Came across yet another example of social media turned sour. ABC posted a video on Facebook promoting their new sitcom “Don’t Trust the B in Apt 23”. The video (starring James Van Der Beek) is actually grin-worthy but has some disturbing comments posted by users. Not exactly the reaction ABC was hoping for.
Thanks to allthingsd.com for finding this!
By now you’ve heard all the rage about Pinterest…or maybe you live under a rock. And you also may know that roughly 68% of users of the site are female, although the site doesn’t target women explicitly. This article in the Wall Street Journal highlights similar sites that are targeting men: DartItUp.com and GentleMint.com.
Are mainstream social media sites so prevalent that sites geared towards a segment of the population will have critical mass to flourish? Pinterest hopes so. In May 2011 the site had 50,000 visitors, up to 11 million last month.
The article also mentions chill.com, a video sharing site geared towards both sexes.
Via @WSJ
wikipedia’s sopa/pipa blackout = genius
not only did wikipedia bring the internet information world to its knees with its highly visible & much talked about sopa/pipa blackout (and also freaking out otherwise unaware high schoolers, double bonus…”DUDE WTF IS UP W/ WIKIPEDIA OMG!!????”), but it did so in a way that was true to its brand and reflected its core purpose: it blacked out in protest…but also asked what your zip code was, and served up the names, twitter handles, emails etc of your senators and representatives. so it was still providing useful information, even in a blackout!
i for one thought this was hugely convenient and pretty genius…i took advantage of it, tweeted one of my senators and my house representative (my other nj senator is not on twitter yet apparently…get with the program senator lautenberg, jeez), and then once i tweeted them, i shared the fact that i had done so on my own twitter wall as well, again using a tweet that wikipedia had already drafted for me:
I just contacted Sen. Robert Menéndez to oppose #SOPA/#PIPA - Join me! http://tinyurl.com/7vq4o8g #wikipediablackout
so wikipedia actually facilitated every step of the process, and made it much easier for me to participate in voicing my outrage, and also provided me with useful info. now that’s what i call smart social media integration…and apparently very effective, as you can see in wikipedia’s follow-up landing page, pictured below.
so kudos to you wikipedia! and thanks for freaking out america’s high schoolers! someone had to do it.
VIsa worked with ESPN and the SuperBowl to create this really fun widget, a “You and 10 Friends Draft” that creates a video for you based on your social networks. Their current promotion offers you the chance to go to the 2013 SuperBowl with 10 friends - instant reason to share your interaction with their brand.
The app analyzes your social networks and creates a top 10 draft pick list based on their interactions with you and the social media world. Wasn’t exactly accurate in terms of who I would actually want to take with me, but a ton of fun nonetheless and a great tie-in to their current “you and ten friends at the SuperBowl” promotion.
Who doesn’t want a ESPN commentator narrating a video about YOU? This is a great example of using Facebook to create compelling content that’s share-able for a good reason, fun to use, and worth telling your friends about….
take a look, if you can, at sapient nitro’s embarrassing social media misstep above.
this is why anything that supposedly represents your company MUST be reviewed internally by multiple parties…bc when multiple reviews happen, things like this promo video get killed. as they should. immediately. without mercy.
ughh so embarrassing. don’t worry sapient nitro, you’ll bounce back, eventually. just do something amazing to follow this up and ppl will forget this little misstep (and fyi don’t delete poster’s comments either).
just a stark reminder to the rest of us “creative” agencies out there…the work we do for ourselves needs to be just as good as (if not better than) the work we do for our clients.
An interesting infographic by AddThis that looks sharing trends on the Web. Some things that stood out:
- people still tend to cut/paste URLs vs. using Sharing buttons
- Most sharing happens over morning coffee (or tea)
- 75% of clicks happen on the first day you share.
(via @mashable)
What makes people want to follow a brand - INFOGRAPHIC
By: Ray Perfetti - Studio Manager NYC
“Some of the Web’s best sites are variations of one simple idea.” — @TIME.
Dear Photograph is a wonderful example of mixing digital and analog in our social/sharing landscape.
Social Media Influence
By now, I think there are very few people who still question the value of social media, though there are no universal methods of measurement in place to determine the exact value added by a social media activation.
In the digital space, measurement is essentially (stay with me on this one…) the “golden ticket” everyone is searching for. However, there are a few analytic tools that can give one an overview of his/her social media influence; my favorites hasve recently been released by Edelman’s Digital team – Tweetlevel and Bloglevel. Such tools give us – the users and consumers of social media – a way to calculate our influence.
Although I’m not, say, Justin Beiber, I am still interested in my clout in the social media space. I have no need to measure my digital activity as if I were a brand investing in a social media campaign, but I do enjoy that there are metrics for even the lowliest of users (like myself).
As these tools keep being developed, I think we will be much closer to establishing a universal way to measure social value. And this will encourage brands to expand their social presence into a more engaging, meaningful way to connect with their core consumers.
Is your nail polish social?
As a lover of both social media and nail polish, I’m interested in how nail polish companies (specifically, OPI and Essie) leverage social media to engage their core consumers.
In my experience, most brands do not effectively use social media to engage me. They have a presence, but their content just doesn’t deliver. Surprisingly, both OPI and Essie have successfully utilized social networking platforms to bring their brand to life in the social space. Both brands have a robust social presence that tells their brand story, and encourages consumers to integrate the brand into their story. Many fans of these brands upload pictures of their nails (some of which are very beautifully and creatively designed) and interact with the brand through the published content.
OPI does a bit of a better job of offering unique content and leading discussions on Facebook; and fans seem to genuinely enjoy the interaction. The most unique feature of their social media presence is the integration of the OPI Nail Studio with their Facebook page. Shown above, OPI gives fans the option to try on their favorite OPI colors - without making a trip to the store; and I think this adds value to their Facebook page.
I think Essie has room to grow in this space since consumers want to connect with their favorite brands in a more meaningful way. However, Essie does have some unique content on Facebook through the Essie Girl page, which shares “one girl’s musings on all things colorful.” Overall, both are examples of how brands successfully use digital platforms to tell their story.
