♔ SOCIAL MEDIA CASE STUDIES [GB_V28.0]

LEVIS 'Rear View Girls' in Los Angeles - What better way to profile Jeans then to use a hidden ass-cam (by GoPro) to catch people checking your butt out. So busted.

Leadership, opinion and ideas from the brightest minds in our industry (SoDA - Society of Digital Agencies Blog) 

In honor of upcoming Mardi Gras celebrations, Southern Comfort is inviting fans to check in at the French Quarter on Foursquare for a chance to win a trip to next year's Mardi Gras. - The New York Times 

Brian Solis (Keynote speaker at recent Social Media Masters Conference) on connecting brands and consumers today.

Dogfish Head Brewery discusses how they were able to turn the American Red Cross's accidental tweet into a marketing success for both companies. - CNNMoney 

Toronto graffiti documented via Google Street Art View. Imagine the Google Art Project – but just showcasing Graffiti from around the world. In this case the T-dot. Holla 

Tasti D-Lite shares how they are finding their unique target audience online and connecting with them via social media. - SmartBlog 

Shout your love from the top of a mountain. Well not you, but fully qualified Mountain Men yellers (employed by AT&T for this humorous Valentines Day promotion) - View

Texas Instruments' shares how they defragmented social media to drive innovation. - Vimeo 

Heat MWC app from Google - A phenomenal example (by our friends at Jung von Matt Stockholm) of what can be achieved using real-time mobile technologies and geo-locational tagging today - App

eMarketer is analyzing the effectiveness of advertising on social networks and how to improve Facebook ad performance metrics. - eMarketer 

A virtual divining rod for booty - 'Heat Tracker' (by Draftfcb) is a location-based app (powered by Foursquare’s check-in data) that identifies the number of people 'good to go' at nearby locations (thereby assisting in determining where the ‘action’ is at any given moment) - http://www.heattrackerapp.com/ 

Popular Science Augmented Reality (AR) cover (by metaio) even interacts with 3D Google Maps and a YouTube interface -Video

Telemundo is launching a social media hub called Social@Telemundo to better connect with the Hispanic presence online. - NBC Universal 

TED Talks Seth Godin argues the Internet has ended mass marketing and revived a human social unit from the distant past: tribes. Founded on shared ideas and values, tribes give ordinary people the power to lead and make big change – Video 

Discovery Communications' discusses how their digital team has gained over 25 million Facebook fans by sharing compelling content and encouraging regular engagement. - ClickZ 

For the latest Nike 10k in Buenos Aires, Nike presented an InterTwitter race whereby the runners could challenge their Twitter followers (as well as their on-the-street competitors) - Video

Augmented Reality (AR) as a utility (by metaio) drives relevance and adoption. Metaio demos developments in Augmented Reality (AR) – More 

H&R Block share how they are adapting conversations online to create customer experiences and generate tons of referrals. - Social Media Examiner 

MINI Canada + Burton Snowboards co-branded bliss (by Taxi) -More 

BRANDS AS SOCIAL MOVEMENTS –Part 2 - The Scion ART Case Study 

Social game Zynga is featuring a custom challenge that revolves around speed to promote T-Mobile's campaign for the new 4G Network. - BrandWeek 

TED Talks While news from Iran streams to the world, Clay Shirky shows how Facebook, Twitter and TXTs help citizens in repressive regimes to report on real news, bypassing censors (however briefly). The end of top-down control of news is changing the nature of politics – Video 

American Express is offering five free iTunes songs to their Facebook fans when purchased with an American Express Card. - Facebook 

BRANDS AS SOCIAL MOVEMENTS –Part 1 - The MINI Space Case Study 

♔ 'Brand as Badge' – The Scion Art Case Study

Increasingly consumers are defining themselves by what and whom they associate with. To wit, what your brand represents is an integral part of peoples identity by association.  This brand ‘shorthand’ is a testament to ones beliefs and values. It’s a badge and by definition, is a characteristic mark, device (or token) especially of membership in a society or group.  It's also an imperative element to creating an aspirational identity that’s relevant to the consumer (and coincidentally the key in getting people to want to be associated with your brand.)

This is precisely why many savvy brands are focusing on social good today.  A brand’s 'badge' is largely based on the identity and imagery that consumers freely and naturally associate with it.  It serves as a means of social identity to represent one’s place in the world. Consumers adopt your brand today as a badge because of a shared mission or purpose - something that by proxy makes them both look and feel good about themselves.

As we’ve stated in previous posts, what’s also become clear today is that this ‘connected collective’ build modern brands.  Tribes of like-minded people aligned by something other then (and bigger then) the brand itself.  A unifying, overarching idea or movement facilitated by the brand.  From billionaires to bands and from consumers to brands, people and organisations are reordering their priorities and causing global change across a range of interconnected spaces from honesty and fair employment practices to communal, social and environmental responsibility and simply being nice. The marketing community, from individual advertising figures to new agencies and business structures, is helping drive this ethical movement.

Whether BMW’s ‘Activate the Future’ Initiative (building community around the future of mobility), Pepsi’s Refresh Project (giving away millions each month to fund refreshing ideas that change the world), MINI’s Space initiative  (building community around creative use of space), or other great examples – what’s become clear is that the connected collective is driving an ethical, moral and responsible advertising revolution. Brands are reordering their priorities and causing global change across a range of interconnected spaces - from honesty and fair employment practices to communal, social and environmental responsibility.  Other brand examples include GE's Ecomagination, Tom's Shoes' 'Buy-one, give-one' model, and Benetton's Africa Works microfinance scheme.  Admittedly, some are more altruistic than others but all examples of the brand as incubator, steward and shepherd. 

SCION ART

Scion Art champions and supports independent artistic expression with a permanent gallery in Los Angeles, an annual art tour across the U.S., monthly gallery sponsorships, custom artist created cars, and other activities that reinforce the brands core values and defines it’s constituents.

The Scion Collection Art Tour extends the brand via facilitated events across the U.S. to meet their constituents via art, music, fashion and culture. Artists featured included graffiti artists, mural artists, painters, and sculpture artists. To further amplify Scion added professional action sports athletes to the mix.  Scion stepped up and championed underground culture and this community (coincidentally Scion’s target demographic) was given a badge.  Scion garnered real street-cred by supporting those who had real street cred. Other examples of this are Red Bull’s King of the Ring and their own history in street art.  All messaging and media aligned with the brand’s unique consumer “role” and naturally this movement was supported online via website, Scion.com, Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube, Tumblr, Flickr and MySpace. 

The bottom line is that to succeed today you need to translate your brand attributes into nothing less then a social movement. Find your constituents and given them a badge via inspiration, distruption and value. Find a shared mission or purpose that stem from the essence of an idea that people feel passionate about.  Something shared, credible, valuable and contagious that resonates with your target consumers (and by proxy ensures an emotional link and organic connection with your brand.)  Kudos to Scion - for making ‘less about the moment and more about the movement’.  Extending one powerful unifying, overarching idea (facilitated by the brand) that seeks to aggregate and align like-minded people by extending something other then (and bigger then) the brand itself. Very impressive indeed.

NOTE:  For more articles and posts from the last week please visit us on Twitter@goodbuzz.  If you have info, articles, case studies, or other examples of (TTL) participatory marketing bliss - please feel free to either post via Facebook or send via e-mail and we’ll take care of it for you. ;)  Please identify if you find a dead link (as they were all live at the time of this posting).

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♔ BRANDS AS SOCIAL MOVEMENTS - THE MINI SPACE STORY

Traditional institutions are breaking down around us on a daily basis and therefore it’s natural for us to feel impotent and uncertain in these times - as self-trust is undermined.  With so much change and uncertainty around us today, people are increasingly defining themselves by what and whom they associate with.  That’s not always a bad thing. 

A mental alignment with others who share similar beliefs can offer a sense of community, make us feel connected, open boundaries and bring new energy and newness into our lives.  It can be democratizing.  Psychologically, this sense of community is also one of the major tenants of self-definition, as being part of a group gives meaning, emotional safety, and identification. The influence is also bi-directional and reinforcing.  Fueled by increasingly powerful technology, we are increasingly realizing the power and wisdom of the connected collective.  This is our modern paradigm.

What’s also become clear today is that this ‘connected collective’ build modern brands.  Tribes of like-minded people aligned by something other then (and bigger then) the brand itself.  A unifying, overarching idea or movement facilitated by the brand.  Indeed this is the era of the brand as incubator, steward and shepherd. 

The bottom line is that to succeed today you need to translate your brand attributes into nothing less then a social movement.  An informal grouping of individuals focused on a specific political or social issue, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change.  It’s much, much bigger then your brand. It’s a shared mission or purpose and has to stem from the essence of an idea that people feel passionate about.  Something shared, credible, valuable and contagious that resonates with consumers and by proxy ensures an emotional link and organic connection with your brand. Therefore, you can see it’s far more about what your brand extends the tribe (and how it validates and elevates its members) by association. It’s the most important reason your brand matters to consumers.  To further demonstrate this point, we’d suggest watching Simon Sinek's and Seth Godin’s inspiring TED Talks. 

The MINI Space Story

BMW’s Mini brand clearly understands this. They created MINI Space; an “urban initiative born of a dream to provide the online creative community with an inspiring framework for making "Creative Use of Space," in the original spirit of MINI design.”  The MINI Space mission is to “dedicate ourselves to the motto "Creative Use of Space" and provide a hub for connecting creative people, events and competitions.”  Twitter and Facebook further extend a “hub for connecting.”

Whether New Testament, Torah, or Koran, all major religions are movements built upon a heft of history and stories.  MINI Space is no different, explaining to its tribe that, “way back in 1959, the MINI was designed to make maximum use of minimum space. Not only was it a highly functional, exciting, new kind of car, its compact form also addressed urgent contemporary issues like declining energy resources: the original and ultimate creative use of space. As creative people living in an urban landscape, we are constantly thinking of new ways to explore or re-imagine the spaces around us in more functional, beautiful, and accessible ways."

To MINI, that means creating a forum for meeting people who share a passion for creativity; fostering unique competitions like the MINI Space Product Design Competition in Association with Fatboy; keeping up with events like the annual Life Ball AIDS benefit; getting updates about new creative initiatives and trends worldwide on their blog; and even more. As part of this commitment to creativity and innovation, MINI Space puts a high priority on staying on top of trends, and growing and changing with the times.

Kudos to MINI, as they’ve not created yet another fleeting brand moment. They’ve created a movement. All around the:

One powerful unifying, overarching idea (facilitated by the brand) that seeks to aggregate and align like-minded people by extending something other then (and bigger then) the brand itself.  Very impressive indeed. Check it out the website, Facebook, and Twitter. 

♔ SOCIAL MEDIA CASE STUDIES [GB_V27.0]

State Farm is reaching out to a younger audience on YouTube and Facebook in order to promote Weezer's cover of the brand's classic jingle, "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there." Ouch - BrandChannel 

Hugo Boss let you design the F1 racing overalls worn by the Hugo Boss F1 team at the Formula 1 grand finale. The winner gets two free airline and event tickets. Better still? They also will meet Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button in person in Sao Paulo, Brazil - Case Study 

The Future of Social Commerce - An interesting look (Skive/Soup) at selling products and virtual goods using FB –  Slideshare

Åkestam Holst's (Sweden’s Rockstars) work for the SWEDISH POST to get more people mailing Christmas Cards over the holidays? Swedish Post had Åkestam Holst's (and some Reindeer) innovative platform makes it unique again - Video 

GM, Ford, and BMW are bringing social media to the Chicago Auto Show by inviting bloggers, tweeters, and Facebook fans to tour and test drive their featured vehicles - The Detroit News 

Taco Bell is turning a lawsuit about their beef (or lack thereof) into a social media strategy by giving away 10 million free tacos to FB "likers" who download and print a coupon. Te quiero en absoluto - ClickZ 

The 'Gutpod' by Åkestam Holst (Sweden) - Fredrik Hjemquist CEO of Pause Home Entertainment Store, successfully swallowed the tailor made wireless sound system gutPod and transformed himself to a Human Jukebox - Video 

Hallmark is engaging with FB fans by inviting them to share special moments and personalize cards to send to friends online.  - Facebook 

The latest (2010) Demo Reel of augmented reality projects by Total Immersion - the global leader in Augmented Reality Solutions - Goodbuzz

MIT's FLYFIRE, a project initiated by the SENSEable City Laboratory in collaboration with ARES Lab (Aerospace Robotics and Embedded Systems Laboratory) aims to transform any ordinary space into a highly immersive and interactive display environment using an army of location-aware mini-copters to form 3D LED art - Video

SEALY's new "In Bed Tagger" mobile application allows fans to transform their photos into the ultimate fortune cookie joke and share them with friends on just about any social network  - Facebook 

GE is using an internal social networking community called MarkNet to connect their employees (get everybody on the radar) and leverage their knowledge and experience for the benefit of the company - Social Media B2B 

JEEP - Leo Burnett Worldwide (Iberia's) clever use of Twitter called #jeeppuzzle - the idea was that users would follow the jeeppuzzle profile, and inside that profile, jeep would be following a total of 12 other profiles. Now, in each of those profiles, they would be following a further 36 profiles, with each holding part of a puzzle - Overview

Augmented Reality 2.0 – some (hopefully inspiring) examples of where we’ve been and where we’re going -  Examples

TOYOTA PRIUS Grammatical YouTube video lessons, real-time Facebook polls, and Twitter debates are all part of Toyota's "Prius Goes Plural" campaign that challenges fans to decide on what the plural form of the new Prius should be.  - Saatchi & Saatchi 

Kraft Foods' Oreo is attempting to enter the Guinness Book of World Records with the title, "World's Most-Liked Cookie," by gaining over 45,000 Facebook likes in twenty-four hours.  - BrandRepublic 

Mattel, Victoria's Secret, and CBS all turned to social media for their Valentine's Day campaigns. Promotions included interaction with Barbie and Ken on Twitter, racy e-Valentines, and a Facebook virtual gift application.  - USA TODAY 

Discovery Channel used social media to turn up the volume and engagement for its fans during Shark Week.  - Vimeo

MATTEL - Barbie can't resist Ken's co-branded wooing - More

EXPION's Social Media Management Solution allows large brands with multiple locations (or franchises) to control all social messaging and much more - www.expion.com 

SUBARU WRX by DDB Canada strapped four High-Definition cameras onto a Subaru WRX rally car, so now you can control the action. Choose between four explosive angles to watch Subaru take on the tough Stage 4 of Tall Pines - http://bit.ly/gHRfHF 

GlobalWebIndex 2011 Annual Report - How the world’s biggest events are getting bigger and how brands need to respond. The - 'Welcome to Social Entertainment' 

DENTSU (LONDON) - Exploring playful uses for the increasingly ubiquitous ‘glowing rectangles’ that inhabit the world. We use photographic and animation techniques that were developed to draw moving 3-dimensional typography and objects with an iPad - Video

The Complete Guide to the New Facebook Brand Pages Redesign (WILDFIRE) 

FAST COMPANY - The Future of the Agency - Advertising is on the cusp of its first creative revolution since the 1960s - but the ad industry might get left behind - More

Hipster brand Converse comes to the aid of legendary London rock venue the 100 Club - which was due to close - More

For Valentine's Day AT&T let’s Social Media users submit love messages to be shouted from a mountaintop - http://youtu.be/hUFuyApqckc 

Map your Valentine - Ahhh the endless possibilities of how this could have been branded and tied into a campaign to amplify http://www.mapyourvalentine.com/ 

(Digital Rockstars) Jung von Matt’s latest project: Heat MWC for Google. It features a new search and cluster technology -http://fb.me/ABl45Vwq 

Dribbble is show and tell for creatives. - http://dribbble.com/ 

NUJI - Remember, share and discover the products you love with like-minded people - http://www.nuji.com 

If you have other good examples, feel free to post -or- send to info@goodbuzz.ca 

♔ The Evolution of Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented Reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input, such as sound or graphics. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified to enhance one’s current perception of reality.  For any of you (luddites) who still haven't seen some of the things brands can do using AR, we've compiled a few examples below.  


The first example isn't really AR at all. It is however the first example of mixed/ augmented reality in the midst of an otherwise formally conventional feature film, but also in relation to the recent proliferation of text treatments in motion graphics work.  The overlaying of text on screen in this scene from David Fincher's Fight Club bears an uncanny relationship to recent experiments with information graphics in augmented reality research. It also offers a clever and self-reflexive meta-commentary on the conventions of product-placement that is increasingly common in contemporary feature films.  (See below)

[ Fight Club Ikea Catalogue Scene ]

Transformers - We Are Autobots AR

Augmented Reality (AR) Promotional used to build excitement around the launch of the latest Transformers movie. It was the first good example I’ve seen where facial tracking technology is mixed with Augmented Reality to enhance the experience.

Mattel: Avatar Toys

Toy maker Mattel’s solid AR example that got some serious hype with the launch of Avatar.  It can be used with Mattel products or as a product itself, and as the technology becomes more advanced, we’ll be able to have toys like this interact in a very “game like” way - making them even more appealing.

Adidas Originals Shoe AR

This Augmented Reality Shoe App provides one of the most detailed AR models while combining a lot of functionality and interactivity into the app. However, the downside is it’s so detailed that it seems to be a little slow (just sayin’) in the gaming area.

Stella Artois Le Bar Guide

Stella’s Augmented Reality App blends real world places with directions, promotions, and other useful features. 

GE’s Smart Grid AR

As featured on the front cover of Popular Science magazine in early 2009, this robust app is responsible for sparking the big push from brands and agencies into Augmented Reality last year.

Rayban Virtual Mirror

Try on the entire range of Rayban sunglasses from your very own computer. Like the Transformers AR app, it works with some facial recognition.  The app maps key points of your face then utilizes these as the directional markers to track and size the sunglasses perfectly on your face.  Perfect to enhance sales and introduce new product lines.  It’s even tied into an e-Commerce application.  Smart.

BMW Z4 AR

This Augmented Reality Example was one of the first to allow you to take an AR model in your hands, place it on your desktop and then control the car from the keyboard and webcam while you drive it around your desk!  The AR app also allowed you to save out the graphic you created and share with your friends on Facebook & Twitter.  It’s really the BMW of AR apps. Go figure.

Although the correct description "mobile markerless tracking algorithm optimized for dual-core chips" sounds very complex, the demo shows how easy life can be with AR.

The Future - AR 2.0
Currently in the prototype stages, this technology demo by researchers at the University of  Tokyo are using ultrasound technology to give holograms a solid feel. Sensors detect when you’re touching the hologram making the whole experience truly interactive. 


2011 Mobile World Congress MWC Teaser 
Here is a taste of what we’ll be seeing at this 2011 Mobile World Congress (MWC). This video demos the world`s first integrated markerless 3D object tracking on a smartphone. Or, to you and me, it shows us where Augmented Reality is heading: robust, smooth and useful everyday experiences. 

Iron Man 2 Augmented Experience 

Much like the Trasformers example, users can use their webcams to get suited up with either an Iron Man or War Machine helmet, as well as take a look at what the HUD (heads up display) would look like through Iron Man or War Machine’s perspectives.

Microsoft Live Labs

Blaise Aguera y Arcas TED Talk on Augmented Reality (AR) Maps.

Have examples of great AR you'd like to showcase?  When we say great, we mean at the level of say a North Kingdom or Total Immersion.  Still not sure?  Take a moment and check out Total Immersions Reel on their website.  Send examples to info@goodbuzz.ca