Citing concerns for his ailing daughter, Santorum bowed out at a press conference in Gettysburg, Pa. Santorum apparently called Mitt Romney a day earlier to tell him of his decision to suspend his campaign.

In the conference, Santorum sought to paint his campaign as a success.

We were winning in a very different way. We were touching hearts and raising issues that others didn’t want raised.

We can’t have a strong economy without having strong familes and a strong moral fiber.

Amazing thing that sweater vest. The Twitterverse went wild… the sweater vest became the official wardrobe of the Santorum campaign. We sourced that in a company that was making them in Minnesota. We’re the best customer they’ve ever had in their entire history.

It’s been a wonderful story after story. Even today, we have people working for us in Texas to make sure we have a winner-take-all primary. It turns out it wasn’t my voice, it was your voice.

People say, “How does this happen?” How were we able to come from nowhere? Miracle after miracle, this race was as improbable as any race you are likely to ever see for President.

Against all odds. we won 11 states. We won more counties than all the other people in this race combined.

We made a decision to get into this race at our kitchen table. We made a decision that this race is over for me, we will be suspending the campaign effective today.

We are going to continue to fight to defeat President Barack Obama. We are going to take back the House. We are going to take back America.

He spoke of a “violent and radical Islam” his campaign opposed, the excitement of the Tea Party with his campaign. He quoted Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address about all men being created equal.

The conference room was full of press, but had been packed along the sides with Santorum staffers and supporters. They applauded loudly as he left the room. Santorum refused to take any questions, including one about whether he would now endorse Mitt Romney.

As expected, the Twitter snark kicked in immediately…

The product launch will include:

• A Walmart sampling program which will hit 800 Walmart Supercenter stores across the country, beginning March 26 through the end of April.
• In-market sampling for consumers to try Pepsi NEXT for free across 40+ cities nationwide between the end of March and August 2012.
• A TV ad spot, created by TBWA/Chiat/Day, featuring an excited young couple recording their first interaction with Pepsi NEXT, meanwhile missing the “unbelievable acts” of their baby in the background, from dancing to handstands. This 30-second spot will begin airing nationwide on March 26 on prime-time and cable networks, and will be complemented with online and radio advertising.
• A digital application on facebook.com/pepsinext inviting users to “taste” Pepsi NEXT online.
• Multi-city PR events in which a few famous faces will surprise lucky fans with their first sip of Pepsi NEXT.

The product’s commercial is now available to view online:

Pepsi’s biggest competitor, Coca-Cola, introduced a similar product called Coke Zero in 2007 which is low-calorie and low-sugar. The soft drink’s ad campaign was aimed at young males, who were found to be typically resistant to try a beverage labeled as “diet” in research studies.

“In the new poll, 46 per cent approve of the way Mr. Obama is handling his job, while 50 per cent disapprove. That’s a mirror image of his 50 to 46 positive split in early February.”

Some are speculating that this is because of rising gas prices, which Newt Gingrich has pushed to tie to Obama. Others say it is because of the mandate to pay for birth control in insurance plans. They theorize that women are turning against Obama because of that.

Whatever the cause, the numbers are in and some people are celebrating. A cursory perusal of Twitter reactions takes the temperature of the right.

The following video shows you how you can sync, tweet, and save:

Over millions of digital coupons have been claimed in the past days, in fact, the Syncard campaign has been so successful that partners like McDonals and Whole Foods have decided to increase their cap offerings to meet demands.

A representative for American Express stated that the Twitter coupons have exceeded expectations and is doing even better than their Foursquare initiative that followed a similar platform.

Perhaps the days of sifting through dozens of newspapers to find valuable coupons are over. Elizabeth Rutledge, Amex’s EVP of global network marketing and information, later told ClickZ via an email: “Already, millions of Twitter users are engaging with and receiving special offers from the brands and retailers they care about…In digital, and especially mobile, the simplicity and non-clunkiness of the user experience is key.”

Many people have been putting their scissors away and opting instead to join e-mail clubs to receive special deals directly from merchants, but forms of value shopping like Syncard may be gaining on special e-mail offers. Syncard is very successful because it caters to immediate gratification – no more waiting for e-mails from fast food chains for that free burger or shake, if you possess a qualifying American Express Card then you can save big within a few days without killing trees.

ClickZ provides examples of the different offers that have been available during the past five days: “By tweeting hashtag #AmexWholefoods, consumers receive $20 off purchases of $75 or more at the natural foods market made with their Amex cards. McDonald’s is offering a $5 discount through its #AmexMcDonalds hashtag. Best Buy, FTD, Zappos.com, Century 21 department stores, Gulf Oil, Cheese Factory, FexEx Office, Sports Authority, Seamless.com, and Ticketmaster are other launch partners in the effort.”

Robocalls are when a pre-recorded message is created and sent out to a large assortment of phones, using an autodialer. This tactic is generally associated with politicians who are looking to reach the greatest number of people. Because nothing sells your message like a robotic sounding telephone recording.

If you’ve ever received one of these messages, you know it can be irritating. It’s hard to get revenge, like Seinfeld was able to pull off with an actual person trying to sell him something.

However, there’s now a way to send your own robocall back to these politicians. It’s called the ‘Reverse Robocall‘. If you don’t mind spending a bit of money, and taking a few seconds to record a message then you can give them a taste of their own medicine.

The premise is quite simple. When you visit the website you’re given a large assortment of politicians, each of which you can send your own pre-recorded message to. Want to give the candidates in the upcoming presidential election a piece of your mind, but don’t want to actually talk to them, you can easily do it. For more detailed instructions, here’s an official video from ReverseRobocall.com.

The site was created by privacy activists Shaun Dakin and Aaron Titus. The idea came about due to Titus receiving a robocall at 4:30 am from his child’s school district. They’re also trying to build awareness for a piece of legislation titled ‘Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011 (HR 3035)‘, which will “amend the Communications Act of 1934 to permit informational calls to mobile telephone numbers, and for other purposes.“.

Funny enough, you can send your own reverse robocall to everyone who is supporting the act.

Since this is the 25th anniversary year of the Legend of Zelda, it’s no wonder why Nintendo has gone to such lengths to release so many games. What better spokespeople than Robin Williams, and the daughter he actually named Zelda? The duo conducted the original advertisement a few months ago for the release of Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (which looks amazing on the handheld).

The lone commercial has now turned into a multiple ad campaign. With a commercial for the Legend of Zelda: Four Swords game which is a downloadable title for the 3DS.

And the latest commercial, which is for Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Releasing in November for the Nintendo Wii.

As someone who’s been a Legend of Zelda fan since the original, I have fond memories of actually sitting down and playing it with my mom (she was the one who actually beat Ganon). Seeing these commercials brings all the great Legend of Zelda memories back again. Almost can’t wait for the next game release to see some more commercials. Genius.

In the first post, the Obama 2012 team explains that they want the Tumblr to become a collaborative effort, one where people from all over the country can submit their experiences working for the campaign or upload relevant photos like one they captured of someone wearing an Obama shirt.

They also said that the Obama 2012 Tumblr would consider reblogging other Tumblr posts.

The Obama campaign foresees some issues that could arise from their latest venture, but have addressed the “trolls” in this fashion:

There will be trolls among you: this we know. We ask only that you remember that we’re people—fairly nice ones—and that your mother would want you to be polite.

Thanks, Tumblr. We’re looking forward to getting to know you.

The importance of social media in the upcoming presidential campaign is not lost on Obama and his team, as they continue to work hard to keep Twitter and Facebook an integral part of communication with the internet community. With Tumblr, Obama looks to expand his social media presence into a space that is yet to be tapped by many others in the race.

I’m sure that he’d like to see the kind of support on Tumblr that he has on other social sites – for instance his 10.7 million Twitter followers and 23.7 million Facebook supporters.

Since creating the Tumblr blog, the Obama campaign has posted a photo of campaign staff packing up cellphones in Ohio and made a short post about the President’s jobs plan.

Upon watching the video, I wonder if “It starts with us” will be a campaign slogan moving forward. Along with the video, there are prominent links to President Obama’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. You can sign up for email updates, and there’s already a store to purchase 2012 gear.

The heart of the site looks to be the “Get Involved” page, which features a list of the most current updates involving the campaign, upcoming events, groups, fundraising information, and volunteer information. On the latest updates list, you’ll find the two announcement tweets from President Obama:

From a purely objective standpoint, President Obama’s campaign site is exceptionally well done. It features quick navigation, with a simple layout. As with all sites which rely on donations, the “Donate Now” button is prominently featured without being too in-your-face about it.

Obama’s online presence is believed to be one of the important factors of his victory in 2008. He won the attention of the people through viral campaigns, and becoming a hit on the social networks. If this initial site redesign is any kind of barometer to go by, the same online savvy which benefited the President in 2008 will look to continue during his reelection as well.

And here’s the backstory:

Fresh off his appearance during a tv spot during the Superbowl, former ASU 1996 Rose Bowl wide receiver Isaiah Mustafa, reprised his role as the manly Old Spice Man and has caused a coup in social media circles.

In an industry that’s been increasingly filled with social media experts whose claimed to fame has been writing books about building a huge following on Facebook or Twitter, or building buzz, or sometimes seem like the Internet marketing equivalent of a Paris Hilton “I’m famous for being famous”, the Old Spice Man has brought a breath of fresh air to the social media scene.

On Tuesday, he took questions from multiple social media channels – Twitter and Facebook – and a team compiled the questions and had numerous personalized responses posted on YouTube, which were then emailed, retweeted and circulated around the Internet.

As of now, there are 205 videos posted on the YouTube channel with more content being progressively added.

Before you jump in with a preliminary judgement that this is a case of new-fangled efficiency in aggregating multiple channels, take a moment to watch the finished product.

The Old Spice Man comes across as:

• Attractive to both genders – women want to be with him, men want to be like him.
• Intelligent: He’s got the chops to reply with astute answers, compared to the incessant laughing and rambling common with some lifecasters.
• Funny: He doesn’t take himself too seriously and his humor is infectious.

Except for a few critics, he’s largely won over the bulk of his followers, including Digg founder Kevin Rose, actresses Alyssa Milano and Demi Moore. His biggest win could possibly be the 4chan community, a rabble-like elite community which has spawned memes like LOLCats and RickRolling.

What helped make this a winning campaign. Some of the key details:

• A successful marriage of social media practitioners and a tech team
• Trust from Old Spice’s parent, Proctor and Gamble, for the ad agency to have a free hand in scripting and going live with responses to queries, without the typical multiple layers of management vetting and approval
• Picking the right person to play the Old Spice Man and front the campaign.

The missing ingredient in most social campaigns is an air of sincerity, playing it straight with the audience and an essential star quality and x-factor which all but a few lack.
Isaiah Mustafa possesses all the following attributes in scads.

Watch the videos and you might just get a taste of the future of social media.

Old Spice Man replies to Digg’s Kevin Rose:

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Alyssa Milano tweets her delight.

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Old Spice Man replies to Demi Moore

Comments

Rather than trying to get you to "defriend" the people you don’t think you know, the campaign asks a much more interesting question. If you had the chance to meet your online friends in real life, would you learn they were really your friends, or little more than strangers? To find out, the company found a girl named Rosa and decided to send her on a journey across the US to connect with her online friends in real life. They armed her with a KIN, a new phone which seems to be either made by Verizon, Sharp or Windows (they don’t really say) and recorded video of her travels.

It’s a marketing campaign that fits squarely in between the concept of a documentary and a social experiment, but it works because you want to know what Rosa will discover. Not only for her, but because it has some meaning for each of us who keep these virtual relationships and wonder what they really mean. It’s not that often that a marketing effort can turn the lens back onto a cultural phenomenon that we are all living through right now. This succeeds brilliantly at that and is worth watching.

From a marketing point of view, however, the campaign equally brilliantly demonstrates how a lack of connection can make life confusing for a consumer. Details like the KIN Studio or the KIN Spot are features that sound important, but are shared on Facebook without any real explanation of what they are or why someone should care. Ultimately the Facebook page relies on product imagery and placement to make you aware of the product and make you want one.

The connection to how the phone might actually help you better filter your network or find out who your real friends are (both things the campaign focuses on) are missing to connect the phone to the bigger message they are sharing.  What this leads to is that the campaign may stay in people’s mind for the questions it raised and the story it focused on telling, but the phone (and company behind it) will be easily forgotten – like a subtle product placement in a TV series that you might notice, but never really makes much of a difference.

Comments