Engaging your Tweeters

In many ways it is pretty easy to show you care as a brand these days, as with pretty minimal investment you can monitor what people are saying and respond. However Wheat-thins have taken it one stage further, and in replying to a tweet have also got some great content for a hundred thousand people to view.

UPDATE: In fact looking at the comments they may even have started a meme. Look out for "Aaah I'm out of___, My life is officially over" popping up elsewhere.

The Social Media Overkill Room

Until very recently Gatorade meant nothing more to me than sugary orange water which Americans drank, but since Gatorade Replay I have taken more of an interest. This is the latest video I have seen from them, and although it is clearly self-promotional and marginally ridiculous, it does show a commitment to social media and conversations which most brands are still scared of. In fact this video could work to sell in greater social media awareness to other clients, who have not considered the amount of resources, and plasma screens, their competitors are now devoting to it.

Reaching your remote Audience

Julian Cole published some interesting thoughts over on his (recommended) blog on which brands are reaching their "remote audience". He mentioned Diet Coke Real Women, which used an event to create a story for the online audience.

We still think Red Bull are the best this, but Gatorade have also recently embarked upon Replay 2, the follow-up to their highly successful event last year where an infamous local sporting rivalry was finally settled. The latest rematch was watched by 4,000 in a sold out arena, but it was also webcast on Fox Sports. Watch the teaser above and watch out for the full documentary which is about to be released.

Believe in Something

Ikea have conducted a global research project on Play, concluding that we don't do enough of it. They have a page on Facebook inviting everyone to be a part of the conversation, and have released the full report online [PDF]. It is impressive in scope (they conducted 11,000 interviews) and a good example of a brand showing their belief in a cause, (in this case child development), rather than just talking about it.

The future of the Internet- or not

I just came across this video which made me laugh, and all too accurately sums up a lot of projects out there. For every successful web startup there are 50 who are trying to reinvent the wheel by giving it a new name. This is also a good excuse to post the old but brilliant "Twitter you pay for" debacle which is definitely one to read if you missed it.

What motivates us

Dan Pink's fantastic TED talk on what motivates us just got a little bit better. This version has been animated by some clever chaps at RSA. They have developed an innovative style and it makes it very watchable. It is also a good excuse to mention Dan's original talk which contains the revelation that paying people more as an incentive, actually gets worse results than getting them to do it for free. It is yet further proof of the importance of Behavioral Economics and a lesson to companies that workers need time to develop their own projects.
Watch it in full-screen glory here.

Pedigree: Pass it on

I just came across this interesting work for the Pedigree Adoption drive, which uses youtube smartly. For every view of the video, they donate £1, which in itself is a reason to pass it on. However the number of views is also linked to getting more content. It is a film in which the ending is affected every 25,000 views. What a great way to ensure people return to your content, and pass it on.Keep an eye on the Youtube page for more.

The Kids are Alright

Barnados have always been adept at shock advertising, but in their most recent piece of work they have created something genuinely moving and interesting: A 17 minute “Teens Speech” which was broadcast on Christmas Day.

In it young people speak candidly and intelligently about how they lack a voice in society. We have seen this same message in Umair Haque’s letter to a generation and the Vinspired Voicebox Project.