Pentel Recycology Presents

Spin the Pen

January 16, 2009

Caples Student Campaign of the Year

Entrants:

Daniel McCoy dfm255@nyu.edu

Erica Swallow eds263@nyu.edu

 CAMPAIGN STRATEGY

Objectives

Our objectives were to build awareness of Pentel’s Recycology line of products and

increase purchase rates among college-aged students nationwide. We wanted to

engage our audience through online channels such as social networking sites and

viral advertisements.

Target Audience

The target market was comprised of high school and college students between the

ages of 15-24 years old. To be most receptive to our promotion’s message, they

must be sensitive to environmental issues and have an active and outgoing

lifestyle.

In order to best approach this audience, we focused on online social networks such

as Facebook and YouTube, which are driven by young and well-connected

communities that are likely to support our viral advertisements. Social networkers

can become brand advocates and promote Pentel Recycology beyond our initial

media plan.

Secondly, as we are conveniently located on the NYU campus, we were lucky to

have insider access to the dormitory mail system and personal connections with

listserv and club administrators. As a result, we were able to implement a well-

rounded, on-campus direct marketing campaign.

Positioning

Our mission was to create a new position for Pentel Recycology as a high-

involvement line of products that would represent a fun, youthful and energetic
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lifestyle along with an emphasis on the environmental image. In order to bring an

energetic approach to the campaign that would also have word-of-mouth potential,

we produced promotional videos of Recycology products being used in pen

spinning exhibitions. These videos not only link Recycology products with a fun

and high-energy activity but are also demonstrations pen spinning, which

increased the likelihood that viewers would send video links to their friends and

that the videos would go viral. This increased the campaign value.

Ideal Consumer Response

At our launch, we hoped that students who enjoyed the pen spinning videos would

spread the videos to friends through online social networks and create a viral

sensation. Likewise, we hoped that viewers who previously bought office supplies

without deeply thinking about brand attributes would consider Pentel Recycology

as an extension of an active and eco-conscious lifestyle and would be more likely

to buy Recycology products.

Message

“Spin the Pen, Save the Planet” is our message, combining the pen spinning and

environmental messages within the promotional videos. It serves as a call to

action for viewers to take part in the Recycology program and directs attention to

the core ideas of our promotion.

Campaign Tactics and Media Mix

The campaign tactics that were implemented highlight the environmentally-

friendly nature of Pentel Recycology products, while introducing a new concept –

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pen spinning. Our campaign reiterates that consumers can enjoy the Recycology

products for more than one reason – not only can they save the planet by buying

eco-friendly products, but they can also learn to “spin the pen” while doing so.

Our media mix included postcards, emails, a microsite, online social network sites,

and word of mouth. Taking a closer look, we implemented these four tactics:

1.) Direct Marketing – We printed postcards (See Appendix One) that were

distributed to NYU dorms and via email. The emails were sent to on-campus

groups that had an interest in environmental issues, marketing, and general

college news.

2.) Microsite – Our microsite, www.spinthepen.info, acted as the main portal for

all Spin the Pen information. We housed our Pentel Recycology commercials

and pen spinning tutorials, as well as links to our Facebook and YouTube

pages and the Pentel Recycology website.

3.) Viral/WOM – Our largest campaign focus was on social networking and viral

marketing. We created a Facebook page (See Appendix Two) and a YouTube

channel (See Appendix Three), both entitled Pentel Recycology. These online

communities created a place for dialogue. They housed our commercials and

information about each Pentel Recycology product.

4.) Campus and Community Outreach – We made connections with multiple

on-campus clubs. Likewise, we recruited two expert pen spinners, Xero and

JC (See Appendix Five), from the New York City community to star in our

commercials. As a result, we were able to captivate the community in a

meaningful way. Along with the local community, we made an impact

internationally with the pen spinning community. As the pen spinning

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 community is mostly online, we were able to transcend international borders

by featuring pen spinning. Our videos were viewed in Australia, Canada,

Germany, Switzerland, and the United States.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Objectives

Our public relations objective was to increase awareness of Pentel Recycology on

the NYU campus and among pen spinners and environmentalists. We also aimed to

spread awareness in other related communities, including marketing bloggers, pen

and office supply enthusiasts, and general college news sources. We reached out

to each of these groups with a standard press release (see Appendix Six) and

followed up with all further inquiries. Our story was picked up by multiple blogs and

news sources, including The Marketing Blog, College News website, and Women in

Communications’ Lit Up! blog. (See Appendices Seven, Eight, and Nine).

Strategy

Our key public relations strategy was to contact groups that would be interested in

our project. These group segments included: pen spinners, environmentalists,

marketing bloggers, pen and office supply enthusiasts, and college news sources.

We sent our press release to over forty contacts.

Budget

We sought to maintain accurate records of all campaign expenditures, and to

report accurate cost figures at the culmination of the campaign. Our campaign

costs are listed below.

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 Expense Cost
($)
Flyer printing 5.50
Food on set 25.43
Pens 50.38
Transportation for pen 96.00
spinners
Website design 45.00
Web Space 24.99
Lighting on set 13.46
YouTube Search Ad 21.24
Total Campaign Cost $282.
00

Results

Throughout the campaign, our goal was to maximize our impressions by saturating

our target audience’s media and to reach out to the press for further coverage.

These tactics were successful. The numbers speak for themselves: 194 Facebook

fans, 1,452 YouTube channel and video views, and 115,866 impressions. Some

impressions, such as press, were uncountable (See Appendix Ten).

Above: The final results for the YouTube

Sponsored Videos campaign. The average cost per click was $0.17.

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Above from left: Video views by day; Our videos were an international hit, viewed in 10 countries
on YouTube alone.

Above: YouTube Insights Demographic information showed that our channel was most popular
among teenage males.

Total Impressions as of Thursday, December 15, 2009

Media Impressio
ns
Direct Mail (Postcards and Email) 800
Facebook 1,154
MySpace blog 64
Universal Pen Spinning Board 1,112
YouTube (impressions + 112,736
channel/video views)
Total Impressions 115,866
*Note: Some impressions were uncountable (See Appendix Ten).

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 APPENDIX

Appendix One: Direct Marketing Postcard and Email Flyer

Below is the direct marketing postcard that was distributed in dorms and via email.

Because our audience was NYU students, we used a neighborly tone to address our

campaign. We felt that students would identify more with the campaign if they

knew that NYU students had created it.

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Appendix Two: Pentel Recycology Facebook Page

Pentel Recycology on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=109910210141&ref=ts

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Appendix Three: Pentel Recycology YouTube Page

Pentel Recycology on YouTube: www.YouTube.com/PentelRecycology

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Appendix Four: Search Results for Pentel Recycology on YouTube

We created a Google AdSense account in order to participate in YouTube Sponsored

Videos. We set a daily budget of $10.00 and a maximum cost of $0.50 per click.
Our channel appeared in the Sponsored Videos area (the first video) if the following
phrases were search: Pentel, Recycology, Pentel Recycology, pen spinning, pen
spinner, recycle, recycled, Handy-Line S, Cool Lines, Hyper G, environmentally-
friendly, pen, pencil, and marker. All of our videos also rank at the top of the video
search for “Pentel Recycology”, “Pentel”, and many other related key words.

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Appendix Five: Promotion by Pen Spinners

For the commercials, we recruited two pen spinners, Xero and JC. Their YouTube
channels are:
http://www.YouTube.com/user/CalhounXero &
http://www.YouTube.com/user/JCspinner35

Both pen spinners promoted our YouTube channel on their channels, driving traffic
to the commercials, Facebook page, spinthepen.info, and the Pentel Recycology
webpage. Xero independently made two videos in promotion of the project. The
first was entitled “Pentel Project Info” and was featured on his homepage for
multiple days (pictured below). This video explains the project and discusses the
Pentel Recycology product line. The second video was entitled “Pentel Project –
Behind the Scenes”. It is a documentary of the commercial shoot. For further
reference, both videos can be found on his YouTube channel and within the
“Favorites” section of our channel.

Above: Xero’s “Pentel Project Info” video

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Above: Within the “Pentel Project Info” video, Xero featured multiple sites for more information on
the project, including the Pentel Recycology webpage, our Facebook group, and our YouTube
channel.

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Appendix Six: Press Release

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Appendix Seven: The Marketing Blog

http://marketing-expert.blogspot.com/2009/01/learn-your-marketing-from-bunch-
of.html

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Appendix Eight: College News

http://www.collegenews.com/index.php?/article/spin_the_pen_save_the_planet_746
28/

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Appendix Nine: Women in Communications – Lit Up! Blog

http://wiclitup.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/nyu-students-reach-out-to-international-
pen-spinning-community/

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Appendix Ten: Examples of Uncountable Impressions

Above: Among other websites, our commercials were picked up by AOL Video.

Above: Our commercials were even picked up by a Japanese website called Taggy.

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