Here is another edition for our five things you might have missed list, jam-packed with online marketing scoop, interesting tidbits, fascinating social media factoids, wacky ad stuff and even a spiffy way for you to contribute.
1.) The Social Media & Brand Romance is Real: Empathica Inc. published a quarterly version of its Empathica Consumer Insights Panel which found six in 10 social media consumers said they followed at least one brand. This study, which was conducted in the United States and Canada, confirmed our ever-deepening love affair with brands on social media. Even more enlightening, Empathica discovered that 40 percent of those who admitted to following brands said they did so for coupons or special deals. What’s more: One in three consumers follows suggestions made on sites like Twitter and Facebook. The study gleefully affirms that yes, Virginia, your social media strategy really is a good idea.
2.) Save as a WWF File and Save a Tree: The World Wildlife Federation has come up with another clever and Earth-friendly campaign, this time encouraging computer junkies not to press the “print” button. The organization has created the WWF file and software that works like a PDF but cannot be printed therefore potentially saving millions of trees. It’s smart and accessible activism from an organization that keeps coming up with interesting ways to spread its message.
3.) Beat-boxing Cupcakes: Duncan Hines’ Amazing Glazes came out with a series of YouTube-only commercials. Each is pretty entertaining, but we’re particular fans of the spot featuring the hip-hop cupcakes.
4.) Tired of Treasure Hunts: This week saw coverage of two online treasure hunts sponsored by Wrigley and M&M’s. Which brand did it better? Who cares? We’d like to propose 2011 be the Year of No Treasure Hunts. What started out as a fun social media promotion has turned into an overused gimmick, exhausted by marketers. We *heart* social media games, don’t get us wrong. But it’s time to let the treasure map stay buried for a while.
5.) 5 Things We Might Have Missed: We want to create a special edition of this list and we want you to contribute to it! E-mail smahoney [at] brandsplat [dot] com five things you think we should know about. If we love it, we’ll publish it in a special reader-created list and give you a shout out!
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