Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’

On Our Radar.

April 29th, 2011 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

Each Friday we work hard to bring together the hottest topics in the world of PR, media, marketing, and pop culture. The best finds on the Web are contributed by different members of the agency and brought together to create a list of must-see topics. This week’s links were brought to you by Managing Director Meryl Cooper, Account Coordinator Reene Severino and myself.

If you have been paying any attention in the past few months than you know this morning was the Royal Wedding. Thanks to social media we were able to experience this event like never before. Whether you watched the trends on Twitter and Facebook or saw it live streamed on the Internet you could follow the details and see the event roll out in an entirely new way.

In other news this week, Frito-Lay set a Guinness record for the most Facebook likes, Porsche decided to thank their Facebook fans and Mabel’s  Labels launched the first ever non-contest.

QR codes have become the hottest new trend for brands. Thrown into advertisements, events and promotional materials brands are able to share more information with their consumers in less space. Because QR codes are a new technology they can be a little tricky to understand. Here is a great article breaking down the basics of QR codes.

A few weeks ago Mashable launched a series teaching PR pros how to master the most popular social sites. Understanding these platforms is becoming an essential skill for all PR pros and these great articles explain how to do so in an easy to follow format. Now you can master Twitter, YouTube and blogging.

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DVPR Named as Finalist in 2011 Sabre Awards

April 19th, 2011 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

We are very excited that three DVPR campaigns have been recognized as finalists in three North American SABRE Awards categories, selected from a submission pool of nearly 2000 entries:

Silver Sabre–Household Products: The P&G “Thank You Mom” program is the first-ever U.S. corporate-branded campaign in the company’s 170-plus year history. DVPR helped P&G activate its corporate purpose “touching and improving lives” through a sponsorship of Team USA and their moms at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

Gold Sabre–Cause Related Marketing: The Downy Touch of Comfort program delivered comfort through handmade quilts to hospitalized children across the U.S. and has touched the lives of more than 7,000 children this year.

Silver Sabre–Fashion and Beauty: The Wella Professionals Color Discovery Tour was a 12-market mobile tour that offered women nationwide easy and complimentary access to local professional colorists.

The Sabre Awards will be announced at a gala in New York City on May 10th.

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On Our Radar.

March 18th, 2011 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

Each Friday we work hard to bring together the hottest topics in the world of PR, media, marketing, and pop culture. The best finds on the Web are contributed by different members of the agency and brought together to create a list of must-see topics. This week’s links were brought to you by Senior Account Executive Jessie DuPont and myself.

If you are spending anytime at all on Twitter you should know that this week was the annual SXSW conference in Austin Texas. Following this conference are posts laying out the hottest trends this year inspired by what they saw at SXSW. Mashable brought together a great collection of trends that will be important to every marketer in the coming year.

Our own Executive Vice President Rebecca Dickson had the chance to speak on a panel at SXSW. The panel, “Branded Documentary: A Case Study, Concept to Cannes,” was a discussion about how to develop and leverage documentary films as a means to spark consumer engagement and business results for brands and was attended by a mix of filmmakers, content creators and marketers.  Rebecca joined the film’s producer, a Downy Assistant Brand Manager and a digital media expert and moderator, Lisa Pearson (a DVPR alumna) on the panel; the Downy Touch of Comfort short film was utilized as a case study.

One of the most talked about new services that debuted at SXSW was this new focus on mobile gaming, specifically scavenger hunts. Brands are already jumping on this trend and finding ways to apply it to their marketing tactics. Neiman Marcus partnered with mobile app scvngr to create an in-store scavenger hunt.

The hardest part of attending large conferences such as SXSW is keeping track of your contacts and new people you meet. There isn’t much time for taking your business cards and organizing them in an effective way so that you can follow up later. This year a new application was released that made trading information and organizing contacts nearly seamless. Hashable allows you to meet new people and keep track of their social networks in a simple one step move.

We have seen online video content grow in popularity over the past few years. With the ability to watch online video on computers, smart phones, and tablet devices the act of consuming video content is nearly seamless and can be a powerful tool for brands. As we saw with Smart Waters viral video tactic their short YouTube film garnered over 7 million views. Tech Crunch released an interesting article sharing some statistics about online video watching habits. Also, Fast Company brought together a list of the 10 most innovative video companies.

The DeVries Career Reboot Competition will be ending this Sunday. Make sure and submit your career story and resume for a chance to win a trip to New York and a day in the DeVries office learning from top executives! Also, follow #DVPRreboot on Twitter for career articles, advice and tips!

Cassie Boorn is the Social Media Coordinator at DeVries. You can also find her writing regularly at her personal blog.

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On Our Radar.

March 4th, 2011 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

Each Friday we work hard to bring together the hottest topics in the world of PR, media, marketing, and pop culture. The best finds on the Web are contributed by different members of the agency and brought together to create a list of must-see topics. This weeks links were brought to you by Managing Director Meryl Cooper, Senior Account Executive Jessie DuPont and myself. Here’s what’s on our radar this week.

The death of the press release is probably the most popular conversation among PR professionals today. This week a great article was released that outlines the top seven gripes about press releases. The press release certainly isn’t dying but it definitely is changing!

Branded content is one of the hottest topics on the web right now. This great article shares some of the best practices of brand storytelling with some great insights on why it is important. Brands first began creating their own content on Facebook and Twitter and now brands are finding new outlets one of the most popular being Instagram.

DeVries is very familiar with the idea of creating branded content to make an impact. Next week our Executive Vice President Rebecca Dickson will be presenting the idea of branded documentaries on a panel at SXSW. If you are going to be at the conference make sure to stop in and say hello!

Some of the biggest news this week was Facebook’s acquisition of a group texting start-up. Group texting is still a rather new space to explore and Facebook’s interest in this technology makes you wonder where it might lead.

Cassie Boorn is the Social Media Coordinator at DeVries. You can also find her writing regularly at her personal blog.

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On Our Radar.

February 28th, 2011 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

Each Friday we work hard to bring together the hottest topics in the world of PR, media, marketing, and pop culture. The best finds on the Web are contributed by different members of the agency and brought together to create a list of must-see topics. Here’s what’s on our radar this week.

In the past decade we have seen the definition of media go under some major changes. There have been long debates about the future of journalism and social media. With all of the changes that we have seen we can’t help but wonder what will be next?

As we all know social media can be useful, fun, and sometimes even addicting. It can be exciting when the number of followers you have starts to grow and there is nothing better than seeing a lot of comments on a new post. Sometimes this excitement can go a little too far. Are you committing the 7 deadly sins of a social brand?

A brand creating their own content is one of the hot new trends. When roles change from helping other people tell your story and telling your own story, tactics change as well. Ad Age outlines some major concerns that brands should have when creating their own content. Which once again brings us to the question of who owns social media?

There are tons of case studies about how brands have used social media successfully. Detailing their objectives, tactics, and results. Many of these studies were incredibly successful and there is plenty to learn from them. However, I don’t think that anyone can argue that there is even more we could learn from Justin Bieber.

Every week new technology is created and introduced to the social web and existing social platforms continue to change. This week Tumblr release a new feature that allows Tumblr users to curate content.

Cassie Boorn is the Social Media Coordinator at DeVries. You can also find her writing regularly at her personal blog.

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Social Media Keeps You Young

February 24th, 2011 | Posted By Adrianna Giuliani

We are obsessed with being young. While we nip, tuck, diet, exercise and groom to turn back the clock–why don’t we consider friending, tweeting and commenting as equally important rituals in returning to a youthful state? It’s been my humble observation that people who are young at heart have discovered the most accessible fountain of youth—the internet. Below you’ll find my “theory” on how social media can be our digital botox.

1. Let’s You Hang Out with Your Friends: Remember high school days when we would clock hours on the phones with our friends every day, pick them up for school and pass notes between class? Well thanks to Facebook, email, IM and texts we can create a sense of digital togetherness by sharing experiences, humor and support. Even though you might not be able to get together to watch the Oscars you can still gossip about Natalie Portman’s laugh, in 140 characters.

2. Forces You to Channel Your Inner Optimism: From slacktivism to activism, we’ve seen the power of social media raise 38 million dollars for Haiti, fill 22 million bowls of rice for families around the world and generate 104K tweets per hour during the triumphant rescue of the Chilean miners. It’s almost enough idealism to make us believe we can help humanity with the click of a mouse.

3. Helps You Keep Up with the Kardashians (and the Beliebers): Was it Kim, Kourtney or Khloe that launched that perfume?  Which mass retailer carries nail polish-inspired by Justin Bieber’s “My World?” You better find out — your niece’s 12th birthday is coming up.

4. Makes You Laugh: Weather it’s a sarcastic status update from an old friend, a cat playing the keyboard or Zach Galifinakis interviewing Jon Hamm Between Two Ferns, the internet provides an endless stream of content to ensure you are LOLing during the most mundane days. Plus the only thing funnier than discovering the hipster Ariel meme is passing it on.

5. Fuels Social Promiscuity: As we get older and enter into relationships it’s shunned upon to make new friends if there is a possibility of attraction. But social media provides a loop hole where meeting new people is embraced and relationships are centered around sharing ideas and networking. Who needs “monogamy” when you can have more followers?

Adrianna Giuliani is a Creative & Strategic planner at DeVries. She blogs about how technology and social media can create, crumble and confuse meaning in modern relationships. Read more on her blog Techromance or on the College Crush.

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On Our Radar

February 14th, 2011 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

Each Friday we work hard to bring together the hottest topics in the world of PR, media, marketing and pop culture. The best findings on the web are contributed by different members of the agency and brought together to create a list of must-see topics. This week’s topics were contributed by Senior Account Executive Jessie duPont, Vice President Ryan Murphy and myself. Here’s what’s on our radar this week.

This week is Fashion Week in New York and designers, editors, and bloggers from across the world come together in celebration of fashion. Of course, not everyone can make it to all of the events and Mashable wanted to make sure that no one had to miss out on all of the fun! Here is a great guide to following Fashion Week online. Many brands are using Fashion Week and social media to support their marketing efforts in an organic way. K-mart launched a creative campaign in which they will be at many key Fashion Week spots handing out survival kits for bloggers and influencers. These kits include everything from Band-Aids to Chapstick making sure that Fashion Week is both fashionable and comfortable.

Facebook rolled out yet another new change this week. However, this time around the changes won’t affect most Facebook users but will affect brands. Facebook fan pages are going through some major changes that will both affect the way that your fan page looks as well as the way in which you can use it.

Anytime that you begin talking about social media you immediately find yourself in a conversation surrounding ROI and the benefits of the online space. Mashable released an article this week stating that marketers are optimistic about finding social media ROI. AdAge also released an article this week where one brand states that Facebook and Twitter have actually been more valuable to them than television!

At DeVries we spend a lot of time talking about moms and female consumers and what influences their purchasing decisions. There was a really interesting article published this week talking about moms online and how they use social media to make purchasing decisions and how this has affected the way that brands use social media to reach this target demographic.

In case you need some inspiration: An Experiment in Advertising Social Media Strategy.

In case you need a little laugh: Reunite Barbie and Ken.

In case you are looking for something new: Introducing Mashable Follow.

Cassie Boorn is the Social Media Coordinator at DeVries. You can also find her writing regularly at her personal blog.

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Colleagues in the Spotlight

February 10th, 2011 | Posted By Stephanie Smirnov

Let’s see a show of hands: who’s ever fantasized about seeing their face in the Wall Street Journal, transformed by that iconic illustration style?

For DVPR Account Executive Katie Miller, that dream came true this week. Katie was featured as one of a new crop of social media influencers whose authority is measured not in the millions, but in the thousands thanks to the power of the social web. Citing digital tools such as Klout, PeerIndex and Twitalyzer as new indicators of “social currency,” the WSJ describes the attention these new “VIPs” are receiving from mainstream marketers.

(Of course, we don’t need the WSJ to tell us Katie’s a VIP, we’ve known that all along.)

Check out the full article here.

Stephanie Smirnov is the President of the agency and can also be found at her personal blog PRMama.com.

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On Our Radar.

February 4th, 2011 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

Each Friday we work hard to bring together the hottest topics in the world of PR, media, marketing and pop culture. Here are a few things that are on our radar this week.

There has been a ton of buzz about websites that offer coupons and special deals to consumers. The pioneer of these group coupon sharing sites was Groupon. Recently, we have seen a number of these types of sites popping up. This week Walmart launched a program using their social media platforms to offer Groupon-like discounts and increase brand awareness.

Group sharing sites are not the only way that brands are offering consumers incentives and deals using the digital space. Facebook Places has partnered with retailers to offer deals to their users. When Facebook users “Check-in” to certain retailers they receive a discount or incentive from the retailer. This great article from PSFK breaks down how Facebook Places works for brands and how it will probably change and grow in the coming year.

There is always a lot of talk about using the social web as a listening tool.  There are so many options when it comes to tracking conversations about your brand. Content and information is constantly being updated on the web and keeping tabs on the relevant conversations can be a major challenge. Ad Week published an article discussing the different ways in which brands can monitor conversations and what brands can do with that information. This is one of the best articles I have found on the topic and really explains social listening in a way that is helpful for someone completely new to the topic as well as someone who is well-versed.

Mashable announced a panel that will be taking place in the New York area very soon. A group of journalists are coming together to discuss the skills that emerging journalists will need to have in order to succeed. This is a very hot topic across the field of communications that we will continue to have as technology progresses.

New York Fashion Week has spawned a lot of conversation online from both brands and bloggers. Our own client Ecco Domani just launched their Facebook Fan Page in time for fashion week where they will share exclusive video content as well as tips from their Style Squad which is made up of four very influential fashion bloggers. Aside from that Blog Lovin just announced their first ever fashion award program:  the Oscars of Fashion blogging. Blog Lovin will award fashion bloggers for their efforts in a number of different categories.

Cassie Boorn is the Social Media Coordinator at DeVries. You can also find her writing regularly at her personal blog.

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On Our Radar.

January 28th, 2011 | Posted By Cassie Boorn

Each Friday we work hard to bring together the hottest topics in the world of PR, media, marketing and pop culture. Here are a few things that are on our radar this week.

The Internet has opened up the ability to share information and many different kinds of content with consumers. You can now create video content, imaging, newsletters, and podcasts to share your message in a new way. Video marketing has really skyrocketed in the past couple of years.  Consumers are now able to watch video while on the go using their laptops, tablet devices, and phones. Recently Mashable released a great article about what makes a video go viral. While every branded video campaign has the goal of going viral there is huge mix of factors that really determine how successful your video campaign is going to be.

Speaking of successful video campaigns, the most successful video campaign last year is back! Old Spice recently launched a follow-up campaign to compliment their very successful efforts last year. This time they are tapping an Old Spice social media fan in a creative contesting format to engage consumers.

There is so much content shared across the web each day that we are beginning to ask: Have we reached a world of infinite information?

Often times when people consider traditional and social media they put them in silos separating the two distinctly. However, we have found that the most successful campaigns utilize both sides of media in a holistic fashion to create the most buzz about your brand. This week Mashable released an article showing how to create buzz around a new product launch. This article really shows how to take your traditional media efforts and mix them with your social efforts.

Every time we turn around Facebook is launching a new product and new features. Recently, a conversation was started regarding a new feature Facebook will be rolling out soon. This product was created specifically with brands in mind. Brands on Facebook will soon have the opportunity to gain a little more control on what content is being featured on their wall. Users can vote up popular content keeping the most relevant comments and interesting content at the top of the page and at top of mind.

Cassie Boorn is the Social Media Coordinator at DeVries. You can also find her writing regularly at her personal blog.

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