Author: Nikolina Sakač
Date of Publication: 07/03/2023
Japanese car manufacturer Subaru has launched a new system to connect owners globally. #MeetAnOwner is a new hashtag and highly successful social media marketing campaign launched by the company. In particular, this campaign is linked to a website where owners can create a profile with videos, photos and their own views. In this way they can share their love and passion for the brand with others.
What is Subaru #MeetAnOwner?
Subaru #MeetAnOwner is a marketing campaign that encourages Subaru owners to share their personal stories and experiences with their Subaru vehicles on social media using the hashtag #MeetAnOwner. The campaign aims to showcase the unique connection that Subaru owners have with their cars and to build a community of Subaru enthusiasts. In fact, indeed through this campaign, Subaru created a community of passionate and loyal customers.
Through the #MeetAnOwner campaign, Subaru highlights the versatility, safety, and reliability of its vehicles. Apart from that, it encourages potential customers to consider Subaru when purchasing a new car. The campaign also reinforces Subaru's brand identity as a company that values adventure, exploration, and the outdoors.
Moreover, Subaru has a strong reputation for producing reliable, durable, and versatile cars that are popular among outdoor enthusiasts and families. So, the campaign has also helped Subaru to connect with its customers on a deeper level, and gain valuable insights into their needs and preferences. As a result, this can inform future product development and marketing strategies.
Dominance of the Subaru company on the world market using influencer marketing
The Subaru company has been at the top of the list of the fastest growing and most profitable companies in the United States for the past five years. The reason Subaru has achieved such growth and profitability lies in creative influencer marketing using social media platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. In 2016, sales increased by an incredible 10%, which is an extremely big deal considering the strong competition in the auto industry. So, by adopting influencer marketing, Subaru gained a huge advantage over other competitors.
However, its dominance on the world market isn’t solely attributed to influencer marketing, but it has played a role in the brand's success. In other words, influencer marketing helped Subaru reach new audiences and increase brand awareness.
To ensure the success of its #MeetAnOwner marketing campaign, this innovative car company worked with a total of twenty Instagram influencers. In particular, there were from professional athletes to talented artists and even adventure photographers. The purpose of this marketing campaign was to promote Subaru to an otherwise inaccessible audience and also to encourage positive thinking about the brand. Therefore, the #MeetAnOwner campaign managed to reach an engagement rate of 9%. It also generated 9k comments and 1.9 million likes using 58 sponsored posts.
On YouTube, this creative marketing initiative had close to 2.5 million views and an incredible 73 thousand likes. The engagement rate was around 5%, too. Apart from these, according to Subaru dealers, the hashtag #MeetAnOwner has led to increased brand awareness. This initiative also made it easier for additional Instagram users to show off their Subaru cars to the world.
The success of the Subaru marketing campaign using two well-known influencers
Influencer Zack King
Subaru chose two extremely influential influencers for its campaign. First up is Zack King, a professional photographer, who with 18.9 million followers and a 9% engagement rate on Instagram fits what Subaru was looking for. As an influencer, Zach King could create engaging and shareable content that showcases Subaru vehicles in a unique and creative way. For this campaign, King created two eye-catching and clever magic tricks that focused on different Subaru cars and presented them to his Instagram audience. Subaru entrusted this influencer with creative freedom, which led to content that entertained his audience while also promoting the Subaru brand. In the ende, his efforts paid off as he received 1.6 million likes and seven thousand comments on two sponsored Instagram videos.
In general, Subaru competes with several other car brands. For this reason, it is important to break through to a new audience. Zack ideally fits the profile of an influencer that Subaru needs. This is because through him this company can reach a more modest and artistically oriented client who isn’t necessarily an essential Subaru client. Thus, his marketing efforts achieved exactly what he set out to do and the company was able to increase its brand awareness with sponsored posts.
Influencer Devin Graham
Another equally significant and influential influencer for Subaru is Devin Graham. This influencer has 592 thousand followers on Instagram, and his YouTube channel is followed by 4.6 million people. It also has a high engagement rate of 4.5% on YouTube and 4.2% on Instagram. In particular, Devin is engaged in recording extreme stunt videos and because of this he attracts his followers. For Subaru's marketing campaign, he made three YouTube videos.
Subaru also sponsored 13 Instagram posts on Graham's Instagram. The first one primarily talked about his journey as a stuntman, while the other two showed impressive professional stunts. The goal of working with this influencer was to build strong connections between the Subaru brand and outdoor enthusiasts. Therefore, the collaboration between Devin Graham and Subaru was extremely successful. 13 Instagram posts led to over 160 thousand likes and over 850 comments. On the other hand, three YouTube videos received 1.2 million views and more than 45 thousand likes.
The reason why Subaru hired this particular influencer is because his type of content attracts the same audience that would be attracted to buying a Subaru car. What’s more, content reaches the core Subaru customer who loves excitement and adventure. So, this type of influencer reaches a young audience necessary to Subaru. This is because this company has been around for decades and it definitely needs a "refreshment" in the form of fun ambassadors who can attract that target group.