4 Social Media Secrets You Can Learn from The Hunger Games Campaign

You don’t know how hype I am about this movie. I LOVED the books and I’m pretty sure I will love the movies. I’ll let you know next week after I see the movie this weekend.

But back to business…

The marketing people beyond The Hunger Games Campaign are capitalizing on the concept of the movie and the growing awareness of social media. Instead of using traditional publicity and marketing, they went through the social media route in hopes to grab the attention of their main consumer group. Teens.

Brilliant, I say. Brilliant.

This makes total sense. Teens are on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter several hours per day. You want to reach that demographic, you know where you need to be. Over the past year, the social marketing campaign has flourished: 800,000 page views for various websites and Facebook pages, plus 1.3 million “media views” for videos and other content. Not to mention, teens are the forerunners for movie franchises. Look at Harry Potter and Twilight. Focusing on them and their content hub, can  only make for really good traction.

Here are a few lessons from the campaign, by John Brandon is a tech contributor at Inc. magazine and Inc. Technology, which culminates today for the movie opening:

1. Understand the flow

The marketers used a product called thismoment Distributed Engagement Channel (or DEC) to track their social marketing progress. The service aggregates reporting fromGoogle Analytics, Facebook Insights, YouTube Insight, Twitter, and internal page logging to create a holistic view of the campaign. Every marketing campaign lives or dies on the data you collect. The service shows you what is working and what has bombed so you can make changes leading up to a launch.

2. Stick to the brand

As the New York Times reported recently, “The Hunger Games” kept the focus trim and tight. They released logos slowly, fed small amounts of content here and there, and developed momentum. SRT (the new Dodge brand) is doing the exact same thing with the new Viper supercar, releasing only a passing glimpse so far. (Even the spokespeople are in on the act, denying rumors with a wink.) “The Hunger Games” also stuck tightly to a core design and wording for much of their campaign. That has led to surprising advance ticket sales and midnight showings last night all over the country.

3. Go multi-message

One thing about the campaign: It hit people on the most popular channels like Facebook and Twitter. I swear I have not even seen a trailer on TV yet or in any magazines. But even more importantly, most of the content hardly even looks like marketing. On Facebook, games and chat sessions, media downloads, and other interactive links made it seem like the marketing was not really there to sell you on the movie but to promote a healthy (ahem) obsession with it.

4. Pick your audience

I’m amazed at how many teens are discussing this film. In other words: The marketing worked. Granted, the movie is based on an extremely popular young adult book series. That helps. But, since I work with teenagers as a volunteer, I hear their chatter: They know who is in the movie, the basic plot points, whether it is violent or not (apparently, it is fairly tame), and who did some of the music. I’ve never seen a music video (the one with Taylor Swift and The Civil Wars) from a side viewing angle at a coffee shop so many times. In fact, this pseudo-trailer is playing right now in the next booth over…

Source – Inc.

 

Link

84 % of the Fortune 100 companies are using atleast one of these social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Blogs.

“As companies become more comfortable and social networks innovate ways to bring users and marketers together, marketers will continue to go beyond simply being present on the social sites and will play an active role in the social media experience.” – eMarketers

 

Celebrities Make the Most of Social Media

More and more celebrities are realizing that their following on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter can actually benefit them with more than a ‘liking’ of a picture and a RT of a quote.

Celebrities are typically more visible in digital media through Facebook and Twitter. Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber have more than 20 million followers and 18 million followers on Twitter, respectively, and more than twice those numbers on Facebook.

But it hasn’t been easy for advertisers to leverage the presence of stars on Facebook and Twitter, no matter how vast the following. So celebrities are increasingly looking to convert those followings into audiences for media properties that they actually own.

Celeb-owned properties don’t have the built-in mass of a Facebook or Twitter, but they can collect sharply defined niche audiences.

Very interesting take on marketing using social media.

To read the rest of this article, click here.

Does Your Company Not Believe in Social Media?

Make them a believer.

Former Kodak CMO Jeff Hayzlett says dealing with the non-believer is all part of “running the gauntlet.” He believes it so strongly that he even wrote a book with the same title that promises to teach people how to push forward with their social media dreams.

Hayzlett spoke with Bryan Elliott on Behind the Brand about what it takes to engage audiences, and how to explain to those number crunchers that social is valuable. For one, he said talking about return on investment is overhyped.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

 

Link

Popular Pinterest User Chosen to “Live Pin” from Paris Fashion Week

First of its kind…Calypso is light speed away from us normal Pinterest users. Kudos

Link

Social Media to the Rescue – Residents of Brazil’s Favelas Use Social Media to Fight Plans for Olympics.

Social Media…Making TV Relevant Again

I agree but, TV was never irrelevant to me to begin with.

For me, social media has enhanced my viewing pleasure for the better 10 fold. Before I was watching a TV show, by myself or with family and/or friends, and I was told that millions of viewers were watching the same thing. I knew what I thought of the show. I also knew what my co-workers thought during the gossip hour around the water cooler at work the next day. Yet, I never got to see or hear what the millions of viewers thought about the TV show. When you think about it, you are only getting a handful of opinions and comments. Could you imagine if you found out what everyone thought of that show? And how cool would it be if you got to see it in real time?

Boom. Social Media delivers.

Conventional wisdom suggests that we watch the Academy Awards or the Grammys because of our interest in film, music and whatever mind-boggingly expensive fashions celebrities happen to be wearing.

But as social media becomes increasingly intertwined with our television viewing experience, Americans also may be tuning in to such live events to make sure they don’t miss the latest Internet meme.

“Having technology like Twitter and Facebook, and smart phones in our pockets and hands all the time, is causing these conversations and trends to become something basically in real time,” says Tom Thai, the vice-president of marketing for Bluefin Labs, a Massachusetts-based firm that analyzes social media conversation about TV. “If you’re not participating in this stuff live, there will be people who feel like they’re missing out.”

Social TV makes for fun TV viewing. But, you can’t be late to the party. It’s almost like if you miss something you’re…so 27 seconds ago.

“What we’ve been seeing over the past 12 to 14 months is huge growth in this behavior that we call social TV,” Thai adds. Underlining that point, Bluefin’s research on 2012 Oscar-related social media commentary — i.e. the amount of “OMG, did you see Jennifer Lopez’s dress?” type of chatter on Twitter — demonstrated a 293% increase year-over-year. And that came during a year that, with Billy Crystal as host and a silent film as the Academy Awards’ front-runner, was supposed to be for the fuddy duddies.

Source – Washington Post

I want to know what you all do while watching TV. Do you tweet and watch? Do you do it for every show or just the big ticket items, like the Grammys or Oscars?

It’s okay if you do it for everything. I do. People still like me. This is a no judgement zone.

Statistics of Top 5 Social Media Sites

This gallery contains 1 photo.

I don’t know about you but, I’m definitely surprised. Not by the forerunners like Twitter and Facebook. More surprised about Google+ and its stamina to keep up with the big social media dogs by ranking #1 according to Alexa. I’m … Continue reading →

New Social Media Website Alert – The Fancy

Trying out a new social media website is like wearing a new pair of shoes.

Exciting, yet slightly uncomfortable.

But, after a few go at its it becomes familiar and soon after it becomes your favorite.

This is how I feel about the new social media website, The Fancy.

Move over Pinterest, there’s a new social media platform on the rise, and this one is focusing on an entirely different angle: money.

New-York based The Fancy is launching their social commerce platform Thursday, according to CNN Money. Using a similar outline and display to online pin-board phenomenon Pinterest, The Fancy allows users to showcase more of what you want — travel destinations, food and material objects — rather than what’s inspiring or creative. And because the products are “Fancy’d” based on desire, the boards definitely showcase more of a high-tech and, well, fancy scale.

Source – Stylist.com

Sounds interesting enough, right?

So the idea, which has been described as “Groupon in reverse,” allows merchants to be more proactive in gaining customer interest and sales.

How does it work? I’m glad you asked…

When users have “Fancy’d” something, retailers and brands can then provide custom deals and sales directly to the user, and potentially make more sales.

Cool, huh?

Interesting in learning more about The Fancy, you can read the rest of the article here.

A Marketer’s Guide to Pinterest

Pinterest, is the digital pin board that’s turned the social media world upside down. It’s been a top traffic driver for brands lately and people are starting to notice. So thanks to MDGadvertising, you have this awesome infographic explaining the nooks and crannies of the social network.

This is so cool I had to share it.

This infographic explains some Pinterest basics, such as explaining what a Pin, Repin and Board are, and provides five tips. You should first decide whether Pinterest is a fit for your product. Selling life insurance? This might not be a helpful platform for you. If you think Pinterest is right for your brand, go ahead and add a “Pin It” button to your site. Make sure to use great visuals. Pin products you love but don’t sell — this site isn’t all about self-promotion. Add some early Pinterest all-stars and learn from their strategies.

Source – Mashable