I Love the Buzz!

Do you want to be apart of the "buzz"? Do you want to in "the know"? Are you in PR? Are you a blogger? Do you have a product that needs some serious marketing?

If you answered yes to any of these questions then you need to sign up for The Buzz Cooperative (here).

The Buzz Cooperative will get you linked up with the right brands or the most influential bloggers in the industry.

At the end of the month, I am partnering up with 20th Century Fox and Paper Shouts for the DVD release for Bride Wars. It's going to be a huge giveaway, on my other blog Giftfully Simple complete with gift certificates, DVD's, movie memorabilia and even a Cancun vacation giveaway! I got this great opportunity from the Buzz Cooperative!

Go sign up! It's free and SO worth it!

Ford's Frugal, Yet Creative Marketing Strategy

Ford is getting really creative in their marketing strategy!

Later this month, Ford will hand over the branding and promotion duties for the Fiesta to 100 twenty-somethings who have no advertising experience. This is a risky move since in 2006, Chevy let YouTubers make commercials for the 2007 Tahoe, and instead of getting clips that showed off the SUV’s features, most of the entries focused on how bad the truck was for the environment.

The recipients will be a diverse group from indie filmmakers, to single moms, to aspiring dancers, and even avid gamers, and they’ll document their experiences with the car through YouTube vignettes, blog posts and other social media updates for six months. Ford will have no control over what the testers post about the car which is risky because the car won't be hitting US dealerships for almost a year.

Ford felt they had to take a risk marketing to younger tech-savvy demographic because they felt that traditional marketing just wouldn't do it.

Another creative approach they have taken is with HouseParty.com. Ford is looking for people like you to host a Ford American Idol House Party. If you're selected as a host, you could have a 2010 Ford Fusion at your party for you and your guests to experience first hand the winner of America's most fuel-efficient mid size sedan . Also, one lucky host will be chosen to drive off with a new Ford Fusion and will fly to Los Angeles to experience the new American Idol finale!

photo: houseparty.com

The Social Media Highway

Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are taking the world by storm! They are helping companies, like Dell, improve their customer service.

Bob Pearson, who was the former VP of Dell's communities and conversations, ramped up the companies social media efforts to combat the "Dell Hell" label applied by customers referring to its customer service department. The company now has 42 employees that make up its Social Media team that run blogs, a video channel as well as other forums and track what people are saying about the company. I'm sure they are on Twitter, so if you have something to say, say it. Someone is listening!

There is even a 46-member Blog Council put together by the word-of-mouth marketing company GasPedal. The Council is composed of the heads of social media for Fortune 100 companies including Cisco, GE, Dell, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, The Home Depot and Proctor and Gamble. The council focuses on best practices for blogging and social media within large corporations.

Coke became hugely popular on Facebook when two Coca-Cola enthusiasts created a Facebook profile because of their love for the beverage. With 3.3 million fans, it became the most popular brand-related page on Facebook.

The growth is a mystery because there are over 200 Coke-related fan pages on Facebook, but this one stood out from the rest. What's great for Coca-Cola is that it doesn't cost a thing for them to run the Facebook page and it is reaching millions of people. Smaller companies should think about making a fan page for their product or company to utilize the free marketing tool!

Unfortunately, Skittles was criticized when they replaced their corporate home page with Skittles-themed pages from Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia. They generated a buzz, but some regarded it as a gimmick designed to exploit Twitter's popularity.

The gist...take the plunge!

"Social media is not a marketing tactic anymore--it is something that fundamentally transforms the entire enterprise" Andy Sernovitz CEO of GasPedal.

Host a House Party

One day my favorite blogger and friend, Jessica from Jessica Knows, introduced me to House Party.

A House Party™ is thousands of parties across the country, hosted by people like you. Each event is sponsored by leading brands like Dominoes, Juicy Juice, Werthers Original, and Ford and focuses on something cool that the sponsor wants its best fans to experience firsthand and share with their friends.

I went ahead and signed up for this highly unique way to market to consumers because it sounded like a lot of fun.

After you sign up, by providing basic information, you will get emails of upcoming parties that you can apply to host. You'll go through a questionnaire answering questions about your party habits and then hopefully be selected out of thousands of entries.

I've applied to three parties and was just picked to host a Juicy Juice party. I think this will be a lot of fun! You are given all of the tools needed to plan your party, invite your guests via email or printable invitations and make it a successful event!

For the Juicy Juice party, they have provided templates for games, coloring pages, name tags, recipes, fact sheets and so much more.

Go check it out! I wish I had thought of this idea!

Jessica Knows is a Marketing Genius!

If you are a company looking for a fresh, yet brilliant person to create a marketing strategy for your company, then Jessica Smith is your woman!

She came up with this ultra creative Social Media Fantasy Campaign for Oprah and I think they need to jump on this gal...if they are smart. :)

She also came up with this uber funny destined to be viral campaign for Cadbury. She can spot a trend a mile away, but before the rest of us.

She's ahead of the game and sets the standards. She's like one of those gals you went to school with that was the first to wear jelly shoes and then the next day all the girls in the school were wearing jelly shoes. She not only starts the trend, she sets the trend...especially when it comes to Social media and marketing within the Social media channels.

Jessica is currently working for companies like Ford, Care.com, EA Sports and Wishpot. Ford just gave her a Ford Flex because of her interest in a car for her family...this is where it all started. She's a smart gal!

She even gave her readers a free course blatantly telling them how to get what they want from companies. I have referred back to her free marketing course numerous times as a reference for my blog and my business.

Just to let you know, I don't work for Jessica, nor do I get anything for promoting her. I'm just a huge fan and feel strongly about her worth. She has taught me a wealth of information through her blog, through following her on Twitter and through other social forums.

I feel so lucky to know this lady!

Creative Marketing to Bloggers

This totally cracked me up! What a clever way to market TO bloggers. They are usually using bloggers to market to the rest of the webosphere...me likey!