There is no denying the power of social media. And if 2009 with its staggering growth statistics weren’t enough proof, then look no further than the Super Bowl.  Arguably, this was the most social Super Bowl of all time. Brand marketers, sports fans, and advertising fans utilized social media to buzz about the big game.

This year’s Super Bowl was the most watched television program in history with 106.5 million watching, according to Nielsen.  I think social media played a role in those ratings. Twitter, Facebook and blogs were all a buzz leading up to the game, whether it was about watching the game, the television ads or just Americans rallying behind the much beleaguered city of New Orleans.  One can link the tremendous social media buzz around the game to its viewership.

Leading up to the big game, you couldn’t read the words “Super Bowl ads” without “social media” being connected – and with good reason. It’s not just about the commercial spot anymore; it’s about those ads - and the buzz around them - driving viewers online to start and share conversations about a brand, particularly on Facebook and Twitter.  And if done effectively marketers can create millions of brand ambassadors online, talking and sharing your brand with their family, friends and colleagues. And millions were chatting pregame about these ads, essentially creating interest to tune-in and watch them live.

We wanted to look at the advertisers to see how big broadcast media impacts social media. We have listed the top 20 biggest movers in terms of percentage from where they started before the game’s big bang.  Our finding were covered in “PRWeek” for the second year in a row.

A few thoughts on the top gainers

“Shutter Island” #1
It is interesting to see an upcoming movie garner the top percentage gainer spot - is it Leonardo DiCaprio’s appeal or Martin Scorsese? Movie studios embracing big broadcast has paid off dividends in social buzz. Entertainment brands can not only drive anticipation for an upcoming release but extend their life and keep in cultural relevancy for continued sales of DVDs through social media (from simple status updaters which enable fans to cite and publish of their favorite lines to image applications where fans can literally become part of a scene).

Google #2
Incredible spot that has received much attention - first time Google entered TV to our knowledge – what a beautifully executed and thought provoking spot spot - not everything has to been  crazy humor to break through the clutter.

E Trade #3
Their epic campaign was taken to new level this year and created much chatter - babies playing off present day landscape - “is that milk-alocholic Lindsey over there?” Touching into cultural  conversation which needs to be extended on a 24 X 7 basis - not just a one off.  We challenge creatives to be apply creative thinking to social media infrastructure as well.

Dove Men #4
What a great product debut - key placement in the Super Bowl which moved the needle.  Smart move to introduce the product to key audience while women who watch with their men endorse the benefits and will most likely purchase for the household.

So now what?
I think everyone gets that social should be a part of the marketing mix. The question is do they know how to effectively do that, especially with the TV medium? Some may say TV ads are dying, and there is some merit to that. However, big events, like the Super Bowl, Oscars, etc., will always attract people around a TV. People don’t like to view these events by themselves in their room on their laptop, It’s a community thing - “Can you believe she won!” “Did you see that catch!”  So marketers need to learn to effectively leverage the ‘traditional’ medium with social. Yes, these spots are about entertaining and brand awareness…but can they also effectively translate to social currency that live on a 24X7 basis.

Social media is very different than “traditional” online media, but the core principles are the same. In a sense, it’s simply another channel in the growing pantheon of online marketing approaches, and an incredibly important one. I don’t need to regurgitate Facebook adoption rates or Twitter growth again for you, though. So I won’t.

My start in Internet advertising (AKA online marketing), was in the world of display advertising. At that time, the elements of traditional advertising held sway (and they still should - even in social - and I’ll get to that). The banner ad was your chance, in 468×60 pixels, to get your message to your prospective customer. Your invitation was simple: Click here. The goals were, and are, equally straightforward: Get the user to notice, and then, ultimately, click. What works? Clear, relevant, eye-catching messages.

Now the costs of creating a banner and successfully finding appropriate media to run it on (including your own site) and analyzing how well it’s performing are not the same as those required to create a television ad and run it during the Super Bowl. However, I have never, EVER heard a client say “I don’t really care what the banner looks like.”

Similarly, in e mail marketing, I have never heard of a client investing time and effort into marketing to, in this case, their most loyal customers, and being ok with having limited control over that email’s content and layout.

When it comes to social media, however, it seems that many serious brands and marketers are still ok with letting Facebook decide how their posts look…or letting a free third party click counters capture their user data – valuable data that is freely viewable by anyone and held with no contract. Why should we spend a lot of time and effort on creating the perfect banner or e mail, and then think that a tweet or Facebook wall post is just something you can do on a whim? Or worse - scheduled for a month down the line? That’s like socializing by delivering a monologue at a party.

If anything, your Facebook wall message or tweet is more important than your banner ads or your e mail messages. You are communicating with your most loyal customers, and these customers have allowed you to invade the same space they use to hang out with their friends, and they probably don’t want you to embarrass them. In other words, you’ve been invited to the party. Once you get in and start clinking martini glasses, don’t you want to look good?!

Something else that surprises me about social media is that some marketers are less concerned with their Facebook presence and communication strategy than they are with how they handle discussion about their brand outside their walls and outside the parties they have been invited to attend.

The value in understanding conversations and trends around you brand is vital, of course. But I’d suggest to any marketer to consider that throwing a party (or being invited to one) is quite different from running around eavesdropping on other parties, then leaping through windows when you think you’ve heard your brand mentioned. Now, it IS the Internet and users should expect that public comments are, well, public. But isn’t there something creepy about the guy in high school who wasn’t invited to the party, but shows up anyway, and whose only concerned is to fit in?

Now THERE’S the difference, right? Social media is social. That’s why you need to worry about how you handle the parties you attend and how you deal with the parties you don’t. On the other hand, while It’s no longer just the banner ad, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be very attentive - and methodical - with your messaging.

When it comes to social media, we should learn from the tried and true methods that breed success in other forms of media - including print or television. But we also need to be able to make the right strategic decisions about how we play with others, and how we can be the ones getting the eye from across the room at the party we’ve been invited to!

We are thrilled to be selected as a finalist for the Red Herring Global 100 award which recognizes private companies that are playing a leading role in innovation and technology from around the world.

Vitrue was selected as a finalist from a pool of nearly 1,200 private companies and nominees were reviewed on both quantitative and qualitative criteria such as financial performance, technology innovation, quality of management, execution of strategy, and integration into their ecosystem. Further noted by Red Herring, the judges look closely at the company’s global strategy to evaluate how the company will be able to handle the challenges of internationalization and a global presence. Furthermore, Red Herring cites these global innovators are the ones to watch as they disrupt their respective industries.

“This year was especially difficult,” said Alex Vieux, publisher and CEO of Red Herring. “Despite the global economic situation, there were many great companies producing really innovative and amazing products that we had a difficult time narrowing the pool and selecting the finalists. Now we’re faced with the arduous task of selecting the final 100 winners of the award. We know that this year’s crop will grow into some amazing companies that are sure to go far.”

We are honored to be a part of this global list.  We are committed to aggressively driving social media forward and strive for new ways to exceed market expectations to establish connections between brands and consumers.

As cited in one of our blog posts from Q4 last year, we outlined our new Facebook Moderation features to the Vitrue SRM, Global Brands Demand Global Scale, “Just one year ago, we were helping brands manage fan pages that totaled 100,000 or so fans.  Today, we are currently managing pages that combine for over 10,000,000 fans marking a 100-fold increase. On top of that, our systems are managing social activity on a global scale “across the pond” so think about the transactional horse-power we are working on here. This explosive fan growth, which creates hundreds of millions of comments and social actions, requires world-class technology solutions which scale to meet the unique needs of brand marketers who want to encourage authentic conversations on Facebook but need safeguards to protect brand integrity.”

In 2009 alone, Facebook crossed the 350 million mark of global users, illustrating of the awesome power of our collective social currency.  What a tremendous opportunity this presents for marketers to drive engagement, build their fan bases and truly harness the power of social media.

Just a quick post to wish all a great holiday!

As the year draws to a close, we gratefully pause to wish you a happy holiday season.

We appreciate the continued support and are so excited about what is to come in 2010!

Facebook has become an epicenter for the “wisdom of friends” where we all share and influence each other.  Savvy brands know to “fish where the fish are” and enable customers to interact with their products in an environment where they are already spending a lot of time.

With holiday retail in full swing and cyber Monday sales rising 14% over last year (Coremetrics), brands who are social and who connect the shopping experience with the Facebook social graph will win.

We are proud to work with Buy Buy in partnership on their Facebook presence to help provide not only conversation but helpful utility.

Best Buy Facebook Page, Get Advice

Our “Shop + Share” application allows users to shop for Best Buy products and share with or get advice from their Facebook friends. By leveraging the Remix API, Best Buy is one of the first major national retailers to make a true social shopping experience on Facebook.

“Fast Company” recently cited Best Buy as a brand doing it right by tapping into peer recommendations.

Social shopping is imperative for retail brands as they need to provide experiences that make it very easy for fans to tap into the knowledge of their friends, whose opinions are more likely to make an impact on their purchasing decisions.