Spectrum Brands and its batteries brand Rayovac are increasingly turning to mobile and social media, channels that are transforming the face of advertising.

Rayovac has added QR codes to its product packaging and point-of-purchase displays, driving consumers to view videos or visit its mobile Web site. It also partnered with social marketing communications platform Shoutlet and ran a Twitter geocaching campaign with Six Flags, a ?Twit Hunt? encouraging consumers go on a scavenger hunt for hidden coupons.

?Our overall strategy with mobile has become a global initiative in our company from the top down,? said Dave Carlson, creative director at Rayovac, Madison, WI. ?We are part of Spectrum Brands, which includes Remington, George Foreman, Black & Decker?some really well-known brands.

?We were all operating independently until recently, all of our Web sites will be mobile by the end of the year, and we will also be launching mobile commerce initiatives,? he said. ?Social brought a whole new idea of advertising, and mobile has been continuing to evolve that as well.?

Rayovac makes mobile and social a priority
To manage its mobile and social initiatives, Rayovac partnered with Shoutlet, a provider of a social management tool that recently updated its software platform.

The new version, Shoutlet 4.0, is designed to extend Shoutlet?s social CRM functionality beyond Facebook to also include YouTube and Twitter.

Rayovac uses Shoutlet?s platform to create and conduct interactive viral contests. It also lets the brand create HTML5-compatible widgets so it can share content with consumers using smartphones and tablets.

The batteries giant is using the Shoutlet 4.0 platform to engage with customers who take part in its promotions on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and more than 100 additional social sites.

The Shoutlet 4.0 mobile-social content library

The brand has integrated with Shoutlet?s new native iPhone application to post video, audio, images and text from any remote location into its content library for scheduled distribution.

Rayovac is also in the process of developing mobile games and applications, as well as distributing its coupons via mobile.

?Shoutlet has been on board with us from the beginning, and as social media has evolved, so have they to keep us up to date,? Mr. Carlson said. ?The new version 4.0 has been huge for us and our business development, letting us update our widgets on phones or iPads.

?We?ve looked into SMS and developed full-on promotions based purely on SMS, point-of-purchase displays to encourage people to text in, but everything we do has to remain within our budget,? he said. ?As a company, we have not spent a lot of money on traditional advertising, so social and mobile have allowed us to tell people our story without spending a lot of money, and we are able to get our value message out there.

?Mobile is the platform that was made for us?this allows us to talk to people on a daily basis and lets them tell their friends about the value proposition that we offer every day.?

Final Take
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