The first objective of Family Dollar Fabulous reinforced Family Dollar's business model of connecting with its consumers on a deeper level by taking products to them; it was the counter argument to "build it and they will come." Family Dollar (FD) took online conversations and made them into offline reality at this signature event. The second objective was to celebrate African-American beauty vloggers/bloggers by highlighting how their unique features, skin tones, and hairstyles, were created by FD products. Strategy for FD Fabulous included securing actress and FD customer, Vanessa Williams, as event spokesperson along with the top 13 beauty and hair bloggers/vloggers in the U.S. (aka Faces of Fabulous). FD beauty suppliers were paired with the Faces of Fabulous who created vlogs/blogs about each supplier product after participating in an in-booth experience with them. Williams and the bloggers touted FD products across their social media platforms and a social media contest was created. To give the event even more cache, key African-American beauty industry insiders were secured to attend the red carpet event including Real Housewives of Atlanta star, Cynthia Bailey; Celebrity Stylist to First Lady Michelle Obama, Johnny Wright; Lifetime TV's Girlfriend Intervention reality TV star, Tracy Balan; Co-creator of The Lipstick Junkies, Africa Miranda; and Celebrity stylist to Oprah, Pat Grant Williams. The outcome and campaign success was measured via impressions with a total of 16,437,568 social media impressions garnered across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Family Dollar Fabulous deserves to win because it connected bloggers / vloggers from across New York who ultimately shaped brand awareness of Family Dollar as a go to beauty supply store. By holding a VIP reception, in-store shopping spree, booth activations with celebrity stylists, a fashion show where the Family Dollar "Just Be..." fashion line was launched, and truly listening to what beauty experts want, Family Dollar continues its dominance as a beauty supply destination for women on a budget. To achieve these milestones, Family Dollar did the following:
- Vetted 25 Faces of Fabulous who were movers and shakers of the beauty industry in NYC and had a huge online presence
- Identified more than a dozen Family Dollar beauty suppliers to participate in the event and interact with the Faces of Fabulous; required suppliers to secure their own event ambassadors or celebrity spokespeople to further social media reach; Some of the celebrities in attendance who contributed to social media impressions included:
- Real Housewives of Atlanta star, Cynthia Bailey
- Celebrity Stylist to First Lady Michelle Obama, Johnny Wright
- Lifetime TV's Girlfriend Intervention reality TV star, Tracy Balan
- Co-creator of The Lipstick Junkies, Africa Miranda
- Celebrity stylist to Oprah, Pat Grant Williams
- HTML email to potential Faces of Fabulous; email was immediately Tweeted out and Facebooked across select bloggers/vloggers social channels; recap video was embedded in invite, which was also shared across social media
- Of the 25 bloggers contacted, 13 responded indicating they wanted to participate in Family Dollar Fabulous; their aggregate social influence includes 330,000 followers across their social media platforms with 2.6 million video views on their YouTube channels
- Social media expectations were shared with each of the Faces of Fabulous, as well as Vanessa Williams, to ensure maximum event promotion across social media. These included:
- 10 social media messages per social media channel. Faces of Fabulous could use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. They were expected to Tweet a week prior to the event, live tweet at the event and provide post event Twitter mentions
- Use of event countdown graphic to create more buzz and give online audiences a way to track days until red carpet event
- Create and post up to 2 videos with selected supplier; after a follow up survey, each Faces of Fabulous was paired with appropriate supplier; this required a product review video and likeness on website
- All Faces of Fabulous received a physical invitation in the form of a mirror with event details and event hashtag; some participants posted images across social media of them receiving invite and their faces when they opened it
- Teaser video about event was created and posted on YouTube and then across each Faces of Fabulous social channels - http://youtu.be/515XSTs2gvM
- Part of the event included a fashion show complete with catwalk in which Faces of Fabulous donned items from the "Just Be.." fashion line launching in spring 2015; a video was created for this and shared across social media
- Faces of Fabulous documented their in-store visit experience on 10/16 via videos and images on social media; each Faces of Fabulous received a $20 gift card to use at the in-store event to demonstrate how Family Dollar provides beauty products at great value
- Family Dollar Fabulous on 10/17 required each Faces of Fabulous to participate in media interviews and onsite supplier demos for use in their social media outreach
- Instagram Contest - One of the suppliers, Creme of Nature, partnered with Family Dollar to give away a $200 Family Dollar gift card and an Argan Fabulous gift set by the brand; the contest was held across social media during event with following guidelines:
- Follow @FamilyDollar and @CremeofNature on Instagram
- Share graphic developed by AC&M that included Family Dollar logo and supplier products
- Tag a friend who is Fabulous using hashtag #FamilyDollarFabNYC
- Radio / Social Contest - Family Dollar partnered with 105.1 Power in NYC to offer up two tickets and a swag bag to two listeners/social media followers; potential winners had to enter their contact info online for a chance to win
- Family Dollar Fabulous video recap was sent to key participants, suppliers and Faces of Fabulous for them to close the loop on this event; posted to YouTube
- What they said: "FD Fabulous was a great opportunity
to connect with high profile influencers within the cosmetics industry and
showcase our L.A. COLORS cosmetics with makeovers from our celebrity Makeup
Artist, Cynde Watson. We look forward to being part of this phenomenal
experience and partnering with Family Dollar in 2015." – L.A. COLORS Team
Video for Family Dollar Fabulous Ambassador Campaign
