Social media has long been a digital driver for the hybrid sport/entertainment brand that is World Wrestling Entertainment. WWE now boasts more than 73 million Facebook fans, 30 million Twitter followers, one billion video views on YouTube and an average of 50 trending topics weekly on Twitter. 

Now WWE has tapped social video startup Tout to leverage and amplify WWE’s assets including television, live events, digital and print. The partnership has helped the WWE garner 100 million fans globally. One of them — 27-year-old Alex Guerrero, Jr, from San Antonio, Texas — became WWE's 100 millionth fan, winning a free trip to Monday Night Raw’s 1,000th episode on USA Network, which is broadcasting live tonight from St. Louis, Mo.Continue reading...

There's no question that the London 2012 Summer Olympics will be the most social Olympic Games in history. Just how social is starting to come into focus. The attention (and money) being spent on the social aspects of the Olympics continues to escalate as billions of dollars change hands for marketing rights, and sponsors scramble for proof positive that those dollars are converting into online video views and shares.

Unruly Media, producers of the video buzz tracking Viral Video Chart, has released a dynamic interactive ranking of the social clout of every Olympic-themed commercial across the web for 25 Olympic sponsors. The breakaway winner?Continue reading...

The Millennial generation is hugely important to the future of brands and culture. And many of the characteristics of this group — representing about 75 million people just in the U.S., ranging from 18 to 32 years old — have emerged pretty clearly.

"Generation Y" is fascinated by digital technology, but not so much by cars; it's by far the "greenest" age cohort in the United States; they value collaboration and informality above rugged individualism and corporate conformity; and — to marketers' chagrin — they're not exactly flush with cash, suffering more than any other generation from the Great Recession and the not-so-hot economic recovery following it.

That's why Newsweek has come up with a new handle for the generation that, the magazine argues, "have been screwed by their parents' fiscal profligacy and economic mismanagement." Hence the moniker, "Generation Screwed." And the best way to appeal to them? Humor. And money.Continue reading...

While more than 70% of marketers are using new media platforms, 62% are increasingly concerned with the inability to prove ROI across these channels according to the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) 2012 Digital and Social Media Survey, conducted in April and May 2012 with 224 client-side marketers.

Use of online video (e.g., YouTube) increased from 64% last year to 80% in 2012, and since 2007, overall usage of social media and mobile marketing has grown significantly, with 90% and 74% of marketers using them, respectively.

Respondents' preferred social/digital channels for consumer outreach:Continue reading...

Following on the viral success of Gymkhana Four, DC Shoes co-founder and professional rally driver Ken Block is back with "Gymkhana Five: Ultimate Urban Playground." Filmed over four days on the streets of San Francisco, it's the most jaw-dropping Gymkhana production yet. The Monster World Rally legend treats SF as his personal playground, with special appearances by rider Travis Pastrana (a DC brand ambassador) and Jake Phelps (of Thrasher magazine). The drifting scenes alone are a thing of beauty — no wonder it generated 4.5 million views within 24 hours of being uploaded on YouTube on Monday. Watch it below.Continue reading...

Following rumors last fall, Coca-Cola confirmed that it's producing a global TV series to woo teens with music in more than 30 countries during the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

As a (lightly) branded entertainment extension of its global youth and music-oriented "Move to the Beat" Olympics marketing platform, Beat TV is being distributed in partnership with MTV Networks International, producing 10 episodes aimed at bringing youths some of the cultural flavor and excitement of the Games and its London setting. It's also not to be confused with "Move to the Beat TV," above, a web series Coca-Cola produced for European audiences as part of its Olympic marketing. (Coke's Move to the Beat campaign just picked up a bronze Cannes Lions award for mobile this week.)

While sponsored TV programming isn't new — look at NBC's recent Escape Routes series touting the Ford Escape crossover vehicle — Coke says Beat TV will run as a regular TV show (including channels with official rights to the Olympics and previous ad commitments from Coca-Cola); it won't feel like an infomercial for Coke's official Olympics sponsorship and the brand's presence won't be "overt"; and ad opportunities will be open to other brands.Continue reading...

While Audi and Toyota racers will be battling it out with one another in the 80th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France on Saturday, the two companies — along with several other automotive marques — also will be waging an important battle of the brands.

Audi has managed to win 10 of the last 12 runnings of Le Mans, the world's oldest active sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923. Now, the 24-hour race that is televised in some 60 countries and rivets millions of automotive and racing fans to their TVs is revving up for tomorrow's 24-hour event.Continue reading...

Pepsi appears to be maxing out with a clever five-minute YouTube video sensation that has been re-cut into a 30-second commercial this week on the hottest ticket on television: the NBA Finals.

The original video (produced by Omnicom branded entertainment agency Davie Brown Entertainment) depicts what seems to be an aged gym rat named "Uncle Drew" who wows a pickup basketball game with crossover dribbles, slam dunks and other exploits unheard-of for such a grizzled veteran. And it turns out, in a sort of Candid Camera moment, that Uncle Drew of course isn't who he seems to be. He's NBA Rookie of the Year and Cleveland Cavaliers breakout star Kyrie Irving.Continue reading...