Facebook promotions guidelines - and getting around them.

Late last year, Facebook announced new regulations on how brands could run competitions or “sweepstakes” through the site.
Within these promotion guidelines, there is a clause which states that:
You cannot: Administer a promotion that users automatically enter by becoming a fan of your Page.
Which was a bit of a pain for agencies and brands who saw [...]

Because every brand needs a World Cup campaign

It’s World Cup year so the football related campaigns are difficult to avoid - and usually not very interesting.
Here’s a rolling list of the World Cup tie ins that have appeared in the past few weeks. No doubt many more to come.
Visa - Life flows better with Visa
A fat man runs to South Africa. Looks lovely and [...]

Eleven examples of Facebook fan pages for brands

As Facebook passes the 300 million user mark, it’s becoming an increasingly important channel for brands looking to communicate and connect with people.
Facebook Fan Pages are a great way for companies to manage this communications and the smart ones are doing really interesting experiments here.  Below, I’ve looked at 11 brands which are playing around, with different levels of [...]

Social media strategy: an end to campaign thinking

I’d argue that there are some pretty fundamental differences in how you manage the social presence of brands and products. But what they have in common is the need to see it as a long game.

A brand, such as a car maker or computer manufacturer can benefit greatly from the feedback loops which can come [...]

Social media: the backlash begins

Despite it being just a toddler in the world of marketing grown ups, social media marketing is being told to prove its worth or go home.
Over on e-consultancy, Karl Havard is predicting an impending backlash:
We’re about to see a wave of anti-social media feeling and a call for back to basics; with comments like “Why [...]

Is the corporate website experience becoming a social experience?

The corporate website experience still doesn’t feel any different to an offline connection with a brand.
It’s the equivalent of a door to door salesman, hyped up on marketing jargon, desperately trying to push you towards a sale. It’s also a solitary experience. If you want an opinion on a product from someone you trust, [...]