The Cause That Refreshes: Project Boosts Pepsi Brand, Not Sales by Erik Sass

One year in, the Pepsi Refresh Project encapsulates both the potential of social media and some of its paradoxes: specifically, is there any way to be sure, going into a social media campaign, that it will actually help sell your product? By all accounts, Pepsi Refresh has been a big success in its stated goals of raising Pepsi's brand awareness and burnishing the brand's image, but sales are off nearly 9%. ...Read the whole story

  • Hitwise: LivingSocial Gaining On Groupon by Mark Walsh

    New research from Hitwise suggests social-buying site LivingSocial has gotten off to a running start in 2011. A January traffic surge has helped the company close the gap with Groupon, getting more than half the share of visits of the category leader. Two months ago, Groupon had a 10-to-1 traffic advantage over Living Social, according to the Web measurement firm. ...Read the whole story

  • BAT Unveils Social Endorsement Platform, Former NBA Star Salley Explains Why He Goes To Bat by Joe Mandese

    Brand Affinity Technologies (BAT), a company that uses data and technology to match celebrity endorsers with marketer's brands, launched @BAT, automatically managing endorsement deals across social media. Initial marketers using the system include IHG (International Hotels Group), soccer training device marketer Goalshot, and Jeetyet Productions. ...Read the whole story

  • Knowledge Networks Probing Social Networks, Identifies New 'SoMe' Consumer Segment by Joe Mandese

    Knowledge Networks, a highly regarded marketing research firm known for its humongous consumer panel, and for helping marketers and agencies understand how consumers use media, has launched a new analytic service capable of identifying social media users based explicitly on the social network conversations they have related to brands and product categories. KN, which is unveiling the new service today, has dubbed it "SoMe," and said it is designed to unlock how consumer conversations in social media affect specific product categories by revealing user feelings about specific products or topics, and how that might influence others listening to their conversati ...Read the whole story

  • Pew: Republicans, Democrats Use Social Media Equally by Mark Walsh

    Social media tools like Facebook and Twitter have gained wide attention for the role they have played in popular uprisings in countries like Moldavia, Iran, and most recently, Tunisia and Egypt. In the U.S., they have more quietly become a regular part of the political landscape, according to a new report by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. ...Read the whole story

  • Q&A: Monster Cable On Social Media Strategy by Aaron Baar

    "There's only a few departments that don't benefit from improved customer service. I like to take it one person at a time," Ted Sindzinski tells Marketing Daily. There may be one person [within a department] who is more comfortable using social media than others. Then they can show that success [with social] to their peers." ...Read the whole story

  • Report: CMOs Eager To Integrate Social Tools by Gavin O'Malley

    From Facebook to Twitter, a full 90% of chief marketing officers now participate in an average of three or more social media activities, according to a new report from ratings and reviews provider Bazaarvoice and the CMO Club. In 2011, 93% of CMOs plan to use some form of user-generated content to inform product and service decisions. "There is a tremendous change occurring in marketing today," said Erin Mulligan Nelson, CMO of Bazaarvoice. "CMOs have moved beyond fear and skepticism to embrace social media." ...Read the whole story

austin I am addicted to social media by austin

I love the internet. A bulk of my free time is spent on it. As a college student of the information age, my life is driven by the fast-paced, instant gratification of the World Wide Web. I receive the majority of my news from blogs and online newspapers/magazines, most of my TV [...] ...More

  • morgan Social Media and the Cell Phone by morgan

    I, as many other college students do, am constantly checking what is happening in my friends' lives on Facebook. I check in between classes, after classes, and before I go to bed at the least. Times are changing though, and now we are not even restricted to seeing what our friends are doing from [...] ...More

  • Chasing Dragons: The Case for Creating Original Video, Social, Interactive And Integrated Media Campaigns by David Murdico

    As a creative director at a creative agency, I am routinely faced with blank sheets of paper and empty whiteboards just begging for big ideas. This, I can handle. A harder proposition is being faced with a brand, business or organization that is looking for "something like this video" or "a little different version of that campaign." On one hand, this is a great way for marketing executives to convey a creative direction. On the other hand, the approach betrays the potential reach and impact that can be earned with a completely original online video, social media, interactive or integrated ...More

  • Facebook's Sponsored Stories -- Or, Consumers As Ad Medium by Catharine P. Taylor

    Facebook's Sponsored Stories ad unit, announced earlier this week, is one of those amazingly simple social media ad ideas that also leads to a lot of questions. Why? Because in a manner not seen on Facebook before, we consumers are the ad medium. If that's the case, what's in it for us? ...More