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Armani Launches “Acqua For Life” virtual goods campaign with AdNectar 04.01.10
Thousands of children die each day without clean drinking water. Armani decided to make a difference.
To raise awareness for the UNICEF Tap Project, Armani teamed up with AdNectar—using virtual goods on social networks to educate consumers and rally them behind the cause.
For $1, UNICEF can provide one child access to clean drinking water for 40 days. For every new Facebook fan, Armani is donating $1. So far, over 34,000 fans have joined…that’s $34,000, or 1,363,320 days of clean, safe water for children throughout the world…thanks to Armani and AdNectar’s virtual goods platform.
The campaign also raised visibility for Armani’s Acqua di Gio cologne, associated it with the cause, and positioned the brand as being socially progressive and aware.
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The campaign saw a high ‘adoption rate,’ meaning that a significant percentage of the impressions of the virtual goods were sent and received by friends, or posted on profiles. This high engagement rate, over 100 times more than typical banner click rates, proves that social endorsement from peers is the most effective way to engage consumers and recruit them to a cause.
AdNectar also developed a Facebook application where people chose from all the virtual badges, watched the video, and became fans of the brand.
Making a difference, one drop at a time.
Posted by Paul Martecchini / Permalink /
Harry Potter ‘Half-Blood’ launches on AdNectar 12.03.09
Today, Warner Home Video launched a virtual goods campaign with AdNectar to announce the release of the the DVD/Blu-Ray Combo Pack for the blockbuster: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
The branded virtual goods feature Albus Dumbledore, Ron Weasley & Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Severus Snape, and Harry Potter himself. When opened, the virtual goods expand to auto-play the trailer in a branded interactive frame.
The campaign engages fans who love the film, and then makes it easy for them to share their enthusiasm with their friends. This ‘peer-to-peer’ marketing builds trust—dramatically improving ad engagement and video view rates.
As studios look for creative ways to distribute movie trailers on social networks, virtual goods have become a powerful way to turn hard-core fans into brand advocates…and get massive exposure for movie trailers in the process. Learn more here.
In addition, AdNectar created a custom Facebook application for Warner—a microsite where fans can watch more trailers, link to buy the DVD, and send more themed badges to their friends.
Posted by Paul Martecchini / Permalink /
Godiva Debuts New ‘Baked Desserts’ with AdNectar 11.05.09
This week, Godiva launched a virtual goods based marketing campaign to launch their new Bakery Shop selling Godiva Baked Desserts.
To introduce the cupcakes, cakes, and gift baskets to consumers, they recruited AdNectar to create branded virtual goods and integrate them into social applications on Facebook—like Birthday Calendar, Willy’s Sweet Shop, and Bumper Sticker.
These animated sweets opened to reveal a flash-based rich-media experience…which rotated photos of chocolate Ganache layer cakes, cupcakes, and chocolate-chunk brownies.
From there, consumers could become a Godiva Facebook Fan, visit Godiva.com, or forward the virtual treat to a friend.
The campaign also included a Godiva branded application on Facebook, where people can learn more about the products, or choose from a list of friends to send the gift to.
As with all AdNectar campaigns, when people send these virtual desserts, it’s announced in their Facebook “News Feed” for both the sender and recipient…so friends of friends find out fast…and then send to their friends, and so on. Chocolate cravings exponential!
Join brands like Godiva, Nestle, and Malibu Rum—and get consumers to endorse your brand. You’ll put a smile on their faces….and your product in their tummy.
Posted by Paul Martecchini / Permalink /
AdNectar Brings Branded Virtual Goods to Twitter and LiveJournal 10.12.09
Last week BrandWeek wrote a positive article about AdNectar launching its branded virtual goods marketing platform on Twitter and LiveJournal. The marketing community is increasingly recognizing that virtual goods are becoming a powerful tool to engage consumers on social networks.
As Nir Eyal, AdNectar’s CEO said, “By adding these two top publishers, AdNectar now powers massive cross-platform social media campaigns for brands to engage their customers and increase purchase intent.”
See our full press release on the subject.
The article did have two factual errors, which for the sake of accuracy, we want to clarify here. Though AdNectar customers from past campaigns include Malibu Rum, Nestle’s Toll House, Fisher-Price, Trident Gum, Overture Films (Capitalism: A Love Story), the article had mistakenly said that these brands had signed up for campaigns on the new Twitter and LiveJournal platforms. This is not the case; AdNectar has not yet identified any brands that are planning to advertise on the new platforms. In addition, it indicated that LiveJournal was promoting its branded virtual gifts on the Fun140 site, when in fact, LiveJournal is promoting its gifts on its own homepage.
But the article got the main message right: companies can now empower their advocates to forward branded experiences as gifts to friends, and in the process, turn what would be traditionally viewed as advertising, into entertaining content.
This social endorsement has a big payoff for marketers; it increases trust, so consumers are more willing to engage. And the viral exposure can scale fast, with millions re-Tweeting the gifts to their friends.
See related stories on the Inside Social Games blog and Virtual Goods News.
Posted by Paul Martecchini / Permalink /
Hollywood Casts AdNectar to Promote Films on Social Networks 09.21.09
New Michael Moore documentary and Jennifer Aniston romantic drama use AdNectar virtual goods to engage social network users
When Michael Moore premieres his new film “Capitalism: A Love Story” on Oct 2nd, many new fans will have heard about the release from their friends after receiving a virtual gift powered by AdNectar. The campaign embedded an expandable movie trailer window into themed virtual items and then seeded those gifts on top applications on Facebook. In addition, AdNectar created a custom application for the film which fans use to send gifts and learn about the film.
The campaign spread news about the movie through the social networks of Michael Moore’s fans; as they sent gifts to their friends, others saw it mentioned on their Facebook ‘news feeds’ and ‘wall posts.’ This voluntary action spurred more people to send along the virtual items and accompanying video. The campaign leveraged Michael Moore’s most passionate fans to promote his film for him, and find other like-minded activists.
The film opens with a limited release in NY and LA on September 23rd. Send a gift from the movie at http://apps.facebook.com/capitalgifts/
Sometimes when you least expect it…
The soon-to-be released drama “Love Happens” starring Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart also utilized romantic virtual gifts which enabled users to send each other movie-themed items on top Facebook applications. The items were so popular that the campaign generated significant ‘earned media.’ The gifts also featured a link back to the movie’s website, driving traffic and new interest in the film
How can AdNectar help your brand leverage your advocates and fans to distribute video socially?
Posted by Paul Martecchini / Permalink /
Why a Billion Branded Virtual Goods Matter 09.03.09
Sometimes you don’t realize how important a milestone is until you pass it.
Last week, AdNectar counted over one billion branded virtual goods served since the company’s founding. That’s right…across countless applications on Facebook and other social networks, publishers have opened up their generic virtual goods catalogs to brands, and in the process invented an entirely new approach to advertising.
Brands like Trident discovered how to put smiles on people’s faces when they sent “a Little Piece of Happy.” Godiva helped people greet their special someone with an elaborate box of chocolates. ABC family helped their fans play virtual gigs with “Ruby and the Rockits” branded instruments…driving trailer views and tune-in. Johnny Walker and Malibu added a dash of style and fun to sending virtual drinks, engaged their most passionate consumers, and gathered registrations for future promotions.
So why do one billion branded virtual goods matter? It demonstrates that this new form of advertising is real. Marketers are renewing test campaigns, publishers are allocating top ‘shelf space’ to promote them, and consumers are embracing the format. In fact, consumers prefer branded virtual goods…which increase visits and time spent on our publishers’ sites. What other type of ads do that?
A billion branded virtual goods served means that when you create advertising people like, a broadcast turns into a conversation…and your customers start to smile.
Posted by Michal Bortnik / Permalink /
We were interviewed on Social Media Remix 05.18.09
Recent podcast interview with Michal and Vlada two of our founders on the show Social Media Remix
Source
Blog Talk Radio
Posted by Marcia Kadanoff / Permalink /
Hot off the presses: Standardized social media definitions and metrics 05.07.09
We all know how hard it is to measure the success of marketing via social media. The Interactive Advertising Bureau released a highly ambitious document that may help by getting ad agencies, advertisers and content producers on the same page.
The goal of IAB’s newly developed set of terms and metrics is to codify social media categories and how they are measured — in the name of consistency.
Source
IAB Social Media Metrics
Posted by Nir Eyal / Permalink /
Welcome to AdNectar’s brand new blog 04.30.09
Here we’ll tell you about new customers we sign, how we’re advancing our technology, and point you to market research and facts and figures of interest to agencies and brands that field marketing campaigns on social networks.
Meanwhile, a lot of people ask me about our logo. Yes, that’s a hummingbird in our logo. Hummingbirds are a great metaphor for what we do here at AdNectar. We turn consumers into brand advocates through the simple act of giving. Giving branded virtual gifts puts the power of social referrals behind your campaign. Results for clients like Godiva Chocolates, Method Home Care and Personal Products have been nothing short of amazing.
Posted by Nir Eyal / Permalink /
The Middle Age of Social Media 04.27.09
A new poll (fielded at the end of March beginning of April 09) shows that sites like Facebook and MySpace are not exclusively the provence of Gen Y or Millennials.
In the Internet era, we’ve come to expect that young adults will quickly embrace new technologies and applications. It’s more surprising when not-so-young adults get into the act en masse. That’s what’s happening with social networking, though, as is clear from the findings of a Harris Poll conducted for AdweekMedia among online adults.
As the polling found, lots of certifiably middle-age people not only have Facebook or MySpace accounts but update them often. Asked whether they have a Facebook or MySpace account, 41 percent of 45-54-year-olds and 24 percent of those 55-plus said they do. So did 47 percent of the 35-44s and 74 percent of the 18-34s.
Ten percent of the 45-54s and 3 percent of those 55-plus said they update those accounts at least once a day. Twenty-nine percent of the 18-34s and 17 percent of the 35-44s said the same.
Twittering remains a niche activity across the age spectrum. Eight percent of the 18-34s said they use Twitter, as did 7 percent of the 35-44s, 4 percent of the 45-54s and 1 percent of those 55-plus.
The poll (fielded at the end of March and beginning of April) also asked whether social-networking sites threaten the likes of Google and Yahoo. Given a batch of statements and asked to pick the one that best matches their own view, 9 percent said sites like Facebook and MySpace “are becoming so dominant that they may become a real threat to search sites like Google or Yahoo.” While agreeing that social-networking sites “are very popular,” 45 percent said “they will never pose any real threat to the domination of search sites such as Google or Yahoo.”
A plurality, 46 percent, chose the answer “not at all sure,” an indication that this topic is less than a matter of urgency for the mass of consumers.
Source
Adweek
Posted by Julie Li / Permalink /
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