Guy Gets Locked in House For Six Days to Promote Schlage

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To call attention to a brand category no one ever thinks of, door locks, Indianapolis-based ad agency Young & Laramore, from June 23 - 27 held the first-ever Schlage "Key to Strong Challenge," locking a man in a tiny house in downtown Seattle and sending residents on a physical and digital scavenger hunt to track down the key to unlock him for a chance to win a $5,000 Grand Prize.

The event, which is part of a larger campaign which includes TV that launched last month, garnered some hefty exposure for Schlage and, we are told, fueling double-digit sales growth in stores.

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by Steve Hall    Jul-31-12    
Topic: Guerilla, Social



Facebook App's Maid From Hell Leaves Snot on Towel

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Here's frequent traveler's worst nightmare. One never wants to think about just what might be going on in your hotel room when the maid makes a visit. One hopes they simply enter and sterilize the place without leaving any of their own DNA behind.

To promote Gordon Ramsey's new TV show, Hotel Hell, production company Ralph & Co. developed this Facebook app that provides and up close and personal experience with the Maid From Hell.

As you squirm while watching this Facebook-fueled production, you will forever wonder just what those maids do when they come to tidy up your hotel room.

by Steve Hall    Jul-30-12    
Topic: Social



How to Bridge the Gap Between Social Network and Website

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It has been well documented that just having a Facebook page or sending the occasional tweet are not enough to have a significant, sustainable impact on business results. The good news is that there are multiple ways to take advantage of the social media space, and one of the most effective places to start is actually from your own website.

This marketing brief from Janrain explores why it's important to insure interplay between your brand's website and your social channels and why that connection can vastly improve your engagement with potential customers.

Download the free whitepaper and find out how you can increase engagement and how that engagement can increase sales.

by Steve Hall    Jul-27-12    
Topic: Research, Social



Aetna CEO 'Gets It' and 'Owns It'

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Arijit is a 31 year old PhD student at the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. Upon returning from a trip to India last January, Arijit suffered abdominal pain and was ultimately diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer.

As his insurance bills mounted and he reached his insurer's lifetime cap in February, he was cut off. Arijit is insured through his graduate student health plan run by Aetna. In order to fund his treatment, Arijit launched Poop Strong, a site on which he tells his story and seeks funding for his ongoing treatment.

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by Steve Hall    Jul-27-12    
Topic: Social



Three Keys to Improving Facebook Reach and Engagement

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So you've got a Facebook page for your brand. You diligently manage the page and post content to it. You're collecting Likes. You're getting comments. But you feel like something's missing. There should be more activity. More people commenting. More engagement overall. So what's the problem?

Allow us to introduce you to Facebook EdgeRank, EdgeRank is an algorithm that scores your Facebook posts and determines how far each post travels and how many people see it. Much like mastering Google's algorithm's for your search marketing efforts, Facebook EdgeRank must be mastered as well.

Wildfire is out with a free whitepaper that will educate you on the ins and outs of Facebook EdgeRank and teach you how to insure your posts are seen by as many of your fans and followers as possible.

For the whitepaper, Wildfire analyzed over 60,000 Facebook brand pages and 1 million posts and discovered:

- The 3 primary factors that determine your EdgeRank for any post
- The best-performing content types, and how to maximize their results
- The top 3 things you can do to increase fan engagement

Download the whitepaper now to find out how you can improve your Facebook efforts.

by Steve Hall    Jul-17-12    
Topic: Research, Social



Five Keys to Successful Influencer Marketing

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Influencer marketing has, to date, focused mostly on "uber influencers" with high Klout and PeerIndex scores and/or those with a high number of fans/followers. In this whitepaper from Crowdtap you will learn why that focus is misplaced and why peer influencers are more important to a brand marketers than uber influencers. This whitepaper, part of our free whitepaper offering, will address:

- The history and current state of influencer marketing
- Why peer influencers are the key to any influencer marketing strategy
- Five critical steps for developing a successful influence marketing program.

Download the whitepaper now.

by Steve Hall    Jul-16-12    
Topic: Social



Morning Emissions: Baby Sought, Sears Reviews, Comcast Buys MSNBC

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- Gerber has launched its third Gerber Generation Photo Search on its Facebook page. The brand seeks the next Gerber baby and will award $50,000 to the winner.

- Five reasons your digital startup will fail. Hint, avoid failure and make sure you court large advertisers.

- TV trumps movies at Comic-Con this year.

- And why is Randy always the last one standing? Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler have exited American Idol.

- The first six months of 2012 saw 133 magazines launch, while just 48 closed, with the largest number of new launches coming in the "regional interest" and "food" categories.

- Sears has thrown its media account into review. Havas, which won the account in 2001, is the incumbent. Budget is pegged at $700 million.

- MSNBC.com becomes NBCNews.com after Comcast buyout.

- Facebook is considering lowering its age limit and allowing children under 13 to join...even though they already do simply by lying about their age.

by Steve Hall    Jul-16-12    
Topic: Brands, Cable, Social



How to Create Successful Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Ads

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Launching a social advertising campaign may be easy. However, creating a great social advertising campaign that actually pays off can be a real challenge. Plus, the rules for success change from Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn.

The good news is, social media marketing suite Wildfire has run hundreds of successful campaigns for brands across all three networks and can share with us exactly what works and what doesn't. In Part 1 of their Social Advertising series, part of the Adrants white paper series, the reports shares:

- Best practices for writing ad copy
- Which creative images are most popular with audiences
- The differences in layout and styling on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
- What not to do when advertising on Facebook

We've read the report and it's chock full of strategies, tips and tactics you can put to use right now in your social media programs. Download the report now.

by Steve Hall    Jun-28-12    
Topic: Research, Social



Google+ Hangouts Keep Hockey Fans Busy Off Season

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These are humorous enough if only for the gag. Three videos created for the NHL by Google+ by Toronto-based agency Entrinsic, have a bit of fun with hockey mania.

As most hockey fans know, there's no longer season than the off-season. To give hocky fans something to keep themselves busy with, Entrinsic created "Overtime on Google+," a week-long social gathering running from June 22-29 for fans of the sport to 'hangout' with well-known players, leaders and broadcasters - all on a dedicated site within Google+.

Overtime consists of hours of hangouts with hosts including broadcast reporters from Sports Net, Hockey News and The Score, Hockey bloggers, and players from the Calgary Flames, The Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs and others. Nine fans will be invited to each "hangout" with their sports heroes.

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by Steve Hall    Jun-28-12    
Topic: Social



How to Get One Million Twitter Followers

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Akin, in some small way, to the famed Million Dollar Homepage, two Martin Agency creatives are out with Twitterich, an effort that aims to garner one million followers on the @1MillionRIcher Twitter account. But not to keep for themselves. Once the account has one million followers, the account will be awarded to one lucky person who chose to follow the @1MillionRIcher account.

So if you are in dire need on one million Twitter followers - and we know you are because everyone in this business is totally vain - get following the account and you could win!

by Steve Hall    Jun-27-12    
Topic: Promotions, Social