Social Media and the Oscars

Posted on February 26, 2013 by Julie Blakley

As social media becomes increasingly integrated into the world of traditional media and television, large televised events like the Super Bowl and the Oscars are becoming a hotbed of social media activity. Broadcasters are embracing the trend, realizing that second screen viewing experiences offer yet another place to engage with fans, amplify messages and incorporate user-generated content into their programming.

Rise of Social Television

According to an article on The Next Web, we watch television with one or more mobile devices in our hands or within reach and we are eager to share online what we like and don’t like when we’re watching television.

Researchers Nielsen, Deloitte, Google and Thinkbox tell us:

75% to 85% of TV viewers use internet devices while watching.

60% of these multi-taskers are emailing

Up to 52% of viewers are doing something with social media related to the show being viewed

Between 27% to 44% browse for products spotted in a show (what are YOU wearing tonight? @VeraWang?)

According to Rob Gelick, senior vice president and general manager of digital platforms for CBS Interactive, second screen experiences exist in a space between marketing and content, and they’ve been “more wildly successful than we’d ever hoped.”

In fact, watching TV is now decidedly no longer an ‘offline experience’ for a quickly growing group of people.

Oscars and Social Media

At this year’s Oscars, social media was integrated into almost every part of the night.

While Hollywood’s greatest gathered in the Dolby Theater for the 85^th annual Academy Awards, the rest of the country gathered in maybe a slightly less glamorous place — the Internet. Like any other big nationally televised event, the masses took to Twitter and Facebook to share their thoughts and excitement on everything from Seth MacFarlane’s hosting and jokes to the musical acts.

Over the course of the night there were over 8.9 million tweets about the big show (2.1 million during the red carpet and 6.8 million during the awards show).
Continue reading →

12 Best Social Media Campaigns of 2012

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Julie Blakley

Social media marketing has continued to evolve, grow and become an integral part of any cohesive digital strategy for many of the top brands. In 2012, we saw many companies roll out innovative and creative campaigns via multiple social media platforms.

Here’s a look at 12 of our favorite successful social media campaigns from the past year:

Grey Poupon – The Society of Good Taste

In the 1980s, Grey Poupon rolled out a memorable ad and marketing campaign that promoted the image of the mustard as being a premium condiment enjoyed by the likes of rich guys who get chauffeured in Rolls-Royces.

After a long quiet period on the marketing front, Grey Poupon launched a new marketing initiative via social media this past fall. The creative campaign aimed to refocus on positioning the brand as one of high class and good taste.

Grey Poupon created a Facebook app that would check would-be fans profiles to see whether their proper use of grammar, taste in art, restaurant check-ins, books and movie combined for a high enough score to merit membership in the “Society of Good Taste” (become a fan of the Facebook page). In an age where most brands clamor to amass as many fan likes as possible, the move to disqualify some people from becoming a fan seemed counter intuitive.

However, the reality was the campaign was exclusive, on-brand and smart. Not only did the unique campaign gain a lot of media attention, but Grey Poupon also curated a smaller, but more engaged fan base.

Sephora – 15 Days of Beauty Thrills

I recently mentioned another Sephora social media campaign in my post, “Creative Social Media Holiday Campaigns,” but their holiday-focused campaign wasn’t the only way the beauty emporium successfully marketed themselves online last year.

Turns out, the brand has proven itself to be very savvy when it comes to digital and social (and blending the two together). After rolling out a mobile friendly overhaul of the website in April, the company wanted to find a clever way to drive traffic there via social media.

In order to achieve this, Sephora rolled out their 15 Days of Beauty Thrills sweepstakes, which partnered with its partners in the beauty business to furnish the “thrills” for users. Thrills (such as small gifts, shopping sprees and more) were given away to those who participated via Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. On Facebook, fans were able to learn about the next day’s thrill at midnight, incentivizing people to “like” the Brand Page in return for these exclusives.

The campaign was a success – growing the fan base grew six times the normal rate, and there were more sales linked to the Facebook than ever. Website traffic was also up. Continue reading →

5 Creative Social Media Campaign Microsites

Posted on December 26, 2012 by Marcie Giovannoni

When it comes to building a successful branded social media campaign, there are countless creative strategies and tactics at a brand’s disposal. One strategy becoming more popular (especially with the rise of social media) is the microsite.

A brand’s main website already has a structured navigation, ecommerce actions and basic social needs, and adding an additional component for a campaign or promotion could get complicated and/or make a mess of the site. Enter microsite, stage left.

A microsite is a dedicated site that is used to highlight a brand’s product, a promotion or a campaign. It’s an exclusive place for fans and consumers to engage and interact with unique content: both brand and user-generated.

Microsites are an effective method of enhancing marketing efforts, efficiently targeting additional audiences that companies normally wouldn’t have time to reach using the traditional approach.

The most common social media campaign microsites contain user-generated content, creating context for the brand as well as credibility.

Continue reading →

Hashtag Campaigns Done Right

Posted on November 20, 2012 by Marcie Giovannoni

A hashtag isn’t just a word, or combination or words- it can be a brand, a passion, a spirit or a joke. However, it is most of all a community in conversation. It’s people coming together to share excitement, pride, gripes, stories and/or loyalty for a common interest.

Why does it matter? Hashtags not only create conversations and community, but they can create context for your brand or product.

As social media continues to exponentially grow, brands are trying to find new ways to set themselves apart and engage with their audiences.

Many big name brands have initiated hashtag campaigns- some successful, others horrific and some that just fell flat. There are many crucial parts to a successful hashtag campaign, and even the tiniest slip can cause one to fail.

Sourcing user-generated content and fan content is becoming more and more popular as brands are realizing how important consumer engagement is to their economic success. User-generated content demonstrates brand loyalty and also gives other audiences context for the content and, most importantly, the product.

Integrating user-generated content from a campaign back to a brand’s website can not only increase engagement with fans potentially unaware of the campaign or not on social media; but can also extend the mileage of the brand’s hashtag campaign content. Another benefit of bringing the campaign back to a website is that it’s been known to increase time on site exponentially. Continue reading →