Social Media Promotions of the Week: 03/05/2013
There have been some really innovative promotional campaigns on social media this week. Among those I have chosen for SMPWs top five are a world record breaker, a tweet-powered weather phenomenon, a remake of a 2012 classic and a Q&A session with an A-lister. Here are the top five:
1. IBM – A Boy And His Atom
Scientists at IBM’s Almaden Research Lab in California have created a world record breaking short film entitled “A Boy And His Atom”, which tells the story of a boy, himself made up of individual atoms, and his adventure with a single atom. The boy and the atom were animated with a microscopic needle, which used a magnetic charge to drag the atoms across a sheet of copper the size of a postage stamp. Each incremental movement was photographed using a scanning tunneling micrscope – a two ton device that operates at a temperature of minus 268 degrees Celsius. The microscope magnifies the atoms to around 100 million times their original size.
The researchers who created the film are currently experimenting with data storage on microchips, working out how small they can make the individual transistors while still enabling them to store large amounts of information. In the accompanying “making of…” video, principal investigator Andreas Heinrich theorises that, in the future, we could carry around “any movie that was ever produced” in a smartphone. A Boy And His Atom has over 2 million views on YouTube.
2. The Weather Channel – Tweet Powered Tornado
As part of their Tornado Week, the interns at the weather channel have created a tweet powered tornado simulator… in their office! For the entirety of this week, viewers can power the array of fans in the office using the #TornadoWeek hashtag. Every mention will increase the power of the fans, with the target being 1,000,000 mentions, which will create “a full blown EF-5 tornado inside the Weather Channel offices!”
At the time of writing, #TornadoWeek has had over 40,000 mentions, increasing the effective wind speed to 134mph. There is a live stream showing the office’s devastation on YouTube during the day, which I have posted above. Viewers can also chat with the interns on Twitter @TornadoWeek.
3. Nivea UK – Dare To Dip
Every Summer, women dread that first reveal – the first time they go out into the public wearing their swimsuits. To help boost their confidence, Nivea UK are daring women nationwide to strip off to their bikinis in a one-off event this Summer.
Over 26,000 women have already pledged to attend Nivea’s open air dip in London, if you want to join them go to Nivea UK’s Facebook page and click on the “Dare to Dip” app button. If you’re still unsure, why not join the conversation on Twitter with the #DareToDip hashtag.
4. Sony – DSLR Gear No Idea
To advertise the company’s new NEX compact, Sony has released two video adverts onto YouTube: “Sideline hero” and “Foreign Correspondent”. Both videos show amateur photographers getting poor shots thanks to their overenthusiasm with a DSLR. When given the Sony NEX alternative, however, their photos come out clean and clear, despite the photographers energetic movements.
This is the second iteration of the ‘DSLR Gear No Idea’ campaign – Sony decided to create a new set of videos after the success of the 2012 video which was seen by almost 4 million people – but it is yet to gain the viewership of the last one: combined, the two new videos have around 70,000 views at the time of writing.
5. 20th Century Fox – #AskHugh
Yesterday, to promote the new Wolverine film starring Hugh Jackman as the eponymous hero, 20th Century Fox invited Marvel and movie fans to ask Jackman questions relating to the creation of his character and the franchise on Twitter.
Using the hashtags #AskHugh and #The Wolverine, anyone could ask a question. The answers were then video recorded and posted on Twitter and YouTube, where they can be found on Marvel’s “The Wolverine” channel. Each answer has been viewed thousands of times, with questions ranging from “How much training & preparation goes into doing a film like this?” to “Anything you can tell us about X-Men: Days of Future Past?”.
Which is your favourite SMPW this week?
Contact us on Twitter, on Facebook, or leave your comments below.
Will Sigsworth
Follow us @SocialMediaF & @WillAtSMF
Or go to our Facebook page.
1. IBM – A Boy And His Atom
Scientists at IBM’s Almaden Research Lab in California have created a world record breaking short film entitled “A Boy And His Atom”, which tells the story of a boy, himself made up of individual atoms, and his adventure with a single atom. The boy and the atom were animated with a microscopic needle, which used a magnetic charge to drag the atoms across a sheet of copper the size of a postage stamp. Each incremental movement was photographed using a scanning tunneling micrscope – a two ton device that operates at a temperature of minus 268 degrees Celsius. The microscope magnifies the atoms to around 100 million times their original size.
The researchers who created the film are currently experimenting with data storage on microchips, working out how small they can make the individual transistors while still enabling them to store large amounts of information. In the accompanying “making of…” video, principal investigator Andreas Heinrich theorises that, in the future, we could carry around “any movie that was ever produced” in a smartphone. A Boy And His Atom has over 2 million views on YouTube.
2. The Weather Channel – Tweet Powered Tornado
As part of their Tornado Week, the interns at the weather channel have created a tweet powered tornado simulator… in their office! For the entirety of this week, viewers can power the array of fans in the office using the #TornadoWeek hashtag. Every mention will increase the power of the fans, with the target being 1,000,000 mentions, which will create “a full blown EF-5 tornado inside the Weather Channel offices!”
At the time of writing, #TornadoWeek has had over 40,000 mentions, increasing the effective wind speed to 134mph. There is a live stream showing the office’s devastation on YouTube during the day, which I have posted above. Viewers can also chat with the interns on Twitter @TornadoWeek.
3. Nivea UK – Dare To Dip
Every Summer, women dread that first reveal – the first time they go out into the public wearing their swimsuits. To help boost their confidence, Nivea UK are daring women nationwide to strip off to their bikinis in a one-off event this Summer.
Over 26,000 women have already pledged to attend Nivea’s open air dip in London, if you want to join them go to Nivea UK’s Facebook page and click on the “Dare to Dip” app button. If you’re still unsure, why not join the conversation on Twitter with the #DareToDip hashtag.
4. Sony – DSLR Gear No Idea
To advertise the company’s new NEX compact, Sony has released two video adverts onto YouTube: “Sideline hero” and “Foreign Correspondent”. Both videos show amateur photographers getting poor shots thanks to their overenthusiasm with a DSLR. When given the Sony NEX alternative, however, their photos come out clean and clear, despite the photographers energetic movements.
This is the second iteration of the ‘DSLR Gear No Idea’ campaign – Sony decided to create a new set of videos after the success of the 2012 video which was seen by almost 4 million people – but it is yet to gain the viewership of the last one: combined, the two new videos have around 70,000 views at the time of writing.
5. 20th Century Fox – #AskHugh
Yesterday, to promote the new Wolverine film starring Hugh Jackman as the eponymous hero, 20th Century Fox invited Marvel and movie fans to ask Jackman questions relating to the creation of his character and the franchise on Twitter.
Using the hashtags #AskHugh and #The Wolverine, anyone could ask a question. The answers were then video recorded and posted on Twitter and YouTube, where they can be found on Marvel’s “The Wolverine” channel. Each answer has been viewed thousands of times, with questions ranging from “How much training & preparation goes into doing a film like this?” to “Anything you can tell us about X-Men: Days of Future Past?”.
Which is your favourite SMPW this week?
Contact us on Twitter, on Facebook, or leave your comments below.
Will Sigsworth
Follow us @SocialMediaF & @WillAtSMF
Or go to our Facebook page.
Social Media Promotions of the Week: 03/05/2013
Reviewed by Anonymous
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Friday, May 03, 2013
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Reviewed by Anonymous
on
Friday, May 03, 2013
Rating:
Anonymous
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