Budweiser lets you make friends with a clink

It's an age old tradition across the globe, you say "cheers" (or regional equivalent) then 'clink' glasses, an almost universal symbol.

Now American beer brand Budweiser in Brazil wants to make this social act, even more social, with their Buddy Cups.

The smart cups detect the contact between them and adds the other person as a friend on Facebook, this is done via a chip in the bottom of the cup and a code which you scan with your smart phone to activate it.

The cups are reportedly going to be used for events and concerts, but how far afield no one is sure.

Watch a video about the new cup below.

Bodyform asks if you can handle the truth

When Bodyform received a rant on their Facebook page from a disillusioned male visitor they decided that it deserved a response.




Yulia Kretova, brand controller for Bodyform said in a statement: "We found Richard's post very amusing and wanted to continue the positive dialogue around periods that this generated. Working with the brand for five years, breaking down the taboo around Bodyform and periods has always been a challenge, and I hope that we have started to address this. Carat has created an original and uniquely personalized response, brilliantly PR-ed by Myriad, allowing Bodyform to quickly engage in consumer conversations in a meaningful way."

A very amusing response to social media interaction.

Olly and Molly reward your social interactions

Olly is a scent-based system rewarding social media activity designed by Foundry, a small research team at Mint Digital. They call it a "web-connected smelly robot."

Linking to web-based social applications, Olly emits a fragrance when you receive emails, retweets, instant messages and various other pings across social channels.

Joining Olly is Molly, a robot that dispenses
sweets in a similar way. They are both available on Kickstarter for $50 each.

Great fun and nice to be treated occasionally!

Molly - turns your retweets into sweets from Olly Factory on Vimeo.

Written Word Speaks Volumes for the Brand

New research suggests that ’likes’ and clicking links online are not enough to ensure long-term sales. Brands need to get people typing comments and more involved with content if they are to turn them into actual customers.The consumers who most actively use branded social media content are the ones most likely to maintain a relationship with those brands in future, claims new research for Marketing Week.

Seventy-eight per cent of people visiting and interacting with a brand’s Facebook page are likely to continue the relationship by visiting its website or considering it for purchase. Just thirty-four per cent of the people who say they are unlikely to interact with a brand’s social media presence on Facebook are likely to do the same.With the role of social media under question, Starcom MediaVest Group’s strategic development director Jim Kite explains: “The deeper the interaction with social media, the greater the likelihood of moving the consumer from enquiry to brand preference.”

The research draws on a study using a representative sample of 6,000 regular Facebook, YouTube and Twitter users in June. They were asked to spend several minutes interacting with content on brands’ Facebook and YouTube pages in product categories where they had already registered an interest. Respondents were asked to participate in activities requiring a range of involvement, from watching videos, posting comments, playing games and following brands on Twitter or tweeting about them.

The study claims that it is not just being aware of brands on social media platforms that leads people to continue that relationship or buy goods. It is the level of interaction or “doing something” with branded content that has a bearing.

To read the full article visit Marketing Week.