Monthly Archives: July 2014

Eighteen states, 15 cities, 14 days and hundreds of MINI Coopers: Welcome to MINI TAKES THE STATES 2014.

MTTS is one of the largest road rally events, bringing together MINI owners from all over the country for one epic road trip. This year’s route kicked off in San Francisco with Tony Hawk last weekend and runs cross-country, ending in Boston on August 10. The tour includes events each night, including bowling in the world’s largest bowling alley in Reno, keeping it weird in Austin, rocking out at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland and much, much more. Peeps Minis will be there for all of them as GNF manages the Peeps Minis-sponsored MINI and its driving team. They will be spreading the word, and the taste, as they sample New Peeps Minis at all the stops.

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We might be a day early, but this throwback Thursday campaign is worth talking about all week long, and all throughout August. Expedia’s new “Thrown Back Thursdays” is taking #tbt literally by giving away chances to recreate a throwback photo, complete with the same place, people and similar outfits.

This is really cool. We’ve seen people recreating photos from the past before, but we’re excited to see a brand jumping on this nostalgic online trend and getting people even more engaged with throwback Thursday. Plus, the campaign ties in perfectly with what Expedia is all about – traveling, journeys and memories.

180LA, the agency behind the campaign, says there have been more than 228 million #tbt hashtags to date. Our bet is that number is going to continue to rise, especially throughout the month of August as people get a little more selective about what posts they want to highlight – and hopefully recreate.

This is perfect timing as a rebuttal to a recent post in the Wall Street Journal about the blizzard of hashtags, and whether corporate hashtags are late to the game. From the looks of it, they still have a lot of life and creativity left in them, they just have to be the right message, for the right brand, for the right audience.

Expedia is picking an Instagram photo tagged with @Expedia and #ThrowMeBack every Thursday through September. Good luck, and happy reminiscing!

Most people either start or end their days with showers, and may not fully grasp how much of a luxury that is. Non-profit organization Lava Mae does, and aims to serve people lacking access to necessities like showers and bathrooms.

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Every day, brands keep an eye out for real-time marketing opportunities while simultaneously rolling out innovative campaigns to reach audiences in creative ways. We too are keeping an eye on what’s happening in the industry and staying updated on the latest news, trends and viral content of the week. Here’s what we’re hooked on!

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Burger King ran a special promotion in San Francisco for the “Proud Whopper,” a special edition of its signature burger, the Whopper, that featured a rainbow-colored wrapper and the message, “We Are All The Same Inside.”

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Happy Fourth of July weekend! While many may be out already enjoying preliminary BBQs, warming up the sparkler action and going to the beach figuring out what Arthur’s plan is, this week was still a good one in terms of marketing news! Here’s what we’re hooked on.

Facebook’s psychological experiment

Facebook did not start the week off on the right foot. A recent report revealed Facebook experimented with almost 690,000 Facebook users in 2012 to manipulate their emotions – it wanted to see if negative posts would fuel negative emotions, and vice versa for positive content. The trouble is that users had no idea this experiment was happening.

Why we’re hooked:

First and foremost, people are upset because Facebook was toying with their emotions. It raises ethical questions. But it’s also important to note the findings too – it’s not very surprising that content on a News Feed can alter someone’s mood (FOMO is a real thing), but this speaks volumes on the power of social media, digital content and how users interact online.

Facebook Buys LiveRail

Facebook apologized for the experiment, but it kind of feels like a “Sorry not sorry” move. In other news, Facebook acquired video ad platform LiveRail to boost video advertising online and on mobile. LiveRail delivers video ads to websites and apps for Major League Baseball, ABC Family, A+E Networks, Dailymotion and more.

Why we’re hooked:

Video and images is the name of the game today with digital and social advertising. LiveRail connects marketers to publishers on the Web, so this is definitely Facebook pushing its ad efforts forward. Expect to see improved video ads on Facebook in the future — and don’t be surprised if your mood changes after seeing them.

Twitter Shopping

Another week, another round of Twitter news! In the world of ecommerce, Twitter started showing some “Buy now” buttons appearing in tweets. Along the same lines, Twitter acquired TapCommerce this week, a mobile ad tech company.

Why we’re hooked:

Twitter is in the midst of a transition to integrating commerce more seamlessly into social media, and TapCommerce brings more robust capabilities and tools for advertising on the app.