Why social media and PR are like Batman and Robin

There’s a whiff of the batcave about some of these social media applications, high tech gizmos we’ve never seen the like of, geo-locational tools like Foursquare where you become the electronic mayor of wherever you want and Twitter streams where you can see what people are saying in a 20 mile radius.

And while Robin cuts a rather sad, yellow figure on his own, with social media Batman by his side, he’s super cool and some brands have cottoned on to this associative effect.

The Pennsylvania Tourist Board for example has just launched a Foursquare tourist trail, with 20 itineraries, 100 tips and badges, not because they think take up will be massive, but because the association instantly turns Pennsylvania cool.

Starbucks has managed to combine the cool halo effect with revenue. Their Foursquare campaign offers free coffee to the mayor of each branch, served with a slight bow. No doubt thousands of caffeine stoked students are plotting mayorial coups all over the US right now.

In the UK, it’s not yet quite so competitive, I became the mayor of the IET this week – venue for the Epublishing Innovation Forum – ha, ha I thought, Kappow!…..but I don’t think anyone has noticed to be honest. More »

Jimmy Choo social media campaign kicks off

Jimmy Choo has pioneered a location based social media campaign around London, using Foursquare, Twitter & Facebook to promote their new trainers.

The concept, developed by FreshNetworks, is that you can follow a pink bag of Jimmy Choo shoes around a variety of smart locations in London, and if you manage to intercept them, they’ll give you a pair of trainers free.

While Foursquare is relatively unknown in the UK compared to the US, the resolutely upmarket locations are also posted on Twitter & Facebook and have ranged from Harvey Nichols and Sloane Square to the inside of a Bentley.

The ‘CatchAChoo’ campaign currently has 408 Facebook friends, 825 Twitter followers and around 585 Foursquare friends. No doubt the most marketing benefit is to be had from publicity about the campaign itself, which has been reported over the last couple of days. More »