Facebook will soon offer content from the UK’s Channel Five TV network.  Viewers based in the region will be able to watch the network’s programming through an embedded player on their Facebook page, making Five the first broadcaster to offer a wide range of on-demand TV programming through the dominant social network. 

Five is a relatively new (established in 1997) and progressive network that currently funnels their video content through Demand FIVE, a Web site and online video player that offers free and paid downloads for rental or purchase.  This is the same player they will use to offer content through Facebook, though it seems all programming will be free (at least to begin with).  According to the site, “Demand Five is all about giving you the choice to watch telly when you want to, not according to rigid schedules.”  

Just as CBS now offers the “Watch & Chat” functionality on their site, it’s easy to imagine how TV viewing could become much more social when it literally takes place on Facebook.  Revenue could come from traditional video advertising through the player, social gaming tied to programming, contests and more.  Imagine video downloads that users pay for with the Facebook Credits they’ve earned on FarmVille?

Will we soon be logging into Facebook to catch up on our favorite TV shows?  Do you think the social network will become a viable competitor to Hulu and YouTube, or will the existing broadcast content partnerships prevent that from happening?

Today marks the very first Social Media Day and its all thanks to Mashable, who believes that social media has changed our lives. And here at GY&K, we believe this to be true. It’s changed the way we communicate, connect with one another, consume our news, conduct business, organize our lives and market our brand.

And with 80 percent of social media users interacting with companies or brands online, there’s no better time to get in the game. Online engagement, especially, social media can be your friend as it offers an opportunity to have a person-to-person dialogue, in real time. Here’s how to apply social media to your brand, company or business:

• Integrate – Don’t treat your social media activity as something separate from your other marketing initiatives. Feature links to your Facebook and Twitter profiles, in your email signature, on your business cards, in your ads, and as a standard block of copy in your weekly e-newsletter.
• Drive Traffic – Use your social media activity to create awareness for and amplify your content housed in other places – on your blog, on your website or on your Twitter account. Use newsletters and blog posts to send to your subscribers, archive it on your website and tweet it too. You can also add social features to your newsletter to make it easy for others to retweet and share on social sites.
• Be a Content Sharer – Be a thought leader and content sharer by filtering other people’s strong news stories, links and posts, and retweet them to your followers, fans and subscribers, helping to build your overall reputation and helping you bring value to the conversation. 

So, today, we celebrate Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Foursquare, Gowalla, Vimeo, Friendfeed, Flickr, Blogger and WordPress. And so should you.

From Google Earth and Gmail to GOOG-411 and Nexus One it is clear that its wide range of products and service offerings have molded Google into one of the most dominant companies on the Web.  As if Google wasn’t already a huge threat, it developed Google Buzz.  As you’ve probably heard, or experienced, Google’s new development aims to combine the best features of different social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Picasa and YouTube, sending many of those sites scrambling to re-examine their features to make sure Google Buzz does not become a monopoly in the social media space next.

So, what supposedly makes Google Buzz more appealing than Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites? Well, according to an article in Channelweb, the top reasons are that Google Buzz:

1. Integrates with Gmail
2. Drowns out the noise
3. Cuts out the hunting and pecking
4. Works well with cell phones

Ok, so do you want to know what this really means?  To start, Gmail users will now have access to all of their status updates, photos, new comments and other content mixed in with their email.  Cool?  Not so much.  Do we social networking fanatics really want ALL of our updates mixed in with email?  I think this will make emailing and social networking more of a hassle.

Google claims Buzz will “drown out the noise,” by using algorithms and history to sift through unwanted status updates or photo uploads based on a user’s previous activity.  Yes, I do not want to know what Friend A is doing every second of the day, but that doesn’t mean that I never want to know what he’s up to.  Google Buzz also has an “auto-follow” feature where all of your previous Gmail contacts can automatically connect with you.  Imagine all of the people that you email:  your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, coworkers and children.  Is this option really preferable?  Well, if you are a fan of Google Buzz so far, AND if you are an Apple or Android user—don’t worry.  Google has developed mobile applications for the iPhone and Google Android.  Google is also developing an enterprise plan for Buzz.

Yes, Google Buzz compiles email and social networking content all into one program, but should this really make Facebook and Twitter that worried?  I would rather keep social networking separate from emailing.  It is quite clear that Google can do it all, but is Buzz really going to attract current Facebook and Twitter users?

Jenaleigh Landers is an intern with Griffin York & Krause.  She is currently a full-time Business Major at Saint Anselm College.

Are you sick of reading about FarmVille in your Facebook news feed?  You have the option of filtering these updates, but get ready for more invitations to join the party.  

“Social gaming” has become a huge industry and a few companies are betting it’s here to stay.  Earlier this month, Electronic Arts acquired Playfish, a social gaming company, for approximately $300,000,000.  Yes, that’s three hundred million. 

While they have 60 million monthly users, Playfish isn’t even the top company in this segment.  That title belongs to Zynga, the makers of Mafia Wars, Vampires and the aforementioned farming game of which many of my friends are apparently addicted.

If you have yet to experience these games you may be wondering where the money is coming from.  That leads us to the world of virtual goods and micropayments.  Many of these games offer players the chance to upgrade their accounts or accomplish various tasks by making small purchases.  Do a search for Zynga and you’ll see a sponsored link pushing sales of virtual poker chips. 

In the near future you will see even more transactions like this happening through Facebook, but that’s a topic for another post.

What does all of this mean for consumer brands?  One thing is for sure, they want to play! 

Know of any brand sponsored social games or virtual goods that are gaining traction?  

Rules. From our earliest recollection as a toddler, we were taught to “obey the rules.” I’ve always been a do-gooder (yep, I was that kid) so this has been easy for me. However, if rules are written in legal-ese, it takes a bit longer for me to figure out how to do right.

In our industry (marketing, and in my case in particular, PR) we have a responsibility to be current on the rules set forth by the mediums we use in order to best serve ourselves and our clients. For example, there are rules to using Twitter. Some are common sense (don’t say anything inappropriate while representing your brand), some are best practices (RT people whose work you admire and you found helpful), and some are set forth by the medium itself (follow, update, and API limits) .

Today I want to highlight a very important “rule change” the happened in November one of our most popular mediums: Facebook.

Do you have a business Page on Facebook? Have you ever thought about giving away a t-shirt to your 1,000th fan? Think again. Facebook changed its promotion guidelines on November 9, 2009. Now, before you do any “promotional activity” on Facebook you need to ask permission. And they need to grant you permission. This could take a week or so – make sure you budget in the time. When Facebook approves you have to give them credit too. Maybe this will help them police the promotions? Lend credibility to the contest?

Oh, and Cabot Cheese? Sorry, but you can’t give away a block of your oh-so-yummy cheddar via Facebook anymore. Dairy is excluded, as is tobacco, gambling, firearms, prescription drugs and a few other things.

You can no longer win a contest by becoming a fan. OK, this one isn’t that bad – it just means we have to be more creative. So maybe I’ll hold a best photo contest and have fans post to the photo page! Nope, disqualified as well. You can no longer have a winner post a comment, post to the Page’s wall, or several other ways – all using Facebook as a medium. Creativity, here we come. Third-party aps can help overcome this hurdle. My favorite radio station gave away a trip to an awards show a few weeks ago and all I had to do was fan the page to qualify (no, I didn’t win). That can no longer happen. I’ll have to work harder as a fan.

Now, if you make it though all these steps and you are a legitimate promotion you may need to contact a winner. Get this: you cannot notify the winner through Facebook. This one makes me say Hmmmmm…

Finally, if you chose to give away a gallon of milk to the 28th person to post a comment about why they love milk, Facebook can banish you. They may just remove the offending material, but they do warn of their ability to disable your account or page. Yikes.

So, without passing judgment on every little decision Facebook makes, I find myself wondering how I can best capitalize on the new rules set forth for my clients. These rules will definitely reduce the amount of spam that is on Facebook. But from a personal standpoint, I am left wondering how much effort will it now take before I can win Kohl’s gift card before Christmas?

What do you think about the new rules? Fair or impossible? How will you creatively combat a system desperately trying to monetize itself?

Vitaminwater was first introduced to Americans in 2000 as an alternative to soda and positioned as a drink that both hydrates consumers while providing essential nutrients they are likely missing.  Over the past nine years the company has exploded in popularity quickly becoming one of the largest beverage brands in America.  In 2007, The Coca-Cola Company purchased Vitaminwater for $4.1 billion dollars.  Today, the brand is bigger than ever and endorsed by some of the largest stars in entertainment including Steve Nash, 50 Cent, Shaq, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.  Just recently Vitaminwater launched a unique fan contest that utilizes the power of Facebook.  The contest was announced by Steve Nash and 50 Cent in a humorous internet commercial.   

The contest is two phases and it all takes place within a Facebook app titled the flavorcreator.   The first phase of the contest, which concluded on October 5, 2009, allowed users the chance to vote on the next flavor of Vitaminwater to be created.  The second phase allows Facebook users the opportunity to create the next label for Vitaminwater and win a $5,000 grand prize, but it is the unique ways this contest utilizes social media that makes it unique.

The app does not allow Facebook users to mix flavors together or even select which flavors should be used; rather it allows you to monitor social media buzz on the top 10 flavors Vitaminwater placed in contention.  The app follows social gossip on Twitter, Flickr, Google news and Foodgawker and every time a flavor is tweeted or tagged, it adds to its ranking.  After flavors are ranked, users are allowed to select a combination that is actually capable of being produced by Vitaminwater.  Phase one concluded with black cherry–lime as the winning flavor.  Finally, through an analysis of a survey placed within the app the new flavor will also feature vitamins from a-to-zinc plus the addition of caffeine. 

The second phase allows Facebook users the chance to create the new Vitaminwater label and name, plus users will have to type up one of classic flavor descriptions that Vitaminwater is famous for featuring on the side of their labels.  Users can post their new creation to their Facebook page to increase their bottle’s votes and they can vote on other people’s concoctions.  The winning label will win one lucky Facebook user $5,000 and criteria for winning is 25% creativity, 25% usefulness, 25% how well the look upholds Vitaminwater’s brand standers and 25% public vote totals. 

At the beginning of the contest in September, Vitaminwater had around 400,000 Facebook friends.  In a few short weeks the brand has increased their friend’s total to over one million Facebook users.  The contest has been receiving all sorts of internet buzz from the ways that individuals used social media to pick the flavors to the fact that the entire contest is housed within a social network.  The contest is a very unique way of crowdsourcing and it will be very interesting to see if the community of now more than one million people was able to create a new hit.  Personally, I think their addition of caffeine will create a hit as they can position the product as a healthy alternative to those sugar-filled energy drinks, but only time will tell if the products sells well.  When it comes to the contest, they can already consider it a success as they now have over 600,000 more people who they can directly community to without having to spend a substantial amount of money in traditional advertising channels.  The winning Vitaminwater label will be announced in November. 

Over the past year and a half I have heard the phase “social media” 100,000 times.  No matter where you turn your attention someone is discussing social media and how it can help your business.  For brands there is no escaping social media, their only choice is to embrace it.  One industry that has embraced social media as a means to communicate with their target audiences is the hospital industry.  Since 2006 the number of U.S. hospitals engaged in social media has skyrocketed.  Over the past three years more than 350 hospitals throughout America have engaged their brand in one type of social media.

According to the blog “Found In Cache” by Ed Bennnett, a hospital Web manager who is engaged in the social media space, as of September 21, 2009 there are 186 hospital YouTube channels, 190 hospital Facebook pages, 267 hospital Twitter accounts and 35 hospitals that have their own blogs.  The hospital industry is silently leading the way in the social media space; however, there it is hardly reported. 

Hospitals are being pretty innovative in the ways they have chosen to use the social space.  There are a ton of examples out there explaining the ways in which hospitals are using social media to engage patients but here are a few that stand out.  In Detroit, at the Henry Ford Hospital, doctors while performing a brain surgery on a 47-year-old man used Twitter to answer consumer questions.  At Nebraska Medical Center a patient shared her experience with cancer on YouTube causing the NCU to open a monthly clinic for the condition.  At Sarasota Memorial Hospital Twitter is used to answer patient questions and provide them answers in real time about health issues.  Plus consumers can inquire about patients who are currently staying at the hospital via Twitter.

The reason why you are seeing hospitals make the jump into the social media space is that it makes perfect sense for their industry.  During all of our lifetimes we are going to have many physical interactions with a hospital, some positive and some negative but healthcare is consumed by everyone.  Think about it;  healthcare is the most important service you will ever utilize.  So when you are discussing a service that almost all consumers will use at one time or another, it makes sense for an industry to use all potential communication tactics possible. Expect to see more hospitals join the social media movement; remember more than 60% of Americans have used the Internet alone to search for information on a health topic.  Pretty soon it will be 60% of Americans have used social media tactic to gain insight on a health-related topic.  

Frito-Lay, the world’s largest snack food producer, is revamping last year’s ultimate consumer contest titled Crash the Super Bowl.  For the past four years Doritos has asked the consumer to take control and create the brand’s Super Bowl commercials and as consumers answered the call the contest grew in popularity.  Last year the contest was extremely successful for the brand and for the two unemployed brothers who created the winning spot.  Not only were these brothers successful in winning the grand prize of $1 million; they also created a spot that beat out all of the Madison Avenue executives and won the USA Today Ad Meter poll.  

It was the success of those two brothers’ commercial that helped to restructure this year’s Crash the Bowl Sweepstakes.  The potential prize money up for grabs is $5 million this year; but Doritos is not just going to give the money away.  In order to win the cash, consumers have to not only beat out the thousands of entrants Doritos receives, their ad also has to place within the top three of the USA Ad Meter.  Here is how Doritos plans on breaking out the winning money; $1 million for placing first in Ad Meter; $600,000 for second and $400,000 for third and if the spots finish 1-2-3, each will get a $1 million bonus, for a total of $5 million in prizes.  The last time an advertiser was able to sweep the top three spots in the USA Today Ad Meter poll was in 2007 by Anheuser-Busch. 

Doritos is not just hoping to win the Ad meter with their spots they are hoping to continue to grow their online social following.  When you’re a brand as big as Doritos and your product is one of the most loved snack foods ever created there is not much image advertising you can do.  Instead Doritos understands that their brand is based on their consumers love for their product and it is their passion that has sparked the development of these promotions. 

This year social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter will play a bigger role than ever before.  Entrants into the contest will be able to post their video to the Doritos Facebook page to encourage more votes and constant updates and Doritos news will be deliverable by the brand via the newly created Twitter page.  If you check out the social network space the brand is already starting to build up buzz for the contest that runs from September 21, 2009 till November 16, 2009.

Finally, when Doritos looked to announce their contest they contacted the mayor of New York and asked for a favor.  Yesterday, Thursday September 10, 2009 Mayor Bloomberg renamed Madison Avenue for one day, Doritos Drive.  The brand handed out free samples up and down the street and encouraged people to check out the contest at http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com/. Doritos is investing a lot of money around this Super Bowl promotion; it is going to cost the brand over $6 million just to place the ads during the game, but I don’t think they are worried about it.  The Super Bowl is largest junk food eating day in the nation and if you are the king of junk foods then you might as well try to become the king of advertisers on junk food’s biggest day.