As you've been walking through your office this week, do you keep hearing something... something very faint... something coming from the desks of the women-folk in the building?
Is it the heart-warming Old Spice whistle that you keep hearing?
It probably is.
The spark of the Old Spice commercials (jewel-encrusted scepter) that have snatched the hearts of so many (random crown) have fueled a viral impact unlike we've seen thus far (fresh water fish).
But it's more than Isaiah Mustafa's charm, perfect smile, abs, freshly washed towel that probably smells like a mixture of Old Spice and fresh laundry (too far?)... it's the personalized feel of the messages. Yes, Old Spice is speaking to millions of people, but Isaiah Mustafa is simply speaking to me.
A recent study profiled on Marketing Charts shows that promotional e-mails that include links to social networking sites produce an average of 30-percent higher click-through rates (CTR) than promotional e-mails without links. And don't think one is enough – research also shows that the more social network links you have, the higher CTR you receive.
That's just the first of many Tweets from BP Twitter impostor, @BPGlobalPR.
With nearly 20,000 followers (and growing), you would think BP would be trying to cap, plug with trash, or otherwise reduce the mess of this feed. But sticking to their traditions, they're just going to let it go.
According to this Advertising Age article , Toby Odone, a spokesman at BP, said, "I'm not aware of whether BP has made any calls to have it taken down or addressed. People are entitled to their views on what we're doing and we have to live with those. We are doing the best we can to deal with the current situation and to try to stop the oil from flowing and to then clean it up."
Entitled to their views, indeed. And this Twitter feed isn't backing up.
Burns Marketing knows what women want... virtual flowers. Together with Nurse-Family Partnership® (NFP), a national, evidence-based public health program headquartered in Denver that helps improve the lives of low-income, first-time mothers and their babies, we developed a social media strategy and Facebook campaign to drive brand awareness. And over the course of only about two weeks, the application, called "Flowers for Moms" has reached more than 10 million people. The simple premise of the app is for users to honor all the moms in their lives by sending them a virtual bouquet of flowers.
With an astounding number of users, nearly 30,000 fans of the application, and thousands of positive comments and reviews, the exponential growth is solely a product of the viral nature of the app, and no advertising on Facebook or otherwise has been used to promote the campaign. Strategically published a few weeks prior to Mother's Day, as expected, user numbers increased significantly leading up to Sunday, May 9. And even as the Mother's Day buzz quiets, the application is still going strong. NFP is also seeing accelerated growth in "likes" on their Facebook page and visits to their website.
"We are thrilled by the overwhelming response to 'Flowers for Moms,'" says Lauren Baker, chief marketing and communications officer for NFP, "We challenged Burns Marketing to help us spread our organization's positive message by sharing with all moms how important and appreciated they are. Facebook was the ideal social media communications channel, and the results have far exceeded our expectations. We are excited to see how far this application reaches."
What do your customers want? You, too, can experience tremendous social media success with help from the strategic experts at Burns Marketing. Contact us today at 970.203.9656.
You may think you're suave with your Twitter and your Foursquare (we think you are too), but the criminals out there are thanking you for promising them that you will not be home.
Welcome to the criminal world of Twitter and Foursquare... a lethal combination of not only Tweeting that you're away, but then verifying it by checking in with Foursquare.
No need to scope your home and identify your daily routine for optimum break-in times. These social criminals are being provided with the necessary information – by you.
Now that you're jobless, and after all the ridiculousness NBC put you through, are you ready step away from the TV? We hope so.
I'm pleased to offer you a great new opportunity at Burns Marketing Communications – as our new Chief Executive Social Media Dignitary. (We can work on the title if you don't like it. But we think that one has a nice ring to it.) C'mon. You know you want it!
You've done a masterful job outmaneuvering the network executives throughout this Tonight Show saga. It's been awesome to watch. In fact, your adept use of social media has made them look pretty, well, foolish – while creating a tremendous movement for your team. You're a genius, really.
We think your wit, cutting-edge creativity, and brilliant social media insight will have a tremendous impact for our clients. We're even proud to offer you carte blanche creativity. Who's going to say no to Conan? Not us. And not our clients.
So you're probably wondering, "Who the #$%& is Burns Marketing Communications?" Well, we're a little agency that thinks big, located in beautiful northern Colorado. (Not that you'd need to work from here. We could figure something out.)
Our clients include big names like HP, Intel, nVidia, Vail Resorts, and others – along with a stable of local and regional accounts around Fort Collins, Boulder, and Denver. Like most of the world, our clients are searching for answers to today's marketing challenges. You know, they're counting on agencies like ours to launch campaigns like your epic sendoff to NBC. You could make a huge name for yourself in this industry. Not everyone will want a big old middle finger like the one you gave NBC, but we're pretty sure you've got many more huge ideas where that came from.
You're probably also wondering how much this gig pays. Well, let's just say it's an honorary position. However, I'd be happy to give you some profound investment advice, so you can maximize that boatload of money you're going to get from NBC.
Anyway, we're sure you'll make the right decision when it comes to your future. We just hope it's with us. Call me. We're open to anything you'd like. We'll do all we can to make your transition to social media guru as seamless as possible.
A lot of Facebook statuses haven't been making sense lately. Lengthy updates of minute details of people's days were replaced with simple, one-word updates of colors. Did you notice these were coming from women?
If you've been trying to solve the color status confusion, we've got the answer: Women were updating their statuses to what color bra they were wearing – all in support of breast cancer awareness. Facebook still hasn't determined the source of the idea.
DARPA, the Pentagon's research agency, released 10 balloons on December 5. The first person or group to determine the locations received $40,000.
This wasn't just a silly balloon contest, DARPA wanted to learn about social networks and behavior and how computer-connected teams used resources and connections to compete.
People were able to see the balloons from public roadways for one day. Peter Lee, a computer scientist and one of the DARPA directors, wasn't sure how people would compete, but he expected people to develop software applications, create large groups of spotters, even disseminate wrong information, or pay for clues, etc.
The answer is in... the winning team, Team MIT, built a web site that engaged users and encouraged them to lookout for the balloons. Read the team's strategy here.
Why December 5? Well, that was the 40th anniversary of when the first four nodes of the military-sponsored computer network, Arpanet, were connected. That little experiment was the precursor to today's Internet.
We spend endless hours on Facebook and Twitter. We sit in the Starbucks line Tweeting, and our breaks consist of looking at recently posted pictures of friends. But is there a new site that will sweep us off our feet? Has Foursquare crossed your path?
This site – which you can get on your mobile, of course – allows you to tell people where you are by "checking in." By checking-in, your friends can find you, and you'll receive recommendations on the hotspots nearby – bars, restaurants, coffee shops, shops, etc.
Do you have a list of favorite places or know the best thing on the menu? Foursquare helps you keep track of your to-do lists, and it'll even suggest new places to check-in to. These lists can be seen by other users so a wealth of knowledge and secret discoveries are waiting to be uncovered.
You also earn badges. The more you check-in, the more people you hang out with, and the more interesting places you go, the more badges you'll earn. You may eventually achieve the "mayor" title for being the most loyal "regular" to attend a local hangout – and even earn freebies from the place!
Want more? Check out this CNN article written by Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO of Mashable.
Updating your Facebook status and Tweeting via phone and (yawn) computer is becoming so tedious and outdated. Now, Facebook and Twitter will soon be integrated into Xbox Live making it possible for users to Tweet and update their status (and more!) on their TVs according to this article. Users can also link their Facebook profile to their Xbox Gamertag to connect with friends on Xbox Live.
Can't live without other sites either? This Xbox Live update also includes Zune and Last.fm. Zune allows users to watch HD TV and videos with up to seven friends and Last.fm offers customized streaming music.
Where can we expect these social media sites next? The car? The treadmills at the gym? Hmmm. There's no stopping it.
We admit it. We're addicted to the Trivial Pursuit Experiment. It's incredibly entertaining, a great way to bring Trivial Pursuit into today's culture, and a clever use of the best slapstick videos available online.
It doesn't even matter if you're right or wrong. The rewards are priceless.
After the hours of entertainment it provided, we'll even forgive Trivial Pursuit for the grammatical mistake in the title of the promotional video.
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