Fox News had publically criticized the film for supposedly pushing a ‘dangerous liberal agenda’ at kids. Which in my view is ridiculous. I love the fact that the Muppets hold press conferences – we should get these guys back on TV every week because they are brilliant.

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They have gone all out on a viral and social campaign by making sure all of their channels have been presented correctly in the form of a social media hub. They have an iphone app, videos, a blog and you can even buy campaign T-shirts.

Their twitter channel has more than 17,000 followers and asks you to use the campaign hashtag #hardandfast – again very clever messaging.

Then they have gone one step further by asking people to sign their online petition to make emergency life skills as part of the national curriculum. The site states:

“Knowing how to stop bleeding, open an airway or perform CPR should be considered as important as knowing your times tables.

“We want to create a new generation of life savers across the UK by ensuring that emergency life support skills (ELS) are taught in all schools and communities.”

I think more people in the UK should learn general first aid as you never know when you might need it.

Well done to all of those involved.

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Its a song all about Gillian McKeith and her troubles on I’m a Celebrity. It’s one of the most amusing things I have seen in a while and I had to share it. I hope you like it.

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will be revealing themselves to you shortly I expect.

I don’t normally cover that many case studies on the blog but I decided recently that I am going to try and do more of this. This is mainly because when I have been speaking at events, people really seem to prick up and listen more at the case study section. I think most people prefer to here about practical application rather than the theoretical side.

So here goes – one of the online word-of-mouth marketing campaigns that has got us really excited has been the launch of Audio Technica’s search for an alternative Christmas Track. Here’s some campaign blurb we have written to put you in the picture:

The popular music manufacturer is looking for fun and vibrant YouTube video entries from the underground music scene that put a positive new spin on the age old tradition of Christmas carols.

The nationwide competition, which is being judged by Grammy & Brit award-winning record producer and chairman of the Music Producers Guild Steve Levine, is being formally launched via Audio-Technica’s social media channels of Facebook and Twitter.

The online competition is not restricted to any particular type of music so bands, DJs or music producers from any genre have the opportunity of scooping either the top prize of £500 or five runners-up prizes of £100 worth of Audio-Technica equipment. As an extra incentive the first 100 entries will all receive a free pair of Audio-Technica ATH-CK51 headphones worth £30 each.

We launched this particular campaign last week and we have already had some brilliant entries and posts from influential bloggers in this area. To bring it to life I have enclosed one of the video entries for you to take a look at – it’s quite amusing although I do admit if feels weird writing about Christmas already.

This campaign has come about because we held a strategic social media workshop with Audio-Technica a while back now and from that workshop we drew up a clear strategy to help them become more fun and engaging online. I think this campaign is a great way of doing this, as it allows musicians to express themselves using their own user generated content.

The campaign I have highlight here is just one we are working with them on. We are also helping Audio-Technica with some blogger relations and have a number of new campaigns to tell you about later. To help bring blogger relations to life I thought I would share a quick post from one of the product reviews we have organised recently to give you a flavour.

The great thing about Audio-Technica is it produces really good quality products that are right down my street and if you have good products, then your customers or bloggers should say nice things about them and if they don’t then you can use that feedback to make the products better. Don’t be scared to ask bloggers, or any influencer for that matter, their opinion.

To stay in touch with the latest entries, just subscribe to Audio-Technica’s YouTube channel here.

So that’s enough about the campaign, if you can play a musical instrument, why don’t you have a go and get yourself a free pair of headphones? You never know it could even be fun!

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He has posted about it yesterday on his blog which says:

If you were watching the 6 O’Clock News last night, you may have seen a "Troops Out" sign on a large pole being waved behind my head.

I have a confession. After the news was over, I grabbed the sign and ripped it up – apparently you can watch video of my sign rage in full glorious technicolour on the web. I lost my temper and I regret that. However, as I explained afterwards to the protesters who disrupted my broadcast, there are many opportunities to debate whether the troops should be out of Afghanistan without the need to stick a sign on a long pole and wave it in front of a camera.

I am a great believer in free speech but I also care passionately about being able to do my job reporting and analysing one of the most important political stories for years.

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How many of us have seen pointless PR embargoes? Well this video pokes fun at them and the world of social media marketing – genius.
 

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It turns out that the song is so catchy that 3.7million people have now watched his video and it has propelled him to a new level of stardom. In fact, the track is in the top 20 in Canada. It just goes to show what a good idea, some humour and a catchy riff can achieve on the Internet through social media.

According to Rolling Stone:

He returned home from his tour last Sunday night to 4,000 e-mails from people with commiserating stories, offers and praise for his music. Carroll says his personal Website had gone from 40 to 50 hits a week ago to 50,000 by Thursday. Sales of Sons of Maxwell’s eight albums and Carroll’s solo disc have increased from “one or two a day online to probably hundreds,” he estimates, thanks to his viral smash. Other airlines have offered him free trips to experience their customer service and Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars personally telephoned, offering two guitars of his choice and props to use in the second video about the incident.

“Everybody was calling for that song the minute we hit the stage,” says Carroll. “It was unbelievable, 1,500 people raising their hands in the air to the ‘united breaks guitars’ tag line in the chorus.”

In case you missed the video here it is. 

Here is a follow up statement from Dave after United had finally been in touch. Unfortunately, there is no catchy tune with this but he does get a nice plug in there for future releases. I say good luck to him for a campaign well executed.

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Real or not real – you decide? Either way it’s very entertaining – so hat tip to the creators.

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I have added most of these to my a playlist on Spotify, so if you have Spotify on your computer you can download my list here. I had a lot more dance records in here originally but unfortunately my taste was a bit too niche for Spotify, so I have kept the dance a little more commercial.

1. Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
2. Dr Dre – Let me Ride
3. Backstreet – No Digiidy
4. Sweet Dreams – The Eurhythmics
5. Daft Punk – Around the world
6. Stevie Wonder – Very Superstitious
7. Elvis Presley – Suspicious Minds
8. Beats International – Dub Be Good to Me
9. The source ft Candy Staton – You got the love
10. Kool and the Gang – Get down on it
11. Jurassic Five – Finish First
12. The Killers – Mr Brightside
13. Snow Patrol – Run
14. Pulse – The Lover that You Are
15. King of Leon – Use Somebody
16. Alcatraz – Give me Love
17. De’Lacy – Hideaway
18. Green Day – Jesus of Suburbia
19. Ben E King – Stand By Me
20. Oasis – She’s Electric
21. Bob Marley – Redemption Song
22. Shola Ama – You might need somebody
23. The Beatles – Eleanor Wrigby
24. Thomas Bangalter – Together
25. The Verve – The Drugs Don’t Work

In the interests of fun, I tag Simon Collister, Sebastian Mysko and Stephen Davies to take up the challenge. Good luck!

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