Geocaching● Geocaching 101● Community Strategy● Experiential Marketing

What is Geocaching?

Geocaching is a global treasure hunting game played with smartphones and/or GPS devices by a highly engaged community of outdoor enthusiasts since 2000.

Geocaching Overview

A big game...● 10 million+ players● 2.5 million+ geocaches

hidden worldwide● There is a geocache on

the international space station

● 100+ geocaches are only accessible with scuba gear

...with a passionate community

● Individual players have found 100,000+ caches.

● An average of 72 community-created geocaching events occur each day, many with 500 to 8,000 attendees

● 400+ geocachers have trackable geocaching tattoos

● There is even a professional geocaching band

Community Reach

Geocaching.com Stats:

Registered users 10+ million

Annual website visits 124 million

Annual web page views 1.7 billion

Weekly emailer recipients 7 million

Social Network Profile Stats:

Facebook 450,000+ likes

Twitter 63,000+ followers

YouTube 32,000+ subscribers

Instagram 30,000+ followers

Pinterest 12,000+ followers

Geocaching Blog 1.5 million views/year

Community Growth

20% increase in Facebook likes YTD. Average Facebook Fan growth is 0.29%*.

20% increase in Twitter followers YTD. Average Twitter Follower growth is 0.49%*.

*Source: http://www.eightytwenty.ie/blog/do-you-have-to-pay-to-get-new-fans-on-facebook-twitter-study/

134% increase in people seeing our pins. 193% increase in people engaging with our pins. 10 month period.

Community Growth

509% increase in followers during an 8 month period.

Community Engagement

8.3 million

mentionsof geocaching online in

the last 2 years.

Geocaching was responsible

for 82 million experiences in 2014.

Community Demographics

Community Niche – Adventurers

● Extreme geocaching is a badge of honor for millennials.● 10% of online mentions focus on extreme geocaching.

Community Niche – Environmentalists

● Cache In Trash Out (CITO) is a community-run environmental initiative.

● Events might be focused on litter clean-up, removal of invasive species, revegetation efforts or trail building.

● In 2014, there were 49,785 CITO attendees.

Sponsors:

Community Niche – Nerds

● Nominated to be the first new word added to the Scrabble dictionary in 9 years by a geocaching community member.

● We lightly pushed the social gas pedal.

● The highly engaged community swept the competition.

“And maybe that’s what really stings about geocaching’s ballot-box-stuffing win. As Scrabble player Michael Bassett wrote,“I’m angry that my weird, nerdy hobby has been coopted by other people’s weird, nerdy hobby.” - Stefan Fatsis, Slate

Passion: A Common Denominator

Geocaching Community Strategy

Example: #GeocachingPi Day● 400 events → 1,800 events, via

providing two souvenirs

● 80,000+ souvenirs awarded

● When combined, "clues" from the two souvenirs revealed a special Pi Day message from Jeremy. Jeremy Irish, Co-Founder, CEO of Geocaching

Geocaching belongs to the community.

● Geocachers: Create the hides, make the finds, and write the thoughtful find logs that make hiding so much fun. They continue to innovate how the game is played. The amazing stories and experiences these users generate drive the content we share.

● Geocaching HQ employees: People who support the game with tools and education, as well as inspiration by curating and elevating user-generated stories.

● Growth: Organic = no ads.

Experiential Marketing

Experiential Marketing● Tangible● Memorable/Emotional● Measurable

Experiential Marketing Examples● Branded Trackables ● Geocaching Adventures

Tangible Experiences

● Trackables: Geocaching game pieces.

● History: Geocaching HQ started partnering with brands on experiential campaigns in 2004 with a four year Jeep promotion.

● Touchpoints: ○ Trackables travel from person to

person and geocache to geocache.

○ Digital and physical experiences.○ Build community connections.

Memorable/Emotional

● People take trackables on their journeys, creating memories and logging their experiences.○ Example logs on geocaching.com:

● Endless lifecycle; trackables travel for years.● Geocachers share these pieces of history at events, on social media, and on the website.

“As small as those TBs were in the grand scheme of life, participating in these promotions brought me an immense amount of joy.” - Brian/Team A.I., 2007 photo contest winner

The story continues two years later: “Big score at Goodwill lol. Figured I had the trackable, might as well read the book. Both books for only $2. Might need to use for another library cache.” - Jason Winder/animjason, Facebook, 12/2/2014

Measurable

● John Grisham trackable program (paired with Facebook ads)

○ John Grisham Facebook page grew by 72,000 fans.○ Increase in social reach of 220%.○ Book sales increased 23% (Source: Marketing Sherpa

.)

● Michelin “tire safety” geocaching campaign ○ Michelin’s social channels’ reach now 4x average. ○ All 2,000 trackables were ordered in under an hour.○ We learned a lesson: when engaging with

geocachers, don’t underestimate their passion!

“In this digital era, geocaching helps keep the spirit of exploration alive – whether around your neighborhood or around the globe. It was an ideal match for us.”

Jennifer Smith, Director of Brands for Michelin North America, Inc.

Experiential Marketing:Geocaching Adventures

Enable the creation, sharing, and playing of multimedia experiences in the real world.

Experiential Marketing:Geocaching Adventures

Promotion of the movie premiere of Walt Disney Studio’s film Earth to Echo with experiences in Seattle, New York, LA, and Chicago.

Geocaching “Adventure Time” Adventure in Seattle to celebrate the annual Block Party.

Additional Partnerships

Questions?Contact: Christy Weckner (christy@geocaching.com)Andrea Hofer (andrea@geocaching.com)

Appendix

● Trackable Promotion Case Studies

● Michelin’s Press Release on Geocaching Promotion Results

● Outdoor Industry Association’s market and consumer insights piece on Geocaching

● Geocaching on Social Media:o Twittero Instagramo Pinteresto Facebook

#MichelinQuest Geocaching Promotion

Goal: To celebrate Michelin’s 125th Anniversary and promote tire safety engagement via a social media based photo contest

Trackable Tag Strategy: ● Geocaching.com manufactured 2,000 trackable tags in the

shape of a Michelin tire. Each tag was attached to an electronic “Michelin Man” shaped tire gauge.

● Michelin’s creative agency developed the michelin.geocaching.com landing page using Geocaching.com’s API, collecting emails/addresses for over 2,000 U.S. geocachers.

● Michelin promoted the campaign via press releases and their social media platforms. They also launched an internal employee contest.

● Geocaching.com promoted the campaign through an Ambassador program, Facebook, Twitter, Geocaching Blog, Instagram, Pinterest, Newsletter, and banner ads.

Results*: 4 month campaign● Page views: 32,000+ in first 3 months● Photo submissions: 1,000 (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook)● 300+ mentions of #MichelinQuest on Twitter.● Fan-created youtube video reached nearly 4,000 viewers● Michelin’s social channels’ reach has been 4x average in

first 3 months. More than 1,000 mentions on Facebook alone.

● Michelin tags have traveled over 1,300,000 total miles so far

*Data via Michelin, December 2014

Community Niche – Makers/DIY