Kudos from Katherine

To follow up on my last blog post, I wanted to mention that I came across an article from Mashable that somewhat changed my opinion on Snapchat as a marketing tool. The evidence presented in the article suggests that Snapchat isn't just a fad but rather a social marketing medium with untapped potential. It'll be interesting to see if more brands will choose to incorporate Snapchat into their social strategies. Also, props to Gen Y for using the app for creativity rather than for sexting. There's hope for the future.

Moving along, when it comes to social, some brands just get it. And lucky for us consumers, these successful cyber socialites are not few and far between. Brands everywhere are making us smile, laugh, ponder, and converse. As an advertiser, I've studied many social media success stories. The following, however, are brands that I've personally interacted with that I feel deserve to be commended for their social efforts.

Burberry

Ladies and gentlemen, love notes are making a comeback. Rather than relying on sex appeal to advertise its lipstick line, Burberry teamed up with Google to develop an interactive campaign that would create an emotional and meaningful experience for the user. When I was in Cannes this past summer, I had the opportunity to try it out. Using the Burberry Kisses photo booth at Google Beach I was able to write a letter, seal it with a virtual kiss, and send it to someone back home. The campaign created a unique and touching way to get consumers to interact with the Burberry brand. Muah!

Google Beach in Cannes, France

WestJet Airlines

If you have to ask your friends/followers to like/retweet your posts, you're doing it wrong. When scrolling through your own newsfeed, you'd never see one of your friends say "Like my picture if..." (and if you do, then you need to seriously reevaluate your criteria for Facebook friend acceptance). Social media posts that come with instructions are just obnoxious, so when consumers come across a brand that utilizes this tactic, they're automatically like #swerve. WestJet, on the contrary, is a brand that understands that shares/likes/retweets must be EARNED.

"WestJet Christmas Miracle: real-time giving" received over 35 million views. For a solid week, I couldn't get on Facebook without seeing someone share it. The video went viral, because it involved a clever concept and provoked a warm, fuzzy feeling among its viewers. And who doesn't love that feeling around the holidays?

Pauley's Original Crepe Bar

If you're not an Athens resident, you've probably never heard of Pauley's. Pauley's is my go-to place for crepes, wine, and girl time. If you are an Athens resident and you've never heard of Pauley's...what are you doing? #Icanteven. Pauley's has been able to gain 2,000+ followers on Twitter partly because it does an excellent job of monitoring its social mentions.

@kmkrajec @morganmahoney @SavvyKoe @alliemerd Hope y'all are having fun! Let us know how it goes :)
— Pauley's Crepe Bar (@Pauleys) August 29, 2013

I'm not exactly sure what motivated me to refer to my friends as "my babies", but that's beside the point. I didn't tweet at Pauley's or include them in a hashtag, but they still saw my post and responded. I've been following them on Twitter ever since.