When Matt Harding quit his job in 2003, he didn’t plan on becoming an internet celebrity, but in the years since, his dancing videos have racked up more than 15 million online views. In 2006, he was approached by Stride Gum and their sponsorship has led to steady gains in traffic and attention.
His most recent trip video was just released, and I passed it around to some of my clients as an example of the impact of viral videos. That led to the question of whether Stride had seen a boost in sales & or brand recognition as a result, and although I assumed so, I dug in to find out specifics.
Stride has been able to capture a significant share of online traffic:
Note: Compete’s chart embedding feature only supports 13 months. Click here to view the full 24 months of traffic data.
Attention (time on site) followed a similar trajectory:
As you can see from these charts, StrideGum.com has seen major traffic spikes corresponding to each new video Matt has released, increasing Stride’s brand recognition and website visits.
Did the dollars follow? In 2007, Cadbury Schweppes Plc said confectionery sales and margins beat its targets:
U.S. gum operations, including Trident and Stride, pushed market share to nearly 35 percent compared with 27 percent before Cadbury bought the business in 2003. [Source: Washington Post]
The 8% of U.S. market share had to come from somewhere:
Sales of chewing gum brands such as Doublemint and Big Red are sagging — and some analysts say there aren’t enough new ideas in the pipeline to juice up growth.
Meanwhile, British archrival Cadbury Schweppes PLC is riding high on the most successful new gum launch in the last five years: Stride, which has already captured 3% of the U.S. market since its June debut.
Cadbury’s U.S. gains come at a time when Wrigley’s domestic business appears to have hit a plateau. U.S. sales were flat in the fourth quarter of 2006, as declines in sugary gum brands “significantly offset” growth in sales of sugar-free gum, Wrigley acknowledged earlier this month. [Source: Chicago Business. Crain Communications Inc.]
Obviously, dancing videos aren’t going to work for every organization or situation, but this should be a compelling case study for anyone who thinks online video is a waste of time or effort.
