Social Media Examples and Case Studies
Social Media – Where the customers talk back to the companies:
United Breaks Guitars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo
Taylor Guitars responds to United Airlines
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n12WFZq2__0&NR=1
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/dominos_youtube_video.php
Uncontrolled Message:
Dominoes on YouTube: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/dominos_youtube_video.php
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/2009/04/dominos_pizza_youtube_video
_lesson_focus_on_standards_and_pack_your_own_lunch.html
Transparency:
Wal-Marting Across America
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/oct2006/db20061009_579137.htm
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/oct2006/db20061018_445917.htm
Example Comprehensive Social Media Plan:
Starbucks
Starbucks on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/starbucks
Starbucks on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/starbucks
My Starbucks Idea: http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/
My Starbucks Idea Case Study:
http://blogs.starbucks.com/blogs/customer/archive/2008/09/09/groundswell-award-application.aspx
Starbucks: http://www.starbucks.com/
Starbucks on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/starbucks
Blog: http://www.starbucks.com/blog
Unofficial Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/starbuckscoffeecompany/
Custom Cards: https://www.starbucks.com/shop/card/customize
United Breaks Guitars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo
Taylor Guitars responds to United Airlines
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n12WFZq2__0&NR=1
Controversial Moms Motrin Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmykFKjNpdY
Chevy Tahoe Parody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oNedC3j0e4
Dominos disaster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtjVEBZWweM
Social Media in Plain English:
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE&feature=player_detailpage
TOP 10 GUIDELINES FOR SOCIAL MEDIA PARTICIPATION AT (COMPANY)
These guidelines apply to (COMPANY) employees or contractors who create or contribute to
blogs, wikis, social networks, virtual worlds, or any other kind of Social Media. Whether you log
into Twitter, Yelp, Wikipedia, MySpace or Facebook pages, or comment on online media stories
— these guidelines are for you.
While all (COMPANY) employees are welcome to participate in Social Media, we expect
everyone who participates in online commentary to understand and to follow these simple but
important guidelines. These rules might sound strict and contain a bit of legal-sounding jargon
but please keep in mind that our overall goal is simple: to participate online in a respectful,
relevant way that protects our reputation and of course follows the letter and spirit of the law.
1. Be transparent and state that you work at (COMPANY). Your honesty will be noted in the
Social Media environment. If you are writing about (COMPANY) or a competitor, use your real
name, identify that you work for (COMPANY), and be clear about your role. If you have a vested
interest in what you are discussing, be the first to say so.
2. Never represent yourself or (COMPANY) in a false or misleading way. All statements must be
true and not misleading; all claims must be substantiated.
3. Post meaningful, respectful comments — in other words, please, no spam and no remarks
that are off-topic or offensive.
4. Use common sense and common courtesy: for example, it’s best to ask permission to publish
or report on conversations that are meant to be private or internal to (COMPANY). Make sure
your efforts to be transparent don't violate (COMPANY)'s privacy, confidentiality, and legal
guidelines for external commercial speech.
5. Stick to your area of expertise and do feel free to provide unique, individual perspectives on
non-confidential activities at (COMPANY).
6. When disagreeing with others' opinions, keep it appropriate and polite. If you find yourself in a
situation online that looks as if it’s becoming antagonistic, do not get overly defensive and do
not disengage from the conversation abruptly: feel free to ask the PR Director for advice and/or
to disengage from the dialogue in a polite manner that reflects well on (COMPANY).
7. If you want to write about the competition, make sure you behave diplomatically, have the
facts straight and that you have the appropriate permissions.
8. Please never comment on anything related to legal matters, litigation, or any parties
(COMPANY) may be in litigation with.
9. Never participate in Social Media when the topic being discussed may be considered a crisis
situation. Even anonymous comments may be traced back to your or (COMPANY)’s IP address.
Refer all Social Media activity around crisis topics to PR and/or Legal Affairs Director.
10. Be smart about protecting yourself, your privacy, and (COMPANY)’s confidential
information. What you publish is widely accessible and will be around for a long time, so
consider the content carefully. Google has a long memory.
NOTE: Mainstream media inquiries must be referred to the Director of Public Relations.
Take a look at this page I found titled Social Media Demographics: Who’s Using Which Sites?
/ Flowtown (@flowtown). You can see this page at: http://www.flowtown.com/blog/socialmedia-demographics-whos-using-which-sites?display=wide
Specific: Clearly define what needs to be done. If you are trying to increase traffic, followers, or
subscribers intentially determine the number you would like to reach. To be even more specific outline
the type of follower you are targeting.
Measurable: Create concrete criteria for measurment, and determine how you will be monitoring the
success. It is important to know current performance to have a baseline.
Attainable: Ensure the goal is possible to achieve. Evaluate the resources available to achieve the goal
against the resources needed.
Results-Oriented: Outline action-steps that will be taken to reach the goal
Timely: Set deadlines and milestones to check progress.
Questions to ask:
Who is likely to buy a product or service offering?
What websites are they visiting?
What devices are they using to visit websites?
What are people saying about my business and competitiors?
What tools and services does my target audience use on a regular basis?
How does my audience want to interact with my content?
Do I need to look at my target audience differently online?
Case Study Adobe
Case Study Library
We’re a Lot Like You, A
Little Different
CHALLENGE:
Insurance is a low interest category: people don’t like to think about it, and they
certainly don’t like the companies that sell and service it. As a regional company,
PEMCO competes against national players - with very deep pockets, and a nonstop
passion for advertising. Our challenge was to cut through the competitive
clutter to build brand awareness, favorability and interest in PEMCO insurance.
INSIGHT:
After conducting extensive consumer research we found that people really care
about where we live, the people in our community, and the businesses that are
part of the local fabric. They also believe that living in the Northwest is like no
place else – filled with interesting people and ideas that make it interesting. And
they support companies that are local.
SOLUTION:
Demonstrate PEMCO’s local-ness and invite the public to engage with PEMCO
in celebrating the Northwest. A campaign was developed that featured unique
Northwest Types (the people who are part of our community), with the marketing
tagline “We’re A Lot Like You. A Little Different.” A key part of the campaign is a
microsite where all of the Northwest Types are featured along with an opportunity
to submit your own Northwest Type.
GOALS:
PEMCO’s goals were to build brand awareness and show positive growth in
policies by March 2008.
RESULTS:
* Exceeded policy growth goal by 700X
* 48,095 hits to the PEMCO site in the first month of launch, a 51.71% increase
in traffic from the past year.
* 100,000 visitors to www.werealotlikeyou.com
* 90 blogs created that discussed PEMCO and the campaign
* 1 obituary mention
* National exposure on MSNBC.com
* Developed partnerships with local companies that share the same local values
(Tully’s Coffee and Seattle Seahawks)
* 25% increase in policy growth
Intuit's Just Start Campaign Sparks an Entrepreneurial
Revolution
Seventy-five percent of Americans dream of starting their own business. Intuit’s Just Start campaign was designed to
spark an entrepreneurial revolution by inspiring, empowering and guiding Americans to achieve this dream.
While 4 million small businesses use Intuit’s QuickBooks, many new entrepreneurs are unaware of the need for
financial software. Therefore, along with providing inspiration and guidance, the campaign was created to distribute
copies of Intuit’s free entry-level QuickBooks Simple Start accounting software.
Campaign Components
With a budget of $1.2 million, Intuit, Access Communications and Grow Marketing developed the campaign to include
the following creative components:
* A contest to win a $50,000 small business grant: Intuit launched an interactive website, IWillJustStart.com, where
people could enter the contest, make a pledge, get how-to business tips and join an online community. For the
contest, entrants submitted letters or videos describing their business dream and how they’d use the grant.
* In-market events: Intuit launched interactive Just Start events in four busy commuter hubs across the country like
Grand Central Station in New York. At each event, budding entrepreneurs drew inspiration from local entrepreneurs,
obtained expert advice from local business experts and received free copies of Simple Start.
* Viral buzz: Intuit designed IWillJustStart.com to be highly viral. People could easily rate contest entries, post
comments and send their entries to family and friends. The public was also called to select the grand winner,
choosing among five finalists. To further maximize word of mouth, Intuit made extensive outreach to bloggers and
selected small business bloggers as judges for the contest.
Results
* Received 2500 contest entries and pledges with 22,000 votes cast.
* Over 130,000 people were touched by the events.
* Distributed over 300,000 CDs and downloads of QuickBooks Simple Start.
* Obtained over 80 blog postings about the campaign.
Client: Intuit Inc.
Agency: Access Communications; Grow Marketing
Budget: $1.2 Million
Date of Campaign: Oct. 15, 2007 - February 11, 2008
Case Study URL: www.iwilljuststart.com