Coca-Cola Aims to Find Worldwide Happiness, with Help from New Media

Let me take a moment to give Coca-Cola some free advertising here...but only because they're setting an example in new media. Coke has recently come up with what they're calling Expedition 206, a plan to send three twenty-somethings around the world to find out what makes people happy.

The travelers, called "Team The Mix," were voted into the position by Coca-Cola fans after going through an extensive application process. Starting in January, the team will travel to 206 countries around the world (where Coca-Cola is sold), documenting their journeys with blog posts, videos, etc. The site is already chock full of media and the journey hasn't even begun.

Props to Coke for engaging consumers. They have a special twitter account for the project where followers can find updates and they've been pushing it on facebook as well. Thus far, Coke has done a nice job of engaging fans and followers, not trying to buy their fan page from the guys who created it but actually working with them to build a community. This attitude is reflected in Expedition 206 by sending "real people" (ie: not Coke Execs) around the world and inviting their followers to enjoy the journey along with their peers. Documentation of the entire process is promised and they're setting themselves up nicely for follow-up media, as team members are sure to gain the affections of consumers as more personality traits are revealed and life lessons are learned.

For more information and updates, visit www.expedition206.com.


Image Source: Dominic's pics

The Long Arm of the Wall

Social networking sites have been all the rage as of late. We've got an abundance of companies encouraging their employees to leverage these tools to further the business, and just as many businesses are banning them for fear of decreased productivity. It's not new for a company to prohibit the use of such sites, but what about a government?

Recently, the Chinese government has blocked access to many social networking sites, via what citizens call the "Great Firewall." The Chinese government has been blocking and filtering internet content for quite some time, but the social media site ban was in response to the fear of a digital uprising on the 20th anniversary of the 1989 democracy protests in Tiananmen Square. In an interview with Danwei, Michael Anti reported in regards to twitter that "a Chinese tweet can have three times the volume of an English tweet, thanks to the high information intensity of the Chinese language. 140 Chinese characters can make up all the full elements of a news piece..."

Many people consider social networking sites a laughable waste of time for people who don't have "IRL" (in real life) friends. While that may be partially true (ooh, forgive me), it's proven to be useful in getting people organized as well as sharing news and ideas. In fact, twitter is becoming a successful, yet controversial, tool for the US forces in Afghanistan, providing a way to quickly transmit information including enemy body counts. We now have "experts" writing books on how to improve your business using social media. And hey, if the Chinese government is so concerned about it, there must be some relevance to its potential.

Every day I read of new networking sites popping up all over the place with the hopes of being the "next big thing." Where is the future of social networking going? The nay-sayers expect that it's just a fad, and it may be, but a myriad of innovations and the growing concern of businesses and government agencies alike offers a glimmer of "hope," if you will, especially to advertisers and business owners taking advantage of these growing audiences.



And for the Styx song that's probably stuck in your head, you're welcome.





photo credit: edhelien

Making financial services video easier

One of the more exciting mediums captured under the umbrella of New Media is internet video. While it doesn't have to be expensive, it generally is, especially when companies are desperate to control every aspect of their messaging. When it comes to losing control of the conversation, banks, in particular, have not been eager to face those risks and turning their executives lose to talk freely on videotape is just pretty scary. Now, you can let someone else do it for you.

MindBlazer, Charlotte, N.C., says that demand for its interactive content has been high. The company is a marketing technology company that leverages interactive video and new media for the financial industry.

MindBlazer, says it experienced increased demand in 2008 for its educational, interactive content as more banks and credit unions recognized the need to leverage this emerging channel. We wrote about the company last October.

“It is exciting to see financial institutions empower their Web site media to reach beyond traditional communication, expanding the use and returns of the Internet channel,” Ryan Brown, MindBlazer president and CEO, said. “Financial institutions, like in other industries, are embracing new interactive Web media in a professional capacity as a business strategy to help companies stay abreast of consumer attitude and perceptions, as well as improve communication with the public. For the financial industry in particular, new media can be an educational resource for products and services and a driver to encourage adoption of these offerings.”

In 2008, MindBlazer grew to provide more than 140 financial institutions with a variety of interactive media tools, and introduced MoneyMinutesTV, a syndicated series of education-based interactive videos designed to inform the public about financial products and services, while helping banks and credit unions drive sales and service activations online.