Summarize and reflect upon an innovative technique using an already established Web 2.0 technology (like the Wheat Thins campaign.)

Doritos, “Crash the Super Bowl” contest

Started in 2006 and continuing for its 7^th year, Users or “fans”, are invited to submit a 30 second commercial to the Doritos contest website.  Once the deadline date has passed, fans are then asked to choose the finalists by voting for their favorite.  The grand prize winner – the submission with the most votes  - will have their commercial air during the Super Bowl, receive a $1 million grand prize and a year long “dream job” working for Universal Studios.

This campaign is one of the most successful examples of Web 2.0 technology and user generated content and during the 2011-2012 competition was the largest online video contest in the world and has received more that 6,100 submissions with $2,125,000 paid out in prizes.

Recently, the contest was moved to Facebook in addition to the website and finalist videos received 100 million views.  By capitalizing upon the Facebook social matrix, many of the finalists’ videos went viral and Doritos’ Facebook fans hit more than 4 million during the 2013 competition. 

Facebook turned an already successful campaign into a hugely successful campaign by turning Facebook ‘likes’ and fans into targeted ad campaigns and engaging the public.  In encouraging fans to create their ads, Doritos captured fans’ interest and gave them the type of content they really wanted. 

Introduce the class to a new technology as well as its potential business application: AMAZON ECHO

As a busy working mom of two girls (16 and 4) I’m really excited by the introduction of the Amazon Echo:   

• It is seamlessly integrated with my existing Prime Membership making delivery easy and free (unless you count that nagging annual membership fee!) and within 48 hours.  There’s a reason that Amazon made it so compatible with my Prime Membership and its not because they wanted to reward us for being big spenders – its because they want us to buy more.  I could easily see buying enough to pay for that ‘free shipping’ within a few months if not weeks.   
• As soon as I speak it – it appears!  I will never run out of toilet paper, school supplies or wine again.  Well, I do need to tell it that I’m running low, but thanks to its speaker and voice recognition abilities it will begin to learn what brands I prefer and in the amounts I need it.  The more I tell it about my spending habits, the more it learns about my girls and me.      
• As Echo is further developed, it may be able to integrate with my Calendar and other office software.  Just like voice ordering, I can tell Echo to add an event or item to my calendar and share that information with the kids.      
• Likewise, Echo may be able to not only track my news feeds or blog feeds but may be able to also control my smart home software that control my lights, security and thermostat.

There are tons of “maybe” scenarios, but what it does offer is one less step in my life – but there’s a downside.  Because it recognizes other voices in the house, I could easily come home to a Barbie dream townhouse that the 4 year old has ordered or the new pair of Ugg boots my oldest has been hinting about.

I also have concerns about the information I’m not sharing – Amazon says you can turn the voice recorder/microphone off but can it be turned on remotely? And, when it is on, exactly how much of life, spending habits, and day-to-day activities is it monitoring or tracking?  With so many stories about the hacking of personal information, I have real safety concerns about letting “them” in to my home with access to my children.

As a marketing and brand professional – the Echo is awesome because of those concerns.  As Echo learns my habits it will be able to provide to the minute information about my target demographic and information can be drilled down to the smallest demographic. 

From the Amazon website, “Amazon Echo may exchange information such as your music titles, radio stations, and zip code, with third party services to fulfill your requests.” 

Because Amazon Echo is designed to get better over time – learning your likes, preferences and even your dislikes of services and products its providing real time feedback to businesses allowing them to grow and change as the market grows and changes.

Marketing can be targeted to neighborhoods and even individuals using the Echo data collected – a manufacturer can tailor offers based on your daily habits like when your children’s taste in applesauce change or when they move from diapers to underwear.   And, its not just the actual spending habits of the consumer that will be most important, but the ability to predict how your habits will change over time and tailoring their products to fit you.

Summarize and reflect upon an innovative technique using an already established Web 2.0 technology (like the Wheat Thins campaign.)

Blog 2:

Reflecting on innovative techniques using an already established Web 2.0 technology such as the Wheat Thins campaign I can’t help but think about the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte contest on Facebook. Starbucks has an astonishing 27 million Facebook fans and the number is still growing. It’s no wonder that they used Facebook to launch their Pumpkin Spice Latte contest. The Pumpkin Spice Latte is one of their most popular drinks that only come out seasonally. Starbucks new customers were waiting for this amazing drink and so they decided to hold a contest using social media. Starbucks advertised one lucky city was going to get this amazing holiday drink one week earlier than the rest of the nation. Fans were able to download the app and earn points for their city by doing activities such as a city shout-out or solving the daily challenge.  Starbucks kept a real-time leader board on their Facebook page which kept the competition rolling.  The two winning finalist were Chicago and Calgary. The contest kept their fans engaged and it increased their sales in the process. 

Blog:2 Summarize and reflect upon an innovative technique using an already established Web 2.0 technology (like the Wheat Thins campaign.)

Many companies utilize Web 2.0 technologies for many different reasons such as business promotions, advertisement and even contest.  One contest that used 2.0 technologies and was very popular was the Frito Lay new flavor chip contest. Frito Lay promoted the contest on Facebook and Twitter by encouraging contestants to enter their favorite chip idea. The price was one million dollars or 1% of the sales. There were hundreds of entries including myself. Some of the flavors were mac n cheese, cappuccino, caramel apple, buffalo sauce, mango salsa, etc.  People voted on the best sounding flavor and four finals were chosen, made and put on store shelves for the public to purchase and vote for their favorite. This was also done on Facebook and Twitter as well with the final one million dollar winner being Wasabi Ginger.

Best Buy- Social Media Campaign

Many companies try and give back to the community and they get involved in many different charitable organizations. They try and get their customers involved by either matching donations or they can incorporate buy one, donate one campaigns. They also partner with organizations where you can donate at the register when you are checking out. During the holidays is where I see these campaigns the most. This holiday season is no different.

            Best Buy is partnering with St. Jude’s Hospital with their Thanks and Giving campaign and is providing a the ability for their customers to donate through them until December 24^th, 2014. They offer the opportunity to donate $1, $,5, $10 or any other amount. When you are checking out, you can provide this donation and add it to your bill or you can make a donation on their website. By providing the opportunity to add it to your bill at checkout it is a easy and quick way to donate to a good cause. They have a commercial currently running on TV and You Tube where a celebrity, Marlo Thomas, introduces the campaign and asks for consumers to donate.

            Best Buy ran this same campaign last year and was able to raise over one million dollars.  They have increased their goal to three million this year, The money that is donated is used for treatment, housing, food and costs for the families.  I know that we all probably think about donating, but this provides an easy way to donate. It also takes the pressure out of how much to donate, because they provide the amounts for you. They also provide amounts that are affordable, especially during holiday shopping. I know that I will be visiting Best Buy this holiday season and will be providing a donation

Flow by Amazon- New Technology

There are so many apps out there for all the mobile devices and it is hard to know which one to use. Each new app needs to be innovative and can often be a competitor for one that already exists. As businesses keep introducing new technology and apps to increase their presence, they can sometimes launch a media craze or they can they can sometimes fail.

            The new technology that I want to introduce is called Flow by Amazon. You can download the app on any smart phone and it uses your phone’s camera to capture images and barcodes. It allows users to add products to their Amazon shopping list by taking a picture with their phone and creates a shopping list for all items that it identifies.  You can also scan URL’s, phone numbers, and business cards and add it to your contacts immediately.  Flow also allows you to scan a product and quickly read the reviews that are listed in Amazon for that product.

            With the holiday season upon is this app can be very easy for users to create shopping lists and either order from Amazon without going to the stores, or have an idea of want they want to buy. This app can be very beneficial for Amazon because people can get their shopping out of the way quickly and easily. This can create a more competitive approach to shopping for people to choose Amazon instead of the malls and stay in the comfort of their own homes

Brittani Ogden-#2

Our Food.  Your Questions

Similar to the Wheat Thins Campaign, McDonalds actually launched their very own social media campaign.  The campaign by McDonalds is more of a transparency program.  The campaign itself is called “Our Food.  Your Questions” which welcomes customers to ask questions our McDonald’s menu through the use social media.

McDonalds understands that people are looking for faster and more straightforward responses to their questions.  That is why they are inviting customers to ask those important unanswered questions.  Customers can ask those questions to McDonald’s Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. 

McDonalds understand that there is competition out there and customers need to trust the food they are eating.  They will utilize these social media outlets to their full ability.  So far McDonalds has already responded to questions on their Twitter as well as thru the mini webisodes on their Instagram and YouTube channel. 

The main purpose of the use of these numerous social outlets will be to answer to customers via their campaign as well as share content and open up dialogue with customers. 

The launch of this campaign shows real people interacting with a large corporation.  The interaction between customers and a business is important.  Alongside the launch of this campaign, McDonalds has also created an Instagram page for Ronald McDonald.  Ronald McDonald will play an active role in this campaign.  A company utilizing technology the right way can play a huge role in their success.

Brittani Ogden-Blog Post #1

"Live Mas"

Taco Bell Advanced Mobile Ordering App

We live in a “now” world.  A world where technology connects so many people together that it allows things to be completed quicker than ever.  One new technology that is aiding in this process is the new Taco Bell application.  These days people are not drawn to a restaurant only for its food, innovations in technology can also be given credit.  Taco Bell has rolled out an advanced mobile app that lets customers order and pay on their smartphones and then walk or drive in to pick up their food. 

Taco Bell’s application is available via iOs and Android.  This mobile ordering application allows customers to order anything they want off the menu, including customizations and changes.  This flexibility and convenience allows people to utilize technology on their phones. 

The application has some great and helpful parts to it that can be beneficial to customers and especially Taco Bell.  The application should allow for a better customer experience by improving accuracy when customers order.  The app ensures a positive experience by allowing customers to order their food and it tracks the customers’ location so they know exactly when to start preparing food.  Instead of setting up a pick up time the app can tell how close a customer is to the location, ensuring hot food and no wait times.  

This application is something that will probably change the way people will eat at restaurants.  Customers appreciate convenience and expect their food to be ready.  The use of this application should cause less frustration and friction between customers and Taco Bell.   

Taco Bell seems to be ahead of the game in the release of this mobile ordering application.  Utilizing technology in this matter will probably attract more customers and also help build upon their current customer base.  Taco Bell also has plans on using the mobile app to their advantage in being able to study customer’s eating habits while also releasing a loyalty program within the app.   

Pizza Hut Social Media Marketing Strategy--Brian McGarry Post #2

Social media marketing campaigns are becoming  more of the norm these days. There are a lot of different companies using social media but some are a lot more effective than others. One of the companies to join the social media trend was Pizza Hut. In addition to expanding their menu and pushing the use of fresh ingredients, they also decided to use social media to appeal to a much wider audience.


They used many different methods to appeal to the public and advertise their business. They continued to use TV ads to promote it's expanded menu, new sauce, and fresh ingredients. They also bought advertising time on stations which helped them include a bigger and slightly older demographic, this included an age range of 25-54 years old.


They implemented various programs across Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, etc. They included an app to order pizzas on their Facebook page without having to leave Facebook. They helped themselves gain fans on their page by giving away $50 dollar gift cards and raffling off a dream vacation to Italy.


They also used Twitter to award a "Twintership" for Pizza Hut which was a great way to target the college aged audience. They used funny Youtube commercials to get people to watch, one of their Youtube posts had over 400,000 hits. They would also email coupons for up to 20% off and put a short expiration date on them to encourage you to order soon.


Pizza Hut also launched an app that allows it's customers to order from a fun, touch screen menu. It was downloaded over 100,000 times in the first 2 and a half weeks it was available.


I'd have to say that some of these marketing campaigns would probably work on me. Sometimes fast and easy is the best option and they certainly make it convenient to order. I'd also be sucked into becoming a fan of theirs on Facebook in hopes I might win a trip to Italy. It seems like they're off to a good start but I guess only time will tell if this campaign pays off in the long run?