Harry Potter Tweets

Twitter is a social media giant, which goes without saying. It allows users to create simple status updates of 140 characters consisting of anything from a simple statement to a link to an interesting video or quote. It has become very popular since its conception in 2006, and is used by not only your average joe, but now by celebrities, businesses, campaigns, and has even been influential in recent elections. Because of the great influence that twitter has had, Warner Brothers chose to use it as one of the major promoters for its latest Harry Potter movie Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

In their twitter campaign they created an application page called “Harry Potter Tweets” that allows you to send magic spells to other twitter users. The Harry Potter Tweets website allows you to send four different spells to any twitter user you are following. The first spell is named Amortentia, a type of love potion that casts a heart shaped animation on the receivers Twitter page once it is opened. The second spell is the Unbreakable Vow, which casts an animation resembling a binding light which symbolizes an unbreakable promise to the Twitter user you send it too. Another available spell is the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. This spells animation clouds up the receiver Twitter homepage with “instant darkness. The final available spell is the Oppugno spell which casts an animation of birds who appear to fly at you from the screen and then burst into an explosion of feathers. All of these available spells are spells that were used in the latest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. All in all the campaign was very successful.

Budweiser's Facebook Takeover

With the biggest sporting event in America looming over our head there is one question on everyone’s mind, “What will be the funniest Super Bowl commercial!?” The super bowl has attracted sports fans everywhere since its conception, but in recent years, has attracted a new crowd with its humorous commercials. In an effort to come out on top this year, Budweiser has launch a campaign where viewers can vote for their favorite ad to choose which one airs during the big game via the social media monster know as Facebook. According to the Advertising Age website, Budweiser is the year’s biggest advertiser with a total of 5 minutes of total air time.

How exactly do they plan on this total Facebook takeover? The advertisement to vote will first show up in your news stream, tempting you with the chance to vote for your favorite commercial. But to do so you must first become a fan of the Budweiser Facebook page as well. Once you have voted, you have the option of posting your pick on your wall. This allows all of your friends to see your pick and may lure them in to do the same. Also, now that you are a fan of Budweiser they can send you constant updates on things such as new ads and promotions.

Personally I think using social media as a vehicle of advertising is a great idea. It allows one person to see an item and gives them the possibility to share it with all of their friends. It can be updated frequently and available to millions of people. Now those of you who are the biggest fans of Budweiser, don’t worry. There are many other companies using social media such as Doritos, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola.

“It’s official: Super Bowl ads are getting more buzz that ever before — and the game has yet to begin — and it’s all because of the power of the web and social media.”

check out the article, http://mashable.com/2010/02/02/budweiser-facebook-super-bowl/