The 12 Most Influential Brand Videos of 2012

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This guest post is written by Allan Johnson, Content Strategist at Sharethrough, a native video advertising company. Prior to Allan's time at Sharethrough, he was Director of Custom Content at Universal McCann.

Brand video content is no longer the playground for innovators and early adopters. Brands like GoPro have been built from scratch on video content, while others like Hot Wheels have been revitalized. A President, who made liberal use of video content, has been re-elected, and charities the world over have used poignant videos to activate volunteerism and increase contributions for causes ranging from clean water to marriage equality. As more successes pile up, more brands will produce video content to achieve their marketing goals.

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by Steve Hall    Dec-12-12    
Topic: Best, Brands, Social, Video



JWT Tracks Most Tweeted Brands

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JWT has launched Most Tweeted Brands, a service that, well, tracks the most tweeted brands. Well, not all brands. It's tracking the top 100 global brands as determined by BrandZ ranking. Processing over 2.5 million tweets each day, the site offers a visual representation of tweeted brand activity.

By clicking each brand, one can drill down to see a geographic mapping of tweet origination. One can also eliminate brands from the service which will redraw the prevalence of tweets as compared to other brands. This is particularly handy because Facebook, by far, dominates and pushes other brands off the chart. Reloading the page (or clicking the "reload all brands" button) brings all the brands back.

Additionally, drop down menus allow one to zero in on single countries and brand categories such as fast food, airlines, retail, etc. The chart can be viewed either in tile format or list view

by Steve Hall    Dec-12-12    
Topic: Agencies, Research, Social



'Twignature' Collects Signatures For Amnesty International

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With help from BMF Melbourne, Amnesty International has developed a new method to collect signatures. Called, Twignature, The user names of Twitter users who retweet an Amnesty International petition message are automatically converted to signatures and added to the petition.

The first example of this work is for an Amnesty International petition that calls for the Brazilian government to protect environmentalist Laisa Santos Sampaio.

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by Steve Hall    Dec-11-12    
Topic: Social



Starbucks Most Photographed Logo on Instagram

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A new startup, GazeMetrix, can identify brand logos in Instagram photos. The service, which uses image recognition software, was originally developed to detect which apps people have on their devices by pointing them at each other. When that effort didin't pan out, the developers redirected their efforts.

The service, which will eventually rollout to Facebook and Twitter, makes it easy for brands to contact Instagram users who have posted branded logos and ask permission to reuse them on their own branded channels.

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by Steve Hall    Dec-11-12    
Topic: Research, Social, Tools



Tweets Make Kia Rio Go Nuts

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Hmm. In perhaps one of the most annoying stunts ever, Innocean Worldwideand Thinkingbox outfitted a Kia Rio to go all batty honking and making weird car noises when people at a recent Vancouver Whitcapes game tweeted with the hasttag #kiacheerwcf.

Check out the video below.

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by Steve Hall    Dec- 7-12    
Topic: Promotions, Social



Crowdtap Slaps the Crap Out of Social Media Idiots

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In a hilarious speed dating-themed video created by Crowdtap, a company that promises to create real relationships, a parade of social media idiots representing how insanely stupid the space has become are taken to task.

Watch the video. We guarantee you've heard at least one individual or one company spew a litany or jargon akin to the silliness this video presents.

Please, can we stop the bullshit?

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by Steve Hall    Dec- 5-12    
Topic: Social, Spoofs, Video



Jimmy Fallon to Crowdsource Ford Super Bowl Ad on Twitter

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Ford has signed a deal with Jimmy Fallon to help the brand create a :60 for Lincoln that will air during the Super Bowl. Fallon, with his 7 million Twitter followers as opposed to Ford's 172,000 and Lincoln's non-existent 750, will head up a crowdsourcing strategy that urges fans to help Fallon create the ad.

Fallon will direct followers to Steer the Script, a site that explains the promotion. Beginning December 5 with a tweet from Fallon who will pen the beginnings of a script for the :60, followers can reply with their suggestions.

Somehow miraculously a workable script will emerge from what will certainly be a cacophony of idiotic tweets from people who have no idea how to artfully craft a TV script, let alone a coherent 140 character tweet.

by Steve Hall    Dec- 4-12    
Topic: Celebrity, Social, Super Bowl 2013



OneSpot Marries Benefits of Content Marketing With Reach of Advertising

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A couple weeks ago , I was briefed on a new company called OneSpot. Headed by venture capitalist and former head of interactive at the Houston Chronicle, Matt Cohen, the new company transforms existing content into ads that look more like content than ads.

After the briefing, I said the offering was "the perfect marriage of content marketing with the power and infrastructure of advertising." Yes, I really said that and yes, that quote is front and center on the OneSpot website which launches today.

Recently, so much has been written about content marketing which, as part of inbound marketing, is all about making sure the right information is in the right place when people come looking for it. But, people don't always know what to look for and they don't always know which available products and services could benefit them. Hence, the need for outbound marketing.

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by Steve Hall    Dec- 4-12    
Topic: Brands, Social, Tools



140 Proof Launches Social Ad Platform for Premium Media Brands

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140 Proof, a technology that places ads on the top of streams across web, smartphone and tablet apps used to access Twitter, Facebook and other social networks, has launched a new offering that allows premium media brands to directly monetize their content without having to work through Twitter of 140 Proof.

Premium media brands have used social networks to expand their digital presence beyond their owned and operated properties. For example, ESPN properties have over 30 million combined followers on Twitter - rivaling the monthly audience of visitors to ESPN.com. But while social advertising platforms like 140 Proof, Facebook, and Twitter are monetizing branded media content and social audiences at the point of consumption, media companies have not been able to do the same.

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by Steve Hall    Dec- 3-12    
Topic: Publishing, Social



Pinterest Advent Calendar Promotes Travel App

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A startup that makes Jetpac, a "travel inspiration" app for the iPad, has created an Advent Calendar on Pinterest to tout the app. The Pinterest page counts down the 25 days until Christmas. Each day, one of the 25 most popular places to which Jetpac users traveled to in 2012 is revealed...with generous links to the app. itself, of course.

Pinterest users are asked to pin photos from each day's destination to any of their boards and tag the pin with #JetpacTravel. Each pin enters the person into a contest to win $1,000 worth of travel gear. A winner will be chosen on December 25 at 2PM PST.

Is this a good use of Pinterest? Let us know below in comments.

by Steve Hall    Dec- 3-12    
Topic: Social