FedEx CASE STUDY | How did Robots Deliver the FedEx Story?

Jason Baker, Senior Communications Specialist, FedEx Corporation

Traci Stubblefield, Communications Advisor, FedEx Corporation

Gladstone BraveBots – “It’s Here”

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https://twitter.com/BraveBots/status/701635877697531905

How did Robots deliver the FedEx story?Traci Stubblefield and Jason BakerFedEx Corporate CommunicationsBoston College Corporate Citizenship Conference 2016 – Atlanta, GA

Chargers Robotics – Perpetual Motion

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_zU56BQUek&feature=youtu.be

What is FIRST?• FIRST - For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology

• Founded by world-renowned inventor, Dean Kamen

• Supports STEM education (science, technology, engineering, and math) through student robotics competitions – “Sport for the Mind”

• Three leagues targeting K-12: Robotics (FRC), Tech (FTC) and Lego (FLL)

Here’s how we got there….

Then Now• Provided in-kind shipping - $1M retail • Ship thousands of FedEx branded containers

to teams around the world• Ship 600 robots to and from World

Championships, with ship site at event• Issued a press release to tell our story • Millions impressions through social channels

• Thousands of pieces of content created on Twitter and Instagram by students about our brand

• Zero known team member involvement • Over 40 FedEx team members serving as mentors to local teams

• Executive leaders engaged with program

We learned a lot of lessons along the way

•Do more than cut a check

•Work with partners to engage in meaningful ways

•Social Media is no longer free

•Sustaining support

Do more than cut a check.What we’ve always done:

• Provided in-kind shipping and logistical support since 2002• Donated over $500,000 in shipping each year (over $1M retail)• Shipped Kit of Parts and 600+ FRC robots annually

What we realized:• FIRST was one of our largest annual in-kind shipping investments • Their programs aligns with our business core competencies and our innovative spirit• We weren’t leveraging our investment and relationship with FIRST• We weren’t telling our FIRST story internally or externally

Do more than cut a check.What we did:– Attended World Championship to learn more– Our Chairman, Mr. Fred Smith, hosted Dean Kamen, at FedEx– Leveraged our brand on Kit of Parts– Connected directly with teams through grants and social media

Engage partners in a meaningful way.What we’ve always done:

• Relied on non-profits we worked with present us with ideas on how to engage

• Worked within our own team for solutions

What we realized:

• Non-profits don’t always have the resources or infrastructure to help companies activate

• We weren’t the only ones looking to take our support of FIRST to the next level

• New ideas can be scary, expensive and hesitation is completely normal

Engage partners in a meaningful wayWhat we did:

• Pulled together some really talented people within FedEx

• Made the most of FIRST Strategic Partner meetings by engaging other companies

• Brainstorming conversations with FIRST

• Pitched some big ideas to our management to pilot and secure funding

FedEx Innovation Challenge

• Interactive competition: entries via Twitter and Instagram

• #OMGRobots and #FedEx

• Series of challenges related to FedEx

• Cash prize for teams

• Surprise engagement prizes (first entry received just 2 mins after start)

• Physical component of online competition kept teams engaged

• Postano / Spredfast / FedEx Blog to aggregate and showcase submissions

Social Media is not free.What we’ve always done:

• We created event recaps for social media

• Post stories about charitable work to our own channels

• Tracking likes & shares and move on

What we realized:

• Be active and go where your audience is

• Engagement matters

• Segmenting works: targeted, paid social posts

• The most relevant stories are created BY your audience

#eventtechlive

Unsolicited feedback from teams:

“140 characters are not enough to express how thankful we are and how much this means.”

“Your team ran an extremely effective campaign…you definitely moved some prospective hires down the pipeline at this competition.”

2014 Results

• 840 posts by teams were approved and published to site

• Over 100 teams participated

• Over 1,700 total posts related to FedEx and FIRST

• #FedEx trending on Twitter in the region for two days

• Teams mentioning #FedEx in posts unrelated to Innovation Challenge (one team mentioned #FedEx 67 times!)

2015 – More time, more prizes, more engagement

• Branded Kit of Parts totes

• Expanded Innovation Challenge to cover entire FRC season (Jan-Apr)

• Monthly prizes including cash grants to FRC and FTC teams at Championships

• Other prizes:- Opportunity for team reps to pitch game idea to FRC Game Design Team

- Trip to STL for team reps to serve as Innovation Ambassadors during Championships

Work with other engaged sponsors

January ’15 Success

• Almost 500 entries from about 200 teams in January

• Almost 10,000 pageviews on blog site• Picked up by Reuters and 3BL CSR

social media wire service• Lots of non-contest #FedEx mentions• Direct engagement via official FedEx

social media channels

Creativity! Engagement!

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Hamilton

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https://twitter.com/team5510/status/701645703827705856

Cooney Robotics

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https://twitter.com/269Robotics/status/701641128341155840

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Blue Cheese

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-8pIuzNrww

Ponytail Posse – FedEx Innovation Ambassadors

A First for FIRST: Game Design Pitch

A First for FIRST: Game Design Pitch

2015 Results

• More than 8.5 million impressions

• 392 participating teams

• 3,522 pieces of content created on Twitter and Instagram

• Over 22,000 views of the Innovation Challenge site. (30% of all FedEx Blog visits from January 1 – April 30)

• 6:28 - Average time spent on Innovation Challenge site (anything over 2 minutes is good)

• 4.9% of all #OMGRobots mentions on Twitter also mentioned #FedEx

• 6 different teams posted 20 or more times about Innovation Challenge

• Increased participation at Championships by 30% from 2014

2016 Innovation Challenge is on!

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…

Sustaining support What we’ve always done:

• Planned and executed by small, core group of FedEx team members

What we realized:

• Things are continuously evolving within FedEx and FIRST

• Need more resources within FedEx to grow and sustain

What we are doing:

• Replicate IT support in other departments at FedEx

• Brainstorm with other companies how to help each other grow and sustain

• Remaining open and flexible

#OMGquestions?

Mech Tech Dragons: Stand for your Brand

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzs7hRjaVzM&feature=youtu.be