I wanted to find the Golden Llama. I'd shown up early to search throughout the entire store for it. Cost Plus World Market ran a campaign this holiday season where they hid a golden llama card within the store. They'd give you a clue on a board at the entrance or online and if found, you'd get a gift card worth $20-$100.
The day I went, the clue said it was in something blue.
At least 5-10 people were actively looking for the card once the store opened, including myself. Ahoy matey, we have a treasure hunt (sorry, I couldn't resist)! There were people flipping blue couch cushion, a woman looking through blue bins, and then me looking through the food aisles. I spent an hour covering the entire store looking for the card and even daydreamed about finding it and saying in song, "I've got a goldeeeen ticket." But no, I drove home empty handed without the similar gleeful face of Grandpa Joe.
However, as I drove home, I realized two things 1) man, I'm not very good at treasure hunts and 2) that was a brilliant marketing campaign!
Why The Golden Llama Marketing Campaign Drove Engagement and Foot Traffic
- Fun and Excitement. During the treasure hunt, emotions were high and excitement was the main driver for the World Market's marketing campaign. Regardless of age, who doesn't love a good treasure hunt with money attached at the end? People were flipping through products because of the mounting suspense to find the card. The fun idea of finding it mobilized people to stores.
- Appealing Landing Page. I'm a customer of World Market and I found out about the campaign through their website. I was looking for deals and landed on their golden llama campaign (the page has been taken down). From what I remember, the campaign was for a limited time as it ran for about two weeks. Having a user-friendly and well-written content on a landing page motivated me to participate because I knew it was a legitimate initiative.
- Blog with Past Winners. When I searched online for the campaign I found World Market's blog and after reading it, I solidified my desire to find my own golden llama. If they can find it, so can I.
- Active Social Media. I checked World Market's social media channels as well as hashtags and noticed people were actively on the hunt. Could I be next?
- Strong Branding. This golden llama initiative was in line with their #BringThemJoy campaign. The commercial that went along with it was a story about a boy practicing his trumpet in front of llamas. I'm a huge fan of brand consistency as it builds trust and loyalty. World Market did well in continuing their llama theme.
From what I've gathered, the goal of World Market's golden llama campaign was to increase customer engagement and foot traffic. It met that goal because it had consistent and appealing marketing collateral to go along with it. Plus, Christmas and the potential of a present, brilliant! While I did not find the golden llama, I did find a new affinity for llamas (more than I already have since I'm a big fan of Disney's The Emperor's New Groove). So that's a win for me. "I didn't get a goldeeeeen llllllllamaaaaa."
If you want to talk about brand strategy, storytelling, content development, project management, and/or marketing communications, drop me a line.
