Early this week saw famous coffee and donut shop Dunkin’ Donuts hit hard in the social media space as spammers took the brands Facebook page for an X-rated, wild ride flooding it with adult links and images, which just kept popping up.

The incident raises the obvious “who’s in charge?” questions, however perhaps more importantly: Do brands still think they can do this alone? Speed, competence and continuity are all important skills when it comes to staying on top of the content posted to your brand’s social spaces - and if you can’t offer all three on your own, you clearly need help. (more…)

You never know when something is going to happen that changes your life for the better - and when it does you always want to share it with your friends and family. Whether its a better way to stay healthy or a random encounter that becomes a life altering moment, Dove gofresh wants to hear what in your life is Better Than Ever?

Dove is hosting a user-generated content (UGC) contest through the Brickfish, social media marketing website to launch the addition of NutriumMoisture to its Dove gofresh products. (more…)

An endless list of brands and agencies have handed over their creative reins to consumers to revolutionize the way we advertise. While you never know what you can expect with crowd-sourced content - critics are saying what you do get is not good.

Case study after case study will show you the user-generated content (UGC) contest that returned sub-par results, and will glaze over the truly original and terrific examples such as Doritos, Peperami and CareerBuilder as the exception.

What critics are neglecting in the continuous flow of what’s wrong with the Internet today dialogue, is the consumer. (more…)

We all know the famous Folgers jingles that go with its heart-warming television commercials of waking up, and starting your day the right way. This year Folgers is celebrating its 25th birthday by letting its fans take a shot at the tune.

The Best Part of Wakin’ Up promotion invited fans to visit the contest website and register to register and submit a short video of their own rendition of the Folgers jingle.

A panel of judges, as determined by the contest sponsor than selected the top 10 semi-finalists based on creativity and originality, musical performance, and adherence to the creative assignment. (more…)

The Coca-Cola Company, initially reluctant and slow to start in the social media game has pulled in huge numbers this year in terms of brand love and brand health. While they might not calculate out to exact dollars and cents, “social media marketing is where it’s at.”

“If people are interacting with our brand every day, that’s fabulous marketing,” said Carol Kruse, Coca-Cola’s vice president of global interactive marketing. “Word-of-mouth is one of the key drivers.” (more…)

German beer maker, Beck’s has been committed to producing one of the finest beers in the world since its creation in 1873. Its brand is a symbol of independent thinking and self expression, and it has refused to follow fads. Even today.

In March 2010, Beck’s will be launching a new packaging label on its bottles and cans globally. The new look has changed subtly over the years, demonstrating that it is a brand that remains true to the values it promotes.

To support the global launch Beck’s has introduced a viral video competition through the Poptent community to give fans a chance to promote their favourite beer in a hip and entertaining way. (more…)

The content monster is kind of like Cookie Monster in that he always wants more. However it isn’t so much the filling of content that keeps the writers spirit’s low - it’s the lack of comments.

As participants in the social space everyone’s aim is to encourage sharing and explore discussion. Think of the content as the hunger and the comments as the cookie. Whether you write something every day or every week or every hour - without the comments you just don’t get the same satisfaction. (more…)

Whether you are running a contest, an online audition or a community assignment, attracting UGC submissions can be a challenge. Here are some tips that you can apply to your campaign to draw more content from your website visitors. (more…)

WebMediaBrands Inc. launched a new e-commerce enabled website called StockLogos yesterday which allows global graphic designers to sell user-generated content (UGC) logos to companies looking for creative, high-quality and affordable logos for download.

The company, whose brands include mediabistro.com and BrandsoftheWorld.com is a leading blog network which provides content, education, jobs and events for business, media, and creative professionals and is headquartered in New York, New York. (more…)

LEGO is embracing the power of social media to allow users to share their vision for new products and toys online. It has launched its new LEGO Click community, a collaborative environment for inventors, artists and creative enthusiasts to share their ideas for LEGO.

The LEGO Group was founded in 1932 and is now a modern, global enterprise and the world’s fifth-largest manufacturer of toys.

The new LEGO Click community will interact closely with Facebook and Twitter, taking some of the posted content that is marked with the #legoclick hashtag and displaying it on the community website. Users will have the opportunity to offer feedback or submit ideas using those links. (more…)