Customer-driven social media is not something that you typically see when it comes to advertising for a business. Typically, the company posts information about their products, how to use them, and lets others know why they need this product. When it comes to customer-driven advertising, it allows the consumers to tell their story and how the product they are using and rely on helps them with their daily and weekly tasks. I covered information about a different company that's local to my area called Publix. They follow a very similar strategy. However, today I'm going to talk about the company called Whirlpool. This organization decided to try something new when advertising to promote their business. This tactic was to use customer-driven advertising allowing the consumer to tell others how the Whirlpool products help them solve daily, weekly, and monthly tasks that they rely on.
(Whirlpool, 2023)
Whirlpool launched an advertising campaign called “Every day, care.” The philosophy behind it was to prove that everyday chores are an act of love and have the power to impact the world. They felt that most consumers forgot how much this company helped families in their everyday lives. With all the unfulfilling and repetitive chores, many thought that these appliances were more of a thankless job. With the launch of this new campaign, they were seeking to find stories from individuals who used these products to share how much they appreciate the products provided by Whirlpool.
By using Crowdtap, they were able to successfully survey and gather opinions from consumers who own and use these products. From the Whirlpool community, they were able to gather over 44,000 surveys, text messages, images, and videos and support of Whirlpool. Gathering this much information about the company and those who rely on its products was extremely important and allowed the company to understand the appreciation that the consumers have. This also allowed them to understand who their target audience was based on the feedback and how it solves the consumer's problem that they have and rely on each week with their family.
"The company in turn had a 12% growth and an over 6% increase in sales"
With others sharing their information and telling their story it helped authenticate the brand which catapulted their appreciation to others. This in turn inspired a larger group of consumers to not only get involved with the conversation but also share their stories on social media. Because of this, it had a lasting impact on how consumers viewed Whirlpool. The company in turn had a 12% growth and an over 6% increase in sales. From there on, the organization used customer-driven advertising to share with others how their products have helped other families and that they are a company they can rely on.
Currently, Whirlpool uses social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube. Each one of these social media platforms is used to showcase imagery, videos, and text 2 show how they have helped families. Along with this, consumers have posted their content to share how they use the product and how it has solved their why. One of the things that I loved to see was that this company uses TikTok to spread the word to young individuals that they have products that they can rely on and that will help them with their daily tasks without interruption. Many individuals on TikTok and YouTube have shared videos to support this idea of reliability and simplicity when using the products. One of the things that I love to see on their website and social media platforms is how diverse they are with their consumers. Not only are they showing the young and old using the products to help them with the daily life that they are currently involved in, but they are also representing those of color in their commercials and videos.
(Whirlpool, 2020)
After going through their social media accounts, the one thing that I can say that they could do better is to post more frequently. Currently, they are posting about every nine days on Facebook. Right now, they have over 1.2 million followers and it would be great for them to share even more information on how their products are used, what others say about them, and maybe even share what's coming down the pipeline in the future. Another tactic that could help them quite a bit would be to utilize influencers to share their latest products and why we as consumers need to have the latest and greatest products that Whirlpool has just put out for us to purchase.
I never knew that Whirlpool had an app that could help the family even more by staying organized and helping them complete and accomplish their daily tasks. For example, the app will let you know when your clothes are dry. They also have a cycle delay to schedule a washing cycle. All you must do is select the day and the time that you want it to start, and it will wash your clothes based on that schedule. When it comes to the Whirlpool refrigerator, you can scan your frozen food bar code that will keep an inventory of what you have and send you cooking instructions on how to prepare the food whether it be oven, microwave, grill, and more. You can also remotely preheat their oven so it's easier to prepare meals for you or your family. The app will also provide how-to info, helpful tips, and guides to help you use their various products.
After researching what this company has done to promote its product and how they have completely switched the way of thinking that its consumers have was a genius move to catapult the company to the next generation. They are not showing others why they need their product. Instead, they are showing the consumers how the product has solved their why and how they have come to be loyal customers to the Whirlpool brand.
References
Whirlpool USA. (2022, November 2). The whirlpool® 2 in 1 washer with removable agitator. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taMUZtGNCS4
Whirlpool USA. (2023, December 4). Smart appliances. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OebZYE6I6Kw&list=PLcfvQc2hSFGHqfXYaDsIKVu_bhkRpTClY
Whirlpool. (2020). Everyday Chores. photograph, https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2895741980462806&set=pb.100064876142287.-2207520000.
Whirlpool. (2023). Front Loading Washer. photograph, https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=645057331000133&set=pb.100064876142287.-2207520000.
EveryDayCare – whirlpool, DigitasLBi and Crowdtap. The Shorty Awards. (2016, April 11). https://shortyawards.com/8th/everydaycare-whirlpool-digitaslbi-and-crowdtap-2
Shah, A. (2022, October). Whirlpool: Every day, care 2.0 • ADS OF THE WORLDTM: Part of the clio network. Ads of the WorldTM. https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/every-day-care-2-0
