Vanessa Protass
As Digital Media Manager, Vanessa oversees the distribution and tracking of online media for all Ad Council campaigns. This includes web banners, rich media, Google AdWords, and mobile marketing programs – a little bit of everything! She’s also part of the Social Media Team, bringing you your daily dose of Ad Council on twitter and facebook. In her spare time, she eats way too much and blogs about it at www.yummybrooklyn.com.
Posts by Vanessa
TED Ads Worth Spreading
Many of us are familiar with TED, the non-profit organization devoted to “ideas worth spreading.” TED’s mission is to change the world by sharing knowledge, ideas, and inspiration. And each year they give a nod to the world of advertising with their “Ads Worth Spreading” contest.
According to TED, an ad worth spreading is “an ad that people truly want to see and share. It might be hilariously funny or stunningly beautiful or wickedly clever. It might encapsulate a killer idea, promote an inspiring cause, or tell a captivating story.”
An ad worth spreading is not necessarily a PSA. A quick visit to the contest’s YouTube page reveals that finalists range from cats with thumbs (Cravensdale milk) and dancing forest animals (Fed Ex) to PSAs for the Elizabeth Smart Foundation, The National Domestic Violence Hotline, the ONE campaign and many more.
Among my favorites are short films produced on behalf of Chipotle’s Cultivate Foundation. Abandoned and Back to the Start depict the struggles faced by small family farms and drive home the message that sustainable farming practices are more important than ever. The music and imagery make these films/ads quite moving and in my opinion, worth spreading.
We’re thrilled that several Ad Council campaigns have made the cut:
Adoption from Foster Care
Autism Awareness
Unplanned Pregnancy Prevention
Horn of Africa Relief
Buzzed Driving Prevention
While contest winners are ultimately selected by TED, you can show your support for a particular ad by voting on the YouTube channel.
What are you favorite ads worth spreading? What motivates you to share ads with your networks?
Forward Thinking with YouTube
YouTube is popular platform for a social marketing campaign strategy, especially when you have great video content to share. For our FWD (Famine, War, Drought) campaign with USAID we are leveraging a fancy customized YouTube channel and a fleet of YouTube stars to help spread the word about the unacceptable crisis in the Horn of Africa.
The new, souped-up brand channel (see www.youtube.com/fwd) allows for easy viewing and sharing of all video content. It also offers a platform for viewers to upload their own FWD videos and join the conversation using YouTube, Facebook or Twitter – all of which are seamlessly integrated thanks to the This Moment platform and technology.
When it comes to YouTube influencers, YouTube stars have impressive and devoted followings. We are thrilled that upwards of 10 YouTube stars agreed to create their own FWD YouTube videos to post to their millions of fans encouraging them to get involved.
Here is one of my favorites from Alex Farnham:
Feeling inspired? I thought so. Today is FWD Day and we are asking everyone to join us in spreading the word about the Famine, War and Drought in the Horn of Africa by forwarding the facts on social media. The goal is 13 million FWDs, one for every person affected by this crisis.
- Upload your own FWD video asking friends and family to FWD the facts
- Spread the word on Facebook & Twitter. FWD the facts from www.usaid.gov/FWD or copy and past the messages below:
- Facebook: Getting the word out is as important as important as giving. Today is FWD Day, so FWD the facts to help the millions suffering from the Famine, War, and Drought in the Horn of Africa usaid.gov/FWD
- Twitter: The crisis in the #HornofAfrica is affecting 13 million people. You can help. Text ‘GIVE’ to 777444 to donate $10, and FWD the word. #fwd
- Text GIVE to 444777 to donate $10 to a consortium of humanitarian organizations working in the Horn of Africa OR donate online.
Cracking the QR Code – Part 2
Now that you know all about QR codes, you may be considering using one as part of your social marketing campaign.
As with any tactic, consider your goals before slapping a QR code on all of your materials. They are a nifty way to connect the offline with the online, but should serve a purpose and be implemented thoughtfully. Consider these questions:
- What do you want users to do? Will a QR code help accomplish this?
- Can the call to action be accomplished using text messaging, allowing you to reach users without smart phones?
- Are you driving users to a website with the QR code? If so, is the site optimized for a mobile screen?
- How will you track your QR code performance? Will you use a service such as Scan Life?
- How much space will the QR code take up on the creative? Will there be too much clutter?
In case you’d like some food for thought, here are some examples of how non-profits have been using QR codes to support their efforts:
image via www.osocio.org
New York’s City Harvest incorporated QR codes into their outdoor advertisements. Users that scanned the QR codes were taken to the mobile site for more information about the organization and presented with options to donate online or click to call City Harvest.
The Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) has partnered with mobile payment company Mobio to offer a donate via QR code option. The codes will be distributed via CMN’s corporate partners. For example, the codes will appear on cups at Dairy Queen.
American Cancer Society included QR codes on their outdoor advertisements. The codes directed users to a mobile website with more information about their Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk events.
Finally, a Canadian Environmental Group called The Big Wild employed the use of QR codes on outdoor ads. In fact, the QR code was the ad. The hope was that users would be enticed to scan the mysterious barcodes at which point they would be taken to a mobile site to learn more and sign an online petition.
What do you think of these examples? Has your non-profit used a QR code?
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