14 March 2012: To celebrate reaching 500,000 followers on Google+ and to launch its new Dairy Milk Bubbly bar, Cadbury UK recreated its Google+ page in chocolate. Cadbury shared a series of photographs showing the process from start to finish and the company invited followers to watch live as the finishing touches were applied through Google+ Hangout. This chocolate makeover has so far been exclusive to Cadbury’s fans on Google+ and has not been replicated for the brand’s Facebook or Twitter pages.

12 March 2012: Argentineans are madly passionate about football. During the Copa America 2011, Coca-Cola capitalised on this passion by creating a special Twitter hashtag where fans could tweet their support. These tweets were then printed out and launched into the air as players ran onto the field. Over 2,000,000 tweets of encouragement and support were sent to the designated hashtag and the ‘papertweetos’ were a crowd hit.

Source: popularmechanics.com

03 March 2012: Nature Valley granola bars are connecting with customers through a project inspired by Google’s Street View. The Nature Valley Trail View is a website featuring 58 hiking trails in some of America’s best known parks including Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon. An autoplay function on each trail allows users to replicate “hiking” the trail complete with walking forward and backward and gazing in any direction.

The promotion of Nature Valley granola bars on the site is very minimal as the site is about supporting lifestyles and behaviours that customers care about. There are plans to broaden the site beyond this first phase to include more parks and trails to the tune of $1million.

Source: marketingweek.co.ulk

8 March 2012: Tesco has developed an online shopping game on Facebook called Delivery Dash to increase customer engagement with the grocery chain. The game is predominately aimed at female shoppers who compete against the clock to fill grocery orders for friends.

Currently ranked the #1 retail brand in the UK, Tesco is hoping that the game will allow Tesco to have a conversation with customers beyond the usual ‘selling messages’. One of the biggest positives about the game for Tesco is that the game duration is 30 minutes, meaning customers are engaging for a long period of time.

Until recently mothers used to be the ‘go to’ experts on recipes and food but as this report shows people now rely on digital information to inform their decisions. Choosing recipes or food items based on sight transforms the process from being sensory to visual, which opens up a world of opportunities for marketing companies to further develop their digital campaigns.

Source: brandchannel.com

09 February 2012: In ongoing effort to support female digital entrepreneurs through its Women’s Inspiration Network (WIN), PepsiCo has selected three remarkable women following their BlogHer2011 search for media-savvy women to offer exclusive ‘insider access’ to a number of its major sponsored events that will consequently lead to a flood of traffic within their respective blogs, businesses and personal brands.

New digital correspondents Tammy Tibbetts, Nicole Feliciano and Angela Chee are not your average bloggers. Proving that women can have it all through juggling motherhood, family obligations and their own successful ‘mom-focused’ online careers, these women not only inspire others through scoping out trends and sharing them with inquisitive moms, but offer inspiring stories to empower women across the world with their ongoing commitments to improving society through the successful use of online and social media.

07 February 2012: Continuing on from the success of the Christmas-themed version, Starbucks is launching an app in the US to help spread love across the nation and ‘Celebrate everylove’ in preparation for Valentine’s Day.

First, users are required to download the new app online which allows them to send personalized animated valentines or Starbucks eGift Cards. Then, they need only point their smartphone at the activated limited edition heart-festooned coffee cups to open up an array of digital offerings, and select the recipient to send the offering to. The app can be used for sending messages of endearment or, more practically, buy their loved ones several drinks. Notching up the seasonal love offerings further, Starbucks has encouraged people around the globe to share their thoughts on love via Twitter and Instagram, with the company already posting videos on YouTube featuring personal stories. 

Source: screenrant.com

02 February 2012: Suzanne Collins’ book trilogy ‘The Hunger Games’ was a wild success amongst young adults, and with the movie set to be released soon, fans are in for an additional treat with the opportunity to virtually enter the fantasy world in which the books are based.

New York-based company Funtactix has created a free-to-play game that makes money by allowing fans to purchase virtual goods to enhance their in-game play. Timed with a launch on Facebook in tandem with the movie premiere, the game offers fans the chance to explore the post-apocalyptic world and complete missions whilst interacting with characters from the book. Following on the success of other movie-based social games, the immense popularity of the books and ultimate experience of fans could spell out the potential for this game to be the most popular of its genre yet. 

Source: Blogalicious

30 January 2012: The results of a recent report by media mobile and social analytics provider Zmags has defied the stereotypes typically associated with the online shopping habits of the ‘Connected Consumer’.  The data suggests that instead of the savvy 20-something person with a penchant for shopping via mobile apps, a different character and set of habits are at play with the ‘Connected Consumer’ more likely to be a woman in her 40s.  Four percent of survey respondents showed preference to shopping via mobile apps while 87 percent claimed to prefer browser-based shopping on PCs or laptops.

Tablet owners appeared to fully utilize their devices for online shopping, with 87 percent using it for holiday-related shopping in 2011, and 34 percent of tablet owners shopping via Facebook. With consumers showing clear preferences for what types of purchases they make on which devices, marketers can look to tailor their offerings as appropriate to the new demographics.

Source: psfk.com

25 January 2012: As the official U.S Olympic Committee energy partner, BP America has created a unique shared experience for both fans and hopeful sporting participants for the 2012 Olympic Games through virtual trading cards available in Bloomberg BusinessWeek magazine.

We often see athletes competing, but have no real idea how they reached that sporting position. The augmented reality trading cards offer viewers the chance to listen to first hand accounts from nine hopeful U.S Olympic & Paralympic participants in the lead-up to the world’s biggest sporting event.  The virtual experience gives supporters the chance to hear the athletes share their personal experiences of courage, dedication and perseverance that took them to reach sport’s upper echelon by representing Team USA at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

23 January 2012: Thanks to YouTube and its sponsor partner Emirates, the next generation of cutting-edge filmmakers could be making their mark on the cinematic world soon. The website is launching the free Your Film Festival to encourage wannabe-directors to enter 15-minute films into the competition, with the top 10 selected finalists kicking off the Venice Film Festival and the Grand Prize Winner receiving a $500,000 grant to produce a new film under Ridley Scott’s television production company Scott Free Productions. 

The competition is not just the opportunity of a lifetime for the lucky winners, but a brilliant demonstration of the significant milestone reached by online video platforms, by integrating cutting-edge technology within the traditional film and video industries.

Source: ibitimes.com

17 January 2012: A survey conducted by Accenture across more than 10,000 consumers in 10 countries revealed powerful new statistical information for defining the global preferences of today’s technological consumers.

With less than a third of those surveyed intending to buy televisions in 2012, the movement towards mobile stems from the capability of smartphones to provide constant digital access to a growing portfolio of content, services and apps online. With more than 50 percent of those surveyed owning a smartphone, the research highlights the increasing dependency of mobile users on the extensive number of apps now available, whilst presenting numerous new opportunities for businesses to tap into target audiences.

13 December 2011: Procter & Gamble is introducing a new line of Downy scent beads and hopes to capture the interest of a young mobile audience by holding a smartphone-based scavenger hunt. On December 3rd, Smartphone users in Las Vegas were able to use their mobile devices to play the Downy Unstopables scavenger hunt for a chance to win prizes.

Scvngr is a mobile gaming app that lets users complete challenges from their mobile phones at various locations to earn points which can then be redeemed for real-world rewards. Teams competed to collect the most points, and the winning team got to split $20,000. P&G also hopes to break the Guinness World Record for “Largest Digital Scavenger Hunt”.

The scavenger hunt was promoted using traditional and social media, including local radio, Facebook and Twitter. An online version of the scavenger hunt also took place on the Downy website.

9 December 2011: In case you haven’t heard, the tiny Swiss village of Obermutten became a worldwide hit on Facebook earlier in November thanks to a campaign by Jung von Matt/Limmat for the Graubunden department of tourism. When the village launched its Facebook page, the Mayor posted a video promising that anyone who liked Obermutten would have their profile picture printed and posted on the village’s official notice board.

Within several weeks, Obermutten had 5,000 fans, ran out of room on their notice board, and began posting profile pictures on other buildings around the small community. Now they’re almost at 15,000 fans from on every continent in the world, and have appeared in the media in numerous countries. Their fan interaction is better than that of Lady Gaga, Coca-Cola, or Justin Bieber, and over 60 million people have now read, seen, or heard of Obermutten.

5 December 2011: As part of JCPenney’s multi-layered “Who’s Your Santa!” advertising campaign, which includes online, mobile and social elements, the American retailer is reinventing traditional gift-giving. Any JCPenney customer who purchases a gift this holiday season will receive a free QR code tag (or ‘Santa Tag’) on which they can record and attach a personal voice message up to 60 seconds long. The recipient of the gift only has to scan the code to hear the holiday greeting.

Source: therealtimereport.com

31 October 2011: McDonald’s is once again running a Promoted Trend ad on Twitter in order to help give their temporary return of the McRib a jumpstart. In 2010 McDonald’s ran a similar Promoted Trend which, according to Rick Wion, social media director for McDonald’s, “drove huge engagement with our customers… we saw tons of occasions where folks who had never eaten a McRib tweeted that they were going to try it for the first time to see what the buzz was all about.”

To accompany the Twitter Promoted Trend, McDonald’s is also launching a Facebook game “The Quest for the Golden McRib” to help boost consumer enthusiasm. The game itself is integrated with Google Maps and players must search through McDonald’s locations around the world in order to find 10 virtual golden McRibs.

Source: mashable.com

28 October 2011: As part of a their ongoing efforts to embrace digital technology, the NHL’s L.A. Kings will be adding a gaming component to their fan community through ‘The United Kings Family’ – a social platform that allows visitors to watch videos, share news and earn points whilst doing so.

The points earned by community members will go towards unlocking exclusive rewards such as signed merchandise, behind-the-scenes videos, private arena tours, and even personalized messages from the players.  Digital badges and trophies will be awarded to high scorers on the leader board and members can compete for the title of ‘number one fan’. “All of the things you can’t buy we want to be able to reward them with,” says Jonathan Lowe, the L.A. Kings’ VP of marketing.

Source: springwise.com

28 October 2011: Marketers and advertisers are no strangers to using whispering windows to catch the attention of passers-by on the street. These windows are equipped with speakers and are programmed to emit sounds and speech as people walk past motion sensors. A South African store is taking these whispering windows a step further by adding a new level of functionality to enable customers to browse the store’s catalogue throughout the day and night.

8ta, a telecommunications retailer, has partnered with One Digital Media to increase the sensory experience of their stores. The new whispering window technology “turns store windows into glass window speakers, creating a unique way to deliver messages throughout or around your store” (One Digital Media). The company is also utilizing innovative through-glass touch technology which allows customers to browse the store catalogue after hours and request a callback when the store reopens.

Source: latimes.com

20 October 2011: McDonald’s is launching McDonald’s Channel, a digital network of exclusive original content targeted at dine-in customers. This innovation is being rolled out over the next few months and is targeted to run in over 800 restaurants.

“The intention is to catch and engage the customer, and then enhance their experience,” said Leland Edmondson, founder of ChannelPort, the company that will be spearheading this venture. The target audience is expected to reach between18 and 20 million people a month.

About eight minutes an hour will be devoted to advertising, while McDonald’s ad participation will be only a minute and a half, says Edmondson. “This network is not intended to be all about McDonald’s. It is all about the consumer.” Viewers can expect to see content such as profiles of local high school and college athletes; special stories on local moms juggling home life with careers in sports, and of course regular items such as music, fashion, art, night life, lifestyle and cultural news.

Source: couponing101.com

18 October 2011: Kodak’s “Free Kodak Prints Week” invites users to print up to 20 free photos from Facebook at any Kodak Picture Kiosk. The photographic company hopes that the promotion will extend awareness of the powerful capability currently available through their photo developing kiosks.

By “Liking” Kodak on Facebook during this Print Week and opting in to receive emails from Kodak in the future, Facebook users will be able to download a coupon to print the 4x6 instant prints. “There are billions of photos stored on Facebook, and the promotion offers a way to convert these photos into personalized memories”, says Larry Trevarthen, vice president of worldwide marketing, retail systems solutions, Eastman Kodak Company. In addition to the free photos, consumers will also be invited to use the kiosk to create Kodak photo books, greeting cards, calendars and other creative projects.