New Years Eve… Social Media Style

New Years Eve for most of us is a fun holiday to spend with friends, family and … brands? Companies both large and small have traditionally used this holiday as a platform to generate another round of media coverage before the year’s end. However, this year’s branded festivities are bringing a slightly new twist, focused on social media sharing as opposed to traditional news pick up.

Here are some neat campaigns going on this New Year’s Eve:

• Nivea Kiss Platform – I heard about this campaign, not from a new article, not from a blog post, but through a text message from a girl friend – “Watch for me on NBC!” People strive for fame, and they like sharing those moments with others. Nivea recognized this human condition and cashed in.
• Red Bull: New Year. No Limits. – If there’s one company that has a passionate fan base, it’s Red Bull. They could post a viral video of a potato (drinking Red Bull, of course) and it would generate viral buzz. Yet, the company has again confronted a pre-existing record by challenging athlete Travis Pastrana to break the record for car jumping on New Year’s Eve. It will be interesting to see if the brand sees as much viral buzz during the event as it saw in the weeks leading up.
• New Year’s Eve Worldwide Webcast – In case you can’t make it to Times Square this year… wait, what am I talking about, you CAN make it to Times Square this year! The Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment are bring Times Square festivities to your living room. Though the campaign doesn’t appear to be branded at first sight, a quick glance at the page’s sponsors shows otherwise.
• Ustream Broadcasts New Years Eve Worldwide – In case Times Square isn’t your thing (or maybe its “so last year” and you’d prefer to travel to Beijing, instead) Ustream (disclosure: A Zeno Group client) is bringing national ball drop ceremonies to your computer screen this year.
  

What innovative NYE campaigns did you see this year?

Cross-posted in the Zeno Digital Team Stream

What have I been up to?

I know, I know, I've been fairly MIA the past two months, but not without good reason, I assure you! And definitely not absent from blogging. In fact, I've been blogging more than ever!

I suppose now is a good time to introduce my new blog to you all - Westbound Boarder. The blog is about boardsports, and its exclusively for women who ride (though we don't discriminate against men who'd like to read, too!) It is a project shared by a good friend and myself, and our hope down the road is to grow this into more of a support group and resource for women who snowboard.

This project has been a great way for me to step out of my PR shoes and see the other side of things - what it's like being pitched, what things affect traffic numbers, etc. - and it has really helped me understand the agenda of bloggers I work with on a daily basis. I've also been learning a lot about the technical side of things, which has been helpful just in simple conversation. And its a great way to combine my two hobbies - boardsports and blogging.

My goal with this blog (aka, my somewhat abandoned PR blog) is to completely rebrand and import to wordpress/self-host, now that I know a bit more about the platform and process.

Another blogging-related project I'm involved with is the Social 7 - a weekly video podcast conversation on the week's top 7 stories in social media and marketing. Starting by two coworkers and myself, it has been a fun project, and is helping build our brand as social media experts in the PR industry. Definitely check it out!

Until then, I'll try to post when I can until I have a chance to develop my snazzy new wordpress blog :)