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Bloggers Increase HP Laptop Sales 85%

posted on September 30, 2008


It’s uncommon to see sales increase by double digits. HP had a new laptop called  Dragon. Sales were flat after trying traditional marketing. So they decided to try another way – engaging bloggers. A quick way to do that is to send bloggers an ultralight $5,000 laptop to give away to one of their readers.

Nine months after launch, the 15 pound laptop with a 20.1-inch screen and 500-gigabyte hard drive wasn’t selling that well. HP hired social media marketing firm Buzz Corps Inc. and they brainstormed with bloggers and HP to come up with the campaign.

Scott Ballantyne, vice president and general manager of the personal systems group at HP, said:

“The technology keeps changing and people keep chasing the next social technology. The key is to remember that social media is about people talking and interacting with people. Technology can help with distribution. But people need to remain at the center.”

Here’s what they did. They called it 31 Days of the Dragon. They contacted 31 tech bloggers with influence (based on number of links, Google ranking, and recommendations from other bloggers) to give away 31 laptops in 31 days. So essentially a month of contests. Each blogger made up their own rules about the contest but each agreed to promote the contests of everyone else in the group.

The result was that the first five pages of Google results for searches on HP and HP Dragon were blog posts about the contest. According to HP they had over 380,000 links to the 31 sites discussing the contest. Bloggers got over 25,000 contest entries and an average 150% increase in traffic. Here’s the kicker though – almost 85% increase in sales of a computer that was released nine months ago!

I spoke to Chris Aarons at Buzz Corps who told me how HP was not doing any social media prior to engaging them. Today they showcase their employees blogs and have HP blogs, videos, and podcasts. He explained how PR firms typically get the inital push on a product. Social media campaigns keep the buzz going or in the case of HP – they resurrect it.

I was impressed with the collaborative approach that Aarons described – it’s quite high touch. Normally people wonder how to get ROI from blogs – this shows it can be done.


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  • http://www.lotusjump.com/seo-software.php seo tool

    dang… HP tore sales up through that move. im excited to see what marketing idea they can come up with next.
    -jack

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  • http://www.newhomessection.com Jayson

    Amazing! That’s an incredible approach and one that will likely be repeated over-and-over again. Just one more testament to the power of blogs, bloggers and social media.

  • http://www.linkedin.com/in/lucasng Lucas Ng

    I love social media marketing campaigns with successful ROI numbers attached.

    Too often we hear of social media campaigns with only the vaguest results.

    Sounds like a very well executed strategy.

  • http://haiku-poems-blog.blogspot.com/ kouji

    wow. well done hp. it’s good to hear that a strategy which they put some thought into actually reaped concrete results.

    kouji’s last blog post..halimbawa ng haiku

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  • http://www.thewwwblog.com/ Chetan

    The 31 days of the dragon was a great one which made a lot of influence in bloggers minds.

    Chetan’s last blog post..You’re No One If You’re Not On Twitter – the Twitter song

  • http://www.zurpit.com Zurpit

    That was a great idea on their part so they could increase their sales

  • http://imiseasy.com Mike Collins

    Great example of a company think outside the box and being rewarded. Based on HP’s success, I bet we’ll see a lot of similar contests in the near future.

  • http://www.marketingpilgrim.com Andy Beal

    A great case study, thanks Janet!

  • http://www.greatpriceshere.com Nicole Price

    Mind blowing strategy. Worth emulating for many products. I however wonder whether smaller businesses will be able to get such results, even assuming that they get such influential bloggers to plug for them.

    Nicole Price’s last blog post..100th Post: Style for under $100

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  • http://www.webmasters-forum.org SEO Forums

    nice innovative technique of promoting your product and increasing sale.

    SEO Forums’s last blog post..CPM question

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  • http://www.sannayak.com San Nayak

    Great Janet..

    I am a Dell guy but i love the strategy they followed to boost their selling. Finally a definite proof that works.

    San Nayak’s last blog post..A Wednesday – Best Hindi Movie of 2008

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  • http://www.thinkseer.com Wil Reynolds

    Janet, great findings, great post. Definitely sharing with the crew here at SEER, if I get a second I’ll post it on our blog too. What I like is the actual TRACKING of efforts, not just doing SM b/c it is COOL, but because it can lead to real business results.

  • http://www.jimkukral.com Jim Kukral

    Awesome post here and thanks for this. So hard to find actual case studies of social media success. Would like to see a follow up on this with more of the nitty gritty details of how they did it?

    Jim Kukral’s last blog post..Make More Money! Value Yourself Better

  • http://www.thewwwblog.com/ Chetan

    Jim, you should check the website of 31 days of the dragon and see how HP got really popular among bloggers.

    Chetan’s last blog post..Motorola Motorokr E8 mobile phone review

  • http://www.marketingpilgrim.com Janet Meiners

    Thanks for the great comments. Buzz Corps obviously “gets” the blogging community and can build relationships between bloggers and companies. No small feat.

    This was not only very hands on but it took expertise, creativity, and a large investment of both time and money (they work 3-12 months on most campaigns). On all sides.

    In my experience though most companies aren’t willing or ready to invest this deeply (but want the results).

    I’m encouraged that we’ll see more partnerships like this as marketers realize the influence bloggers can have on their businesses and learn to navigate the culture.

    Janet

    Janet Meiners’s last blog post..Pilgrim’s Picks for October 1

  • http://www.jordankasteler.com/utah-seo-pro-blog/ Utah SEO Pro

    Wow, that’s a huge jump. I definitely see this kind of thing being a trend in the future for corporate companies.

    Utah SEO Pro’s last blog post..Social Media Expert Quiz

  • http://www.directsaleswebmarketing.com Dennis Edell

    HP rises to the top yet again :)

    Dennis Edell’s last blog post..Coming Soon? Yes They Are I Swear – I Need Your Advice First!

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  • http://www.gadgets4nowt.co.uk/ PS3

    Giving away $150,000 of 9 month old laptops could have been a disaster but fair play to HP for speculating.

  • http://www.netage.co.za Goran Web Design

    Blog are the most popular sites on the web with massive communities that would bring a huge boost for any marketing campaign.

  • http://www.hotindir.com indir

    thanks good post and blog

  • http://www.christmas.bg/ Christmas Guy

    Awesome! It is an unbelievable technique; the one that will be followed for a long time, I think. It perfectly proves how powerful blogging, bloggers and social media are.

    Christmas Guy’s last blog post..We Wish You a Merry Christmas Lyrics

  • http://seonext.com SEO next

    This is good news for the industry…
    the trend has started… wont take a lot of time for many other companies to catch up with it.

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  • http://ministryofinternet.com Anthony.P

    cool marketing tactic, should set a trend soon.

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  • http://www.icalvyn.com iCalvyn

    I am consider hp supporter, all my notebook and PC are from HP, even mouse and keyboard and printer

  • http://www.quickpwn.com QuickPWN

    The 31 Days of the Dragon contest got really nasty in the last 10 days. One person was so desperate to get this notebook that he lied and cheated in the contests.

    QuickPWN’s last blog post..Install Flash Player iPhone App

  • http://webertutorials.blogspot.com/ kry

    Awesome post here and thanks for this.

    kry’s last blog post..How to Build Backlinks

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  • http://checkpagerank.ws Check Page Rank

    Blogger are making enough money to support a bank. Recent Bankaholic $15Million purchase is a good example.

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  • http://michaelcarnell.palmettobug.com Michael Carnell

    Very cool. Nice that some large companies are learning the power of social media and good – not harmful or deceitful – ways to harness it.

    Michael Carnell’s last blog post..The Walls Are Transparent

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  • http://www.5minutesformom.com/ Janice (5 Minutes for Mom)

    We have worked on several campaigns with HP on our blog, including giving away laptops and printers with our Blogs Can Change Lives program.

    Who better to reach with their messaging than people who are online! Our audience was thrilled with them.

    Janice (5 Minutes for Mom)’s last blog post..Win YOUR choice of KEEN Boots, Shoes or Sandals!

  • http://www.techsploder.com Juha

    Right… but what was in it for the bloggers? Did they do it for free? If that’s the case, HP must’ve got some remarkable mileage out of the campaign.

    Juha’s last blog post..Newbie gardener notes

  • http://twitter.com/frankinguyen Franki

    One would think that for company that’s closely aligned with the internet and it’s users (users need equipment to be able to use the net) – that online marketing and promotions should be the first rather then the latter (post traditional marketing).

    Eitherway, the results were great and good to see that HP carry on further…

  • http://twitter.com/mak1e Top 10 Social Media Network Marketing Tips

    This shows that things are coming along well to businesses, next thing you know you’re on someone else’s thoughts, and this is our thoughts on social media in the next 10 years top!

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  • http://www.seothaithai.com seo

    That was a great idea on their part so they could increase their sales

    seo’s last blog post..Have you worked out your Google Penalty Plan yet?

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