Location Based Social Networks... what's the deal?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz lately about Location Based Social Networks (LBSNs) such as Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite and Loopt. With a growing user-base (Foursquare just passed the 2 million mark) we all want to know who’s using these services, how often they’re using them, what they’re using them for, how our clients can get involved, and if they should. Large chains such as Starbucks and Chili’s restaurant have already partnered with LBSNs to test promotions… so far, with mixed results. Check out this article from AdAge about some of the challenges and pitfalls these early adopters have faced.

A recent report by Forrester provides a little perspective on the subject of LBSNs, finding that less than 5% of U.S. online users have ever used a location-based application on a mobile device. Interesting to note that these users are typically young (~70% between the ages of 19 and 35), male (~80%), well-educated, and influential. Read more on Forrester’s own blog and on gigaom.com

Infographic: The Road to Wellness

Interesting take on the "Road to Wellness" by Hartman Group. Displayed on a LIFE-like board game are various dieting fads, advertising milestones, and other health and wellness trends from the last 200 years. Definitely worth checking out!

http://www.hartman-group.com/hartbeat/infographic-the-road-to-wellness

Cascadian Farm Blueberries come to FarmVille

Big week coming up for SRG client... Cascadian Farm will become FarmVille’s first-ever “in-game, branded crop” that consumers can plant, grow and interact with all while learning about the benefits of organic farming on the world’s largest virtual agricultural stage. During the week of July 19-16, FarmVille players will be able to plant an organic blueberry crop from Cascadian Farm and download a $1.00 coupon that can be redeemed in a brick-and-mortar store.

The popular social game FarmVille boosts 20 million users EACH DAY, and 60 million+ active monthly users.

Check out this great New York Times article about the upcoming Cascadian Farm campaign.


Go to Cascadian Farm's pages on Facebook to get in on the action:

• Farmer Joe Cascadian
• Cascadian Farm's Farmville Community Celebration

World Cup 2010

In celebration of this Sunday's World Cup final, ADFREAK.com put together a list of the 10 best soccer commercials. Funny, impressive, nostalgic, and all very dramatic... click here to check them out for yourself.

And if any of you soccer fans missed the dynamic calendar Jay sent out last month - it's definitely worth checking out. By rolling your mouse over different parts of the wheel, the center view quickly changes to show the World Cup's schedule by country, by stadium, by group/stage, by date, and geographically... just to name a few. Click here to view.

WEBINAR: Living Your Best Gluten-Free Life

Almond Board of California has teamed up with Living Without magazine editor-in-chief Alicia Woodward and gluten-free experts: Shelley Case, RD and Elana Amsterdam; and will host a free webinar on gluten-free living this Thursday, July 8th at 11:00am MST.

Register for this free webinar to learn about the gluten-free diet and ways that almonds can inspire solutions to the nutrition, convenience and taste challenges of this diet.

Click here for more information on the webinar speakers and to register for this free event.

Interesting Social Media Article

Hi All~

As a follow-up to last week’s BPT, I thought this social media article was very relevant. It discusses that while 78% of companies report participating in social media, only 41% say they have a strategic plan in place to guide their efforts. Let’s not let our clients fall into the trap of participating in social media without a solid strategy in place!

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=130723&nid=115750

Okay, I will get off my soap box now :-)
Laura

IKEA Facebook Campaign

For anyone who missed the "Tech Meetup" presentation yesterday, the team shared a great example of a simple, but very effective Facebook Campaign done by popular furniture store, IKEA. to promote the opening of a new IKEA Malmö store.

Basically, they just created a profile for the store manager, and started posting photos of IKEA showrooms to his photo album. The consumer who tagged his or her name on each individual product first, won that product.

"Instead of people just looking at a banner with furniture, we got them to personally promote IKEA. People gladly added their name to an interactive IKEA catalogue, and spread it to all their friends, only using Facebook's already existing functions."

There's a great recap video on YouTube (only 1:33) that illustrates how IDEA brought this marketing idea to life. Check it out