Mobile Marketing Case Study: T-art
T-art weaves social networking and mobile campaigning into textiles.
Introduction
T-art was founded as a participating student team in the “50 to infinity” JP Morgan Young Entrepreneurs Showcase at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Their product was an innovative ‘status update’ T-shirt, similar in design to update and/or tweet boxes on social networks. The t-shirts feature a white text area (made from a special material) where people can write or draw their thoughts on, and then simply wipe it off with a wet cloth once it's time for the next status update.
"50 to infinity" saw eight student business, each starting with just ZAR50 capital, launch their original products into the South African Market - with the objective of defeating the previous record of ZAR200,000 sales profit raised within the period of one year.
This video shows consumers how the ‘status update’ t-shirt works.
Says Mark Gituma, T-art's Financial Manager: “Imagine a 'walking' white board that you can travel with wherever you are... the opportunities are limitless. We have created a product and a platform that allows you to express yourself and be your own ‘brand’. It’s the first write-on wash-off t-shirt in the world!”
The Challenge
A little bit of fate brought the GraphicMail marketing team and the 7 enterprising T-art students together as we chanced upon them while they were selling their product at the Hout Bay harbor. Their originality made such an impression that our company decided to help nurture their success by sponsoring its support in the form of free use of its mobile and email marketing services; as a platform for T-art's communications, to raise awareness about the product as well as special promotions and competitions.
A marketing strategy was formulated whereby GraphicMail would run the start-up business' weekly mobile marketing campaigns prior to and for the duration of the Rugby World Cup 2011. In particular, the Springbok Supporters campaign would make participants eligible for a grand prize once they post a picture of themselves wearing a green t-art shirt with an inspirational 'status' message written on it to the T-art Facebook fan page.
The Results
The launch of the first T-art mobile campaign coincided with Mobile Marketing Week (from 5 to 9 September 2011) a global celebration of mobile advertising, marketing and media, which took place in many major capitals and commercial hubs worldwide.
- Each successive weekly mobile campaigned delivered significant subscriber engagement results.
- As T-art’s list of opt-ins grew and due to the exposure gained from the GraphicMail mobile campaigns, the product soon caught the attention of major organizations:
- T-art met with fashion chain Jay Jays, whose marketing representatives absolutely loved the product and said that it's perfect for their chic image. Jay Jays was interested in having it as part of their internal marketing campaign; where their staff would wear the t-shirts, as well as stocking the product for in-store sales.
- TEDx Mfuleni purchased the t-shirts for their event, which was an independent TED talk (such as TEDx Cape Town and Stellenbosch) held on the 15th of September 2011. TEDx incorporated their brand into the t-shirts so that these had a different logo than the standard shirt, along with their slogan; "an IDEA worth sharing". Nathan Roberts, one of the T-art group members, was invited as a speaker to the event.
- T-art’s mobile exposure helped them make the acquaintance of the CEO of Groupon, which resulted in a number of well-performing group buying promotions. South African financial giant Nedbank also came into the fold by buying the t-shirts for in-house use at their Waterfront branch, having realized their product’s appeal to the corporate environment.
About GraphicMail
Quattro Internet Solutions (Ltd) t/a GraphicMail’s hosted email marketing solution is used by customers such as Cosmopolitan, SA Airlink, Europcar and the American Medical Association since 2002. It is available in ten languages and is represented by over 17 offices globally. Follow GraphicMail on Twitter, Facebook and their email marketing blog.
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