This year’s reindeer pre-Christmas promotion on has been designed in 11 languages for 68 markets.
Lufthansa developed an addictive Farm Town-like strategic-oriented game where users help Santa find enough reindeers. Once found however they need to be fed and cared for or else they wither (hence farm town).
A happiness-index always shows the reindeers‘ shape. There are different actions to keep the reindeers in good shape such as feeding with fir cones, i.e. using special items on the website that are linked to Lufthansa newsletter and Lufthansa WorldShop.
First prize is an intercontinental flight for 2 people. Apart from that the game offers various prize levels, so that as many as possible participants win an attractive prize.
This annual promotion is hugely successful, increases newsletter subscriptions as well as amplifies and activates Lufthansa‘s social networks. Accompanying media includes Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Impressive work all around. What do you think?
Designed to drive foot traffic and reward customers for visiting 700 McCafés each day running up to Christmas, McDonald's latest campaign (by TBWA's Digital Arts team in Berlin) developed a proprietary web service called 'Unloqable'.
The platform offers access to digital content (when users can prove their whereabouts) via a location-based service like Facebook Places or Foursquare. When users check-in at a McCafé using the platform they are immediately given the option to download their gift.
The idea of providing added value to each consumer's visit is consistent with the chain's existing (German) positioning of 'Alles Gute beginnt mit einem guten Kaffee' ('Everything good starts with a good cup of coffee'). ;) For more please visit www.mccafecoffee.com.
Gap is including an "Add to Foursquare" button to their banner ads that sends a discount coupon to the user's Foursquare account and places Gap on their holiday to-do list. - Sharp Dressed Brand
AT&T is using its AT&T Latino Facebook page to engage with its Latino consumers from a cultural standpoint. - ClickZ
Southwest celebrated its one-million Facebook fan with a fan-exclusive Rapid Rewards promotion. - MediaPost
NVIDIA is keeping track of all its social networking on their newly-vamped company blog. - NVIDIA Blog
Discovery Communications share how they use social media to engage their enthusiastic audience. - SmartBlog
Facebook and Twitter are influencing fashion - in Adidas ‘designer Gerry Mckay's new social network sneaker designs. - BuzzFeed
iMedia Connection's best social media campaigns of the year include Procter & Gamble's Old Spice Guy, Microsoft's Bing ads in Farmville, Ford's 2011 Explorer revealing on Facebook, PepsiCo's user-generated "Refresh" campaign, and Levi's Friend Store. - iMedia Connection
The Army's MilTech Solutions discuss the launch of the United States Military's own version of YouTube, called MilTube. - Fox News
Helzberg Diamonds is encouraging fans to visit their new "I Am Loved" website and share their own messages of love – amplified via the usual suspects (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Flickr). - PR Newswire
Unilever's Vaseline brand is launching a video series featuring the "Dry Skin Patrol" as a part of their new social media campaign. Fans can track the series on Vaseline's Facebook page, as well as post skin care questions and send virtual gifts to their friends. - Cosmetics Design
The digital age has brought about consumers that are no longer passive receivers of brand messaging (if they have ever been), but engage in active relationships with the brands they love or hate. In these relationships, the brand promise is under constant evaluation: is a brand delivering on its promise or breaking it?
As a marketer, you’ve undoubtedly heard about the 1% rule — that just 1% of your brand’s follower’s are responsible for the majority (over 80%) of sharing. They share your campaigns with their larger social network, passing on links to your contests, promotions, deals, and other marketing campaigns. These key influencers are more than just fans — they’re brand ambassadors. It's the same reason hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts are given to actors at the Oscars each year (and the same reason Kim Kardashian will tweet your brand for $10,000).
Simply because these key influencers can drive between 30 up to 70% of ALL visits to their campaign pages, beating out display and search advertising as the most efficient driver of traffic to their sites. That’s pretty incredible, considering activities require no media buys and costs are (comparatively) next to nothing to implement, whereas banners and search ads are a huge expense. These “super influencers” drive an even higher share of conversion — on average influencing 30% or more of all conversions on marketers’ sites just by recommending a brand’s products, content, or promotions to their online communities. If you can reach out to this 1% target by directly offering them special promotions, thanking and rewarding them for their influence, they will be motivated to share early and share often.
Identifying your key online influencers is fairly straightforward. There are a wealth of social media measurement tools that enable marketers to find the people who are talking most about their brand, see what type of content they’re sharing and with whom, and how they are sharing it (e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, their own blogs, etc.). Once you find these influencers, the trick is activating them to share even more. The bottom line though is that the opinions of bloggers are heard and respected by thousands, even though many brands still ignore their potential reach.
For most brands, this is because Blogger outreach is still relatively unknown – though the science of targeting the influencer (articulated by Razorfish as Social Influence Marketing (SIM)) is proven to build trust. It’s a framework that extends real (BTL) grassroots activity that builds a groundswell of support and momentum. By targeting and building relationships with bloggers that address your audience, you can garner effective, unbiased reviews of your products and services. Their readers will then be introduced to your brand, get interested in it, visit your site, and hopefully buy based upon peer advocacy.
Simply identifying your key influencers is not enough in today’s market. Instead, you’ve got to find them and then motivate them to share. Over the long term, your goal as a marketer is to increase the size of your influencer base by finding and engaging in a direct dialogue with your super influencers and turn more “followers” into “sharers.”
Some of the other benefits of blogger outreach also include:
Amplification - It has the potential to go viral. People tweet and share good blog posts, and may do that with a blog review of your brand.
Agency's know that the the old methods of advertising and marketing simply aren’t cutting it anymore. The landscape changed. With sharing, community and conversation being today’s keywords, shoving a television commercial down consumers’ throats isn’t the way to create brand evangelists anymore.
Integration - Like all media, blogger outreach should be interwoven into your wider marketing strategy. For example, any time you see a new post referencing your brand on someone’s blog, tweet it, put it on your Facebook Page, share it on bookmarking sites, and link to it on your brand blog. That will further amplify indexing, relevance and solidify the relationship for further partnerships. Bottom line? If your brands looking for an edge (and have an appetite for innovation as a differentiator) - with 126 million blogs and growing, BLOGGER OUTREACH is something you simply can’t afford to ignore any longer.
Need some help? This is our specialty. We can work with your team (or for your team). Whatever’s easiest for your organization. Contact us today.
With so many different marketing, advertising and PR channels out there, it’s becoming harder and harder to be heard above the din. The numbers change from source to source, but we know the average person is bombarded with thousands of marketing messages every single day. The problem is that many messages can be blocked, through tools like digital video recorders, filters, or by simply clicking the X on an unwanted popup ad. It makes you wonder why advertisers don’t develop content people actually want?
The good news is that, despite ignoring corporate monologues, consumers are still hungry for relevant and contextual information. They seek knowledge and increasingly don't want to pay for it. Just think of the last time you wanted to know how to do something, like give your dog a flea bath or get red wine out of carpet. You probably Googled "how to X." Among the results were surely articles written by a company's representative. Maybe an article on "How to Give Your Dog a Flea Bath" was written by the marketing person at a flea and tick bath product company. Or maybe a carpet company rep wrote the one on the wine stain. The point is: these companies are providing valuable information to consumers and they're not charging for it. They're not asking visitors to register their email addresses or other transaction to get the information. So what are they getting out of it?
Trust. By becoming a ‘go-to’ resource on a given subject, a brand can secure the trust of consumers, which makes the likelihood they will become customers ten times more likely. Think about your own buying practices. Do you buy brands because they are a (perceived) superior product? Of course. But what is also likely is that consumers have a level of trust with these brands that competitors don't - and finding ‘under-the-radar’ ways to permeate the consumer mindset and creating an emotional connection (and somatic markers) is imperative.
The reality is that many companies are still slow to join the content bandwagon, so chances are, you can still beat your competitors to it. By providing all the useful information you can on your industry, you stand out as an expert, and people like companies that know what they're doing and talking about.
The Value of Branded Content Your content, in its many forms, is what will connect your brand to consumers in today's crowded marketing environment. By providing useful content, you can successfully extend value while connecting your brand to your prospects and customers.
Our suggestion is to publish topical, relevant and professional content on a regular basis. Content that introduces and/or reinforces brand attributes, adds supplementary branded content, and also amplifies your brand while aligning it with relevant trending ‘topics’ (of interest to your sector). This will have a positive affect, both on your SEO and PR activities.
Content marketing (in this case using articles) has proven to be one of the most cost-effective ways to establish your brand as a thought leader and expert in your industry. The resulting amplification leads to increased sales and dove-tails into all other activities by intelligently integrating with digital properties (i.e. Blog/RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and other relevant social properties.) The best part is that all content can be measured on a case-by-case basis and can be optimized moving forwards, therefore extremely cost-effective.
Need some help putting a framework in place or developing branded content? We can help. Contact info@goodbuzz.ca for more information.
T-Mobile is using their "Life's for Sharing" YouTube channel to spread the word on their new campaign. Their viral video, "Welcome Back," has over 4.5 million views. - YouTube
New Media author and thought leader Brian Solis shares his experience as a guest on Lexus's new social web series, "Darkcasting." - Brian Solis
OfficeMax is continuing their "ElfYourself" holiday campaign this year that allows fans to upload pictures and share their personalized video creations with friends - DM News
Since the launch of their Facebook eGifts, coupons, and contests, Cold Stone Creamery has been able to link their social media presence directly with sales - Social Media Examiner
Target, Best Buy, Home Depot, Sears, and Staples were amongst the top retailers to promote their Black Friday deals through Twitter - ClickZ
Procter & Gamble is pushing its Children's Safe Drinking Water program with a contest to recruit women bloggers to help inspire others to take action for the cause - Promo Magazine
Intelshares how they're creating, funding, and managing their social media strategy - eMarketer
RIM and Kraft Foods are finding success using simple conversations to engage with their fans on Twitter and Facebook - Ad Age
As playoff season approaches, Allstate is launching a new social media campaign with the help of popular blogger Spencer Hall assisting football fans in their away-game travels. - Allstate
Wendy's campaign for their new fry recipe includes a "Fry for All" application that lets users "share" a box of fries with their friends on Facebook. - NY Times
Emerging Technology and Disruption – Case Studies - Goodbuzz
When was the last time you increased positive brand sentiment, generated a measurable earned-media value, and gained more then 20,000 followers (with whom you can now follow up with) – for FREE? See how brands are redefining ‘relevance’ -http://bit.ly/gMwNVa
As a tribute to some of our favourite past digital campaigns that disrupted the status quo, we've compiled the following. Note that the years represent when they were introduced to consumers.
CHALKBOT, 2009, for the Livestrong Foundation and Nike, by Wieden + Kennedy. Consumers used a Web site and social media to submit messages “of hope and inspiration” that were chalked onto the course of the Tour de France.
DOVE EVOLUTION, 2006, for the Dove brand sold by Unilever, by Ogilvy + Mather Worldwide, part of WPP. A commercial that began running online before it appeared on TV asked for a reassessment of traditional standards of beauty.
DREAM KITCHENS, 2005, for Ikea, by Forsman & Bodenfors. Ikea’s first online commercials presented 3-D renditions of six wish-list kitchens.
ECO DRIVE, 2008, for Fiat, by AKQA. Software that recorded driving habits and offered tips on efficiency.
HBO VOYEUR, 2007, for HBO, a division of Time Warner, by two agencies, the BBDO New York division of the Omnicom Group and Big Spaceship. Passersby on a Manhattan street were invited to watch the goings-on in eight faux apartments in a campaign that also included a Web site.
THE HIRE (aka BMW Films), 2001-2, for BMW, by Fallon Worldwide, part of the Publicis Groupe. Clive Owen played a mysterious driver in a series of shorts — or long commercials — directed by filmmakers like John Frankenheimer and Ang Lee.
NIKE PLUS, 2006, for Nike, by R/GA, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies. A Web site, heralded by Nike as an “online goal-tracking running motivator,” supports Nike Plus shoes, which are equipped with sensors that transmit data to iPods.
SUBSERVIENT CHICKEN, 2004, for Burger King, by Crispin Porter & Bogusky. To promote the TenderCrisp chicken sandwich, Burger King invited visitors to an oddball Web site to order a chicken to perform fanciful tasks.
UNIQLOCK, 2007, for Uniqlo, by Projector. A widget, or small application, bearing the brand of Uniqlo, the Japanese clothing retailer, offered computer users music, dance clips and a qlock — er, clock.
WHOPPER SACRIFICE, 2009, for Burger King, by Crispin Porter & Bogusky. The campaign asked Facebook users to give up 10 friends in exchange for coupons for free Whopper sandwiches. Facebook, which was not party to the campaign, pressured Burger King to end it early — perhaps generating more publicity than if it had run its course.
All the above campaigns leverage both new media and new technologies for “great storytelling” that rivals the stories told by ads in traditional media like television and print. Viral, branded utility at it's best.
The holiday tradition of donating to The Salvation Army kettles is spreading to social networking sites. This year people can create their own kettles online, add kettles to Facebook Places, and tweet about their donations using the #fillthekettle Twitter hastag. - Fill the Kettle
Czech Republic automaker Skoda is awarding cars to Facebook users based on the level of their mean and sweet online activity. - Ad Age
Fans of Hasbro's Nerf brand get the chance to have their user-generated ad broadcast over national TV in Nerf's "Battle of the Ads" online contest. - Promo Magazine
Disney is teaming up with Gowalla to provide visitors a new way to explore the parks through virtual check-ins at each of the rides. - CNN
Volkswagen, Porsche, and Chevrolet all used social media in big ways during this year's L.A. Auto Show. - L.A. Times
Forrester announced the winners of its 2010 Groundswell Awards including Godiva, Secret, Kotex, TurboTax, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and USAA. - Forrester
As a part of Foursquare's new rewards platform, PepsiCo is partnering with Safeway to offer fans snacks and beverages based on their Foursquare behavior. - Fast Company
The Home Depot is selling out of products on their Facebook page by running weekly Facebook-exclusive deals for their fans. - Facebook
Geico is mixing up their online content with their recent take on the "Three Stooges'" insurance options. - BrandFreak
eBay's Christmas campaign is featuring a web series that shows kids' Christmas "freak outs" after opening their presents on Christmas morning. - Tubefilter
The New York Marathon is the largest event of its kind in the world. With nearly 50,000 participants and literally millions of fans cheering them on, you can see why associated brands must love the opportunity to showcase new experiential technologies.
ASICS amplified this year’s event with some fairly basic technology and a load of hi-tech signage. The campaign that allowed the participants friends and family to extend personalized ‘supporter’ messages to the runners along the race.
Participants ran the marathon with an embedded RFID tag that triggered massive LED screens to displaying the individual messages to the appropriate runner as they passed selected sensor checkpoints. It get’s better. ASICS setup a campaignsite dedicated to aggregating images, video, messages, texts, tweets and Facebook comments in support of runners in the event. They even setup live video booths at the event, allowing participants friends and family to record their personal messages in style. Great work.
For more on ASICS NYC Marathon Promotion view the video below.
Looking for other great examples of activating on-premise? Check out Nike’s ChalkBot? Or the Coca-Cola Villiage?
