3 partnerships that paid off on social media

When it comes to social media marketing, a little help from friends can go a long way. Especially if those friends are beloved celebrities or well-respected brands that can boost an operation’s online reach. Partnering with a spokesperson or an established brand for a targeted event can bring in a new audience, garner media attention and build a network that can be tapped in the future. Here are three recent examples of social media partnerships that paid off for these chains.

To celebrate National Iced Tea Month during June, Sonic not only ran commercials featuring rapper and actor Ice-T, but partnered with Ice Illusions, an ice sculpture company in California, to create a life-sized ice sculpture of the star. The sculpture, which was holding a microphone, melted in the sun during a Facebook Live event. The first 100 Facebook users to comment when the sculpture's mic dropped were slated to receive a limited-edition Ice-T T-shirt. The ice-cold video stunt received over 66,000 views, 384 shares and nearly 12,000 comments. 

KFC partnered with flight tech company World View to send its KFC Zinger sandwich where no chicken has gone before: into space. The upcoming launch and live video of the sandwich’s journey is being promoted through social channels and on dedicated websites, including this one. The video announcing the launch received over 468,000 views and 239 shares on Facebook. The sandwich is being flown in a custom satellite bucket that is able to take space selfies, show consumer tweets using a dedicated hashtag, wave a KFC flag and drop coupons to Earth during its space exploration. 

Earlier this month, Starbucks partnered with Lady Gaga and her charitable foundation, Born This Way, which promotes youth empowerment. From June 13-19, participating U.S. and Canada stores donated 25 cents to Born This Way for every “Cup of Kindness” drink sold. Via the campaign, the chain showcased two colorful items, the Pink Drink and Ombre Pink Drink, and introduced two new beverages, a Violet Drink and a Matcha Lemonade.

Lady Gaga worked behind a Starbucks counter as an in-store part of the promotion, which she posted on her own social media accounts, while customers tried to amass selfies with all four drinks on Instagram, tagging them with the #cupsofkindness hashtag. During the campaign, nine posts that Starbucks shared on Instagram garnered almost 3 million likes, while 11 posts regarding the promotion on Facebook received almost 30,000 shares.