Toyota Prius Goes Plural

Well finally something that breaks through the mundane online clutter - welcome to Toyota USA's Prius Goes Plural campaign. It's fun, catchy and simple enough to engage. The visuals and music, rather Sesame street-like in approach, get attention and the ditty might just stay in your head most of the day! No doubt this campaign will have people submitting their suggestions on the plural for a Prius. What do you think? Chime in below with your comments and plural suggestions and don't forget to add you suggestions to the the Toyota website at http://www.toyota.com/upcoming-vehicles/prius-family/

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Gap Logo Redesign – a look back

Now that the Gap redesign logo fiasco has died down and the iconic clothing retailer is getting on with what it does best - selling classic, traditional and well-styled, American clothing, let’s take a look back at the logo crisis and give Kudos to the Gap for pausing to see what all the fuss was really all about - messing with the identity of a brand steeped in classic Americana - a little dodgy to say the least. Take note, logo changes of iconic brands need to be subtle, almost imperceptible to the public, a mere nudging in the right direction to reflect current times. You can subtly revitalize a brand without taking away its heritage with a radical redesign.

So what were they thinking at the Gap? The purpose of redesigning the Gap logo was to capture a more modern brand image in line with store redesigns and new product introductions. The Gap wanted to reflect a more modern brand to consumers and turned to the logo as a way to communicate. The learning - be cautious when changing the insignia of iconic brands. Consumers are often emotionally attached to these brands, and their logos can pull at special memories such as a first pair of jeans, teenage friends, or that special shopping trip with a parent.

The background - on Monday October 5, 2010, the Gap announced a logo change at www.Gap.com, resulting in negative articles on Advertising Age and the Consumerist. This fuelled a flurry of negative reactions to the redesign in the mainstream media, on blogs, and on social networks such as Facebook with parody accounts surfacing on Twitter with @gaplogo, @oldgaplogo, and @craplogo. A saucy new website, http://www.craplogo.me/ mocked the new logo with an online logo-creator where visitors could instantly create spoofs of the new Gap logo.

A week later, rethinking its approach and responding to consumer backlash, the Gap announced its decision to revert to its old logo. The impetus; passionate comments supporting the old logo, over 1500 Facebook comments on the Gap page, and a flurry of negative comments on Twitter and in the mainstream media.

Watch this 6 minute video clip on CNN which summarizes the Gap logo redesign and comments on the issues. http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/business/2010/10/12/qmb.gap.logo.cnn

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United Breaks Guitars Song three

Third Song Posted for United Breaks Guitars

After a year- long battle with United Airlines and the release of the now infamous United Breaks Guitars viral video, Dave Carroll has released his third and final song in the trilogy, as promised to United Airlines in response to their poor customer service and refusal to compensate him for breaking his guitar. United Breaks Guitars first made the rounds of the Internet last summer, boosted by the catchy tune and humorous video which popped-up on news programs around the world. Companies beware, social media works and United Breaks Guitars is a prime example.

The first song, released July 6, 2009, has received over 8 million views on YouTube over the past 8 months, with over 25 thousand comments. The second song, uploaded on August 17,2009 is reaching 1 million views, with the third song, just released on March 1, 2010, already enjoying over 64 thousand hits to date – and all for the cost $200 for the first video and about $600 for each of the remaining two! Of course, this pales in comparison to the millions of impressions generated by the songs’ exposure on TV stations such as CBC, CTV, BBC, and CNN ... just to name a few - not to mention a recent interview on THE VIEW.

You can read details on the saga at http://mktgcliks.blogspot.com/2009/11/united-breaks-guitars-reaches-over-6.html with Dave Carroll’s insights on the events posted in the Grand Rants blog at http://grandrants.wordpress.com/2010/03/01/exclusive-dave-carroll-files-a-new-flight-plan/. It would be interesting to know the impact this adventure has had on Dave Carroll’s music career in terms of the amount of music he is now selling, versus before the first upload – comments anyone so we can see the final impact of this social media escapade?

Below you can listen and watch the three United Breaks Guitars songs – enjoy – and thank you Dave Carroll!

United Breaks Guitars – Song 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo



United Breaks Guitars – Song 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-UoERHaSQg



United Breaks Guitars – Song 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P45E0uGVyeg

Critic-Cal Short Attention Span Wins 2009 CNMA Award

For those who had seen the Critic-Cal Short Attention Span viral video, it was no surprise that this campaign walked off with an award for Best Branded Entertainment at the 2009 Canadian New Media Awards earlier this month.

Doug agency created a fictitious character, Critic-Cal, as a rapper -film-critic with a short attention span to humorously engage young audiences and encourage them to attend the short film festival which runs mid June in Toronto. As part of this campaign Critic-Cal created a music video about the pitfalls of full length Hollywood movies This viral video ran together with a social media build which saw profiles on Facebook and Twitter. Traditional media also ran to complete this campaign for the Canadian Film Center's Worldwide Short Film Festival.

Words cannot do this campaign justice, so watch below and marvel at the creativity that was used to pull this campaign together and read about the details of the campaign that made it a success.


Critic-Cal Short Attention Span Music Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KCnqbNQom4

Details on Critic-Cal campaign
http://www.dougagency.com/cnmasubmission/

Cadbury Eyebrows Campaign with a Canadian Twist (October 15, 2009 update)

The fun Cadbury Eyebrows campaign from the UK is now officially in Canada with an added twist that makes it uniquely Canadian! “Have you found the Eyebrow Language decoder on DairyMilk.ca yet?” This starts the latest Canadian Tweet for @DairyMilkCanada on Twitter. Already enjoying over 735 followers, (October 15, 2009) Cadbury Dairy Milk is Tweeting about their fun new EYEBROWS campaign which originated earlier this year in the UK, and is currently unfolding in Canada with a set of unique creative elements that is getting a buzz. Some people love the campaign while others wonder about its relevancy to chocolate! For the sceptics, the connection is made clear by Cadbury, irreverently poking fun at itself on its YouTube channel, stating that the ad is, “Yet another feat of ridiculousness and joy,” a feat that gets attention, starts conversations, and creates memorable engagement with a product that too is fun. This Cadbury Eyebrows ad is linked below, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVblWq3tDwY).

The Canadian Cadbury Eyebrows campaign engages chocolate lovers with TV spots, billboard ads, transit ads, and commuter newspaper ads. It also interacts with Canadian consumers through the social media they use. Twitter, (@DairyMilkCanada), directs followers to YouTube mash-ups and a microsite. Its Canadian Facebook Dairy Milk Eyebrows page, (http://www.dairymilk.ca/facebook), entices people to become fans and win chocolate for a year. Its YouTube channel, (http://www.youtube.com/user/glassandahalffull), provides a forum for video responses, comments, video ratings, and viewings. The Eyebrows ad currently boasts 4,855,072 views on YouTube, 12,892 comments, and 123 video responses from around the world – all creating a buzz for their chocolate, (October 15, 2009).

Below you can see a video response/spoof that is posted on the Cadbury Glass and a Half Full YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tomZZViNBc

Also unique to Canada is the billboard, transit, and commuter daily newspaper campaign, EYEBROW LANGUAGE, which you can see in Toronto and Vancouver. This part of the Eyebrows campaign teases consumers with ...     “Wheel of Fortune / hangman-type” ads that ask people to decipher the message by going to the Cadbury Dairy Milk microsite at http://www.dairymilk.ca/. Here a language decoder is provided together with other fun elements such as a downloadable ringtone from the commercial's song, "Don’t Stop the Rock," by Freestyle.

The daily commuter newspaper ads are designed with the characteristics of the media in mind. Ads run in the daily commuter newspapers Metro and 24 Hours in Toronto and Vancouver over a 4 week period. The headlines are written in “Eyebrow Language” and ask the readers to decipher the message. Cleverly, the first ad of the week brings attention to the campaign, the second ad of the week engages the reader with an opportunity to win a prize, and the third ad of the week provides information on the contest-event which occurred the previous day! Ads that took place early in the campaign in Toronto had decoders go to a local mall at a specific time, twirl, clap three times, and yell chocolate to win a prize. Video clips and photos of these mini-events are being uploaded to the microsite for this campaign.

You can enjoy mash-ups of the Cadbury Eyebrows Campaign at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVblWq3tDwY

Cadbury GOO ON THE LOOSE Campaign Announces Social Media Winner

As part of their UK new product launch for Cadbury Creme Egg Twisted, a year round version of the Cadbury Creme Egg, Cadbury in the UK just announced the winner of their social media campaign devised to spread the word of their gooey new product and create a buzz in the market. The GOO ON THE LOOSE campaign created by CMW London used traditional media such as TV ads, but also used social media to spread the word in a way not seen before. The social media elements included a microsite created specifically for the promotion, a Facebook fan page, a Twitter account, and the use of YouTube for their viral TV spots. (See examples at http://mktgcliks.blogspot.com/2009/06/cadbury-creme-egg-twisted-social-media.html). The social media campaign ran from mid May to mid July and started with press kits being sent out to bloggers to encourage them to write about the campaign. A challenge was then let loose to young adults over the age of 18 to become super agents in the quest to find the missing Cadbury Creme Egg Twisted bars. The agent who most successfully created a buzz in the market would win the grand prize.

The social media campaign used Twitter to send out clues on the whereabouts of the missing Cadbury Creme Egg Twisted bars, with prospective agents vying to become one of the selected top 10 super agents who would then compete for the grand prize of £20.000. Once the top 10 agents were selected, they were each given a video camera with which to film their quest for the missing Twisted bars. They were challenged to spread the word of their feats and the Cadbury Creme Egg Twisted campaign through social media outlets such as blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Bebo, YouTube, Flikr, and MySpace etc. The winning agent would be selected based on creativity, social networking skills, the lengths gone to spread the word, and finally the buzz created.

Cadbury just announced the name of their top super agent, and winner of the £20.000 grand prize, Dean Stokes, who not only managed to get the Cadbury campaign talked about on the top rated Mashable blog, but also created numerous humorous viral videos of himself uploaded to YouTube. Dean Stokes could be seen gently spoofing the secret agent campaign with police outside Downing Street, at Wimbledon talking in hushed tones outside an Andy Murray match, and in London hotspots such as the London Eye. In total, 2,000 fans followed Dean Stokes on social networking sites and his viral videos received more than 5,000 views of YouTube - an accomplishment for both him and Cadbury. Let’s not forget that another 9 agents were also spreading the word about the Cadbury Creme Egg Twisted GOO ON THE LOSE campaign through social media outlets, making the campaign a measurable success for Cadbury.

Since the announcement of Dean Stokes’ win, the buzz continues to spread through articles and interviews on what Dean Stokes will be doing with his winnings. You can see a smattering of how Dean Stokes used social media to create a buzz in the market by going to his YouTube channel, visiting his blog, and seeing his Twitter updates. Below you can also see one of his best video uploads during the social media campaign and the final viral video he used to sell himself in the competition. All in all, a very imaginative campaign by Cadbury, and a very creative endeavour by Dean Stokes.

CMW London's video review of this successful campaign is also posted below. It identifies the intricate elements that went into the campaign, highlighting the positive campaign results for Cadbury Creme Egg Twisted!

Dean Stokes’ YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/agentdeanstokes
Dean Stokes’ Blog http://gooisontheloose.wordpress.com/
Dean Stokes’ Twitter http://www.twitter.com/deanstokes

Agent Dean Stokes' Viral Video - Mission to London Goo on the Loose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtdW0nJkB7s&feature=player_embedded



Agent Dean Stokes’ Viral Video - GOO ON THE LOOSE - A Look Back & Creme Egg Twisted Bars Surrender! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQSeCKWrSTo




CMW London's campaign review - Twisted Campaign 2009 - Operation Goo on the Loose http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_f4MvYcDZM

Ritz "Let It Rain" Campaign Releases Song

Ritz crackers just released the anticipated full length version of the jingle which accompanied their LET IT RAIN commercial. The full length song can be found on YouTube, as linked below, or found on iTunes under the name, "Make Believe - Ian LeFeuvre," http://bit.ly/m7y6v. This song was created in response to interest from viewers of the LET IT RAIN commercial who wanted to know where the song came from. Ritz' response was to launch a social media challenge through YouTube, promising to create a full length version of the song if the uploaded commercial reached 10,000 hits on YouTube. In 3 weeks the challenge was met and Ian LeFeuvre, the creator of the jingle, set about creating the song which was just released 6 weeks later.

Ritz' other social media challenge, for people to upload videos of themselves enjoying a Ritz cracker, and to create artwork for the iTunes download did not transpire due to low involvement. These videos were to be spliced into a music compilation, but due to the lack of response, it did not materialize. Perhaps this YouTube generation of technically capable, creative souls were hoping for raw footage and an MP3 from which they could make their own mashups? Most likely, they were just eagerly awaiting to hear the song they had been promised, thrilled at the direct response from Ritz!

This successful campaign from Ritz demonstrates how in the world of social media the communication process is no longer static. Companies that are creative, open minded, flexible, and responsive will be able to interact with their consumers and create campaigns that evolve and develop over time. The result is a more engaged consumer, more memorable campaigns, and communication programs that become conversations.

You can see elements of this Ritz crackers campaign below starting with the initial commercial, followed by the social media challenges from Ritz, and finally the release of their song, Make Believe by Ian LeFeuvre.

Let It Rain Ritz Commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXX9Ju6jbAo



Social Media Challenge http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2liz-_WbPMI



Social Media Response http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYQYOaho_ik



Make Believe Song - Ian LeFeuvre http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DUHhI3nbfk

(Updated July 30, 2009) United Breaks Guitars - Negative Publicity

Twenty-four days after Dave Carroll uploaded his humorous UNITED BREAKS GUITARS video to YouTube (July 6, 2009), the video has had 4,467,537 views on YouTube, with a stunning 19,947 comments that are fuelling negative publicity for United Airlines. Around the world, people continue to smile and give approving nods to the viral YouTube video, United Breaks Guitars, a ballad of Dave Carroll’s year-long struggle, (to no avail), to get compensation from United Airlines for the $1,200 damage it inflicted on his Taylor acoustic guitar worth $3,200. Over a year later, and after numerous discussions with United Airlines, their refusal to give him any form of compensation, (despite admitting to damaging the guitar), prompted the musician to tell his story by writing 3 songs on the incident and posting detailed information on his website. This is all stirring up negative publicity for United Airlines, even three weeks after the initial video was uploaded to YouTube.

United Breaks Guitars is the first of these songs which uses the following catchy chorus to engage listeners and drum up this negative publicity:

Chorus United Breaks Guitars

United, United, you broke my Taylor guitar.
United, United, some big help you are!
You broke it, you should fix it,
You’re liable - just admit it.
I should have flown with someone else ... or gone by car,
'Cause United breaks guitars.

The negative publicity for United Airlines directly corresponds to the airline not responding immediately to the United Breaks Guitars YouTube video, and ignoring the power of social media to spread negative publicity. Social media is a powerful communication tool used by many companies to monitor and respond to negative publicity sent out through media tools such as Twitter, blogs, Facebook, and YouTube. Negative publicity continues to grow for the airline with extensive news coverage on the viral video. The United Breaks Guitars story has been covered by major Internet bloggers around the world such as the Huffington Post and Mashable, and is spreading through links on Twitter. It has been reported by the mainstream press in newspapers, magazines, and the broadcast media, including CNN and BBC World News Americas. It has been covered by the main US and Canadian TV networks including CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox, CBC, CTV, and Global. A number of analytical business articles on the United Breaks Guitars incident are also circulating in business circles and creating even more negative publicity for United Airlines. An example can be seen in this scathing press release from Thomas Hinton, President & CEO, American Consumer Council, a non-profit consumer education organization with nearly 90,000 members in the US. It analyzes United Airlines' approach to this situation, taking them to task on their customer service procedures in general, http://www.expertclick.com/NewsReleaseWire/United_Airlines_is_Broken,200927885.aspx.

Here is the latest update on the incident. Week one saw an explosion of press coverage for the United Breaks Guitars video and considerable negative publicity for United Airlines as the video went viral on the Internet. The video and incident were discussed on social media sites such as YouTube and Twitter, while they made the rounds of the blogs and mainstream press in Canada and the US, particularly after exposure on CNN's The Situation Room which is broadcast around the world. Week one also saw the response from United Airlines, (post negative publicity), offering to pay for the $1,200 in damages and give Dave Carroll another $1,200 in travel vouchers. Dave Carroll asked United Airlines to instead contribute the money to charity. United Airlines donated $3,000 to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, one of the participants in the June 2009 White House Music Series focusing on music education for children.

In the second week since the YouTube upload of the United Breaks Guitars video, the chatter in the mainstream Canadian and US press somewhat subsided but the negative publicity started to take-off in the music press, still gathering momentum in the social media venues such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, while appearing in more and more blog posts. The United Breaks Guitars story also started to spread considerably outside of North America with the negative publicity for United Airlines continuing as people awaited the second in the trilogy of songs on the incident, as promised by Dave Carroll. On-line coverage during the second week extended into the music scene with well respected Rolling Stone magazine, (July 13, 2009, http://tinyurl.com/ldxewy), and into the podcast arena with interviews in far flung places such as Australia with Tony Goodson. This Tony Goodson podcast is truly worth listening to as he talks directly to Dave Carroll who, in a soft spoken manner, speaks to his music, the writing of the United Breaks Guitars song, the making of the video, and the social media coup for himself as a solo artist and for the SONS OF MAXWELL, a relatively unknown Canadian music group with which he plays, (July 16, 2009, http://tinyurl.com/nfwup8 ).

In the third week since United Breaks Guitars went viral, the media coverage and negative publicity has picked up again with Dave Carroll, the singer-song writer, participating in radio and TV interviews around the world. This third week alone sees TV coverage on BBC World News Americas, many articles in the UK press, and further TV interviews with Dave Carroll on the major US networks - ABC, NBC, CNN, and Fox. The result for Dave Carroll is positive. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Dave Carrol mentioned that since the upload of his United Breaks Guitars video on YouTube, his website has enjoyed over 50,000 hits compared an average of 40-50 in previous weeks. He is thrilled people are enjoying his music which is increasing in sales from 1-2 sales per day to hundreds. This week his song, United Breaks Guitars, has made the top 20 list of iTunes downloads in Canada and yesterday, after 8 TV and radio interviews in the UK, United Breaks Guitars was the #1 country music iTunes download in the UK. As we await the second song in the trilogy of the United Breaks Guitars incident, Dave Carroll tells us that his second song is better than the first, and has been played at his live concerts to warm reviews. The second song is unlike the first in that it does not follow a country-western beat. We should be seeing it soon on YouTube - the recording date for the video is August 4, 2009 and we should be seeing it soon after it has been edited.

Companies need to understand the new reality - the transparency and the microscope social media now bring to the equation. Tech savvy consumers now have the means and capability to easily spread messages that can influence public opinion and spread negative publicity. Although United Airlines responded to the United Breaks Guitars viral video, (post-negative publicity), no heart-felt apology hit the airways in a substantial manner. Where is their heart-felt YouTube apology? And so the negative publicity continues to spread through the blogosphere, Twittersphere, and mainstream media around the world.

Other recent social media incidents point to how companies such as United Airlines can deal with social media incidences in a more positive manner to avoid the escalation of negative public relations. The first example that comes to mind is the Dominos Pizza incident where employees thought it was funny to upload a YouTube video showing false unsanitary food practices while preparing Dominos pizzas. Dominos Pizza responded immediately with press releases and video messages uploaded to YouTube to minimize the negative fallout of the video. The second example that comes to mind is for the pain reliever Motrin which faced a social media backlash from the so-called Motrin moms who unleashed a negative social media campaign against Motrin. They used Twitter, blogs, and YouTube to express their anger at a Motrin ad they considered insulting to mothers. Motrin's manufacturer, Johnson & Johnson responded immediately by pulling the ad, not seeing the benefit in alienating their customers.

Below, you can follow the United guitar story on Dave Carroll's website at http://www.davecarrollmusic.com/story/united-breaks-guitars . You can also see the UNITED BREAKS GUITARS video, CNN news coverage of the incident, the Dominos Pizza YouTube social media company response, the controversial Motrin ad, and the negative YouTube campaign inflicted by Motrin Mothers. Companies need to respond fast and honestly, and to respond through the media that is fuelling the negative publicity which, in these incidences, also includes social media. For a November 2009 update where you can see the second song, please click on the following link http://mktgcliks.blogspot.com/2009/11/united-breaks-guitars-reaches-over-6.html..To see the trilogy of song visit http://mktgcliks.blogspot.com/2010/03/united-breaks-guitars-song-three.html.

United Breaks Guitars Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo



CNN News Coverage – United Breaks Guitars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpQNWNN_HS4



Dominos Response - Company President http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l6AJ49xNSQ


Motrin Mom Baby Wearing Ad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO6SlTUBA38



Motrin Ad Makes Moms Mad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhR-y1N6R8Q

Evian Babies – Live Young Campaign (updated July 16, 2009)

The creativity coming out of France this year is worth mentioning with the latest imaginative campaign coming from Paris-based BETC Euro RSCG for Evian water. Just two weeks ago, Evian’s Live Young campaign was sprung in France, the UK, Belgium, Canada, the US, and Japan with an imaginative campaign that makes you chuckle - who would expect a gang of rollerskating toddlers with “attitude” to be showing us that Evian water invigorates the body? These babies toe-tap to rap music, break-dance to the beat, and perform rollerskating tricks - all to make the point that natural, pure water supports youth! I am not a fan of talking babies (in either movies or ads), but this ad over-comes the cliché of talking babies by having them do something other than talk which, after all, is not that exciting, or even creative. In fact, these babies do not talk at all. Instead, we are immediately engaged at the start of the commercial by the unexpected view of a “tough guy,” (very cute), rollerskating clad toddler, rhythmically tapping his toes and moving to the beat of a rap song. The unexpected scene and music raises our interest as we curiously enter into the playful world of Evian babies that captivates us with their playful grins as they boogie to a RAPPER’S DELIGHT remix, (hiphop artist Dan the Automator).

This campaign includes viral videos posted on YouTube, (6,245,870 views for the international version, 5,668,037 for the US version, and 1,161,468 for the French version by July 16, 2009), homepage YouTube placements, TV ads in select markets, print ads, a Facebook page (5,541 fans to date), http://www.facebook.com/evianliveyoung, a microsite at http://evianliveyoung.com/ with viral videos, teasers, interviews, the making of the 60 second spot, and music and photo downloads. They are using a social media campaign to virally spread their campaign through press releases, bloggers, Tweeters, Internet links passed on from person to person, and updated videos posted on YouTube and Facebook. Their latest video- release, posted July 15, 2009, is a new (not the original) montage of the making of the Roller Babies. It cleverly splices in props, computer animation, and the footage of the babies to give us a taste of how they brought the campaign to life. You can see the video below. This campaign will receive additional international exposure in August/September 2009 as Evian is a sponsor of the Masters Women's Golf tournament and the US Open Grand-Slam tennis tournament.

For those of you familiar with the advertising for Evian water, this campaign goes back to their use of babies in 1998 where we saw the babies swimming under water in a synchronized swimming routine. The use of babies is to represent something precious and pure - a symbol of Evian water itself. The 1998 spot starts with the same trademark sound of dripping water that we hear in the latest 2009 spot. I would be remiss if I did not mention the very creative Evian WaterBoy spot from 2003 which took us all by surprise with a TV spot created to the Queen song “WE WILL ROCK YOU.” You can see these spots below;

Evian Roller Babies International Version 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQcVllWpwGs&feature=channel



Evian Babies New making of
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQXD9sx-i0A



Evian Water Babies 1998
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCOcjWG6Ykc



Evian WaterBoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s5pVe47xns

Cadbury Creme Egg Twisted - Social Media (Updated July 22, 2009)

Social media is all the buzz these days but so many people are not quite sure exactly what it is and how it works - Cadbury in the UK show us how it is done with creativity and flare! In simple terms, social media focuses on trying to build positive word-of-mouth messages by using web 2.0 interactive tools to engage consumers and encourage opinion leaders to spread positive messages to their friends, followers, or contacts. The tools often used are social media websites such as Facebook, My Space, YouTube, Flikr, and Twitter. Microsites are also often used as a conduit for user-generated-content, while public relations can play a significant role in seeding messages with loyal users, influential journalists, and bloggers. The intent is to catch the attention of opinion leaders in the community who will rapidly spread the message.

The recent Cadbury Creme Egg Twisted campaign in the UK is inspiring in its creative use of traditional media and social media to create a buzz throughout the UK and further afield. This is how it goes:

In mid-late May 2009 Cadbury launched their new irreverent brand, Cadbury Creme Egg Twisted, a year-round chocolate bar with the traditional Creme Egg filling which was usually only available at Easter. The campaign, GOO ON THE LOOSE, followed on the heels of Cadbury’s very successful Creme Egg campaign and included a TV spot, (also uploaded on YouTube), a direct mail piece (sent to bloggers/fans/journalists) containing a box with 3 Creme Egg Twisted bars (one having escaped), a microsite explaining the social media component at http://www.cremeeggtwisted.com/, a Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/cremeeggtwisted, and a Twitter account at http://twitter.com/cremeeggtwisted. The social media component, explained on their microsite, included finding 10 super agents and eventually a top agent, tasked with finding the escaped Twisted Goo. To become a super agent you needed to find the missing bars through clues sent out via Twitter. The 10 top super agents were given flip video cameras to film their quests in search of the missing bars. Super Agents were tasked with taking photos, recording YouTube videos, sending out tweets, and traveling across the UK to solve the mystery. Assuming a tie-breaker the winner will advised on July 21, 2009. The agents will be judged based on their creativity of footage, social networking skills, and the lengths taken to complete the task. The grand prize is for £20,000.

It appears that no tie breaker was required, and on July 16, Dean Stokes added a short line to his Twitter update and Facebook wall that he had won! In addition, the Cadbury microsite, http://www.cremeeggtwisted.com/, now has the announcement posted on its home page, and officially Dean Stokes has won the super agent contest and the grand prize of £20,000. More details on the social media campaign run by Dean Stokes can be seen at http://mktgcliks.blogspot.com/2009/07/cadbury-goo-on-loose-campaign-announces.html.

Click below to see traditional media and social media in action. The first two TV spots are from the original Creme Egg campaign and set the tone for the Twisted product launch. This is followed by the launch spot for Creme Egg Twisted, and a viral video from Super Agent Dean Stokes. To date, over 9,700 agents have registered.

HERE TODAY GOO TOMORROW - WISK Creme Egg TV spot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqrgr4G-xTc



HERE TODAY GOO TOMORROW - HAMMER, Creme Egg TV Spot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BZquTM8OcQ



GOO ON THE LOOSE, Creme Egg Twisted TV spot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06PXIPFrgeg




Agent Dean Stokes' Viral Video - Mission to London Goo on the Loose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtdW0nJkB7s

T- Mobile - Social Media Embraces Flashmob Advertising

The first time I heard of a flashmob was last summer, (way before the T-Mobile Dance), when I found myself right in the middle of a Facebook flashmob of hundreds of teenagers engaging in a water fight in Hyde Park. London England, complete with the sudden police presence as I reported a real gun being flashed around by a rampaging group of teenage louts. Yes it made the newspapers that evening! So, now familiar with the concept, it was no surprise when the creative souls at T- Mobile in the UK legitimized flashmob advertising and the power of social media to promote their cell phones. Actually, it must be one of the most creative approaches I have seen in a while and talks to the power of social media and the creative genius of the people who created it. Others may point to the Grand Central Station freeze by the Improv Everywhere group - definitely creative - but T-Mobile took this to another level.

T- Mobile Dance - Viral Video and extended ad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM&feature=channel



Unlike other viral approaches, T-Mobile managed to work their flashmob viral video idea into a marketing approach that was talked about around the world for its ability to also integrate traditional media. Launched in January 2009, in a few short weeks this campaign enjoyed over 7.7 million clicks on YouTube and coverage in a multitude of media outlets. Not only did T-Mobile cleverly stage the event in the middle of rush hour in one of London’s busiest train stations, they also had the foresight to send out teasers inviting people to tune into the extended TV ad of the event. Brilliant. To date, the viral video enjoys over 12 million clicks on YouTube.

T- Mobile Dance Teaser http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw215gE6r2k



To top it off, while watching the ad viewers could click on their remote controls to view the “making of” the ad (interactive TV in the UK). This was then immediately followed by the launch of their dedicated YouTube channel http://www.youtube.co.uk/lifesforsharing, two 60 second TV ads that aired for two weeks, the creation of a small dance troop to tour main UK cities, and the release of the music for the event on iTunes. My favourite marketing campaign of the year ... so far!

The Making of T-Mobile Dance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVFNM8f9WnI&feature=channel

Spread the Ritz

When an ad is creative it often gets attention and can take on a life of its own. This latest TV advertising campaign for Ritz crackers - SPREAD THE RITZ was recently uploaded to YouYube and is now getting thousands of hits by viewers wanting Kraft to create a song version of the jingle. Responding to viewers' questions on where they could find the song, Kraft gave the YouTubies a social media challenge - reach 10,000 hits on YouTube and they would create the song. In 3 short weeks from the challenge the goal was surpassed and the jingle creator Ian Lefeuvre, is now writing the song.

In 1971, way before social media existed, Coca-Cola's famous Hill Top commercial with the jingle I'D LIKE TO TEACH THE WORLD TO SING created a similar frenzy when jingle fans used letters and phone calls to encourage Coca-Cola to record the jingle as a top ten single. Coca-Cola did just this, responding to social feedback just as Ritz crackers is doing today with its SPREAD THE RITZ campaign. Ritz is in good company showing us yet again that creativity resonates with viewers!







And for good measure ...

War Child Canada Wins Bessie Award

This campaign gives me the chills and strikes a cord by getting attention without being too haunting. Unlike other PSA's I can watch this ad again and again and let the message sink in. War Child Canada creatively strikes a balance between shock value and relevant information that works. Their social media campaign scooped a Bessie Award yesterday for best online viral video.

This brilliant campaign uses viral videos to deliver a message that strikes a cord with viewers - no horrific images of child soldiers here, instead with a creative twist, we see typical Canadian parents and grandparents collecting weapons and raising funds to help children become child soldiers. This follows their equally brilliant campaign in 2008 where a Canadian summer children's camp is promoted as a fun place where children can learn the art of warfare.

These campaigns spread their messages through YouTube, Twitter, Blogs. and a PR campaign that prompted coverage through the mainstream press. Donations to war Child Canada in the 2009 effort increased by 38%.

Click below to see the campaign:

• Viral video - Help Child Soldiers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYbgWUcIojY
• Camp Okutta Integrated Video http://tinyurl.com/qef26p
• Slide Share information on the campaigns http://tinyurl.com/cd9tjt

Yes, I found it on Twitter! Trademark infringement and key word search.

How could I resist blogging about a great article I found on Twitter from Ad Age! Yes this is definitely one of the best magazines for keeping up-to-date with marketing developments. Even if you reside north of the border (yes in the great white north - Canada), many of the articles are relevant. This latest one on trademarks and search word advertising is a keeper. It talks to the perils of using a competitor's brand name as a key-word trigger in an online search word advertising campaign. You might ask why you would do this in the first place? Well, use your competitor's brand name to trigger your sponsored ad and then switch them over to your product with your ad - genius ... but is it legal? Read more by going to http://adage.com/ and searching for "Has the Law of Fair Use Caught Up with Keyword Litigation?" The article is fascinating and gives excellent examples - of course the answer is not simple. Alternatively, follow Ad Age on twitter at http://twitter.com/adage .

LinkedIn

LinkedIn - a great invention - a Facebook of sorts for professionals - social media for adults! But oh so annoying in many ways. First, take that landing page - how do you get rid of that HUGE section about email/classmates/colleagues? Try deleting it off your page - impossible! Customer service tells me I need 30 contacts for this to disappear! Oh my gosh - now I have an inferiority complex and I'm scrambling to add contacts from years gone by so my landing page seems less like an ad for Gmail, Yahoo, and Hotmail! Here's another point - most people that I know, even those with umpteen contacts on LinkedIn, do not know how to use it. So here are 2 super links courtesy of that social media giant - YouTube!

• What is LinkedIn? http://tinyurl.com/pmm6tw
• LinkedIn Job Search; http://tinyurl.com/rbpq5a ( - a must watch!)

If you are a recent grad, http://grads.linkedin.com/ from LinkedIn will serve you well!

Twitter

If you are not a Twitter user try signing up to get easy updates on information relevant to you! In a few clicks you can follow magazine websites such as Advertising Age and Marketing Magazine, or association websites such as the Canadian Marketing Association or the Association of Canadian Advertisers. Follow people that give you relevant updates - journalists are my favourite and they are often looking for story ideas and your input on live TV shows! People that do not know Twitter think it is about hearing when people eat lunch - there is a lot more to Twitter than this ... although it is also a super way to stay in touch with friends.

Twitter works on a business and personal level; 1-You can gather information from reputable Tweeters to keep up-to-date on the latest, 2- You can post information to your followers and become a source of information, and 3-You can build up a network of people with shared interests, whether this is professional or personal. http://twitter.com/