readings in social media and pr for february 21 2011

Having competed as a Gator as an undergraduate and a Trojan as a graduate student, I saw many super fan accesories. Here are a few things to make any Tennessee Volunteers game room complete!

Here are a few readings for today:

• tasty crowd sourcing campaigns

“We spoke to three major brands — Ben & Jerry’s, Coca Cola’s vitamin water and Dunkin’ Donuts — to find out more about their recent crowd sourcing campaigns. If you are interested in the new people power that connected consumers wield, then read on for some delicious insight into how each campaign went down.”

• fedex and social media

“An in-depth social media study conducted by FedEx and Ketchum of more than 60 well-known companies has found that significant changes are on the horizon for the way companies will use social media tools to communicate internally.”

• the fab Richard Edelman

“On Thursday, CTV in Canada published an interview with Richard Edelman, the CEO of Edelman PR, in which the network asked the PR man why there’s a greater engagement with brands. Edelman said:  “I think people have new expectations of brands. I think that they believe somehow that their voice can be heard. So it’s in part technological empowerment, but it’s also some part a merging of brand and corporate reputation. Maybe they feel they weren’t adequately consulted, or that they weren’t somehow better informed prior, and they’re mad.””

• what you need to know today

“Facebook Posts Are 3 Times More Powerful Than Tweets. The group buying startup ChompOn has calculated the value of a Facebook posting in driving social shopping – at $14, it’s nearly three times what a Tweet is worth. And likes are worth $8.”

• successful e-commerce success stories on facebook

“Doing so can allow Facebook fans to browse your products before they’ve navigated to your website, help fans spread the word about specific products and direct traffic from Facebook to product pages on your website. It’s easy to get started with applications like Storefront Social or Payvment, and there’s a chance that your existing e-commerce software offers a Facebook storefront at no extra charge. Here are three small businesses that have successfully integrated stores into their Facebook Pages.”