36 Rules of Social Media

With the number of social media channels we are accessing everyday, things can get a bit complicated! 

We swap from Facebook, to Twitter, to LinkedIn, to Instagram all within the space of a minute and it often means that we lose communicative focus, until eventually our online personalities start to look like schizophrenics! 

Here are just a few simple pointers for making your way successfully through the world of social media with meaning and focus. 

RUN JOZI - NIKE

"WE RUN JOZI" is a local campaign that I have always enjoyed, and having studied it in a brand communication lecture recently, decided to share it with you.  It was launched by creative agency, Joe Public, in 2012 for Nike as part of their WE RUN series which aims to inspire, enable and connect people around the world. The campaign, which became instantaneously successful and which went on to win a Bronze at the 2012 Loeries, illustrates the power of integrated marketing communication. Had the synergy and integration between all of the marketing channels not been so strategically established, the campaign would not have risen to the heights that it did. 

The campaign resonated strongly with South Africans who were, and still are, fighting the growing violence in our streets and who are passionate about bringing our country out of its precarious state of safety. What was particularly significant was the fact that the actual run took place on Human Rights Day in South Africa - 21st March - a day which typically celebrates the freedom and equal treatment of all South Africans. It saw 10 000 runners make their way through downtown Johannesburg from Sandton through to Alex, where communities were brought together and where "Jo-burgers" stood up against the ferocity of the streets. The inner city community joined in the party, cheering runners along the route and uniting in a common pride. 

Nike South Africa's brand director, Anwar Jappie, said the race was about embracing humanity. "This one-of-a-kind experience has allowed runners the opportunity to celebrate their heritage and freedom. Thousands of people have been able to run freely, connect with and inspire one another by accessing a training zone that is usually off limits."

Beneful's "Dog Goldberg Machine"

This one has to be my favorite of the week! Brought to you by Purina's Beneful dog food, the carefully created "Dog Goldberg Machine" sees more than half a dozen dogs manipulate toys, food tins and tennis balls in an playful attempt to delight themselves in a nutritious Beneful treat. Developed by New York agency Deep Focus the ad, which garnered nearly 1.5 million YouTube views in less than a week, celebrates the idea of 'play' as a way of creatively pitching their product. 

As you may have imagined, creating the ad was no small feat. Deep Focus CEO and creator of the ad, Ian Schafer, couldn't recall exactly how many takes were required but joked that it was more than expected. "I'll put it this way," he said, "it wasn't easy". 

Countless brands have tried their hand at a Rube Goldberg machine, but in my opinion, never before has it worked this well. Who doesn't cry "awww" at the cute choreographed canines?!

The Corporate States of America

Well known writer, artist and photographer, Steve Lovelace, recently created what was called the "Corporate States of America"; a map which sets out the brand that best represent each of the fifty states of North America. He was prompted to create the map after fueling debate around the idea of corporate feudalism in an article he wrote a few months back. What he attempts to illustrate is the enormous power corporations are having on our lives, and how slowly but surely, we will be controlled almost solely by them - not by government force or political influence. He says:

 "As corporations and non-governmental orgnaizations grow in power, the power of nation states will become increasingly irrelevant. We're already seeing this on a small scale, as people turn to the Internet to make friends, instead of befriending their neighbors. I think that, as corporations become the dominant organizations on Earth, people will start thinking of themselves as citizens of Apple or partisans of Starbucks."

To create the map, Lovelace selected a certain corporation or brand that best represented each state. In each case he picked a brand that 1) has ties to that state and 2) is still in business (as of 2013). Obviously, there were some difficulties, as major corporations are not evenly distributed across the country. Some states, such as New Mexico, Alaska, Montana and West Virginia do not host many big corporations. Others host so many, it was hard for Lovelace to choose which one to include. In these cases, he went with the corporation/brand that he though best represented the state, rather than the biggest or most notorious. "Hence, I used Dr Pepper for Texas instead of ExxonMobil. I used Apple for Calfornia instead of Google or Facebook."

To make it easier to understand why each corporation/brand was allocated to each state, Lovelace set out this list:

Alabama	Saks	The modern Saks descends from a company called Proffitt’s, founded in Birmhingham in 1919.
Alaska	Carrs	Now part of Safeway, Carr’s was founded in Anchorage in 1950.
Arizona	Best Western	Best Western is headquarted in Phoenix.
Arkansas	Walmart	Walmart is based out of Bentonville.
California	Apple	Apple is headquartered in Cupertino, in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Colorado	Coors	Now part of Molson Coors, Coors was founded in Golden in 1873.
Connecticut	GE	Founded in Schenectady, New York, GE is now headquarted in Fairfield.
Delaware	DuPont	E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company was founded in Eleutherian Mills in 1802.
District of Columbia	C-SPAN	C-SPAN is based out of Washington, DC.
Florida	Hooters	Hooters started in Clearwater in 1983.
Georgia	Coca-Cola	Coca-Cola is based out of Atlanta.
Hawaii	Hawaiian Airlines	Founded as Inter-Island Airways in 1929, Hawaiian Airlines is based out of Honolulu.
Idaho	Albertsons	Albertson’s started in Boise in 1939. The modern company, started in 2006, is still based there.
Illinois	CAT	Caterpillar has been based out of Peoria since 1910.
Indiana	Cummins	The Cummins Engine Company started in Columbus in 1919.
Iowa	Maytag	Now part of Whirlpool, Maytag was founded in Newton in 1893.
Kansas	Garmin	Garmin started in Lenexa in 1989.
Kentucky	Lexmark	Spun off from IBM in 1991, Lexmark is based out of Lexington.
Louisiana	Tabasco	The McIlhenny Company, maker of Tabasco Sauce, is based out of Avery Island.
Maine	L.L.Bean	L.L.Bean was started in Freeport in 1912. It is still based there.
Maryland	GEICO	The Government Employees Insurance Company is based out of Chevy Chase.
Massachusetts	Gillette	Now part of Proctor and Gamble, Gillette was founded in Boston in 1901.
Michigan	GM	General Motors is based out of Detroit.
Minnesota	Pillsbury	Today owned by General Mills, Pillsbury was founded in Minneapolis in 1872.
Mississippi	Peavey	Peavey Electronics is based out of Meridian.
Missouri	Anheuser-Busch	Now part of AB InBev, Anheuser-Busch was founded in Saint Louis in 1852.
Montana	Great Harvest Bread Company	Great Harvest Bread Company was founded in Great fallas in 1976.
Nebraska	Cabela’s	Cabela’s is based out of Sidney.
Nevada	Zappos	Today part of Amazon.com, Zappos is based out of Henderson.
New Hampshire	Timberland	The Timberland Company is headquartered in Stratham.
New Jersey	Campbell’s	Campbell’s is based out of Camden.
New Mexico	Allsup’s	Allsup’s was founded in Roswell in 1956.
New York	Verizon	Today based out of Manhattan, Verizon is the descendent of several Baby Bells.
North Carolina	Bank of America	Bank of America is currently based out of Charlotte.
North Dakota	Bobcat	Now part of the Doosan Group, Bobcat is based out of West Fargo.
Ohio	Wendy’s	Wendy’s was founded in Columbus in 1969.
Oklahoma	Sonic	Sonic is based out of Oklahoma City.
Oregon	Nike	Nike is headquarted in Beaverton.
Pennsylvania	Hershey’s	The Hershey Company is based out of Pennsylvania, in a town called Hershey.
Rhode Island	Hasbro	Hassenfeld Brothers was founded in Providence in 1923. Today, Hasbro is based in Pawtucket.
South Carolina	Denny’s	Denny’s is based out of Spartanburg.
South Dakota	Super 8	Super 8 opened its first motel in Aberdeen in 1974.
Tennessee	FedEx	FedEx is headquartered in Memphis.
Texas	Dr Pepper	Now part of Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Dr Pepper was invented in Waco in 1885.
Utah	Sinclair	Sinclair Oil Corporation is based out of Salt Lake City.
Vermont	Ben & Jerry’s	Now part of Unilever, Ben & Jerry’s was started in Burlington in 1978.
Virginia	AOL	AOL was founded in Vienna in 1991.
Washington	Starbucks	The first Starbucks opened in Seattle in 1971.
West Virginia	Gino’s	Gino’s Pizza and Spaghetti is based out of Nitro.
Wisconsin	Harley-Davidson	Harley-Davidson was founded in Milwaukee in 1903.
Wyoming	Taco John’s	Taco John’s is based out of Cheyenne.