Article
How Screeneo U5 Unlocked $4M in Crowdfunding Success with Rainfactory
Philips teamed up with Rainfactory, a full-service marketing agency, to launch their latest innovation, the Screeneo U5, on Indiegogo. The Philips Screeneo U5 has revolutionized home entertainment with its ability to transform any wall into a stunning 150-inch 4K theater that also supports 3D technology. The results? They’ve achieved resounding success by raising $4M. This isn’t the first time Philips and Rainfactory have joined forces to launch a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. The previous generations, the Screeneo U4, and PicoPIX, raised over $6.5 million and $7.5 million on Indiegogo respectively. Crowdfunding on Indiegogo enabled them to test the market’s appetite and create devices that appeal to early adopters.
This case study will dive into the key strategies and tactics employed by the Philips team and Rainfactory to generate excitement, engage backers, and surpass their funding targets. It will also examine how Rainfactory’s contribution influenced the success of the campaign as a whole.
Selecting a Launch Platform: Indiegogo vs Self Starter Website
Indiegogo provided several benefits to the Philips team when launching their new products. One key advantage was the platform’s ability to reach a wider audience of technology enthusiasts. With their products being new to the market, launching on Indiegogo enabled the team to gain valuable early feedback from their backers. Furthermore, crowdfunding allowed the team to express their gratitude towards early supporters who shared their belief in advanced ultra-short throw (UST) technologies by offering them the best price before it hit the retail market. Overall, launching on Indiegogo proved to be a smart choice for the Philips team, providing a unique opportunity to increase brand awareness toward UST projectors and gather crucial early-stage feedback from their target market.
Purchase-Based Ads Fueling
The Philips team launched U5 soon after the highly successful U4. Since the functions, features, and price points of the U4 and the U5 were different, the Philips team wanted to drive as much traffic as they could to the Screeneo U5 campaign.
Rainfactory’s ads team carefully selected the target audience for U5’s online ads. Unlike U4’s campaign, which targeted a broad range of customers, including home theater enthusiasts, gamers, business professionals, and early tech adopters, Rainfactory opted for a more specific audience for U5. This audience consisted of high-tech gadget enthusiasts who were more likely to purchase products priced over $1,000 and had higher disposable incomes. Dozens of ad iterations were A/B tested to find the top performing combinations of creative and copy. This led to successful lead generation and then to an amazing Indiegogo campaign, reigning in 30,257 email leads which converted at 23.38% ROAS. Rainfactory’s purchase-based ad campaigns fueled contributions on Indiegogo, which led to an 8.86 MER for the entire campaign.
Email & SMS: Converting Leads to Backers
The Screeneo U5’s crowdfunding campaign had a well-planned strategy that took advantage of previous Indiegogo campaign contacts from Screeneo U4. The campaign was launched in early November 2022, and the launch email reached over 28,000 people. As part of the consumer communication strategy, the Rainfactory team implemented SMS and provided regular updates for backers on Indiegogo.
Throughout the campaign, the email open and click rates were consistently high, averaging about 50% and 7%, respectively. Since the campaign coincided with the Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotion season, the Rainfactory team capitalized on these promotion opportunities while also incorporating Thanksgiving messaging. They also introduced downloadable holiday cards and shared press coverage via SMS to bolster the brand’s credibility and third-party validation. The email and SMS cadence was approximately one message per week, with an average of two per week during the first and last weeks of the campaign.
The campaign was a huge success, with over $4 million raised and the support of 2,035 backers. The Rainfactory team maintained excellent deliverability metrics for all email campaigns by regularly pruning the account to remove problematic or inactive email contacts. The sending domain reputation and IP reputation remained high, and spam and unsubscribe rates were low. From the Rainfactory-generated lead generation list of over 25,000 contacts, several hundred backers were converted, leading to a conversion rate in the range of 2-3%.
Public Relations & Influencer Outreach Campaign
Careful consideration was given to the PR and influencer marketing strategies for the Screeneo U5 campaign. The team took a selective approach to identifying media and influencers with whom they could collaborate effectively. By doing so, they were able to maximize the impact of their marketing efforts and ensure that their messaging reached the right audience.
Rainfactory compiled a thorough media list of more than 250 outlets, encompassing tech websites, lifestyle magazines, and more. The distribution of these lists yielded excellent results, with a 35% open rate, an 8% click rate, and no outreach messages bouncing back. Additionally, the team identified and finalized rates and terms for over 100 influencers to collaborate with during the campaign.
Creative Tactics for Limited Assets
The Screeneo U5 campaign faced asset limitations, yet the team remained consistent in their social media content output. Through repurposing website assets, the team created educational and lifestyle content for their social media channels. Rainfactory also monitored the sentiment of the comments section to ensure a positive discourse around the product and brand.
For the Indiegogo campaign page, the objective was to present a modern, sleek design that matches the product’s appearance. The design elements were kept simple to highlight the product images, which were displayed prominently on a black background alongside various campaign modules. High-quality photographs and renderings were crucial in achieving this goal. Furthermore, incorporating exciting features that appeal to a broad audience was essential for the campaign’s success.
Global Backer Support Through Partnerships
Screeneo U5 experienced remarkable success, achieving full funding in just five minutes. The campaign attracted backers from all corners of the globe, with 70% of sign-ups originating outside of the US. To cater to their global audience, the team collaborated with Kickbooster, which helped alleviate the confusion associated with VAT charges. While the shipping fee was charged directly on Indiegogo, the VAT for the product was collected via Kickbooster at the checkout stage. This partnership allowed for a seamless and hassle-free experience for their backers, ensuring a positive experience for all.
InDemand
After experiencing success with their crowdfunding campaign, the team decided to build on that momentum by using Indiegogo’s InDemand feature. InDemand offers ongoing exposure on the Indiegogo platform and allows campaigns to continue raising funds even after their original campaign ends. It’s a valuable tool for brands that are in the process of creating a website or landing page or looking to sell their existing inventory. The Screeneo team was able to gain additional traction within 30 days, which helped turn over more of their inventory.
Final Thoughts
As more companies turn to crowdfunding to finance their ventures, it is essential to work with experienced partners who can help navigate the complex and ever-evolving digital landscape. By partnering with Rainfactory, Screeneo U5 demonstrated the potential of crowdfunding campaigns to reach a broader audience, and achieve lasting success far beyond the initial campaign goal. You can learn more about Rainfactory on the Indiegogo Experts Directory.
