…now every regular Joe to most celebrities regularly tweet their fans/followers.

In the past week we’ve seen even more proof that social marketing, when done correctly, is an extremely powerful tool to have in your arsenal. A Facebook group, which I’m proud to say I was part of, managed to alter the normal Christmas routine of the X-Factor winner becoming number 1 in the Christmas chart race. The classic rebel record ‘Killing in the name’ by the mighty ‘Rage Against the Machine’ was plastered all around Facebook and Twitter encouraging people to buy a copy in an attempt to stop the usual predictability of X-Factor being crowned number 1 for Christmas…we did it and it felt really good.

Now we have Pepsi scrapping its usual Super Bowl ad campaign for a $20 million Social Media campaign called ‘The Pepsi Refresh Project’ which is aimed to encourage users to submit ideas on how to ‘refresh’ their own communities and make them a better place for everyone to live. There will be a cut off date for idea submission, at which point a vote will be cast and the winning projects will get funded by Pepsi.

This is a significant change for a company the size of Pepsi who have become synonymous with the Super Bowl weekend and their extravagant celebrity endorsed advertisements. To make this huge leap into Social Marketing puts a lot of weight behind the power of such forms of marketing and promotion. It’s not like Pepsi are dipping their toe in the Social pond to see what happens, they are putting a stop to all Super Bowl advertisements and committing 100% to a Social Media influenced campaign…well done Pepsi, and good luck…

I think these two examples speak volumes on their own. I’m excited to think what 2010 will bring us both from design and technology on the internet through to the ever increasing power of Social Marketing. In closing I’d like to wish you all a great Christmas and a peaceful and productive New Year…

Leaders in their field, NetPlay TV bring the excitement of the TV game show, the bingo hall, the local bar, the music concert or the casino direct into peoples’ homes. This highly skilled team  bring a wealth of knowledge covering many media formats, the end result being truly unique interactive products that customers love to play.

As you can tell, I’m very excited to be working with NetPlay TV, unfortunately I’m sworn to secrecy at the minute as to the nature of the project and the work I’m undertaking for them, but when the time is right I will be given you all the full skinny…

Hairtrader on Twitter

As with most online business owners these days, its known the benefits of social marketing, but few have the knowledge or the time to implement or interact within the vast social spectrum that exist on the internet.

The first step was to ascertain exactly what was relevant for Hairtrader and how much time would be available to maintain the information made available through the desired social channels. It’s never a case of subscribing to any and all social outlets, rather finding what is relevant to the client and their business.

Social marketing is evolving at a rapid rate, giving online businesses a great avenue to interact and inform their clients and customers on a more personal level. It is not the required strategy for every online business, but needs planning and continual input for a return on any investment, whether it’s monetary or time spent.

With this in mind, we set the ball rolling with a blog and Twitter integration into the already well established Hairtrader website, giving Andy the opportunity to keep visitors to the Hairtrader website well informed and up to date of the latest news and product launches within this industry.

Hairtrader's YouTube Channel

Building on this foundation, the final step was to develop a community within Facebook through a business page. This again, gave Andy the ability to inform his customers of the latest news and products, whilst at the same time allowing them to interact on this platform with their own views and opinions.

Hairtrader on Facebook

The new portal site features a great range of entertainment content; separated into sections including movies, music, games TV and sport.

Tapping into the every growing social network movement, Playboy UK has integrated their own social network within the new website. Here users can choose there own content and share with others on the main portal site and via social networks such as Facebook. As part of this brand evolution, the launch of the new Playboy UK website is to be followed by a new mobile website that will integrate many of these key features.

Richard Gale, director of marketing for Playboy UK, said, “Playboy UK is focused on advertising-funded lifestyle content that is developed from our editorial heritage and showcases our expertise on the aspirational ‘good life’,”

As with many brands that have had a significant position in the marketplace for many years and have become household names for one specific reason; Playboy UK, like Durex are repositioning themselves and placing more emphasis on the ‘Lifestyle’ branding.

For more information on Durex and how they are changing things around, take a look at my ‘Durex gets viral‘ blog.

Playboy UK: www.playboy.co.uk

Check out their new viral ad campaign below.
(WARNING: Contains Sexual References)

For more information go on over to the www.condomunity.com main website or check out their You Tube channel.