HootSuite Ranks Super Bowl Ads on Social Engagement by Erik Sass

With marketers focusing more and more on the intersection between TV watching and social media activity, HootSuite conducted a comprehensive analysis of the social media efforts mounted by Super Bowl advertisers to see which did the best job (and which maybe not-so-good) when it came to engaging with fans before, during, and after the big game. HootSuite then ranked the players and produced a nifty word cloud, reproduced below, to show which brands came out on top. ...Read the whole story

  • Extole Secures $10 Million For Social Referral Funding by Laurie Sullivan

    Strangers or friends can become the most successful brand advocates through online word-of-mouth marketing. Shasta Ventures thinks so highly of the idea that the venture capital firm -- along with existing investors Norwest Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and Trident Capital -- sank $10 million in Series C funding into San Francisco-based Extole, a consumer-to-consumer social marketing platform. ...Read the whole story

  • food Tic Tac Offers AR App Experiences by Karlene Lukovitz

    The outdoor and print ads highlight facts about daily activities, such as "Most Americans spend 13 years of their lives watching TV" and "Eighty-four percent of people always sleep on the same side of the bed." ...Read the whole story

  • search Marketers Encouraged To Break A Few Rules by Laurie Sullivan

    Tapping customers on technology platforms that companies can't completely control can become a bit uncomfortable, but they can do it productively, according to Josh Bernoff, SVP of idea development at Forrester Research. ...Read the whole story

  • packaged goods Lego Goes Social For Hero Factory Idea by Aaron Baar

    The project encourages Lego fans to produce a 30- to 90-second animated or animation/live action blend video that completes a story set up on Tongal in which the Hero Factory has been placed under lockdown. ...Read the whole story

The Most Important Social Media Story of the Week Was Not the Facebook IPO by Catharine P. Taylor

If you look back on the past week, which was the more important social media story? 1) The filing of Facebook's IPO. 2) The social media firestorm resulting from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation's decision to defund Planned Parenthood's breast-cancer screening initiatives. (You must know by now that this decision was later rescinded.) OK. You probably know where I'm going with this, but to me, the answer is no. 2. ...More

  • Watch TV, Earn Rewards: That's How You Make a Social TV Play by Daisy Whitney

    Social TV is off and running and, by all accounts, will become a vital part of how many consumers watch TV. So why not layer in rewards for watching shows? Viggle is doing just that. Viggle, with its iPhone and iPad apps, offers an interesting twist on the new field of social TV. Rather than just serve up companion content, Viggle offers rewards from brands for watching TV shows. It's a smart strategy, and taps into the consumer mindset that's powered the success of social games on Facebook and check-ins on places like FourSquare. Human nature dictates that we like ...More

  • Email + Social Integration: It's About Testing, Not Technology by Mike May

    For a while, the concept of email + social integration was limited to discussions about how to use email to bolster your social media programs, and vice versa. Fast-forward a year, and now there are bona fide integration tools hitting the market. It's easy to get drawn into the technology and spend hours poring over tracking reports that show what percentage of the clicks to that webinar promotion came from Twitter as opposed to email. That's the first step in adopting any new marketing technology: learning what you can learn. But we're email marketers, so the real appeal is not ...More

  • The Outdoor Industry's Social Responsibility by Jamie Wood

    Outdoor industry companies rely on a green world to keep their products relevant. They employ a wide spectrum of green marketing ranging from subtle messages that connect the company with environmental organizations important to their consumers, to programs, reports and advertising that demonstrate the authenticity of their environmental conscience. ...More

  • The Social Bowl That Wasn't by David Berkowitz

    Super Bowl XLVI may be over, but as long as there are still drunk fans screaming at the bar Tonic in Manhattan's Murray Hill, the analysis will go on. It's not just the Patriots that should be hitting their heads over all the dropped balls. I'm wondering why so many marketers dropped the ball with social media this year. ...More