to our servicemen right to a smartphone. MEDL sensation Problem Halved was submitted by a dustbin man by the name of Rob Shoesmith from Coventry, England. Rob wanted a unique way for people to share their problems, and hopefully solve them in a communal setting. Problem Halved allows the user to submit their problems, see advice given, give advice to others, and search through the most common problems submitted. It brings to light the saying, a problem shared is a problem halved. It didn’t take long to realize that the Incubator really was the perfect advertisement of what exactly MEDL’s ethos is which is building visually stunning, incredibly powerful applications that change people’s lives. As a bonus it happens to be a glowing PR story. It showcased our work on multiple levels, connected us to our target audience which in turn taught them more about us, and gave notoriety to everyday people with big ideas. It really fit perfectly into our mission, now the issue is hand-picking that one big idea out of thousands of big ideas submitted every week, for the 1 Incubator app built a month. Link to Your Creative Materials: Website: http://www.medlmobile.com/appincubator Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/169184906979 Incubator PR: http://robshoesmith.blogspot.com/2011/07/iphone-5-experiment-update-and.html Youtube Submissions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZQnwCNzYZA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENKhPYkoyc8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aOIFqFNuek http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ6he-FXP28&feature=related |
Site SearchDIGIDAY TVWatch live streaming video from digiday at livestream.com
Member LoginDM2PRO Premium Content is available for members only. LogIn or, join us in building the industry's most robust and practical knowledge base. Click [join url] to find out how. |
177 Comments Posted Leave a comment