The Challenge

• Kia came to Marden-Kane wanting to reward their dealerships and customers. They wanted customers to use social media to talk about why they loved Kia and their dealership and for this information to go viral. They needed a great incentive and a way to get the most interest they could on in the top social media platforms, Twitter and Facebook.

The Solution

• Marden-Kane structured a contest on Facebook and a Sweepstakes on Twitter to encourage users to generate and post content.
• The Contest was built by Marden-Kane as a Like-gated Facebook application to accept short essays about why people loved Kia. A moderation and judging platform was built and utilized to screen and judge each entry, and Finalists were then posted for public vote on Facebook.
• For the Sweepstakes, visitors were encouraged to post a tweet about the contest using a Kia hashtag for a chance to win credits in the Kia service centers.

The Results

• The promotion increased Kia’s Facebook likes and doubled their page activity during the course of the promotion.
• The Kia hashtag used for the Sweeps caused a bump in Kia’s Twitter traffic during the Sweepstakes period.
• Kia management was happy to have such insightful and well-written essays that reflected who they were as a company.
• Dealerships let Kia National know that they were pleased with the program because it brought many customers into the dealership inquiring about their entries and excited about the prospect of winning and getting service deals.