Campaign

Social Media Monday + Tattly

Tattly Love What You Do Tattoo
~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

Social Media Campaigns I’ve loving this week:

1.) Patron’s Cocktail Share:

Love this concept and cocktails.

Patron Holiday Cocktail Campaign Facebook

2.) GiltCity: #LoveYourCityMore Instagram

Amazing way to connect their community with their brand by asking fans to share photos on Instagram using hashtags #LoveYourCityMore and #NYC. I’m also loving how they highlight members on their Facebook Cover photo:

Gilt City #LoveYourCityMore Social Media CampaignGilt City Holiday Instagram Campaign

3.) Here comes the Advent Calendars:

The Yield 2012 Meme Calendar:

If you’re into Memes.

The Yield Advent Calendar 2012 Memes

Wildfire by Google: Social Media Advent Calendar

If you’re into facts.

Social Media Advent Calendar from WildFire and Google

4.) Tasting Table’s: Food Fight Debate

Tasting Table gives their fans the chance to vote for the ultimate food debates and then throws an amazing party to reveal the results.

Food Fight Tasting Table Campaign

And the results:

Food Fight Tasting Table Campaign Results

5.) Foursquare’s 12/12/12 Robin Hood Relief Badge

Combining an opportunity to partner with Samsung Galaxy around the 12/12/12 Concert for Hurricane Sandy Relief.

Foursquare 12/12/12 Badge

6.) SiriTalks Instagram:

Creative finds-love this idea.

SiriTalks Hashtag and Instagram

Bonus: My part-time gig at Tattly.

Tattly Love What You Do Tattoo

I was so fortunate to spend a few days at Tattly last week. Dream gig come true, I am the biggest Swissmiss fan girl- ask anyone I know. Over the week I ended up learning way more than just how these temporary tattoos are made and produced. The whole experience went above and beyond my expectations. I was initially dreading having to deal with the hour commute to Dumbo each day but the more I stayed the more I loved it.

Everyone was so sweet and welcoming. Daily coffee and lunch trips together were a must, then we would gather our food and eat together back at StudioMates. All this actually made me realize how miserable I was at my last job. How much I despised office politics, eating at your desk, and everyone only talking to you when they needed something. More companies should have the Tattly mentality. When you communicate and do things together is creates a much better working environment. Personally, I’m sick of working along side of people who are willing to throw each other under the bus — This was an epiphany. An epiphany of what I am and am not looking for in my next job.

Additionally, in my short time there I’ve learned a good chunk more about design then I ever had prior to walking in there. This is a piece of what I am looking for in my next job. I must be surrounded by creative and passionate people. The wealth of ideas was overwhelming.

Finally, I ran into mini celebrities. I don’t know the ‘who’s who’ in the design world, but many designers came in… so did author Jonathan Foer… and wandering photographer named Shantanu Starick who is on a journey around the world while spending no more, everything he gets is based on trade. It was quite an amazing story and definitely encourage everyone to check out his trades.

Many thanks goes out to Swissmiss and the amazing people at Tattly and StudioMates! You not only made my job dreams come true but you showed me there are amazing companies out there doing amazing things. I know now I want to be apart of that.

Hurricane Sandy and Responding Through Social Media + Bonus Relief Events

Frankenstorm Sandy Photos
~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

For the past few weeks, my absence has been the cause of: bridesmaid duties (never again), vacation, and hurricane Sandy. This post is specifically geared towards two brands who’s social responses stood out to me over the past week and a half.

The key players I’m thinking of here are airlines, as my vacation last week was a near miss. At no fault to the airline under such circumstances, these are two examples of a social crisis plan in action and one that’s not:

Jetblue wins for my customer loyalty and I wasn’t even flying with them. Through Twitter these notifications consistently kept me updated:

Jetblue Hurricane Sandy Twitter Response

Jetblue Response to Hurricane Sandy on Twitter

Then Jetblue updated its Twitter, Every. single. day…

Jetblue Response to Hurricane Sandy on Twitter

Jetblue Response to Hurricane Sandy on Twitter

And even in Spanish:

Jetblue Response to Hurricane Sandy on Twitter in Spanish

I also received 2 emails with updates.

On the contrary was the airline I had booked a flight with… Delta.

What was in their crisis plan you ask? 0 emails (except notifying me my flight was cancelled), and these 2 updates on Twitter, below. The real icing on the cake was a tie between, being on hold for an hour only to be hung up on + having to go through 3 people to get to a supervisor.

Delta Social Media Hurricane Sandy

The New Social Crisis Plan of Action:

Good rule of thumb: Situations, conflicts, complaints should never get to the point of a supervisor. That’s like giving the other team the ball and getting out of their way to score a touchdown. Here are a few other tips for brands/company’s to tackle crisis situations.

  • Every member of the team should be on the same page. Given a message that stays consistent.
  • Have a clear understand of the situation, and stay on top of current updates.
  • Be trained to give a clear response to the situation, with empathy.
  • Have the tools, courage, and power to take control of the problem on their own.

A small part of me knows this is a bit of a rant. But this experience has also helped me realize how important it is to have some sort of crisis management plan for your company, especially around your social. It’s many peoples go to source for information and updates because now a days it takes so much longer to get approvals and press releases out. Think about it.

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Hurricane Sandy Relief Events I’m Diggin’:

Flavorpill + Absolut

Flavorpill + Absolut Hurricane Sandy Event

General Assembly: Fundraiserpalooza

General Assembly Fundraiser for Hurricane Sandy

Airbnb

Airbnb Hurricane Sandy Relief

Eventbrite NYC Newsletter

Eventbrite NYC Newsletter Hurricane Sandy Relief Events

Social Marketing Finds: Classes, Contests, and Partnerships Oh My!

General Assembly + OfAKind Partnership Contest
~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

The week started off with a class themed overload, just forewarned, but these contests, partnerships, and content finds just couldn’t be ignored. However, there’s more than just classes, I promise.

Here’s a few examples of partnerships and contests from my favorite brands, in addition to extra goodies I wanted to share with you all. Enjoy!

Of A Kind + General Assembly: Get Schooled Giveaway

General Assembly + OfAKind Partnership ContestGeneral Assembly + OfAKind Facebook Contest

I was first introduced to Of A Kind a few weeks ago, when I found out they were having an event at their limited time only Pop-Up store. While checking out the company I fell in love with the concept. It felt exclusive, like buying something truly unique. I saw this back to school set on the site before, which I loved and seemed like the only reasonable thing I could afford. However, I’m also one of those indecisive buyers. That’s why I’m glad I found this, and this is such a great partnership.

General Assembly: Private Class Giveaway

General Assembly Private Classes Social Media Contest

I’m not sure what the reason is for so many giveaways with General Assembly but I’m not complaining. Who wouldn’t want a private class. Keep ’em coming. You have my attention. I’ve enter to win both. Pick Me Please!

3rd Ward Brooklyn: Creative Speed Networking

3rd Ward Speed Networking Class Facebook Post

Why must 3rd Ward be so far away. I’m in need of more class based companies in Astoria. This image instantly caught my attention first and then I looked at the description. Now that’s a creative event concept, especially since I don’t really like networking. This is a great solution; it’s quick, easy, and if it’s awkward you can move on in a few minutes.

Warby Parker Class Trip + American Express

Warby Parker Class Trip Facebook Post

This is simply well executed. More than anything, I love A.) A creative campaign or event and B.) Attention to detail. Check out the full site to get the whole experience. My personal faves: Their Facebook Class Rep Video Contest & the on the road blog. Now I’m super bummed I missed out on NYC- I’m due for a new pair of glasses. These old ones need to get off my face immediately!

ModCloth: Awe & Order Contest

ModCloth Facebook Contest Modcloth contest entries

This contest works because it makes me realize how much I need to spruce up my space and put more order in my life. These entries provide great visual examples of organizing your space while putting my apartment to shame. Then it hooks me into ModCloth– Could they be the answer to my clutter? Now I’m on their site…again. Brilliant. Just wish there was more buzz and promotion on it. As you can see I caught the tail end of the contest and I’m not the only one, they only had a handful of entries.

Seamless: It’s Raining

Seamless "It's Raining" Facebook Post

Clever, funny, simple, and doesn’t have to go too far on the design to get its message across.

Orbitz & 5 Gum Micro Pack – Freebies

Mini Gum Pack Samples from Orbit and 5

Hustler Tip: Stick around Midtown for awesome street promotions and marketing ops, like these free micro gum packs I scored. I tend to avoid Midtown (and Chinatown) like the plague but I forgot about the freebies. I may need to rethink this.

Enjoy the rest of your week! Share your favorite social media brand posts, contests, partnerships, freebies, anything at all, in the comments.

Social Marketing Mondays: Typography and Image Edition

DailyCandy's August Summer Picks Guide
~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment
Back from vacation and back into the social goodness.
My first pick for this week goes out to Seamless’ Lunch for a Month Sweeps. I am personally a sucker for typography and lunch. When you combined the two it looks like a classy meal I can’t help but enter to win.
Seamless Lunch for a Month Contest
Second pick goes to DailyCandy’s August Things to do this Summer. Again the typography is what really drew me in first, I am a visual person and it worked. Plus I am a huge fan of DailyCandy’s content and the way they curate it, very tailored and polished while hooking you in.
Daily Candy 31 Days of Summer
DailyCandy 31 Days of Summer List
Third goes to Tom’s Shoes. Visuals for the win! While quickly scrolling through my Facebook news feed, this sunset really caught my attention. The timing was just right, as I saw the Facebook post at around sunset my time. As Tom’s asked their fans, “what’s the view like from behind yours?”,  the whole concept was certainly intriguing and engaging. I also noticed this post got many likes (around 7K), something I haven’t seen from them in recent posts.
Tom's Shoes Sunglasses Facebook Post

Takeaways:

A great takeaway from this week’s examples is that visuals are key and will hook your audience in. Combined that with the right timing based on your content and audience, makes for a sure fire way to successful engage with what you’re marketing. For example the Seamless was posted right before lunch time at around 11am. I noticed DailyCandy’s guide a week ago just as I was searching for last minute end of summer things to do. And as I mentioned, Tom’s I noticed yesterday at around sunset.

Social Marketing Monday: Good Complexity

~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

Top Social Media Marketing Campaigns for the Week of: 7/30/12 to 8/6/12

This weeks top two contenders that caught my eye were GOOD and Amstel Light. GOOD with it’s good at heart nature approach to a contest and Amstel Light for making beer and tales more complex than ever.

GOOD: Make Food More Awesome

GOOD is a personal favorite publication. This image originally caught my eye as I am a big foodie who soon realized that I don’t go on enough picnics. When you click through to more information about the contest you will find GOOD doing what it does best, making the world and in this case food, good. This contest is a challenge to those with big ideas on how to make food awesome in the world. The prize isn’t too shabby either, with a chance to win a $1,000 grant to make your idea happen, a tour of Food Network, and lunch with an Awesome Foundation trustee.
What worked for me:
  • The image, I am a visual person.
  • The cause behind the challenge, very motivating and inspiring.
  • The prizes! They relate to my personal interests.

Amstel Light : Savory Complexity

   

From experience through working with Amstel Light as one of our clients back at my old internship, they are no joke a complex brand, but in a good way! Very particular in the message and audience they want to reach and I think they really nailed it with this campaign. It a complex beer but doesn’t initially tell you why or talk about themselves. They highlight random things from meat, umbrellas, darts, to even this whistling one. It makes you read, it makes you think, and it is something to talk about because these ads are everywhere! Bus stops, subways, magazines, I see them constantly. It’s almost like a scavenger hunt to find missing pieces of a book. If there is one thing I love it’s a good adventure and a good story to tell.
What worked for me:
  • The stories. The randomness. The imagination.
  • The fonts and text, from a non-designer it’s easy on the eyes and pulls you in to read more.

     

4 Top Campaigns of the Week | 7/23/12 – 7/30/12

~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

Campaigns killing it this week include social “geo-targeting” snack giveaways, a hide and seek social twist to an old school game, what store locations have to do with branding, and a retail partnership I never saw coming. Here is a look at the top campaigns that caught my eye this week:

Clif Bars “MojoGo” Campaign

I am going to kick things off with Clif Bars “MojoGo” Campaign. Clif claims that this is the first geo-location Twitter campaign , the even sweeter deal is that Clif will give away Mojo bars. All you have to do is go on an outdoor adventure and tweet your geo-location to @ClifMojoGo. In return you will receive a coupon to get a free Mojo bar. I really want to go hiking now, I love free snack bars. Here’s the video for more details.

Birchbox Hide & Seek Pinterest Campaign

Birchbox is at it again for the second week in a row. Who thinks of these ideas? I must know!

I feel Pinterest is becoming a shrinking platform, that caters to a very specific target group of women. And yet Birchbox just gets it, they know that’s their target audience and they just go for it. I also love the Hide & Seek approach, it’s a classic game with a new school social twist. This approach also forces fans to search all of their Pinterest content. This can only mean one thing… they will get distracted by other amazing Birchbox product and will want to buy. While at the same time getting a discount. Genius, Birchbox.

Chobani SoHo Store:

This is not so much a campaign unless I were to include all their new Olympic Ads. This is about Chobani’s store in SoHo. How many people have opened only greek yogurt stores? Only best idea ever.

What I would like to point out that really connected with me was one of the many reason most restaurant succeed or fail… location, location, location. I was blown away when I saw this in SoHo. Instantly what came to mind was the last branded stores I’ve been to, which was M&M World and PopTart World. Both in Times Square, or as I like to think of it as nightmare city, yet just a hair above Chinatown. Given, yes, tourists go to both Times Square and SoHo, but there’s something about SoHo. Maybe it’s the fancy high-priced shops and restaurants, but I instantly associated Chobani with this higher quality with higher standards brand. While I think of Pop Tarts and M&M’s as being cheap and kid friendly, which are also other ways to think about Times Square.

Chobani SoHo Store Front

Gap + Threadless

This partnership blew my mind as I walked into the Gap. I have gone so far back with Threadless, like high school back. I remember the only times they would ever do sales was during summer and right before Christmas (now there’s one every other week). They were exclusively online and only had one store in Chicago where they are based. The uniqueness and rarity of their shirts is what really made me fall for the brand in the first place. Sadly, I can now get Threadless shirts at the Gap for $25 now.

I am still one of those that wants a Threadless store in their town. But a store or even Threadless vending machines are way better approaches than partnering with a specific brand. Now you’re limiting yourself to that brands specific style, it doesn’t seem like a Threadless thing to do. No bueno.

Top 3 Campaigns and Promotions of the Week | 7/13/12- 7/20/12

Image ~ ~ Nicole Monahan ~ Leave a comment

I thought I would try out something new and find the most intriguing campaigns and promotions of the week. Hopefully, turning this into a more weekly occurrence.

To kick things off, this week’s picks include an e-commerce brand’s Facebook approach to achieving more “likes” and customer interactions, a foodie favorite of mine whose Summer Cookbook snagged a collaboration with Apple and Starbuck’s “Pick of the Week”, and a beverage brand hitting the pavement in your local borough.

1.) Birchbox – Facebook Promo Code Photo Hunt Campaign

While Facebook no longer allows you to “Like” before entering Facebook contests. I love Birchbox‘s approach in thinking outside the box to get more “likes” and customer engagement through their Facebook channel. Now I will have to wait until Monday to learn more about promo code. Oh the suspense!

2.) Tasting Table Cookbook – Summer 2012 – Starbucks and iBookstore Promotion

I am such a huge fan of Tasting Table, so when I saw this at Starbucks today I literally did a double take. I am so glad that they were able to do this summer cookbook campaign with Starbucks and Apple, more people need to know about this brand.

3.) Vitamin Water – Guerrilla Marketing, Hitting the Streets

Vitamin Water brings the product offline and into the hands of the community. I saw them passing out Vitamin Waters last week in Fort Greene, Brooklyn and now Astoria in Queens. I love how they have been using this summer’s heat to their advantage and getting face to face with consumers. More importantly, they’re not taking it to Times Square, they are hitting the local community, which I find to be a great strategy since now I remember and am writing about their brand which means it’s working.