Over
the past couple of years, Craftsman has been experimenting with much
more than new tools. The venerable brand has also been stretching the
boundaries of its social media outreach in some radical ways to
attract today's cyber-savvy tool user. You might recall the
"Craftsman Across America" campaign from a year ago, in
which a man drove a Craftsman lawn tractor from coast to coast,
tweeting and posting to Facebook updates about his experiences along
the way. Or maybe you've seen some of the creative ways the
Craftsman Lab has been using and abusing its tools in a popular YouTube video
series. Several of these videos have gone viral. The brand continues
to stream weekly video and radio broadcasts from its hands-on
Craftsman Experience venue in downtown Chicago.
But
this past August, Craftsman kicked things up a notch again by
launching its newest form of interactive entertainment, called
Screw*d. Here's the premise: take a guy with virtually no DIY acumen
and give him some expert training on tool use and safety. Have him
try those skills out in various ways in a controlled environment to
build his confidence. Then, kidnap him, "drop" him in an
undisclosed location and pit his new DIY skills against a project he
must build successfully in order to escape his predicament, all
within a limited amount of allowable time and live-streamed for two
12-hour days to anyone who wants to tune in. What's more, viewer
participation and engagement is essential, because without that help,
this poor guy is, well, potentially "screw*d."
That
was the pitch made for the new Internet series this past January,
says Ryan Ostrom, divisional vice president of digital marketing for
the Kenmore, Craftsman and DieHard brands. "We love tools, so
the idea of training a person who has no tool experience was a
natural fit for a new social outreach opportunity. Bits and pieces of
this sort of experiment have already been coming out of Craftsman
Labs and Craftsman Experience, but the idea for this approach took
about six months to develop," Ostrom says.
The
contest to cast a "hero" for Screw*d began in June, and
Craftsman received more than 300 video submissions from those willing
to accept the challenge. A committee at Craftsman narrowed the entry
pool to five candidates (four men and one woman), but contest winner
Alan Weischedel, a 29-year-old Starbucks barista and self-made film
director from Lebanon, Oregon, was chosen by a cyber vote on YouTube.
Ostom comments that "we wanted to see who America would pick to
be Screw*d. We loved all five candidates, but thousands of people
voted online and Alan was the clear winner."
Weischedel
took a leave of absence from his Starbucks job to join Craftsman as a
temporary employee of the brand team.
"What
won us over about Alan, and probably explains his popularity to our
audience, is that his is really a heartwarming story. Alan's father,
who was an active tool user and DIYer, died suddenly of a heart
attack and left his mom with a lot of unfinished projects she can't
complete. Neither could Alan, but if he can help her finish them, she
can sell the family house and downsize, which is what she wants to
do. There's real emotion behind Alan's desire to learn how to use
tools so he can help the family out."
But
little did Alan know what he was getting himself into when he
accepted the three-and-a-half month immersion challenge in early
August. Almost as soon as he said yes, he was flown to Chicago to
begin his first two weeks of "Boot Camp." During that time,
he learned about the tools that would be necessary to build a bed,
and then a boat oar, as well as building both of those projects. The
reason for the bed: he needed one to sleep in; Weischedel is living
in an apartment above Craftsman Experience for the show's duration.
Ostrom says Alan did pretty well building his bed, despite the fact
that it's a bit wobbly. Alan needed the oar, as it turned out,
because his next challenge was to swim out to a canoe, climb in
unassisted and paddle his way back to shore.
The
second week of Boot Camp taught Alan how to use a chainsaw and other
lawn and garden tools in tasks such as cutting tree branches and
clearing paths. Each day, Alan received 12 to 14 hours of expert tool
training and project-building techniques from Robert North, a
Craftsman Experience staffer.
Weischedel
shared his experiences about that first Boot Camp in two
live-streamed shows that aired August 14 and 28. New live-stream
shows are continuing on Sunday afternoons at 2:30 p.m. CST by logging
onto craftsmanscrewd.com. He also tunes in each evening at 9 p.m. to
give daily updates of his goings-on. Other social media outlets such
as Facebook page updates and tweeting on Twitter using the handle
@screwd_alan also keep the growing view fan base up to date.
Then
the show took an unexpected twist. Alan was informed that he would be
flown to New Orleans Aug. 29, which he thought was to be a brief
respite from his Boot Camp experience. Instead, his first morning in
the Big Easy, Alan was kidnapped, blindfolded and air-boated into the
heart of the Louisiana bayou for what would be his first two-day
"Wild Drop" immersion challenge. A film crew, a few crates
of Craftsman tools and a project plan to build a raft awaited him in
the swamp — along with high humidity, alligators and an earpiece to
receive moderator comments during two 12-hour live-streamed
broadcasts. Viewers literally had to help Alan find his way to the
tool crates by feeding him directions from a map, plus locating an
old fence and barrels in order to scrounge the necessary materials to
build the vessel. Clues and other advice were provided to viewers via
an on-screen scroller from Craftsman. His online audience offered
Alan everything from advice on how to get the project done to the
sorts of ordinary questions you'd ask a buddy in the shop. Given the
context of the Wild Drop setting and challenge, the first Boot Camp's
bed frame exercise provided helpful background for constructing the
raft framework. Oarsmanship skills came into play once the raft was
finished and seaworthy.
Alan
had a limited timeframe in order to get the raft built and floated
successfully down river to a dock where a boat was waiting to help
him escape this "Born on the Bayou" drop zone. The
experience had many humorous moments as Alan wrestled bugs, a fitful
night of sleep in a hammock and an unexpected visit from Wayne the
"Cajun Expert" alligator wrangler (who suggested and
delivered the hammock, as well as a live alligator). Ostrom admits to
being afraid "that Alan wouldn't know enough not to sleep on the
ground and risk being eaten by alligators ... that's why we needed
the visit from Wayne, just to be sure."
If
you happened to tune in during the Wild Drop, you know that Alan
didn't, in fact, get "screw*d." Actually, the results were
better than expected.
"We
were really pleased with how Alan did on that raft, thanks to online
viewers and his own growing confidence in his tool skills. It floated
amazingly well, and he got out of the bayou about five hours sooner
than we thought he would," Ostrom reports. By the end of the
second day, Ryan says more than 30,000 viewers were following Alan's
progress, many of them throughout the full-day live-stream.
Since
returning from the bayou, Alan has been completing his second Boot
Camp training period (which ran Sept. 4 through 18), with continuing
live-stream shows on Sundays and daily social media outreach at 9
p.m. This time, his training has been focused on two primary topics:
automotive skills and functioning in a hot environment. He recently
spent time with NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne in Charlotte, North
Carolina, learning how to use automotive tools to mount tires and
shocks as well as perform other sorts vehicle maintenance on a sprint
car. He also learned some competitive driving skills on a go-kart
track. And then, there was a two-day boxing training session in a
heated gym... Of course, Ostrom will provide no clues as to what will
culminate from these latest Boot Camp activities, but Alan's next
"Wild Drop" begins Sept. 21. You'll need to tune in to find
out what predicament will be foisted upon him then, and what Boot
Camp skills will prove essential to his escape. And, if you're so
inclined, you can help the guy out with tips or votes of confidence
for that two-day event.
Boot
Camp #3 is slated to run from Sept. 25 through October 9, and the
final Wild Drop will be Oct. 11 and 12.
Ultimately,
Alan must successfully complete three Wild Drop situations within an
allotted timeframe. He has no knowledge of what they will be from
here forward, nor do we as viewers. If he is successful, Craftsman
will award him $50,000 at the show's conclusion, plus a substantial
tool collection. Ostrom believes the prognosis for Alan's success is
very good, "and we want Alan to succeed. We know that we're
putting him in some really difficult situations, so we're providing
him all the information and training he needs to accomplish these
challenges ...We're already seeing his confidence growing. As it
turns out, he's very good at reading project plans, and his comfort
zone with tools and skills is expanding. All of this is leading him
down a good path, and when Screw*d wraps up in October, we think
he'll have the skills and tools he needs to go home and help his mom
get those projects done."
Looking
forward, Ostrom says Craftsman is pleased with Screw*d's success so
far, and the brand is considering other novel social media concepts
for 2012, although a second season of Screw*d has not been
determined. "What makes Screw*d so one-of-a-kind is that you can
help Alan in real time and you are part of his success. We've all
seen reality shows, but they aren't live. And even live-broadcast
shows don't offer this much opportunity for viewer engagement.
Nothing like this has ever been done before. You're experiencing it
first with Craftsman."