Driving home from New Jersey a few weeks ago, I was left with little options for food unless I ventured off the highway. So like many a wary traveler, I found solace underneath the golden arches. While waiting for my ever-so nutritious sustenance, I came across Fun Times magazine.
Every week, I come across countless presentations and blogs that are really neat. Instead of hitting the X in the top of my browser, I decided to share these three with you.
When I checked my email last night, I had one from MLB. The subject line read Campaign for your MLB All-Stars. Now like I said the other day, MLB is one of those things that I’m a fanboy for so, I opened the email. Instead of a usual plea to vote for the Mid-Summer Classic, the league made a contest around building a community for a particular player on your favorite team. People were incentivized to share with friends and family as well as their social networks. A point value was assigned for each “recruited votes” and points earn you a status on the campaign. It’s kind of like the political process, but you don’t have to pony up cash.
One of the things that always gets to me is when brands don't bring their marketing messages together. For instance a while ago a wrote about a pair of brands that were close, but no cigar, so I didn't expect much when I signed up for a box of free Cheddar Explosion Mac & Cheese from Kraft on Facebook. I know, I am a five year old stuck in the body of a 29-year old and am excited easily by 'splosions and macaroni and cheese.
Now while it starts out awesome with the guy talking about how good the coffee is, the commercial was ruined with the influx of the company’s new breakfast sandwiches. I understand that you need to sell your new line of sandwiches, but they don’t fit the content of the ad. It loses its viral and organic feel by shoving a message for sandwiches down your throat. Hopefully they can continue to incorporate UGC into their marketing mix as its pretty cool and may give them an edge against Dunkin and Starbucks.
Earlier this week, I came across the 2010 Social Media Marketing Industry Report from Michael Stelzner and Social Media Examiner (download full report here). I won’t lie, I love numbers and research reports so I read them when I come across them. It’s OK you can admit it, you are a numbers junkie too. Like most reports, the SMMIR offers many useful stats and figures that can help people trying to make heads or tails of social media.
Growing up, skateboarding was one of my hobbies. While the community and many companies were standoffish of the growing culture, one company was ready to embrace it. Looking at recent history, you might be inclined to say that the company was Red Bull or Target, the first major brand to take to the up-and-coming sports phenomenon was Mountain Dew. Kids loved it and the company loved them back.
This work by Jeff Esposito is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at jeffesposito.com.