Ads Worth Spreading

TED (Technology, Entertainment, and Design), a non-profit organization, passionately espouses that ideas have the power to “change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world”. This organization actively seeks “ideas worth spreading” and awards people for their efforts in this pursuit. This Tuesday TED turned their sights to the advertising community with the challenge to create an “ad worth spreading”. Thirty second to 5 minute video advertisements, submitted by January 10^th, 2011, will be judged on their ability to “reinvent, inspire and engage audiences with a new definition of what video advertising can mean in the digital age, using TED.com as its platform.” Check out TED.com for more information on this enticing contest.

TV Goes Social

Just like every other aspect of our lives our TV’s are officially going “social”. With the development of Apple TV in 2006, GoogleTV introduced this year, and Samsung’s new dedication to letting developers create apps for their televisions, now is a good time to consider the vastness of this opportunity. Apps such as Twitter, YouTube, eBay, AccuWeather, and Pandora are already involved. Imagine having the ability to watch your favorite show on half the screen while simultaneously reading what everyone else is saying on Twitter, checking the local weather, and buying those cute shoes you just saw an advertisement for, it’s simply incredible. The TV presents new challenges and benefits for developers including the large screen size, the social setting in which we often enjoy TV, the opportunity for sound as a welcomed addition, and more. The internet is releasing televisions from its bondage as a device that pushes information at us to a connected, integrated, all-way communication portal; televisions and our current code of behavior for watching them is undergoing a serious revolution, are you ready?

Making a Mesh of the Market

Meshing is an emerging breed of business which champions the notion that ownership is not always required to receive the full benefit of use of many of the products that we encounter throughout our lives, therefore the group can benefit through sharing. Yes, that's right, kumbaya everybody, sharing. The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing, authored by self-proclaimed "marketect" Lisa Ganksky, describes that "Mesh businesses leverage data and social networks to enable people to share goods and services efficiently and conveniently-to gain superior access to what they need without the burdens or expense of ownership." Some examples of successful mesh businesses include Hilton, Netflix, Zipcar, and thousands of others such as exboyfriend.com (it’s called ex-boyfriend but all ex jewelry is welcome). This business model is eco-friendly, technologically driven, and expanding rapidly.

Happy Social Good Day!

Can social media become a tool to better the world we live in? Today, Social Good Day, is a perfect time to ask. Do you have any suggestions to ways that "social media can be used to tackle some of the world's social challenges" including poverty and hunger (or other UN Millenium Development Goals)? To join in the discussion add a comment below, tweet your solutions using the #socialgood hashtag, or check out what speakers at the Social Good Summit, part of UN Week in NY, think about the effect social media can have on social issues. Personally, I think the global nature of social media, the speed of transmission, and the equality of contributions of are some of the benefits the new media can bring to these old issues.

Turning Retail On Its Head

Check out this ingenious POS display from Coke Zero which demonstrates that simply flipping an idea on its head can create something all new.

5 Winning Social Media Campaigns to Learn From

I always like to see others perspective on best-in-class examples. This post on top social media campaigns was in my daily Smart Brief on Social Media newsletter that always has great social media examples and tips. Their top campaigns are:

1. Gap
2. Toy Story 3
3. AOL
   
4. Starbucks
5. Mountain Dew
   

http://mashable.com/2010/09/14/social-media-campaigns/

Sweepstakes Program Example

Prompted by a recent question from Kelly Ives about SRG's experience with executing sweepstakes/contests/promotions for our clients (or partnering with a third party who executes promotions), here is a quick example of a sweepstakes program SRG executed for Almond Board of California:

Program Name: Shecky's Girls' Night Out Sweepstakes

Situation: we needed a way measure/quantify the effectiveness of a sampling program

Solution: along with the almond samples we distributed, we included almond snacking tips, portion size messaging, and an invitation to participate in a survey to be entered to win a prize

Execution:

• Recipients were directed to a landing page, and upon completing a short survey of questions about our promotion, they could enter the sweepstakes
• Link to the survey was posted on the official event website
• Reminder email was sent to all event attendees with a link to the survey/sweeps
• As an added bonus, we gave survey respondents the option to send a free almond tin to a friend. Those recipients were also invited to participate in the sweepstakes
• Three months after the initial survey/sweeps, we executed an additional survey/sweeps to measure changes in behavior and attitudes

SRG deliverables:

• Copy, design and production management of almond sample package (including survey/sweeps invite)
• Copy, design, development and management of survey/sweeps email and landing page
• Wrote survey questionnaire and analyzed/reported results
• Wrote official rules and worked with a legal representative to assure compliance
• Selected sweepstakes winners and fulfilled prizes
• Managed fulfillment of "send-to-a-friend" tins

Results:

• Percentage of respondents able to recall the correct portion size for almonds increased by 44 percentage points (from the initial survey to the follow-up survey)
• 90% of respondents reported they learned something new about almonds as a result of receiving our samples and messaging
• Client decided to pursue an extended sampling program based on the measurement results!

Full report of the results and copy of the sweepstakes Official Rules can be downloaded using this link:
http://my.srg.com/sparkfiles/SheckysExample.zip