Tourneau boosts Web traffic 44pc via social media contest

Watchmaker and retailer Tourneau engaged savvy consumers through a social media campaign focused on Daylight Saving Time that resulted in a 44.5 percent increase in traffic to its Web site.

Facebook and Twitter users were asked to submit their plans for how they would spend their extra hour on Nov. 4 for the chance to win a special men’s or women’s watch from Tourneau’s TNY Series. This social media initiative is the retailer’s latest effort to propel itself forward in online commerce and to engage with customers via new platforms.

“Tourneau has dedicated itself to strengthening its digital positioning over the last year and a half,” said Don McNichol, senior vice president of marketing and digital at Tourneau, New York.

"This year, we really wanted to build on the in-store experience and engage our customers in the digital space as well," he said.

"The benefit of any good social media strategy is that the reach of the campaign is expansive."

Fan content
The Daylight Savings Time contest allowed the watch retailer to further engage with its fans and to bring about more user-generated content.

“Tourneau’s social fan base is extremely receptive and active on social channels and we felt that this would be a great opportunity to not only get some user generated-content from fans, but to reward those loyal fans with a new watch,” said Brittany Mills, director of client services at B Culture Media, Atlanta, which led the digital strategy of Tourneau's campaign.

“Facebook and Twitter were chosen because this was such a short-lived campaign and those platforms have the most receptive fans for Tourneau," she said.

“We wanted to get the word out quickly and Facebook and Twitter are the best for that purpose with Tourneau fans."

Tourneau’s contest began Nov. 2. The retailer posted the contest and rules on Facebook as well as a reminder to "spring forward, fall back."

The contest ended Nov. 4 at midnight.

Currently, there are more than 200 “likes” on the post and 300 comments.

To enter the contest, users could post their plans for the extra hour on Facebook or tweet at @TourneauTimes with the hashtag #DaylightSavings.

Tourneau tweet 

Tourneau Facebook post 

Many users said that they used their extra hour to sleep, watch television or catch up on work.

Other users posted more personalized activities such as enjoying the sun outside, waiting in line at gas stations in New York or searching for land sharks.

Tourneau will pick a winner Nov. 9.

Time for engagement

Tourneau saw an increase of 44.5 percent in traffic to its Web site on the day that the Daylight Savings Time campaign launched. The number of unique visitors was not disclosed.

The retailer also generated more than 300 entries within 48 hours without any additional consumer marketing efforts, per Ms. Mills.

In addition, the contest was shared by watch bloggers and influencing members of the watch community.

Tourneau has ramped up its digital presence in recent times.

For instance, the retailer relaunched its Web site and created a new mobile application called Tourneau Minutes.

“Anytime Tourneau runs a promotion of a campaign, we always look at social channels to see how we can bring that experience online to leverage the sharing features built into these social channels,” B Culture Media's Ms. Mills said.

Moreover, the Tourneau Minutes app experienced a 60 percent increase in engagement with the release of issue No. 2, per Tourneau's Mr. McNichol.

“We have seen digital engagement growing exponentially over a variety of media,” Mr. McNichol said. “The experience of shopping for a watch should be one of luxury, and it has been an internal goal to create a luxury digital experience as well.”

Final Take

Erin Shea, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York.