Brits Offered Free Italian Kisses to Visit Bologna

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Perhaps riffing off the Free Hugs stunt of yore, Italian agency Nimai Digital put together a guerrilla campaign for Bologna, Italy in which a street team offered free Italian kisses to those roaming the streets of London. It was all to call attention to the friendly people of Bologna and to promote an all-expenses paid trip.

Street teams directed Brits to a Facebook page where after liking the page (of course) they could enter their contact info along with several of their social media profiles to be entered to win the trip.

Hey if two Italian girls kissing Brits can up tourism numbers to Bolonga, also known as the capital of machine-formed meat scraps, then we're calling this campaign a success.

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by Steve Hall    Nov-29-12    
Topic: Guerilla, Social



Facebook App Sends Stella Artois Babe to Your Doorstep

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Belgian-based Stella Artois has created a Facebook app that send the Stella Artois Girl (actress Alice Eve) to your doorstep or the doorstep of a friend. Once you enter your name and address, a groovin' 50's-ish video begins that integrates with Google Maps and delivers Eve and her band mates right to your (virtual) doorstep.

by Steve Hall    Nov-27-12    
Topic: Social



Ben & Jerry's Celebrates Ice Cream Euphoria With Instagram Stunt

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Ben & Jerry's, with help from Silver + Partners (formerly Amalgamated), has launched Capture Euphoria, a program whereby Instagram photos that best represent ice cream-based euphoria with hashtag #captureeuphoria are selected to be featured in ads that will appear in the photo taker's home town. Ads will take the form of print ads in a local paper or magazine, a bus shelter or a billboard.

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by Steve Hall    Nov-15-12    
Topic: Social



8 Ways to Build Your Brand Using Social Media

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Social media monitoring company Sysomos has put together a nice tip sheet with eight ways marketers can build their brands using social media. Much, of course, has been written on this topic but sometimes it's nice to have a few clear, concise tips on hand when you are about to launch a new social media program for your brand or your client.

Download this free whitepaper now and learn this ins and outs of social media brand personas, platforms, communities, crisis management and more.

by Steve Hall    Nov-13-12    
Topic: Research, Social



Is Pinterest Really All It's Cracked Up to Be?

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This guest post is written by Peter Mayer Advertising Content Manager Catherine Freshley.

We wrote about Pinterest back in February (also known as the month everyone was writing about Pinterest), back when I was, very stereotypically, feverishly pinning ideas for my wedding, quinoa-cures-all recipes and images of lovely home interiors that are a far cry from the first-place-together, military-keeps-us-moving rental I live in.

But now, well, I can barely think of the last time I was on Pinterest. (That's relative: I was definitely on at some point in the last week and perhaps for a minute earlier today.) So I was wondering if I am the exception or the norm, and if all those people talking about Pinterest as the next big thing for e-commerce are looking enlightened or deluded.

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by Steve Hall    Nov-13-12    
Topic: Social



Health Net Stands Behind Fake Tweets

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Back in September we shared a story about health provider Health Net which used fake tweets to promote its services. We called the work "a juvenile marketing move and yet another example of testimonials gone wrong."

Now, the brand is doing a bit of back peddling presenting us with what they claim to be the real people behind the Twitter accounts they used in the campaign. The move is laughable as the accounts - NonStopMom2, HealthNut_2 and Biz_Guy1 - have just one or two tweets, all of which read "Thank you for your interest, learn more here" with a link that points to three "testimonials" from the "owners" of these Twitter accounts.

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by Steve Hall    Nov- 2-12    
Topic: Brands, Opinion, Social, Worst



Nike Fuelband, Path Show Lighter Side of Ndamukong Suh

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While currently in the controversial category following his dramatic sack of Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, Detroit Lions' Ndamukong Suh appears humble, peaceful and lovable in this new Nike Fuelband, in partnership with Path, that has us following Suh through his day as he attempts to crack 6,000 Fuelband points.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-24-12    
Topic: Celebrity, Social



U.S. Cotton Urges Women to Sleep Naked

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With a play on words, U.S. Cotton, with help from Marcus Thomas, is urging women to sleep naked. Well, actually facially naked as in no make up. As in it's a campaign to urge women to remove their make up before they go to bed. Apparently, 50 percent of women don't remove make up at night and of those who do, 80 percent do it incorrectly which is said to result in irritation, acne, eye infections and premature aging.

For U.S. Cotton's Swisspers health and beauty line, Marcus Thomas developed a campaign which asks celebrities and popular beauty bloggers to show their faces make up free. Viewers can vote their favorite with a $10,000 prize being awarded to the winner's charity of choice.

During a nationwide Twittter event (hashtags #sleepnaked #swisspers) the night of October 17, actress Malika Haqq, recording artist Melissa Gorga, beauty/humor blogger Jodie Rivera (aka VenetianPrincess, one of YouTube's top beauty channels) and Hollywood makeup artist turned beauty blogger Kandee Johnson each unveiled their makeup-free photo after a teaser week of promising their followers a revealing photo of their upcoming participation in the unexplained "National Sleep Naked Night." Followers can vote for their favorite, up until November 9, at facebook.com/SwisspersCotton.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-24-12    
Topic: Celebrity, Social



Shoe Brand Uses Instagram to Give Away Shoes

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Israeli ad agency, Smoyz, has created an Instagram-fueled campaign for shoe brand ALDO. The agency set up a sign with a bell on it in the middle of a sidewalk. The sign instructed people to take a picture of their shoes, upload the photo to Instagram, tag the photo #aldo and add their shoe size. Each person, 457 of them, where delivered a pair of shoes by mobile ALDo show box.

The campaign video claims 798,385 interactions resulted from the stunt and the Instagram integration.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-22-12    
Topic: Guerilla, Social



PivotCon Explores Transformation From Social Media to Social Business

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Last week, PivotCon was held in New York City. The conference, curated by Brian Solis, focused on the transformation of businesses from using social media as a marketing tool to becoming a full fledged social business. Topics explored how companies are shifting their philosophy, technology and business practices to the point where social becomes part of the corporate DNA, not something your marketing intern does in his spare time.

Representative from 3M, Bloomberg, Philips, GE, Citibank, DollarShaveClub, VirginMobile, Barclay, Coke and others shared how social has pervaded many corners of their company and the changes it has brought about. Perhaps my favorite was the transformation Philips made with it MRI machine transforming the usually antiseptic, intimidating experience into a relaxing, soothing and delightful one. Check out the video below.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-22-12    
Topic: Industry Events, Social