Choosing the absolute best campaign of 2011 was an extremely difficult task. I had chosen JayZ and Bing's Decoded campaign as uniquely stellar,  but then I saw it actually launched in late 2010.  I also thought Sneakerpedia.com from Foot Locker was a wonderful way to tap into their customers passion and let them showcase their prized possessions, but that really was a rehash of Art of the Trench from Burberry last year. And Burberry is certainly one of the smartest digital marketers around, finding just the right balance of open access and exclusivity. So when they launched their 2012 line on Twitter in September, allowing social media users a first glance at their upcoming clothes before even Anna Wintour and Kanye West had a peek--that too was brilliant, but somehow not quite daring enough. It had to be something really unique to be number 1. And so.....

Number 1

Intel's Museum of Me (PER)

After much consideration, I have chosen Intel's Museum of Me as Numero Uno.  It's not just because over a million people tried it.  The Take This Lollippop app--also a contender for #1 --was actually the fastest downloaded app on Facebook ever. But The Museum of Me not only tapped into the true zeitgeist of social media, specifically Facebook, where fans proudly share very intimate moments with large numbers of people, it showed how Intel can make that content even more memorable, by creating a beautiful virtual museum of your life. From the simple images displayed on a gallery wall to the 3D room of robots arranging your pictures to form a Chuck Close type image of your face, the experience was mesmerizing. Even the most sanguine of my marketing  friends were blown away. So congrats to Intel for creating an app that speaks clearly to the brand attributes but provides customers with a tool that brings a new immersive experience to their personal lifestory.

Number 2

Tampon Apology  (PER)

It's all about supply and demand..even when it comes to tampons. When the Johnson & Johnson OB Tampons started disappearing from shelves in 2010, consumers were so desperate to get their hands on them that a box that normally sold for under $10 went for $79 on eBay! Once the company realized their customers were so upset,  they had no choice but to issue an apology for discontinuing them. And what a great apology! By typing your name into their site, a handsome guy with a white piano sings a lovely song to you, but that's not all. In the course of the video, your name is written in the sky, in rose petals and even in a tattoo! You can't get any sweeter unless there are white doves. Oh wait, there are white doves! Who wouldn't forgive them? It's ok to admit you're wrong, but it's so right to do that with a tongue in cheek personalized serenade that makes you love the brand!

Number 4

State Farm Chaos in Your Town  (PER, LBS)

Tapping into our love of blockbuster movies is a great place to start for any company, but could easily be a stretch for an insurance company like State Farm. However, their microsite, Chaos in Your Town,  allows you to create a customized movie once you enter your name and address that's a real smash hit. Integrating with Google Maps, the app displays a huge scary monster stomping down your street and destroying your home before your eyes. And since State Farm provides home insurance, what a innovative and engaging way to send the message about their protection services. You'll love the surprise ending!

Number 3

KLM Flight to Miami  (RWA)

For a second time on this list, I am highlighting a KLM promotion.  They just keep getting it right. When they announced a new route from Amsterdam to Miami in March, one of their twitter followers asked if they would change the inaugural flight date to coincide with a music festival there. KLM said yes if the flight filled up with enough folks going to the festival. Within 2 hours, the flight was filled! And not only did KLM change the date of the first flight, they hosted a dance party on the plane for all the festival goers. A party on a plane…that's certainly a first! They were even awarded a Guinness World Record for hosting the highest altitude dance party ever! KLM's responsiveness to their customers is quite unique and undoubtedly goes a long way towards cultivating a very loyal cadre of flying fans.  Congrats KLM!

Number 6

 Mad Men Ad Facebook App   (PER, RWA)

If you love great tv, you probably love MadMen and can't get enough of their incisive wit and '60's styling. Greenberry, an agency in the Netherlands, came up with a brilliant Facebook app that allows users to create a Mad Men-themed ad that incorporates their personal data after completing a creative brief and choosing one of the cool templated designs. And what's even better, the best ads appeared in the Dutch print magazine, BLVD Men, and on billboards in Amsterdam. It's perfectly on brand, yet still allows users to personalize the content. How cool is that? 

<p>MAD MEN AD 

No 5

El Norte Beer: The Best Excuse Ever  (RWA, LBS)

There's just so many reasons to love this campaign because it solves one of the age old issues between Men and Women with first world problems. Men like to go out and drink with the guys, especially after they're married or settled down, women ..not so much.  So Norte Beer takes the guilt out of going out drinking..not that I condone it, but it's perfect for a beer company.  Every time they had a beer, the guys would put the bottle cap into the collection jar, and it would count towards a minute of good deeds sponsored by El Norte. In all 50,000 minutes were donated to restore schools, improve parks, clean up lakes and plant trees. What girl would complain about their guy contributing to those lofty goals? The perfect excuse. 

Click here to see Part 1 and Part 2 of My Top Ten Digital Campaigns for 2011

Number 8

Kraft’s Jello iphone/ipad app  (PER)

It’s certainly not easy to make a 100 year old food product made from animals’ bones, sugar water and artificial coloring relevant to a new audience, but that’s exactly what Kraft did for their gelatin dessert known as Jello.  Rather than highlight its healthful qualities in these days of promoting water as calorie free—Jello has no fat--the campaign focused on its fun factor by creating a free mobile app that’s pure joy. Users select their favorite flavor and then choose any song from your iTunes library, and then watch your favorite Jello dance in time to the music. They even suggest choosing different genres, from Punk to BlueGrass, to watch the Jello groove out. Try it, you'll like it. 

KLM Surprise  (PER, RWA, LBS)

I love KLM even though I've never flown the airline.  And I'm not alone. They have over 600K fans on Facebook, Virgin America under 200K. Here's one great reason why. They not only understand their customers, they appreciate them. Everyone knows that waiting in airports before boarding your plane is unbelievably boring, but KLM thought of a way to change that. Using Foursquare and Twitter to locate KLM  passengers who had checked in at the airport, they surprised them with a personalized gift as a thank you for flying their airline.  

A little surprise goes a long way and the smiles on the faces of the recipients tells one part of the  story, and 1MM impressions on Twitter tells the other side too. Decidedly a brilliant use of all three themes. 

The Kings' Game

Chess is one of the oldest games in the world, and Kings and Emperors were the first players since it originated in Persia around 600AD. 

But there is truly a parallel today in the match between the Kings of the Internet, Google and Facebook. Many of us live on the internet. Mary Meeker pointed this  out in her speech at the Web 2.0 conference last week, where she defined our hierarchy of needs as food, shelter and the Internet. Whether that's right or not, I doubt a day goes by that most of us are not using one or either of these sites once, if not multiple times, a day, and probably for hours on end. 

Clearly, they are the behemoths in this space. In fact, Google's share of internet traffic is so dominant, they were forced to appear on Capitol Hill in September to defend against charges of monopolization. No one has yet laid similar charges against Facebook, but with over 850MM users, it certainly dwarfs any other social network,  and that certainly could happen in the foreseeable future. 

Brinkmanship

Without doubt, they are watching each other's moves very closely. 

In late June, Google launched Google+  which has been deemed very successful by all accounts, They reached 50MM users in three short months, and even though stats now point to a decided drop off, it's historic in terms of the adoption curve and it's still early. Google seemed to steal Facebook's thunder for a time.

Then towards the end of September, Facebook released its latest improvements to their interface with the new Timeline, Updated NewsFeed, Smart Lists and the Ticker. These enhancements--although not yet fully rolled out--were greeted with almost universal praise by the highly influential early adopters, and there is keen interest for it to be fully launched as soon as possible. This new update has created a check mate situation for Google.  And they must make the next move.

The Next Phase: Brand Pages 

And very likely the future battleground for these giants will be brand pages. 

In a recent conversation with Facebook, they said there are no plans to launch brand pages in this new format any time soon, but that may be due to their legal problems with the general roll out. There's no doubt that brands want this new look and feel.  The day the new look was announced, agencies were tripping over themselves to show their clients what their pages would look like with this new design, and it likely would be a major improvement, as I mention in my post from October 12. 

In the meantime, Mashable just published a story saying G+ will launch their brand pages soon. 

So if Google goes first, will they see a a rush of new activity as brands look to leverage their unique platform?  I should think so. G+ benefits are clear; it allows greater content and user segmentation, plus threaded conversations without all those pesky ads cluttering their interface. And as Google integrates more of their products with G+, there will be seamless proprietary cross platform communication.

And then the pressure will be on Facebook to one up them with their brand pages. It's just a question of when. 

One thing's for sure, the game continues and it's going to be fun to watch. 

Image courtesy of Fantasy Interactive/Mashable

Best practices for fan growth demand consistent long-term initiatives, not short term quick fixes, as success will, in the end, be measured by fan retention over time not just a one time fan increase.  Often times, a meteoric rise is quickly followed by a precipitous decline.

The best performance is seen when a company launches an on-brand, compelling creative campaign that is consistent across all media platforms including paid, earned and owned. Combined with a Like-Gate, this scenario can drive the largest increase in growth-especially in conjunction with engaging promotional opportunities, such as contests or sweepstakes.

But these kinds of promotions can be expensive and require a team of consultants and experts to help facilitate.

Instead, here are 5 simple solutions that can drive healthy fan growth the right way:

1. Publish Facebook-exclusive offers and content to your existing fans and they will spread the word

2. Use Open Graph and add a Like button to your product pages allowing that product to be published to your fans' NewsFeeds for their friends to see

3. Create a compelling welcome page-a fun video never hurts either

4. Add a Facebook link to your signature on all collateral

5. Get fans to tag your brand in photos

And as with any marketing plan, use all tools at your disposal to gauge what works and what doesn't. Facebook Insights will be very helpful in this regard.

And it goes without saying, in this world of social media, these tactics will only be successful if you know your audience very well and are confident you are offering them the content, product and/or services they are looking for. WIth all these tactics aligned, there's no doubt you will see your fan base increase, and then you'll engage with a cadre of brand loyalists who will gladly share their positive sentiment about your company.

It’s nothing short of meteoric. Google Plus took only 16 days to reach 10mm users. Facebook took over two years to reach that many fans. And now that G+ is open to anyone, their new user base is estimated at 43 million. Experian/Hitwise stated that last week, visits to G+ increased by almost 1300%, elevating it from no. 54 to no. 8 on the Hitwise Social Networking and Forums Category. And though their numbers have dropped recently, the platform will only get more users as brands come on board.

Worth The Wait

At the launch, brands were upset that only individuals could create pages—(except for two beta partners, Ford and Starbucks), however they will see three clear benefits from the long wait. 

1.     There is a very large audience already familiar with the platform, and in fact, these early adopters are a highly influential group.

2.     Google has been tweaking the platform and features over the past couple of months creating a better user experience overall, with increased functionality, including the addition of games.

3.     The platform is very stable and able to handle large amounts of traffic.

Content Propagatio

There is no doubt that Google, which owns over 65% of all searches, will drive         synergy. However, G+ did borrow the ability of tagging content off of the main site in a  manner similar to Facebook where users can Like external content. G+ has added the +1  tag for interactions on external websites, thereby increasing the visibility and relevancy of  the site for users outside of the network., and there has already been widespread adoption  by sites and users. 

Content Segmentation

With Circles, G+ created a unique tool that allows users to target content to specific groups, and will allow brands to offer specialized content to different user groups, based on customized criteria. Publishers’ whose content is highly relevant and targeted to their audience will see engagement gains as opposed to those who publish generic content on an irregular basis.  Brands may have a Brand Advocate circle, or a Focus Group circle, or possibly just those Coupon circle. This feature will require strong community managers able to make the best use of the nuances of content creation.

Other ways that brands can target their content is through Hangouts and Sparks. Hangouts, which is essentially a video chat tool, only allows 10 users at one time, but may be leveraged by brands to interact with their core audience through a visual real time connection. And although not used much, Sparks is a search tool within G+ allowing users to find relevant content created by those in your circles and allows content to be accessible long after the original publication date.

Content Analytics

An advanced analytics dashboard will be a huge differentiator for G+. Although not fully integrated yet, it is assumed they will leverage their proprietary tools such as Google analytics, Adsense,  and Adwords. This would inevitably allow brands the best in class data and the ability = to drill down into social media analytics to help gauge social media ROI on G+.  

Once realized, the advantages of a Google+ business account may be in the ability to analyze its effectiveness and reach getting what is probably the clearest return-on-investment (ROI) picture of any social media tool to date.  And if leveraged correctly, this information will help guide brands to create the most compelling and relevant content for their users.

With all these benefits, it would seem that brands will be able to set a new engagement level with their customers, making it a “must-have” as part of their marketing mix.

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