Social Media meets FMCG: God of War + Mountain Dew, Bagels + Facebook

‘God of War III’ Begins Marketing With 7-Eleven, Mtn Dew

“God of War III,” the latest installment in one of Sony PlayStation’s premier franchises, is gearing up for battle, and it’s enlisted as allies 7-Eleven and Mtn Dew. It’s the first game in the series that can be played on the PlayStation 3, and though it won’t hit shelves until March 16, the marketing campaign begins next week. Starting Feb. 1, fans of the Greek mythology-based action game can head to 7-Eleven when the Kratos Fury Slurpee flavor, created by Mtn Dew and the convenience-store chain, debuts. The drink will also come with a choice of four different “God of War” artwork cups. The cups will give each buyer a code that allows them to download a variety of content including behind-the-scenes video of the making the game, an animated theme of Kratos’ face, wallpaper for PCs and virtual items that unlock armor to use inside the game. Hanging neck tags on all Mountain Dew two-liter and 20-ounce bottles will also include codes that can be redeemed at slurpee.com.

Get a Free Bagel With Friendship in Facebook’s First Digital Coupon Campaign
Be my friend, get a free bagel! That’s the message Einstein Bros. Bagels is telling potential customers on Facebook, and, at least in visible numbers, it’s paying off. The bagel-and-schmear giveaway started less than three full days ago, and already the bagel chain has increased its Facebook fan count from a measly 4,700 to a massive 336,000-plus. According to the company, this is the first instance of a Facebook advertiser providing a free offer though instant digital coupons. Is free the social media marketing campaign of the future?

National Bagel Day Freebie (suddenlyfrugal.com)
Incredible God of War Collection announced for PS3 (Update) (destructoid.com)
Buy the Kratos Fury Slurpee at 7-11, get free GoW III DLC (destructoid.com)
Einstein Bros and Noah’s Bagels Newest Facebook Promotion: Free Food (insidefacebook.com)
God of War III Slurpee tastes like Kratos’ fury; it’s delicious (joystiq.com)

Obama v Jobs

Steve Jobs vs. Obama: Who Got the Bigger Buzz? In this (somewhat flawed) comparison, Obama had the more positive response overall, 65% of social media chatter, while Steve Jobs and the iPad only had a 42% rating.

Haiti: Visa’s Fees

Visa’s Fees on Charitable Contributions
As the tragedy in Haiti unfolds, Americans are generously donating millions of dollars to aid organizations. But when Americans donate to charity with their credit cards, the credit card companies are (in some cases) getting rich … keeping 3% of the donation as a “transaction fee”. That percentage is far more than it costs them to process the donation.

Related:

Should credit card companies charge for charitable donations (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
For Haiti, Should Credit Card Companies Waive Processing Fees? (alan.com)
Be careful when donating to Haitian relief efforts (seattlepi.com)
Some Card Fees Waived for Haiti Aid (bucks.blogs.nytimes.com)
The VISA Credit Card Scam: From Now On, Use Your PIN! (pindebit.blogspot.com)

Brands Giving Back: Pepsi, McDonalds

Pepsi Ditches the Super Bowl, Embraces Crowdsourced Philanthropy Instead

Instead of spending millions on commercials for this year’s game, Pepsi is putting its cash in the Refresh Project, an online cause marketing campaign that asks readers how the company should give away its grant money.

McDonald’s: Monopoly Free Parking
To celebrate the return of Monopoly at McDonald’s, Cossette, Vancouver brought the game’s Free Parking to the real world, providing free spots for 1,500 cars daily in various lots throughout Western Canada.

Related:

Pepsi Decides to Use the NFL a Different Way (marketingpilgrim.com)
Social Marketing Gone Awry: Pepsi Refresh Needs To Refresh Its Security Settings (techcrunch.com)

Pepsi kicks Super Bowl and goes social (tomaltman.com)
Pepsi’s Social Marketing Campaign Stumbles Out of the Gate (seekingalpha.com)

Future Children, The World According Today’s 9 Year Olds

School Assignments From Children Of The Distant Future

Future-thinker Shane Hope explores the cultural and technological norms of the distant future, expressing them through the fictional schoolwork diaries of children in the era of “memochems, divvies, and exocortical existence.” His work with Compile-A-Child exists at the intersection of science fiction and imaginative childhood innocence, built on extensions and iterations of emerging themes in transhumanistic cognitive science.

(Video) The World According To 9 Year Olds
Questions include: identifying the most famous celebrities, their first computer interactions, and their fears. If nothing else, it will make you feel a bit older than you currently are.

The decade according to 9-year-olds from allison louie-garcia on Vimeo.

eReaders: Apple’s iSlate v Hearst’s Skiff

Apple to unveil its tablet computer later this month

Apple’s tablet will not only act as an e-reader for books, magazines and newspapers, but will play video, games and surf the web underscoring Apple chief executive Steve Jobs’ ambition to carve out a new market. The launch of the tablet is said to have been Jobs’ main focus since he returned to work after a six month medical break. Last month it was reported that Apple had been talking to book publishers about putting their content on an e-book platform.

Skiff Gives E-Reader Market Viable Ad Strategy
Another e-reader device – this time from a major magazine publisher – will hit the market sometime this year. Hearst previewed its new Skiff Reader at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show along with the announcement that Sprint is providing 3G connectivity for the e-reader and will sell it at Sprint retail outlets and Sprint.com.

Possibly Related:

Analysis: Could a tablet replace your notebook? (macworld.com)
Gorgeous iSlate design guess: reed-thin, button-free (dvice.com)
CES: When did the Tablet become the Slate? (timesonline.typepad.com)
Apple snubs Intel for tablet chips (venturebeat.com)
Microsoft’s Ballmer May Announce Tablet PC Tonight (microsoft-watch.com)
The e-Reader story of CES 2010 (engadget.com)
Skiff Reader to hit CES (ubergizmo.com)
Skiff and Sprint to Preview Skiff Reader at CES (shoppingblog.com)
Hearst-Backed Skiff Challenges Kindle With E-Book Ads, Videos (businessweek.com)
CES2010: Hearst’s Skiff Reader makes play for newspapers, magazines (seattlepi.com)
Skiff takes e-readers to new territory: flexible screens (dvice.com)
Report: Apple tablet coming in January (msnbc.msn.com)
Speculation has Apple tablet arriving in January (thestar.com)

Pantone, Lorem Ipsum, Cavemen

Pantone announces color of the year
Pantone has announced the color of next year as Turquoise, a bold and bright shade of blue/green.

Lorem Ipsum

Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of “de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum” (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renaissance. The first line of Lorem Ipsum, “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet..”, comes from a line in section 1.10.32.

The New Cavemen Lifestyle Has Found a Home in the City
The Paleo lifestyle as it’s sometimes called, combines a diet that reflects the feast-famine conditions of our hunter-gatherer beginnings – heavy on meat and light on plants – with an exercise regime that hones essential skills of the time such as sprinting and leaping.

2010: Some Trends & Predictions

Trendwatching – Top 10 Consumer Trends for 2010

Companies seeking to reach out to consumers this year need to prove they are good corporate citizens and also need to tailor their products, services and messaging to an audience that is constantly online, according to consumer insights firm trendwatching.com.

ICON – Top ‘Web 3.0′ Trends for 2010

While Web 2.0 brought the world interactive information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design and collaboration, software applications provider ICON believes that the next generation of the web, or “Web 3.0″ promises more recommendations, free services, intelligent (semantic) searches, and information that’s no longer random data, but tailored, highly intuitive and delivered in real time. As 2009 draws to a close, and in an effort to heighten awareness about Web 3.0, Gege Gatt, the founder and director of Malta-based ICON recently identified some broad trends that are in tune with Web 3.0. According to Gatt, these trends are…

Strawberry Frog – 5 Social Media Implications For Brands In 2010

Sienna Farris, Director of Social Media at Strawberry Frog, spoke with AdWeek about 5 key social media implications that brands will need to respond to in 2010. Recognizing that predictions don’t hold a candle against the fast pace at which technology changes and renders them dated, these are more of a call to action and awareness, and less of a definite prediction.

eMarketer – 7 Predictions for 2010
It’s that time of year again—the season for looking back, reflecting on what transpired over the course of the year, and simultaneously looking forward, to formulate thoughts, and perhaps some hope, for what the coming year will bring.

10 Web trends to watch in 2010

As 2009 draws to a close, the Web’s attention turns to the year ahead. What can we expect of the online realm in 2010? While Web innovation is unpredictable, some clear trends are becoming apparent. Expect the following 10 themes to define the Web next year:

JWT – Trends that will influence 2010
JWT has done a year-end forecast for the past several years and has just released their thoughts on what 2010 will bring. Here’s a glance at the 10 trends they believe will shape this next year.

Nicola Davies – 2010 predictions
Nicola Davies prognosticates