Liquid Robotics: Going Viral and Growing Brand Value
Brand & Viral Marketing
Into the Eye of the Storm, Going Viral, and Growing Brand Value
A Silicon Valley robotics company needed to make an ocean robot relatable to humans. We sent it into a hurricane and let America tweet it.
Key Results
- National viral media attention (including Al Roker on NBC’s Today)
- International media coverage across tech and weather outlets
- Thousands of direct Twitter interactions with the robots
- Dramatic increase in website activity
- Teaming agreement with Boeing within a month
- Successful acquisition by Boeing two years later
The Challenge
Liquid Robotics makes the Wave Glider, the most experienced ocean surface robot in the world. Despite proven capability, the Wave Glider faced difficulties gaining traction with certain buyer constituencies. Robots are considered cold and inhospitable — abstract to many people. The challenge: make a robotic product a point of broader human interest and explain its multifaceted benefits compared to boats and buoys.
What We Did
We discovered that the engineering team had a skunkworks feature allowing public tweets to trigger a return photo, video, and weather conditions from a Wave Glider via satellite. In August 2014, two tropical cyclones — Iselle and Julio — were heading toward Hawaii. We mobilized to upload the Twitter code, navigated two Wave Gliders directly into the hearts of the approaching storms, and launched a social media campaign inviting the public to tweet the robots for real-time storm data.
The Outcome
The story captivated the entire nation. TV weather personalities across the country, including Al Roker on NBC’s Today, were tweeting the Wave Glider for storm conditions. International tech and weather blogs, online magazines, and newscasts covered the communicating robot braving the Pacific. Twitter users worldwide engaged directly with the robots. Website activity increased dramatically. Less than a month after the viral sensation, Liquid Robotics entered a major teaming agreement with Boeing, which led to a successful acquisition two years later at an estimated capitalization value of over 0 Million.