- Steve Miller

The Challenge
Every Mother's Day is filled with marketing possibilities, considering the $12 billion or so consumers are said to spend on the holiday each year. With that in mind, Philosophy, a skincare and cosmetics brand, wanted to broaden its considerable appeal with women via a more emotional Mother's Day campaign.

The Plan
Philosophy teamed with Bazaarvoice, an Austin, Texas-based technology firm that specializes in social marketing. Bazaarvoice Stories is a viral application that allows consumers to post stories about their experiences with a product, service or brand. Philosophy, through Bazaarvoice Stories, asked consumers to post stories about their mothers' life philosophy, with the winner receiving a $1,200 shopping spree with the cosmetics brand. The campaign was promoted via e-mail and paid search.

The Results
Thirty-nine percent of all site traffic for Philosophy originated on a Stories page, either the campaign page or an actual story, per Bazaarvoice; 33% of all new visitors to Philosophy's Web site visited a Stories page. Philosophy also found that visitors coming from a Stories page spent 20% more per average order and asked for 19% more items per order.