Starbucks: Red Cup Contest

Starbucks launched a social media campaign in 2015, using the platforms Twitter and Facebook. They used Facebook to get the word out there about the contest they were promoting and Twitter for their audience to engage. This was the second time that they did this contest and it has again been a huge success. Customers of Starbucks were to post a picture of them holding red cups and hashtag it with #RedCupContest. There were five grand prizes of $500  up for grabs and over 40,000 people participated in the contest. This was a great way to reinforce the Starbuck's brand to consumers. Starbuck's is a global brand recognized by many people, and by doing a campaign like this, they deepen the loyalty the customers have towards the Starbuck's brand. Social campaigns like this are an example of how they should be done. The five key steps they implement in all of their campaigns are defining goals/objectives, choosing the right channels to promote your brand, engaging with participants, displaying collected content, and lastly measuring and analyzing the campaign's success.

Here is a video introducing the 2016 campaign:

The UPS Eco-Friendly Electric Bicycles

UPS launches a great campaign in Hamburg, Germany to reduce traffic and carbon dioxide emissions, as well as to increase the quality within the urban areas. Gordon Nelkner, the head of the department of transportation in Hamburg said that, "when UPS came to us with this idea, we thought, this is brilliant and this is exactly what we need." The urban areas in Germany are very congested and  by introducing this electric bicycle, it helped UPS to deliver packages to customers without any problems. It also touched on being environmentally friendly, which is a huge concern nowadays with pollution increasing worldwide. UPS launched this campaign across multiple social media platforms, some of which are Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube. It was a huge success for UPS, one of the top leading companies in the courier services industry. With this new innovation, UPS has begun to target other European countries who face similar problems as mentioned above. As of right now, they are beginning to test these cars in Switzerland after having success in Hamburg, Germany.  

Here is the video for the campaign:

Introducing Samuel Adams HeliYUM

Samuel Adams launched a social media campaign for the April Fool's holiday. They created a new product called HeliYum Beer, where they infused helium into their beer product. The catch was that many people thought that this was real, but it was Samuel Adam's own prank to the world. The video for this campaign was sent across various social media platforms. It was very humorous and well done that the video went viral.   It was a big hit and success for Samuel Adams as many people could associate themselves with the campaign. Even the company's very own brewmaster was the spotlight of the video as he introduced their HeliYum Beer. After this video was seen by many people, a year later people were still talking about it thinking whether or not it was possible to make a beer with helium. Science Everyday got involved to clear the confusion and said that it would not be possible to create a helium beer for two reasons: "1. helium is 700 times less soluble in water than carbon dioxide, so undissolved helium would form one or two big gas bubbles, which would not be the trademark "slow fizz" of beer. 2. all the helium sealed inside the beer would immediately escape as soon as the seal was broken, and would create a huge mess."Overall, I believe that it was a very successful campaign and that a few people probably went to go drink a Samuel Adam's beer that day.



Here is the video for the campaign:

Coca Cola: Friendly Twist

Introduction:

This marketing campaign was back in 2014, but it is worth repeating again because of how creative and interactive the marketing strategy was. Coca-Cola decided to put a little "twist" in their normal coke bottles by making it impossible to open unless with the help of someone else. This marketing campaign took place on a college campus and the target audience were freshman who were looking to fit in. Their goal was to create a friendship after opening a bottle with a complete stranger. By connecting the cap of the bottle with another cap and twisting it simultaneously, the bottle would open. It was a creative way for freshman to find a strong connection with the Coca-Cola brand by making thoughtful memories. Although Coca-Cola is a multinational company operating in many countries, they continue to find new ways to appeal to the public of different audiences. They continue to strive to be the very best soft drinking company, and never stop with the innovative, ingenious ideas.

The Results:

The social media platform that they used for this campaign was Youtube, and it has generated 9M views, and drove 5,000+ subscriptions to the Coca-Cola Youtube channel. The video had a staggering 30:1 ratio of likes to dislikes. It also inadvertently had a social presence on Facebook, garnering 160,000 likes and shares. Talk about big time success for a small 2 minute video that has grabbed the attention of so many people in the world. Another great and awesome social media campaign yet again by Coca-Cola!

Video:

Pepsi: World Emoji Day

Pepsi does it again with another great campaign using social media. One of the world's largest beverages producer/seller in the world uses the universe of emoji's to market its brand. With emoji's becoming the worldwide trend, Pepsi decided to participate in National Emoji Day, which takes place every year on July 17th. They generated plenty of content for the day and focused primarily on Canada and the U.S. In Canada, they printed emoji's on their cans and bottles and also released a 35 character keyboard for everyone to use. All they asked was that the people who participated follow it up with the hastag #PepsiMoji. This was a great way for Pepsi to advertise their brand outside of the digital realm.
On top of all this, Pepsi used a video to let people know about this campaign. The video is called "The Proposal" and it is about a guy asking a girl for marriage using several of the character keyboards. Each keyboard had emoji's that led up to asking the question in a unique way. It was an awesome way for Pepsi to connect emotionally with its audience. Pepsi continues to be on of the best in brand advertising and the great ideas never end.

Here's the video by Pepsi:

Before I Die...

A great social media campaign that united the hearts of many to the all too frequent tragedies of life. Candy Chang, creator of this campaign, lost a dear loved one and came up with a creative idea in how to cope with her pain. By using a wall of a dilapidated house, Chang created a participatory public art project where people could come and write about the beauty of life even in the midst of great tragedy. Chang's project has reached over 70 countries, and over 1,000 walls have been created to this "life matters" movement. Instead of having to deal with the pain alone, it could be dealt with collectively as people filled in the blanks after the three words, Before I Die... Chang puts it best when she states the purpose of this campaign, "to restore perspective and find consolation with the help of one's neighbors."

This started in New Orleans as merely a way to bring people closer together to deal with this universal problem. However, little did she know that with the use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, that it would explode into a worldwide phenomenon. This influential campaign was a powerful, yet unique way for people to find hope in their suffering. Chang said that by people coming to this wall and seeing all the different responses, that it would hopefully deter anyone from considering suicide. This compelling campaign has helped people all over the world to see that when you feel like life hits rock bottom there is always something worth living for.

So I ask you, what do you want to do before you die ________________ .

The Gay Turtle Project

A very interesting social media campaign using Twitter and YouTube to raise awareness about the homophobic issues arising in Turkey at absurd levels. With creativity, coupled with humor, Amnesty International teamed up with TBWA Istanbul to show the attitudes and true feelings of Turkish people towards homosexuality. In a video called Gay Turtle, customers are simply asked if they want to buy a turtle by an aquarium salesperson. As they go back and forth in dialogue, conversing about the turtle, the salesperson interrupts and says that the turtle is gay. In the video, it is apparent that the customers are befuddled and shocked by this discovery and no longer have any interest in buying the turtle. One customer unsympathetically said, "Give me a normal, non-gay, standard turtle."

With the use of two social media platforms, Amnesty International was able to communicate their message effectively and in a way that wasn't too controversial. It was a video simply advocating love for the person and a desire to see changes in the way this issue is approached. Towards the end of the video, two statistics are listed that pierce the heart: homophobia over the last five years have caused hundreds of hate crimes, and a total of 41 hate murders. What makes homosexuals any different from us besides the lifestyle that they have chosen to live? Nothing. At the end of the day it is about love for the individual. To be able to see the intrinsic worth and value of each person through the lenses of compassion and empathy. However, as a Christian I cannot leave out this point. I have talked about love for the homosexual, but when it comes to homosexuality, it is something that I am completely against. How is this possible? The same way a father or mother loves their child even though the lifestyle he/she has chosen is completely against their will. It is in this picture, that we find every person's (homosexuals and non-homosexuals alike) broken, love relationship with God. I believe that it will take a great deal of wisdom to rightfully deal with this thorny issue, humility to not let our views and beliefs have preeminence over the greatest ethic in life, and love to see them as no different than ourselves.  

Here's the video with the interactions between the salesperson and customers:
Gay Turtle YouTube Video