♔ SOCIAL MEDIA CASE STUDIES [GB_V26.0]

Virgin Mobile is attempting to gain over one million Facebook likes with a contest to become an official VIP tour blogger for Lady Gaga's next tour - Portfolio 

The Old Spice Case Study (by Wieden+Kennedy) talks us through the insight around targeting men & women at the same time to generate buzz around body wash - More. 

Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and Kraft Foods' Oreo brand have all shown steady growth on their Facebook pages due to engagement, interest, and constant connection with their fans. - eMarketer 

Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA) 2011 Digital Marketing Outlook - Report 

The VW GTI Project (by Tribal DDB London) fun, viral advergame promotes the new Volkswagen Models - Website

Remember the Harlequin Romance? The brands new site (www.patentyourkiss.com) breathes new life into the brand by letting you patent your kiss. Also integrated with FB - http://on.fb.me/gby7Gh 

Mobile brands Samsung and HTC are looking to broaden their social media efforts by going global and experimenting with new platforms for social media campaigns. - BrandRepublic 

Coors Light’s (by Razorfish) used SnapTag technology (by SpyderLynk) to allow consumers to interact with branded tags using their mobile - More

Chili's promoted a coupon for a free brownie sundae on their Twitter and Facebook pages that did not require customers to like their fan page. - ClickZ 

Mutual-fund companies Putnam Investments, MFS, and Vanguard are using Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to build brand loyalty, educate investors, and help with customer service. - The Wall Street Journal 

The BMW ActiveE campaign (by Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners) drives an ethical movement to reorder our priorities - Website

Kellogg's Crunchy Nut cereal debuted in the U.S. with the world's biggest cuckoo clock comedy event. Fans were encouraged to follow the action, interact with the performers, and watch streaming videos of the event on Kellogg's Facebook page. - Drinks Media Wire 

By combining Microsoft's Surface with this new Apple iOS app, Razorfish's latest innovation that change the way you share and interact with digital content - http://vimeo.com/18859503 

NPR's Facebook page's success is driven by the 1.4 million fans who comment and share stories regularly. - Nieman Journalism Lab 

We had to add this - A QB telepresence robot that allows you to roam the halls of your empire and bark orders - no matter where you are!? Awesome. The self-balancing robot is controlled from a web interface and runs about $15,000. - http://www.anybot.com 

Since it linked Windows Live Messenger with Facebook, Microsoft has been responsible for powering more than 2.8 billion minutes of Facebook chat. The software has also led to doubling figures in connections with LinkedIn, YouTube, and MySpace. - Softpedia 

The Power Of Social Authenticity - Volkswagen’s latest clever campaign “The People’s Reviewer” (by Tribal DDB London) crowdsourced reviews using YouTube, Blogs, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter - http://bit.ly/hefHKD 

Online condom store 'Condomerie' leverages Chat Roulette's large number of exhibitionists - More 

Pfizer is communicating via social media with a well-developed and implemented social media policy. - Vimeo 

TAT - The Astonishing Tribe explore the future of captive touch screen technology - and what our lives may look like in 2014 - More

Esquire Magazine and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with augmented reality platform GoldRun to launch a campaign that allows fans to take a seemingly real picture with Brooklyn Decker on their smartphones. Images from the app are shareable on the brands' Facebook pages and Brooklyn's Twitter account. - Promo Magazine 

Honda's innovative interactive TV Ad (by Wieden+Kennedy UK) uses “screen hopping” whereby the TV's sound is recognized (and synced with the mobile App) essentially giving you the ability to interact with the TV ad in real time - http://youtu.be/UbDYdjhnfEg 

For ten days Lingerie retailer Aubade Paris got a female model to strut, strip and tease - all in full view of a window in central Paris that was only concealed by a gauzy screen. Crowds gathered in the street below staring at the sexy silhouette. Once the 10 days were up, the model removed the screen (revealing her Aubade Lingerie) and replaced it with a banner showing the URL of the brands site - http://frenchartofloving.com/ 

One cannot underestimate the power of the “wow” factor – that elusive element that disrupts, amazes and creates real buzz. Hand it to Hyper Island students tasked with connecting a streetwear brand to music/art (hosted by rockstars @NorthKingdom) and B-Reel - http://vimeo.com/18815585 

The New York Times iPad App (HTML5 Game banner) adds a new dimension to a tired format by embedded ciphers - http://vimeo.com/19033123 

The gameification of advertising, automated geo-location, social curation, and more - Social Media Marketing Trends Redux (Y&R-2011) - http://slidesha.re/fBUf0V 

Check out the latest addition to NIKE’s Kobe's Black Mamba site (by EVB). Clever use of FB Connect - http://bit.ly/hW0Vv2 


Branded Entertainment - M&M’s (Denmark) creative browser enhancement lets you trash ANY website using M&M’s. ;) http://bit.ly/fKQYHl 

Have Case Studies to share?  Please send them to info@goodbuzz.ca 

♔ The Power Of Social Authenticity

Unless being demonstrated in activities like professional sports (where you actually can see the product in action), celebrity product endorsement has become pretty irrelevant today.  Add to it you can get Snoop Dog, Mark Cuban or any number of Kardashian’s to tweet about your brand (ad.ly) for as little as $5,000 – and it becomes pretty clear – authenticity is king today.  Savvy advertisers are recognizing the power of social authenticity.

This transition has taken place over the years because consumers enjoy watching and empathizing with people just like themselves.  Why? Simply because its easier to connect and identify with them.  Average (real) looking people seem more inviting and suggest an authentic back-story.  Fueled by our desire for authenticity, life itself has effectively become the ultimate reality show – and social media our broadcast channel. Brands today are making their customers the hero and primary focus.

A phenomenal example of this is Volkswagen’s latest campaign (by Tribal DDB London) “The People’s Reviewer”.  Volkswagen crowd sourced reviewers for their new Tiguan, across a range of social mediums including YouTube, Blogs, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter.  The campaign started with thousands of YouTube auditions to find interesting people who’d potentially make a good reviewer. Then, they were split them up into heats and taught how to use Twitter, Facebook and Flickr to build buzz around their review of the Tiguan (to win votes) while they were driving it for the week.  The incentive? The winning reviewer drives away in the Tiguan they reviewed.

This is a great example of an integrated (through the line) campaign that leverages social media to create good buzz, while also employing a participatory vehicle that forces users to utilize and demonstrate knowledge of the product’s features and benefits to generate content.  Moreover, to vote for the winner, users had to review others reviews – thus viewing the same content over and over again.  This has to influence sales. Check out the website here or the YouTube auditions.

The results? After over 1000 applications, 3 entertaining heats and 1 challenging final, users decided who should be crowned ‘The People's Reviewer’.   From the finalists users chose their favorite reviewer – 33-year-old Harriet Gore.  Watch her winning video below.  

♔ Using Chat Roulette to Increase HIV Awareness

Chat Roulette brings the risk element of its Russian namesake to the world of instant messaging. For the uninitiated, Chat Roulette is somewhere between Skype and StumbleUpon, the site pairs random strangers from around the world together for webcam-based conversations. Participants can choose to either chat to the person they have found themselves talking to or press next to be partnered with another random person, with most 'chats' lasting a few fleeting seconds. As could probably be predicted, the site has attracted a large number of exhibitionists and as such users can expect to be greeted with the sight of a penis with every 5-10 clicks.  

So far, a few brands have tried to take advantage of Chat Roulette as a marketing vehicle, including French Connection and Giffgaff. Now online condom store Condomerie has taken the initiative to create an HIV awareness campaign using Chat Roulette. The brand recruited a woman to sit semi-naked in front of a webcam and play Chat Roulette. Covering her breasts was a sign that was illegible when she was holding it close to her chest. Once she had got her fellow chatter's attention, she would move the sign closer to the webcam so that they could read the message "Bingo! You are now in touch with an HIV infected person. Don't play Russian roulette in real life", along with the URL condomerie.com. 


Most of the men the women ended up chatting to are at first visibly turned on by the sight of the attractive woman, before taking a closer look to read the message.  This piece of guerilla marketing has been turned into a viral video (below) to encourage condom use.

♔ SOCIAL MEDIA CASE STUDIES [GB_V25.0]

Simon Sinek's brilliant TED Talk on brands and people who inspire - http://bit.ly/dcDsbx  

Audi, E-Trade, Budweiser, Teleflora, and Volkswagen are all centering their 2011 Super Bowl campaigns around social media. - Ad Age

The Girl Store (by Strawberry Frog) makes a powerful statement on behalf of Nanhi Kali, a project that provides primary education for underprivileged female children – www.the-girl-store.org

Intel's first mini web-movie, "Chase," has made it to the top of the viral video charts online. - Intel Newsroom

ABC is turning the Oscars into its own social network with interactive maps, behind-the-scenes video footage, user voting and sharing, and a live Twitter feed of the nominees' tweets during the show. - Fast Company

USA TODAY's Social Media Editor, Michelle Kessler, shares how social media is impacting gathering and reporting in the newsroom. - SocialMediaToday

Lipton's SXSW promotion is encouraging fans to tweet their Instagram self-portraits with hashtag #briskpic for a chance to be featured on the new Brisk cans. - CNET News

Sweden's North Kingdom’s marriage of creativity and technology – KarmaTech demonstrates what’s possible when you embed RFID tags in shoes - http://vimeo.com/19192547

Red Bull's BlueCasting Mobile Coupons Promotion at Point-of-Sale (by Toronto's iSign) – http://bit.ly/gFxGlJ

Procter & Gamble is bringing back their Old Spice Man campaign and giving one "superfan" the opportunity to debut an ad on his or her own social networking profile before it airs on TV. - ClickZ

Dagens Industri (Newspaper) - Making the point that Social Media Activities Need to Reinforce the Brands Attributes - http://youtu.be/UNKLGEQJV8M

Netflix is integrating Facebook to allow for split household accounts. This will let individual users share their personal viewing history and recommend videos to friends online. - All Things Digital

The UN’s ‘Voices’ Campaign lets you take a photo of the person's mouth on the print piece, text it to the number using your mobile and hear their story - http://vimeo.com/1854851

This Orange - France Télécom Twitter promotion (by POKE London) stopped by users homes to hand out hot chocolate and scarves - http://youtu.be/L5fUdvQMnFM

TurboTax is taking over NBC commercials during tax season with the airing of their new microseries, "All-Star Celebrity Treasure Hunt." The show-within-a-show will encourage viewers to play along online to win cash and other prizes. - The New York Times

Bud Light's ‘Unlock the Spot’ campaign invites Facebook fans to guess what its Super Bowl ads will be about (based on a static image). If the plots are correctly identified, Bud will "unlock" a new commercial - http://bit.ly/hebOGi

IBM is releasing their new Social Business Toolkit that will help guide the process of incorporating social elements into their products and solutions. - CMS Wire

Europcar's clever ‘Crush Hour' Campaign (France) – crushes peoples cars into cubes and captures the surprise – http://youtu.be/M_lIpsgiRHQ

Yahoo! 3D Gesture Control Installation - The brief to Tronic / Brandfirst made note there was to be no instructions or screen prompts, as they wanted people to experience the response patterns by accident - http://youtu.be/2X7ef8MMBZA

The Australian Open's iPad App by Ogilvy (Sydney) is a great example of branded utility - http://youtu.be/5OPyarlt7lc

KIA amplified their new Optima launch and sponsorship of the Australian Open using an Augmented Reality (AR) Mobile App. Any time users captured the KIA logo (tied also to event print materials) it activated an interactive 3D experience featuring the Optima - http://youtu.be/tTyXG4TBLiE 

The Pepsi Refresh Project (aka the best Social Media Campaign ever) has received over 150,000 idea submissions, 76 million votes, 17 million unique visitors, 1.6 million comments and more then 3 million Facebook "likes" - all in the first year - http://bit.ly/gMrWu2 

Alex Bogusky's 'Fearless Revolution' and Reforming Capitalism - http://bit.ly/fYfehl

The Goodbuzz difference-  http://bit.ly/eaZ8j1

Have Case Studies or examples to share?  Please send to info@goodbuzz.ca 

♔ Alex Bogusky's 'Fearless Revolution' and Reforming Capitalism

Alex Bogusky is attempting spark a consumer revolution and has recast himself as a "consumer advocate."  Along with co-conspirators Rob Schuham and John Bielenberg, Bogusky has unveiled nothing less than a roadmap for reinventing capitalism.  This new kind of capitalism, he believes, needs to be fueled by creative people of all stripes - the end goal is a kinder, gentler capitalism that does more than help the rich get richer.  

The overall point—that consumer empowerment, growing inequality and vast structural issues facing our planet are changing economic dynamics—is provocative.  Capitalism reforms based on values like transparency, collaboration and sustainability with more focus on meaning - beyond the bottom line.  Sounds great in principle.   Bogusky and crew plan to attempt it through a new open-source brand, 'Common', which anyone with a sustainable idea can use. The Common brand is devoted to "rapidly prototyping many progressive businesses that unleash creativity to solve social problems." It's an interesting vision and you can watch the entire presentation at Bogusky's Fearless Revolution site.

The FearLess Revolution explores a new relationship between people and brands. It's goals are nothing less then shifting the way business is done - driving more transparency, more collaboration, more democracy, and ultimately more value.


Bogusky sees a big shift under way, empowered by the Internet, where consumers take back control of what exactly they consume. "The data on the web and the creation of new tools for consumers to access that data in real time is going to change the relationship between consumers and those they consume from," he writes. "Our expectations as consumers, in what we deserve for the dollar we hand over, are way too low. All our dollars — both tax dollars and consumption dollars — should never go to waste. But today, our consumption dollars often blindly pay for products and services that appear to be cheap, but come with hidden costs." (You can hear a lot more in the video of his recent speech at conservation event "Turning the Tide". To help turn the tide, Bogusky is assembling a band of folks in the communications industry to push forward this agenda, which includes rewriting the Consumer Bill of Rights.  Maybe there's a chance for us after all?

Watch live video from FearLessTV on Justin.tv


Watch live video from FearLessTV on Justin.tv

♔ SOCIAL MEDIA CASE STUDIES [GB_V24.0]

Pope Benedict XVI (who incidentally only wears Red Prada shoes) is endorsing social media with his own social network hub, Pope2You, Facebook and iPhone applications, and a Vatican YouTube channel.  We can’t make this stuff up – Check out - Pope2You 

BMW is rewarding loyal fans on Facebook with a headstart on entering their best guesses on "The X3 Matchup" competition. - International Business Times 

DKNY Fragrances 'Delicious Core Club' (by Mekanism) - 200,000+ new fans from 98 countries, a dynamic, engaged community and a 75% increase in online buzz and social media mentions. Check out the Case Study and tell us what you think? http://bit.ly/eY0oo8 

FEMA is embracing social media tools to better communicate during emergencies. - FEMA Blog 

Thomson Reuters has launched "The Knowledge Effect" community blog that encourages customers to share their personal stories of how they have benefited having the right information at the right time. - Thomson Reuters Blog 

Brazilian Airline Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes impressive marriage of technology and creativity lets you fly the plane - http://vimeo.com/17447273 

JESS3’s ‘State of The Internet’ Presentation from the lecture at AIGA Baltimore in Feb 2010- http://vimeo.com/9641036 

Magazine brands Time, National Geographic, Fitness, and Food + Wine are all using social media to drive engagement and audience response with their publications. - FOLIOmag 

Young & Rubicam (NY) use GoldRun to create Augmented Reality (AR) GPS zones around Esquire Magazine’s latest (featuring 'Brooklyn Decker') in magazine sections - More http://bit.ly/dJz6fd 

With the use of a Facebook fan page, user-generated video submissions, and daily "blog-offs," Sunglass Hut chose a lucky winner to write for their new blog, Fulltime Fabulous. - Poynter.org 

How to build buzz and around a new car launch (and shut down a city simultaneously)? Jung von Matt Stockholm's MINI Countryman Launch (Sweden) - http://bit.ly/cOmHga 

Nike Football concludes its six-month global search for undiscovered football talent - http://bit.ly/e3zAwF 

The U.S. Army has released its newest Social Media Handbook to the public, which includes guidance and best practices for personnel, soldiers, and family alike. - Government 2.0 

Nike's latest Basketball push (by R/GA) features Kobe Bryant as the 'Black Mamba' - http://bit.ly/eVTvD5 

Johnson & Johnson's Director of Corporate Communications shares how they interact with people about health issues while still obeying the rules in this regulated field. - Vimeo 

Read this or Die - A Field Guide to Participatory Media – by social media Jedi’s Goodbuzz Inc. - http://bit.ly/hWWUPc 

Nike Running's global ‘Ekiden’ relay by Wieden+Kennedy (Toyko) challenges teams of runners from around the world - encouraging more runners connect and use Nike+ - http://bit.ly/hTxUp7 

The fusion of a number of technologies - Disney's impressive TRON Legacy 3D Projection Mapping Installation (by ENESS) takes Skateboarding to a whole new level - http://vimeo.com/18525296

♔ NIKE Basketball lets fans 'Unlock the Black Mamba' using Twitter (by R/GA)

Early in 1984, Nike was a struggling shoe company who needed a way to revitalize and reinvent themselves in order to appeal to segment of the market other then running shoes.  Around the same time, rookie player Michael Jordan saw a golden opportunity in Nike's offer to create a new line of shoes called "Air Jordans." At that time, there was not a tremendous impact from a shoe endorsement, and few companies were willing to risk so much of their marketing budget to bet on one athlete to promote their products.  But we all know how that turned out.  Nike ended up owning Basketball.  So, no one then was likely surprised to see Nike throw their weight behind Tiger Woods to amplify Nike’s Golf products. 

So what next along this line of endorsement?  Presumably, with new energy needed in Basketball, Nike has now attached the brand to Kobe Bryant a.k.a. “The Black Mamba” (named appropriately after the fastest snake in the world (capable of moving at up to 5.4 meters per second 16–20 km/h or 10–12 mph). 

Nike Basketball and R/GA have teamed up to emulate his transformation digitally through a website experience that changes the superstar from Kobe to Mamba through tweets.  As Kobe’s tweets accumulate the dark serpent inside him gradually grows until the beast is unleashed.

The best part?  When the site reaches “Mamba” state (600/hr. required), which is dependent upon a Twitter integration/algorithm that monitors the social conversations and automates the metamorphosis, users will have six-hour access to exclusive Kobe content and be eligible to win limited edition Kobe VI sneakers.

With exclusive incentivized participatory content, viral engagement, peer advocacy and the opportunity to win free sneakers – Nike’s yet again proven to clearly understand their target audience and knows how to drive engagement and activation with through-the-line activities.  With so many activities driving ‘street cred’ - it’s really no wonder Nike reigns supreme in so many sectors.

Think everything is big budget?  Think again.  Check out their "Sneak and Destroy"- Destroyer Burrito Promotion below.  Yet again proving to have their finger directly on the pulse of trending topics.  Kudos.