If you are the type of person that loves anything free and are willing to give out your Facebook information to corporate America, Pepsi’s new social media initiative may be of interest to you. Pepsi has developed a vending machine that is not powered by money but by “liking” the company on your smartphone or on the machine itself. Once you’ve “liked” the brand, a sizeable sample of Pepsi is then distributed.
Right now there is only one machine that debuted at a Beyonce concert in Antwerp, Belgium. We are sure that as the popularity of the initiative spreads, such machines will be popping up at sporting and entertainment events around the globe. Check out the video below where the narrator explains that “thanks to this new way of sampling, we know exactly who liked, tried and enjoyed an ice-cold Pepsi.”
Is a free Pepsi worth your giving up of personal information? What happens if you choose to “unlike” the brand after drinking the soda? We’d love to hear your thoughts about this new social media branding experience.
The travel industry sure knows what its doing when it comes to social media presence as four out of the top five companies in the recent Social Brands 100 survey belonged to the travel and tourism industry. American Airlines took second place honors followed by Lufthansa (#3), Thomson Holidays (#4) and Thomas Cook UK (#5). Entertainment company Battlefield took top billing in the survey results, according to an article on AviationPros.com.
Twenty percent of the first 50 brands in the survey were travel industry related. The criteria for the survey was how the company leveraged Facebook and Twitter to communicate with fans, and how the brand handled customer service issues.
American Airlines secured its second place ranking with promotions such as a current Twitter contest where fans can win a free travel to New York City and a meeting with chef Mario Batali on the set of his new show “The Chew.” Also, the company recently launched a new boarding program where individuals without overhead luggage can embark the aircraft ahead of other economy class groups. The kickoff to this particular initiative was a live Twitter chat with the customer care VP urging people to ask questions about the new boarding program.
Other travel companies in the top 50 include Canadian airline WestJet at number 18, EasyJet at number 29, First Choice holidays at 30, Virgin Trains at 39, London Midland at 42 and Princess Cruises at 50.
Is it a quest for smooth skin, a smooth swim or both? Nivea is touring across Europe to invite women and their friends to take a dip in a public, yet Nivea branded, pool in hopes that women will feel more comfortable with their bodies, according to an article on Marketing Week.
Nivea hopes to attract a younger female demographic of 25-35 years old and a recent survey of 4,000 North European women revealed that 45 percent of females feel more nervous about their first swimwear moment than getting naked in front of a new partner. Nivea is also hoping that if women are willing to reveal themselves in a swimsuit, they will be more apt to take care of their skin.
In an interesting twist on companies using social media to further its brand objectives, Nivea fans in the United Kingdom can direct which cities the traveling pool will go to through visits on Nivea’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Fans can register via Facebook to participate in upcoming events.
Lawyers for hazelnut spread company Nutella sent and then, upon social media pressure, rescinded, a cease and desist letter to a fan who had the nerve to set up a World Nutella Day page on Facebook. Attorneys for parent company Ferrero initially claimed that spread lover Sara Rosso’s Facebook page and accompanying “holiday” misused the Nutella brand.
The World Nutella Day Facebook page boasts over 40,000 likes. Fans took to social media to support Rosso in her short-lived legal battle. Lawyers eventually learned a valuable non-legal lesson-that you can possibly win the battle and lose the war-and caved to digital pressure by withdrawing the letter. They then thanked Rosso publicly for her support of the brand and said they consider themselves lucky to have such devoted Nutella followers. They called the legal mishap “a routine brand defense procedure that was activated as a result of some misuse of the Nutella brand on the fan page,” according to Digiday.
Goes to show that the power of social media to sway corporations and branding decisions as strong as ever. We will continue to report on such social media brand blunders as they happen. Now where’s that Nutella?
Discretion and confidentiality are words that come to mind when one thinks of substance abuse rehabilitation and treatment. That is why we were so intrigued by the Passages Addiction Treatment Centers’ recent announcement of the launch of a “Sobriety, Health and Wellness” survey utilizing only social media channels.
“We are always looking for new ways to engage with the addiction treatment community and to get feedback regarding sobriety, what’s working for people, and what isn’t,” said Pax Prentiss, CEO and co-founder of Passages, in a press release. The survey will take place over a two-week time frame. Passages’ administrative staff will be looking for feedback from those in recovery, Passages’ staff and graduates of the program and those considered “fans” of the rehabilitation brand. The ideas generated from this social media survey will be used to improve upon the rehabilitation experience. Passages asks anyone that is interested in providing feedback concerning recovery to post such comments on their Facebook page.
The use of this survey brings up the larger issue of whether social media is appropriate as a venue for anyone who works in a field where confidentiality or client/professional privilege is required. Granted, this survey is asking the public for ideas on how to improve quality of care. We would love to hear your thoughts on this issue.
Now infamous for being the first restauranteurs “fired” by Kitchen Nightmares’ star Gordon Ramsey on last Friday’s episode for being unable to work with Amy and Samy Bouzaglo, the owners of Amy’s Baking Company are currently embroiled in a social media nightmare where the owners are claiming their Facebook page has been hacked.
Last week’s episode ended with Ramsey walking away from the restaurant owners and claiming he was unable to work with the Bouzaglos because they do not listen to criticism. The owners of Amy’s Baking Company admitted to firing 100 employees and were alleged to have stolen tip money. Since then, the couple reportedly took to social media to respond to critics. Instead of replying in a calm and collected fashion, the person who posted on Amy’s Facebook page responded to critics in an increasingly bizarre and somewhat abusive fashion, callling detractors “trash”, “pathetic” and that “G-d was on their (Amy and Samy’s) side with Samy calling his wife “a jewel in the desert.”
In an interesting twist, Amy’s owners are now claiming their social media sites were hacked with the following post on Facebook: “Obviously our Facebook, YELP, Twitter and Website have been hacked. We are working with the local authorities as well as the FBI computer crimes unit to ensure this does not happen again. We did not post those horrible things. Thank You Amy &Samy.” This may be possible. Highly doubtful, but you never know. Remember that Anthony Weiner claimed his Twitter account was hacked before fessing up that he did, in fact, send pictures of his crotch to a follower on social media.
Amy’s needs to rebuild its brand by apologizing to its customers for letting this debacle deflect from the real business of serving quality food to the public. They need to thank the customers that have stuck by them and the 50,000 plus Facebook fans that like them. Then they need to get off social media and not allow themselves to be baited by those who expect to see them explode. If they can’t do this, once the foot traffic of customers that will come into the restaurant to witness the madness subsides, the restaurant will be long for this world.
Our advice would be to make the big, public mea culpa and zip it. If budget permits, bringing in a dedicated and experienced public relations person to rebuild the brand would be a good move, too. So long as they don’t fire that person.
AT&T has hit a digital home run with the release of a Mother’s Day video that has a suit-clad gentleman asking kids in a classroom who gives the biggest hugs. The unanimous answer, of course, is that mommies give the best ones. After one girl says that her mom is a “really good snuggler”, another piping in that her mom “hugs her really tight” and an adorable little boy demonstrating his mother’s hugs with accompanying noise effects, the ad ends with “it’s not complicated, Happy Mother’s Day to the best mom ever.”
The video is part of a series of BBDO’s “It’s Not Complicated” campaign for the phone company, according to an article on Ad Age.
You can personalize the card to your own mom at the link below and at the end of the video. The clip will be up through Mother’s Day in case you want to add a digital component to your card giving this year or you just plain forgot to get out to the store in time to mail one. You can send this digital card to mom through social media including Facebook or via email.
JCPenney is looking to reconnect with its customers in the wake of a 25 percent sales slump last year and the recent replacement of CEO Ron Johnson after leading the company for a mere 17 months. To that end, it has released a very public mea culpa utilizing traditional and social media outlets admitting mistakes and asking customers to return to the brand.
As part of the campaign to win back the hearts and minds of the American consumer, it has released an advertisement on television, Facebook and YouTube. “We heard you-now we’d love to see you,” says the female narrator. The Facebook campaign titled “We Are Listening” garnered almost 57,000 likes in just six days and approximately 3,700 Facebook users shared the video with other users of the social media platform.
JCPenney also took to Twitter with the hashtag #jcplistens. Star Jones, former co-host of The View, tweeted her support of the campaign and praised the company’s fashions as good for working women. Jones, branding guru Donny Deutsch and Padma Lakshmi all gave positive feedback about the new apology campaign during NBC’s Today Show.
Everybody likes a good comeback. It would be nice to see one happen for this iconic, yet affordable, American company that first opened its doors in Wyoming in 1902. With over 1,100 stores now in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, many livelihoods are depending on a rebound.
What makes writing a blog about branding and social media usage so much fun is being able to learn about the latest, cutting edge trends used by creatives to promote companies in the digital arena. To that end, it’s hard not to be intrigued by Budweiser Brazil’s newest way to promote its brand through social media. The newly created “buddy cup” is embedded with a computerized chip that when clinked against another such cup, a Facebook connection is made between the two toasters. The beer company plans on using such cups at promotional events like concerts and festivals, according to an article on the Huffington Post.
Should this “Buddy Cup” work as well as Budweiser hopes en Brazil, we are sure it won’t be long until beer drinkers are saying chin chin, salud, l’chaim, down the hatch and cheers at brand related events around the globe. There is certainly interest in this virtual libation vessel, as YouTube has tracked almost 260,000 hits in just one week since Budweiser Brazil uploaded a video introducing the cup.
Let us start off by saying that we often love the promotions and advertisements that JetBlue makes on behalf of their brand. Until the recent announcement (read yesterday’s Brands blog) of Virgin America’s new seat-to-seat offering where you can send a fellow flyer a libation, snack or meal along with a friendly text, JetBlue always seemed to us like a airline that was modern and fun from its snack choices including Terra Blue Chips to the individual television for every flyer. Even its website is humorous with a login section for True Blue members called “Hi” and an area to purchase tickets titled “Buy.”
What we are not so sure about, however, is how and why JetBlue decided to weigh in via Twitter and Facebook on NBA player Jason Collins’ coming out, according to an article on yesterday’s Ad Age. Jet Blue thanked Collins, 34, for his action and tweeted “today we are all on the same team.”
Few can argue that Collins’ personal revelation was a brave and courageous act. The Washington Wizard’s center is the first person in American team sports history to come out as homosexual while still an active, professional player. What we are unsure about is why Jet Blue, who does not sponsor Collins or has not had a prior, public stance supporting gay rights, has decided to contribute to this discussion? Is it a ploy by the airline to jump onto a social cause bandwagon or is it a genuine sentiment of good will toward Collins and the gay community?
Collins’ sports sponsor Nike appropriately commented on the Wizard’s action. Nike publicly acknowledged Collins’ courage and that they were proud to have him as a Nike athlete, according to Ad Age. They further added that the sneaker company believes in an even playing field where an athlete’s sexual orientation isn’t even a consideration. Absolut Vodka, which has previously championed causes such as legalizing gay marriage, also came out via Twitter in support of Collins. Both the sentiments of Nike and Absolut seem appropriate in light of their previous relationship with the athlete (Nike) and social cause (Absolut).
There has been discussion on social media whether JetBlue’s actions in this matter was well intentioned or not. Certainly the airline stands behind its decision to praise Collins digitally and stated it has the “utmost respect” for any individual that is true to his or herself. We’d like to give the brand here the benefit of the doubt and believe it just wants to praise the act of a courageous man. So let’s set cynicism aside temporarily and instead commend Jet Blue on lending support to a person who likely wrestled with this decision to speak candidly about his sexuality for quite sometime.
