Social media is a great way for brands to connect to consumers. So, how have brands used the various platforms to get retweets, shares and pins?

This year has seen a variety of social media campaigns with the aim of getting consumers to retweet, share or pin a brand’s latest offering. Brands making an impact have included Three UK, British Airways and Coca-Cola.

Who remembers Three’s dancing pony adverts? The Shetland pony moonwalking to Fleetwood Mac let consumers know that the silly stuff is important and an accompanying Twitter campaign created a bigger impact. The associated #DancePonyDance invited users to share and comment on the campaign. There was also an app that allowed users to create their own pony dance and share with their friends. The campaign created a social media buzz and made people smile – a great way to make a connection with your consumers.

To mark the launch of its Dreamliner fleet, British Airways held a #RaceThePlane competition. The so-called ‘Tweetliner’ would virtually race a Dreamliner travelling from London to Toronto. Users could power the Tweetliner by tweeting using the hashtag which also automatically entered them in a competition to win tickets to Toronto. The use of the hashtag exposed BA to a wider audience and the competition added value to users. One tweet equalled one mile and the Twitter powered plane reached Toronto in seven hours and 37 minutes, compared to the Dreamliner which took seven hours and 41 minutes. The result: an engaging and measurable campaign on a relatively low budget.

Now, think back a few months. Did your friends spam your Facebook and Twitter feeds with photos of Coca-Cola bottles with their names on it? Probably!

Coca-Cola’s clever #shareacoke campaign saw its iconic lettering being replaced by first names. This coincides with the growing trend of personalisation: 78% of consumers feel that brands that create unique and personalised content are more interested in building a relationship with them (Hanley-Wood Business Media, 2013). Add this to the fact that the bottles are affordable and Coca-Cola was onto a winner!

The #shareacoke encouraged users to go online and let people know about their personalised drink, therefore promoting the brand. Although Coca-Cola’s target audience for this campaign was 18-25 year-olds, any consumer could take part, ensuring no one felt alienated and boosting the campaign’s reach even further.

And look at the results: in the first couple of months, Coca-Cola’s Facebook community grew by 3.5% in the UK and 6.8% globally. Volume sales for the Coca-Cola brand grew 3.88%, compared to the total soft drinks market’s volume sales growth of just 0.98%, according to IRI Worldwide. Consumer sentiment towards the brand also appeared to shift from negative to positive – a great result for Coca-Cola.

It’s great to see how the world’s biggest brands are embracing social media. Simple, well-thought out campaigns can have a huge impact on engagement, sales and even sentiment towards brands.

Image: theinspirationroom.com

2013 has been another great year, full of new products, interesting marketing and wacky stunts. But what have been the most spectacular PR stunts in the run-up to Christmas?

High Street retailer Game had a great idea to spread cheer this festival season; Christmas dinner in a can! And why did they do this? Because gamers will be too busy trialling their new PS4 or Xbox One of course. The well thought out stunt included a promotional photograph and infographic for use on Twitter, ensuring it was well shared on social media.

Morphsuits has been steadily growing in popularity over the past few years and this Christmas its festive jumpers could be animated via an app on your smartphone. To reach its audience of young party-goers, Morphsuits sent the animated Christmas jumpers to BuzzFeed, the website that offers “the viral web in real-time”. BuzzFeed staff then tweeted photos of their Christmas jumpers to their young followers, i.e. Morphsuits’ target audience. Cue the jumpers being talked about across social media. Have a look at them; we want some! https://bit.ly/1dS9xys

One family getting into the Christmas spirit this year and taking the internet by storm is the Holderness family from North Carolina. Instead of sending out bog-standard Christmas cards, mum, dad, Lola and Penn created a video entitled Christmas Jammies or #Xmasjammies. The video shows the family in their matching Christmas jammies, rapping along to the tune of Will Smith’s Miami with details of their achievements in 2013. But there’s another reason for the adorable Christmas sing-along; to promote mum and dad’s new video production company, Greenroom Communications. And it worked; the video has clocked up over 12 million views on YouTube so far and has been covered by national media in the US, UK and beyond. https://bit.ly/JHb9BC

One of the biggest PR stunts of Christmas 2013, however, was carried out by Canadian airline WestJet. Passengers boarding a flight from Toronto Pearson International Airport were greeted by Santa via Skype who asked them what they wanted for Christmas. While on their flight to John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Ontario, WestJet employees did a shopping dash to get the items from every passenger’s Christmas wish list.

Passengers were then greeted by beautifully wrapped presents at baggage reclaim. The video shows passengers brought to tears by the generous gifts, including a young family who asked for a big-screen TV. The heart-warming video was a sensation, clocking up over 32 million views so far and countless shares on social media. If you’re not in the Christmas spirit already, you will be after watching this video: https://bit.ly/19fi5SA

So, whether the campaign is big budget gift-giving, a simple idea to encourage shares on social media or a family video, Christmas is a great time for PR stunts.

What will you do next year?

Image: www.youtube.com