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What makes “Random Acts of Kindness” a viable social media strategy?  For starters, consumers are currently disclosing a vast amount of personal information on public forums: about their daily lives, their moods or their whereabouts (whether on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, GetGlue or any other number of social apps).  Secondly, consumers are interacting with brands more and more and they are expecting brands to interact with them in a way that’s rewarding to them.   Last, but not least, brands are increasing the amount of time and resources on monitoring the social web.  Put it all together and you have the makings of a win-win program.

I had a dinner with some friends last night and explained to them what LivingSocial/Groupon was all about.  (see that note below) Then today this too-good-to-be-true offer came in which just emphasized my point on why people love these companies.

Posted January 19th, 2011 at 12:56 pm by Gavin O’Malley

It looks like Groupon rival LivingSocial hit it big this week after offering members a $20 Amazon gift card for $10. “In just the first few hours of the sale, users have already purchased over 243,000 coupons,” reports ReadWriteWeb. How did LivingSocial land such a sweat deal? Well, as you may recall, Amazon invested $175 million into the startup in December. As such, Lightspeed Venture Partners’ Jeremy Lew calls this week’s deal “the first step of operational integration from that investment.” According to ReadWriteWeb, “Some are predicting the deal is on a course to outperform the previous blockbuster daily deal, when Groupon offered $25 off a $50 purchase at the Gap.” That resulted in some $13 million worth of coupons being sold. With nearly a day left to go, the LivingSocial deal had already sold over $2 million worth of coupons Wednesday morning. The final sales figure likely means little to Amazon, which is more interested in marketing the LivingSocial brand. Indeed, with Amazon’s help, it’s not hard to imagine LivingSocial achieving Groupon-like heights.

From: Larry Weintraub
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 12:01 PM
To: My Friends
Subject: FW: 50% Off Amazon.com Gift Card

Last night at dinner we had a conversation about Groupon / LivingSocial.  Today this came in from LivingSocial.  $20 gift card for $10 from Amazon.  No expiration date, limit one.

On a typical day and a typical deal, LivingSocial or Groupon will get anywhere form 300 – 3,000 people to buy one of these offers.  Today’s offer from LivingSocial is already over 650,000 and will probably hit 1 million today.  So, if you wonder why Google was prepared to pay nearly $6 Billion for Groupon (which they declined and I bet we see a similar offer coming soon for LivingSocial), now you know why.  They will do $20 Million in business today alone.  Doesn’t mean they are profitable, just gives you an idea of how big these things are.

By the way, I recommend you sign up to LivingSocial today and get this deal.  It only lasts til the end of the day and then it’s gone.  You can unsubscribe after that if you don’t want to get emails every day from them.  But hek, it’s $10 free to spend at Amazon.

Larry

What follows is an excerpt from Larry Weintraub’s latest post to his Smart Marketing Blog that highlights the new trend of Social Shopping.

A year ago if you had asked me about social shopping I would have pointed you to Amazon and told you that the product reviews from actual buyers were examples of social shopping.  Six months ago I would have told you about shopping aggregation websites like Kaboodle which allow you to view, comment, and receive deals from multiple retailers.  Two weeks ago I would have told you about the new Facebook integration into websites like Levi’s “Friend Store” and how you can see what your friends like.  And today.  Well today I’d tell you it’s all about what I call the Discount Crowdsourced Shopping Experience (DCSE) being powered by Groupon, Living Social, Gilt, Blackboard Eats, Wines Til Sold Out (WTSO) and more.

A few months back I wrote a post about a new business ready to take off.  What I described there was the advancement of location-based applications like Foursquare, Gowalla, and MyTown combined with recommendation websites like Yelp and Citysearch, and how they were providing huge opportunities for shop owners to drive people into their stores.  DCSE’s go the next step and offer discounts to drive you into these stores.  All of these DCSE’s are essentially mailing lists and you get regular (often daily) deals sent to your inbox.

Click HERE to read more

Understanding that in order to connect with his younger and more digitally connected Catholic flock, he must engage with them where they hang out, socially speaking. Pretty progressive and forward-thinking move coming from an organization so steeped in tradition. The Pope and his advisers know that tweeting, blogging and commenting have the potential to reach audiences in more engaging and direct ways than a traditional sermon from the pulpit.  In the most recent Message From His Holiness, the Pope himself addresses the development of new communication technologies and encourages priests to make use of these mediums by embracing the opportunities they create:

“To priests in particular the new media offer ever new and far-reaching pastoral possibilities, encouraging them to embody the universality of the Church’s mission, to build a vast and real fellowship, and to testify in today’s world.”

Coinciding with the Pope’s declaration that 2010 will be the “Year for Priests,” the theme of this year’s World Communications Day (to be held May 16) is “The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word.”  The event will bring attention to the unique possibilities offered by modern communications and give priests the information and tools needed to minister in a digital world.  Solidifying the Church’s acceptance of Social Media as a viable communications option, one only needs to look to its early adopters that include Friar Todd Peterson, Bishop Anthony Taylor and Cardinal Justin Rigali.

I would be remiss if I didn’t share these little gems with you to help keep the humor pool alive and well.  So, without further adieu, for your viewing pleasure…

Dads In Short Shorts

I’mma Let You Finish

People of Walmart

Don’t Judge My Hair

Happiest People Ever

Of course, this development is hardly accidental – every major gaming platform introduced since 2003, handhelds and consoles alike, includes a significant online component to permit gamers around the world to meet and play. Every day new games are released which take advantage of these fresh horizons in innovative new ways – LittleBigPlanet’s level creation tools, for instance, or Rock Band Network’s content distribution system. And as gaming hardware becomes as inseparable from the modern lifestyle as the cell phone or the microwave, social sites such as Facebook and YouTube have raced to support interaction and playback on devices such as the DSi and the Playstation 3.

Gamers, for their part, have responded to this industry push with great enthusiasm. Research indicates that gamers are more than 10% as likely to make use of social-networking sites during any given week – and the activity on pages such as Call of Duty 4′s XBox 360 Facebook Fan page (over 300,000 fans) or GameStop’s corporate Twitter account (nearly 17,000 followers) certainly bears this trend out.

But not all socialization takes place online. As anyone who’s ever played Wii Tennis in a room full of people can confirm, motion controls are every bit as significant a social component as XBox Live; people see other people playing and instantly want to join in. It’s also apparent from sales data that social gaming such as this can be just as much of a purchase-driver as social-media outreach, as best evidenced by the success of titles such as Mario Kart Wii or Wii Play. Small wonder that both Microsoft and Sony have announced that they’ve been working on making motion controls a central feature of the XBox 360 and the PS3 – both Project Natal and Playstation 3 Motion Controller are both scheduled to be released next year.

It’s becoming rapidly obvious that “gaming” (core and casual) as an activity is migrating from consoles to handhelds. This speaks to the increased socialization of gaming – not only are these devices multifunctional and web-integrated, but people are playing games around other people rather than ensconcing themselves in high-def nerd-caves. Furthermore, it’s proof that gaming has something for everyone and will continue to expand, as our appetite for social interaction through technology grows.

Coca-Cola’s 100-Flavor Interactive Freestyle Soda Fountain in Action [video]

BY Zachary WilsonTue Jul 21, 2009 at 10:19 AM

Ever had one of those moments where all you wanted was a Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke, but all the fountain could offer you was regular old diet? Coca-Cola is doing away with that problem by introducing a new beverage dispenser. Heralded as the “fountain of the future” by Coke PR flaks, the “Freestyle”–which was first unveiled under the code name “Jet” back in April–offers more than 100 flavor options. There are traditional sodas, flavored waters, carbonated or noncarbonated beverages, energy drinks and so on. Even flavors not currently available in the United States.

The Coke Dispenser of the Future

This video is the first look at the Freestyle’s touch screen interface, which is designed by Bsquare Corporation. Select a Coca-Cola product, such as Fanta, and the screen offers several flavor options. Choose the one you want (Grape, please!) and the machine mixes the drink right then–it can even mix flavors in ways that are not traditionally offered.

The machine is more technologically complex than you’d imagine. The “PurePour” technology was originally developed to measure extremely precise amounts of dialysis and cancer drugs. Beyond that, RFID scanners are used to match cartridges to dispensers, and the onboard computer confirms everything is in place. Existing soda fountains use five-gallon concentrate bags and lots of backroom labor. Now all that is required is a highly concentrated 46-ounce cartridge inside a self-contained machine.

Another perk is the business data the dispenser sends back to Coke’s headquarters in Atlanta. The machines upload data about beverage consumption, peak times, and popular locations. Coke can also talk back to the machine, letting it know if a particular flavor needs to be discontinued or recalled and causing it to stop serving the drink immediately.

Freestyle machines are currently being tested in Georgia, California, and Utah. Coca-Cola has said it plans to place 60 test dispensers around the country by the end of the summer.

It’s called a Webcam Social Shopper and it brings the changing room right into your living room (or office, bedroom – wherever your computer resides).  Words can’t properly explain this, you have to watch the video demo…

View Video Demo

Pushing your brand at a time like this turns me off as a consumer and shows how truly out of touch your brand is with the Twitter public.

I plan on un-following a few companies today who chose to practice bad marketing, and I don’t think I’ll be alone.

Tagline: “They’re small, they’re incredible…and they’re back on July 3rd”

What do you think?