George Takei, perhaps more famous now for his social media wit than for his role on Star Trek, has teamed with AARP for a video series which aims to provide older Americans with interesting and educational technology-focus content. AARP says the series, called Takei's Take,"takes a smart, funny, irreverent look at what is happening in the world of the Internet and how it infiltrates our lives."
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In New Zealand, Royal Caribbean has launched what it claims is the world's first Instagram film festival. Created by Hulsbosch and Circul8, a campaign leading up to the festival will encourage people to film and hashtag Instagram videos which represent "wow" moments.
The InstaFilm Festival, as it's called, invites people to upload their "wow" moments using Instagram's video feature via the hashtag #InstaFilmFest. Passengers, friends and family can also vote on their favorite short film captured anywhere, anytime not just on board a Royal Caribbean cruise.
Those films receiving the most votes will be celebrated at a special VIP on board screening event to be announced for February 2014. An expert panel of judges to be announced late 2013 will choose the winners.
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Well this is certainly sad. In less than three months, many of the 368 remaining drive-ins across the U.S. will go dark forever if they can't afford to convert to digital projection, estimated at $75,000+ per screen. Honda aims to change that. In support of Project Drive-In, Honda's effort to save as many drive-ins as possible, the automaker is hosting a one-day live Twitter Vine auction today with film critic Leonard Maltin as auctioneer. Proceeds will go directly to Project Drive-In: Save the Drive-In Fund.
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Colgate-Palmolive in Canada, with help from UNION, has launched a Twitter-based campaign entitled, "There's Something In Your Tweet," to support the introduction of the new Colgate Slim Soft toothbrush in Canada. The campaign includes a service that allows people to anonymously alert others they have food stuck in their teeth.
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Oh everyone's talking about this one. Perhaps you've already seen it. If not, here it is. Yesterday, Denny's had a bit of fun with Apple's announcement of the new gold iPhone 5S. It produced an Oreo Dunk the the Dark-style Twitter ad.
The ad shows a stack of pancakes alongside the word "pancakes" which is rendered in Apple iPhone font along with an "S" in a box. Underneath, copy reads, "Always available in golden."
Mmm...kinda makes you want to run out and grab a stack right now, doesn't it?
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Falling squarely in the "why bother" category, yesterday Nokia rode the Apple news cycle with a tweet that thanked Apple for, as Nokia UK put it, copying them with the introduction of the iPhone 5c which comes in colors. The tweet, which read "Thanks, #Apple ;)" carried an image of Nokia's colored phones under the headline, "Imitation is the best form of flattery."
Actually, Nokia, it's "imitation is the SINCEREST form of flattery" if you want to get things right. And if Apple copied Nokia then it copied every single other phone brand and, well, every other brand in every other category that makes its products in different colors.
To date, the tweet has been retweeted 32,630 times. Not bad for an account with just over 42,000 followers.
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What do we mean and understand by the term "social good"? This is the first question brands must ask themselves before incorporating social good into their business model. It is not a homogenous and neatly defined entity. Rather, social good is an umbrella term that incorporates many business practices, effects and outcomes.
Because social good is a fluid and evolving concept, it is up to each startup to set their own definition of "social" and "good." If you don't have parameters for social good, you can't thoughtfully incorporate it into your business model.
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It's clear Kenneth Cole doesn't give a crap about what pundits, the media or his customers think about his attempts to leverage major news events to his brand's advantage. Just today, after having been lambasted for a tweet about Cairo (and plenty of other similarly stupid tweets), Cole, who runs his own Twitter account, tweeted, "Boots on the ground" or not. Let's not forget sandals, pumps and loafers. #Footwear"
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You've got to be pretty pissed off to spend $1,000 on a Promoted Tweet just because an airline lost your bags for a couple of days. But that's exactly what Husan Syed did when British Airways lost his father's bags on a recent flight.
Syed went on a Twitter rant earlier this week after the airline lost his father's bags. In addition, Syed purchased promoted tweets to the tune of $1,000.
But, late yesterday, as promised, Syed revealed his spend of $1,000 and metrics which show the spend garnered 76,800 impressions and 14,600 engagements.
One of his tweets, "I Can Haz My Baggage," garnered 45 retweets and 37 replies with an engagement rate of 18.7%
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This, quite possibly, might be a first. We're all used to brand after brand after brand mucking up our Twitter feed with promoted tweets. But have you ever seen an individual purchase a promoted tweet to better guarantee his complaint won't go unnoticed?
After British Airways lost his father's luggage, Husan Syed took to Twitter to complain. But rather than simply tweet a rant as most do, Syed bought a promoted tweet in New York and UK markets Monday night which aviation marketing consultancy SimplyFlying said garnered 25,000 tweets in the first six hours.
The tweet read, "Don't fly @BritishAirways. Their customer service is horrendous."
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