Facebook awards and something sex can’t sell

The results are in for this year’s Facebook Studio Awards, with Droga5 and Heineken coming in at number one with their “If We Made It” campaign.  Facebook Chief Creative Officer Mark D’Arcy sums up the five key social media trends for 2014.  Our viral video of the week uses the “sexy” advertising trope to communicate one very important issue.  Our case study of the week looks into how a small café in the UK utilised Reddit to expose themselves to the world.  Digital radio app TuneIn’s new update introduces a new social layer, allowing the user to transcend the unidirectional nature of radio.  Google Now introduces shopping notifications, using “cards” on the Google Search app to notify users when they approach an item on their wishlist.  And finally, our tip of the week explores how businesses can use their email database for targeted Facebook advertising.

The very best of Facebook marketing was recognised last week with the announcement of the 2014 Facebook Studio Awards.  The highest honour, Facebook’s ‘Blue Award’ was taken home by Droga5 and Heineken USA’s viral campaign “If We Made It” (in support of Newcastle Brown Ale), with “Trial by Timeline” by Colenso BBDO/AIM Proximity for Amnesty International NZ awarded the new “Blue for Good” not-for-profit award.  Following these were the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, awarded to a total of 13 businesses.

Special shout out to Nicky Bentley at Droga5, she used to work at Hello Social and now lives in NY, working at Droga5. Don’t worry Nicky, one day Droga will be as much fun as Hello Social. Nicky’s very interesting blog can be found here: It Happened To Nicky

Facebook’s Chief Creative Officer Mark D’Arcy released a statement this week highlighting the five key social media campaign trends of 2014 based on the leading attributes of the winners.  Focusing primarily on creativity and ingenuity, the tips were announced as follows:

Last year’s exceptional is this year’s standard

Designing for the people who matter

Building for a multi-device world

Creativity deserves amplification

Start with the business objective and execute boldly

The full details released by D’Arcy can be read on Facebook’s business blog.

Sex sells.  But seeing a model trying to make the words “diarrhoea” and “pneumonia” seem sexy proves that it doesn’t sell everything.  Featuring a brood of pouting high fashion models reading “sexy” lines from cue cards, the video takes an offbeat turn when the models are confronted with cards reading disturbing statistics about mortality rates in developing countries.  This video by Save the Children USA was posted on May 6 and has received 250 thousand views on YouTube in two days.

There are a few things responsible for this video going viral.

Firstly, it has a strong cause and is linked to a recognisable charitable organisation.  Like most popular sponsored viral videos, the video uses deceit to lead viewers (and characters) astray, using the shock value of the unexpected to leave an impression.  There is a dark (current) humour in viewing the characters’ candid struggle, which offsets the heavy nature of the subject.

The strong cause behind the video (being an advertisement for an NGO rather than a brand or product) makes it sharable, which is the post important asset of a viral campaign.

Two other important pieces of news:

In a vital attempt to eclipse the glutton of digital radio competitors, digital radio app TuneIn has just released their latest update, with the unprecedented addition of a social aspect to the previously purely listening platform.  The update will allow users and radio producers to interact on various levels.  Along with several other changes to the app, there are now new ways for advertisers to make revenue, including brand partner opportunities and ad space.

Google Now has taken the meaning of living in a Google world to a whole new level with their latest addition of shopping reminder cards.  Combining personal data collected by Google search activity and Google+ with GPS, the service triggers a Google Now card notification when users approach a store or product they have flagged.  The update is currently only available on the Android Google Search app.

If you are a business with an existing database of email subscribers, you already have a head start in creating a strong, interactive social media presence.  Establishing a custom audience for your social media is a simple task with the assistance of an app like Facebook Ads Manager.  Take a look at these tips for using your email database for targeted Facebook advertising for more information on how this can benefit your business.