Corporate responsibility is a cornerstone of building a meaningful brand.  People connect to brands that believe in supporting the community and various social causes.  An effective communication strategy is tied to giving consumers the power to express their values and emotions by doing things that matter in their lives.

In partnership with Kellogg, Facebook, Feeding America and Ashton Kutcher’s production company, Katalyst - Vitrue is thrilled to be a part of the Kellogg Cares initiative in support of fighting hunger.  One in six young children live on the brink of hunger in 26 states in the U.S., according to report issued by Feeding America. The rate of food insecurity in young children is 33 percent higher than in U.S. adults, where one in eight live at risk of hunger.

Leveraging the power of social media, our collective efforts are focused on raising awareness of the epidemic of hunger in the United States and creating action.  The goal is to reach people through social media, educate them on the various actions they can take to make a difference and provide the means to easily share and spread the word with their friends.  Demi Moore who directed the “Fighting To End Hunger” video for Kellogg and Feeding America, leveraged user generated video content around the issue of hunger and is now encouraging its viral distribution via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social channels.

Kellogg Cares on Facebook

This program does not have a light-hearted entertainment value like other social programs out there and is not a heavily designed execution with large graphics, flash files, etc…. Rather, the Kellogg Cares page and experience leverages the strength and simplicity of the Facebook platform and utilizes this highly effective communication channel by offering a place for people to share, discuss and support the causes that matter most.   We are huge supporters of the integrated approach Kellogg has taken by using multiple messaging platforms like Twitter and YouTube to drive people to the Kellogg Cares Facebook page and then messaging the fans of the page at consistent times with valuable content.

Across Vitrue’s philanthropic programs, we have seen tremendous engagement and on average consumers spend greater than 5 minutes on interacting with these sites.

Supporting causes like Susan G. Komen, Promoting Peace  (Ben & Jerry’s), managing the Captain Sully (US Airways) profile page, and  across other “non-cause” related brand properties on Facebook, Vitrue has seen  40:1 activity ratio of fans to actions for wall posts (clicks, comments likes) showing greatest success to those that are most relevant and offer value to the reader. In other words, for every 40 people that are fans on the page, one person takes an action on a wall post like a wall comment, wall like, discussion comment, photo/video view or wall click which is an exceptional level of engagement.

Facebook provides an unparalleled environment for engagement. The social actions we take on Facebook act as megaphones signaling to our circle of friends what we care about most and why they should too.  Typically, we use our “social influence” to drive the behavior of others, and in many cases for causes that are inheritably “good” like Kellogg Cares.

I encourage you to fan the Kellogg Cares page, spread the word, and donate.  This is an important issue that needs our attention and collective momentum.  By simply fanning the page, offering a comment or submitting a donation your actions have a powerful and critical ripple effect.

I pretty much know what my routine is going to be every day from the moment I wake up to the end of the day – alarm goes off at 5:15am, gym, kid’s school bus, off to work, talk social media all day to some of the most interesting marketers, train home, some dinner, play with kids, a little more work and some ESPN, then some rest.  I’m not a boring guy, I just know that during the week that I have a relatively predictable schedule.  Another predictable thing that I can more-or-less guarantee is that each day I will have a discussion with a brand who is not on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace or any other social network.  Some don’t think they need to be there.  Some don’t know how to be there.  Some just can’t manage to be there (due to internal resource constraints).

I will go on the record as saying, every brand needs to be on the social web.  If you are not – get on it!

It is a simple, cost efficient and highly effective way of marketing your brand, acquiring new supporters and strengthening relationship with existing brand advocates.  Some marketers are still struggling with getting their arms around it and I would like to offer an analogy.  Think about e mail marketing for a moment.  Still, by far, one of the most cost effective ways of reaching a highly qualified and interested customer base. If approached strategically, social media is much like e mail marketing anchored to meet goals and answer business objectives from driving acquisition, to incenting trial, to redeeming offers, to building loyalty, to testing offers.

People should think of platforms like Facebook and Twitter the same way.  These platforms give you the ability to lay down the foundation for another communication channel – one that is richer and more interactive than any other. Social media like e mail marketing presents the opportunity for users to take action – respond, sign up, like, comment, share, etc…Social media is more powerful as the actions a user takes are not done in a vacuum and their circle of friends see endorsements, comments, participation, etc…all of which creates tremendous consumer engagement while generating substantial organic and viral impressions.

Your fans and followers have “opted-in” to receive your content.  You now have the tools.  Give them what they are looking for and asking for.  Make sure that social media is integrated in your plans. As cited in a recent study earlier this spring, ExactTarget and e mail networking association E mail Marketer’s Club found that 46% of e-mail marketing campaigns will use social media and e mail in tandem this year, compared with just 13% of all campaigns last year.

Start simple if you have to and use what you feel is most comfortable – to some that might be a YouTube channel, to others a Facebook or MySpace page, while others just like the short and sweet communication aspects of Twitter.  Once you have that foundation, start to think about how you will acquire new fans.  Cross market your marketing channels and drive people from one area (ie. e mail) to another like Facebook.  Provide an incentive for joining a fan page and make them feel wanted and part of the dialogue.  Make it personal and provide a sweet balance between entertainment and utility aspects of the user experience.  You need to get your users to come back day after day, so think about how you strengthen that dialog and provide valuable call-to-actions.

How do you plan to get social?

From the director’s of “Old School” comes a new movie guaranteed to leave laughing pains in your side.  “The Hangover”, hitting theaters June 5th, involves a character Doug (JUSTIN BARTHA) and his three friends (BRADLEY COOPER, ED HELMS and ZACH GALIFIANAKIS) driving to Las Vegas for a blow-out bachelor party they’ll never forget. But, in fact, when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning, they can’t remember a thing.  Classic lines are delivered from the characters and it is these lines that are now available on Facebook in a new app created by Vitrue.

Vitrue Application for Warner Bros' The Hangover

Most everyone has one day or another suffered from a hangover.  Share that joy and pleasure now with your friends by selecting movie quotes to post to your wall with photos of the primary characters, powerhouse Mike Tyson, the always sexy Heather Graham, and well….a chicken.  Facebook, hangovers and a chicken.  If that is not social, not sure what is.

Good morning all.  Close your eyes.  Smell the freshly cut grass and the hot dogs from 3 rows in front of you.  Taste a nice cold beverage on this sunny Spring day.  Hear the crack of a bat smacking the leather off of the ball.  Feel the roar of the crowd as it pulsates through your body.  It’s baseball season folks and we’re ready.

My morning started out today with the radio waking me up at 6am to sports talk about opening day at the new New York Yankee stadium.  The front page of the Sports section reads, “Yankees Fans at Fever Pitch.”  On the subway and streets of NYC, I must have passed 2-3 dozen people wearing pinstripes proudly.  It’s a good day today and the fan passion is clearly present throughout the city.

This morning the Vitrue SMI was covered in USA Today where we did a ranking of the Major League baseball teams and who has the most, and the least, social buzz.  We all know team sports have tremendous passionate followers, both in the stadium and outside of it.  It is most interesting to us as a company to see how vocal sport fanatics are online in the social media space and how their conversations increase interest and awareness for other passionate fans.  One of my colleagues just told me a story that in Kansas City there is a KIA dealership that is offering quite an opportunity for new car buyers.  If you buy a KIA in the month of April and the KC Royals win the pennant then your car is FREE.  How’s that for a deal?  If the social buzz of a team indeed helps determine fan following, fan support and ultimately team success, I would suggest KC fans start getting more involved online with their team, as currently they are sitting towards the bottom of the Vitrue rankings.

Lastly, for all you Yankee fans out there (myself included), there is no way we can let the Red Sox be one notch above us socially.  Aren’t we supposed to be the loud NY’ers?  At least, as of this writing, they are in last place

It is March and although many people have Spring on their minds, I have college hoops on mine.  For me, this is the greatest time of year for sports fans.  Yes, the NHL and NBA are heading into the playoffs, and MLB is kicking it off with Spring training, but nothing, I mean nothing, beats the pure excitement of watching these college kids put in 110% on the court for the next few weeks.  Intra-division rivalries heat up and conference vs. conference games spark fires for the mad fans.  Upsets are almost a guarantee these days, allowing us all to root for Cinderella teams.  The first 2 days of the NCAA Tourney are probably two of the least productive days for most US companies, and it is accepted and understood, because this is the best time of year.

We had the fortunate opportunity to work with our friends over at Papa John’s on a new app that was launched yesterday, “Selection Sunday.”  The concept is quite simple but powerful allowing fans to visit the Papa Johns profile page and select their favorite team, entering them into a sweeps for a trip to the Final Four.  If you follow college hoops, you will know that team allegiance runs deep for the passionate fan and given the chance, they will always tell the world what team they back.  What is great about this app is the low barrier of entry.  Within 1 hour of launch, hundreds of fans signed up and pushed their teams to the top.  As of this writing, North Carolina, Louisville and Duke have sizable leads.  I am just wondering where the Binghamton and North Dakota State fans are?

Besides the simplicity of the registration process, the inclusion of a leaderboard helps push the user to come back to the page to see where their team stands in the rankings a we all want our team to be #1.  For the general marketer, emphasis should be placed on acquisition of new users (or fans) and retention/repeat visits driven by engaging application functionality.  Including this complimentary functionality is simply a must.

Papa John's Facebook Application

One last thing of interest for me is the call-to-action Papa John’s provided in their Status Updates. Last night their status “Papa John’s Pizza wants to know what your favorite college basketball team is!” received 100 comments (Facebook limits comments to status messages at 100) and 840 “Like” actions (think thumbs up).  Today the status “Papa John’s Pizza wants you to sign up for your chance to win a trip to the 2009 NCAA® Men’s Final Four® in Detroit!” received again 100 comments and 665 “Like” actions.  These numbers show the power in the new Facebook Profile Page redesign and the opportunities available to marketers to help engage their passionate audience.

Game on!

Great write up on the AllFacebook blog with regards to the Warner Bros. Watchmen Facebook pages and applications.  Some of our industry peers have noted that this is another great example of how branded applications can be successful.  I completely agree and will expand, defining success as everything from unique visitors, application installs, app use, social sharing and viral spread through the organic fabric of the Facebook platform.

Taking these rich, yet simple, Facebook programs and wrapping them up with a solid integrated media buy will always yield positive results.  Of course it also helps to have a passionate fan base to help drive these programs organically, but identifying a communication strategy to really propagate these different “touch points” is key to the process.

This was a fun one to work on for us, but doesn’t end here.  If you look at the various Watchmen Pages, there are over 300,000 fans.  These “customers” still want to engage and hear from the brand.  As far as I am concerned, we have just begun our work.