Paint manufacturer Benjamin Moore & Co. is relying on the voice of the customer to choose which 20 Main Streets deserve a little sprucing up as part of its multichannel “Main Street Matters” campaign.
“We’re close to 5,000 independent retailers across North America, and they’re very strong members of their communities,” says Benjamin Moore VP of Marketing Nick Harris. “For us, we felt like we should talk about Main Street and talk about their membership in these local communities as part of the hubs there. This is a natural thing for us to do and build, hopefully, a platform where we can talk about our retailers, but also talk about Main Street for other small businesses that have, quite frankly, shown a high degree of resilience in some pretty tough economic times.”
Consumers can log onto the campaign’s Paint What Matters website and vote for which community deserves a renovation by clicking on an interactive map featuring more than 100 Main Streets across North America. Consumers who vote are then prompted to share the campaign across their social channels. Benjamin Moore will donate paint, supplies, painters, and color consultants to the 20 winning Main Streets. Voting kicked off on May 16 and consumers can continue to vote once a day until June 30. According to the campaign’s website, participants have already cast more than 32,000 votes; however, Harris would not disclose any updated results at the time of the interview.
“This sort of crowd sourcing, we believe, is really important and a natural part of community, as well as building engagement from our local retailers,” Harris says.
Benjamin Moore is working with advertising agency The Martin Agency, and promoting the campaign via TV, radio, email, digital, social. Harris adds that Benjamin Moore also made sure to make the campaign site is optimized for smartphones and tablets, noting that these devices have been key site traffic drivers. Benjamin Moore is also continuing its partnership with Make it Right, a philanthropic organization that builds sustainable homes and building, and is leveraging the voice and support of Make it Right’s founder, actor Brad Pitt. Harris admits that leveraging a celebrity’s influence can help a brand or receive “the appropriate attention from the right people” in a natural way.
The Main Street Matters campaign came about in part because of changes that occurred after the appointment of Benjamin Moore CMO David Melancon, who came on as a consultant last fall and accepted the full-time position the first of this year. One of the biggest changes is the company’s focus on storytelling. Additionally, the company’s marketing spending increased 61% increase this year.
