Posts Tagged ‘social media’

World Cup Means Selling More Coke… Subliminally!

Friday, June 11th, 2010
The 2010 FIFA World Cup Celebration Mix of Wavin’ Flag by K’naan


With the World Cup starting today, the world’s attention is focusing on the number one most popular sport in the world, soccer. And there are many people who are trying to capitalize on that attention. Not least among them is a mostly-unknown Somalian musician named K’naan.

K’naan’s 2009 single Wavin’ Flag was selected as the 2010 FIFA World Cup’s official anthem. But who selected the song and where did it come from? It was not selected by FIFA, instead it was chosen by Coca-Cola International. And it underwent a fairly intense “change” before it could receive this honor, including revision of most of the song’s lyrics, complete removal of entire verses, and most notably, the addition of Coke’s Audio Signature, (The “Oh, oh, oh, oh-oh” from their current “Open Happiness” campaign).

Compare the original album version of the song to the Coca-Cola approved revamp posted above:

The artist, K’naan, had this to say about the world’s largest beverage company and the world’s largest brand asking him to change his song,

“I saw it as an opportunity to reach more people. I don’t work for Coke or anything; what I do is my music. This was a really great opportunity for them to use my song, without compromising my integrity as a musician.

It sounds nice. And as far as “a really great opportunity for them,” I’m not sure, but it is definitely “a really great opportunity” for K’naan to break out onto the international music scene, as one of the most listened to songs in the world and the top downloaded on iTunes today.
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More Cartoons I Found

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Here are two more cartoons I found when I was looking for the one I used in my last article. They are both pretty funny, but were not what I was looking for. Just the same, they’re worth seeing!

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Social Networking Existed Before LinkedIn and Facebook

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

The other day I had someone ask me, “Hey, I saw that you know thousands of people on your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter pages, could you ask one of them to get me a job?”

I felt utterly stunned at having to state the obvious, “I don’t actually know most of those people.”

I love social media sites. I spend entirely too much time on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter… especially Twitter, but I want to establish a clear distinction between social media sites and social networking.

“Social Media” is the term that generally groups together websites where the majority of content is created by the users. Typically they use log-ins, account names and personal profiles to connect people and focus on the “interactive” elements that have been key to the web 2.0 progression. We think of sites like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Flickr. But “Social Networking” existed long before Web 2.0.

Mankind is a social animal with a long tradition of societal interdependence. Ashton Kutcher, the self-appointed champion of the Social Web, recently said:

“[H]uman beings are born not able to even sustain themselves, so at the end of the day, if you ultimately did something in your life that was great, you at least owe your mom.” –Ashton Kutcher from AK FTW, SKY Magazine, Feb. 2010.

Social Networking is the normal and timeless practice of making connections and helping people out. Using technology to facilitate these contacts makes it easier and more efficient, but just as in the past, “It’s not about the number of contacts you have; it’s how you use them.”

Another great quote about the effectiveness of this new tool today and its potential in the future comes from one of the all time greats in peer-to-peer marketing, Seth Godin:

“Social media is either a time-wasting, wool-gathering, yak-shaving waste of effort or, perhaps, just maybe, it’s a crack in the wall between you and the rest of the world. It’s a choice” –Seth Godin

Make your choice. Use your tools wisely.

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Georgia Rivalry Week and a Video

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Here at Relevant Social Media, we’re from Georgia and we love college football. That makes this week a significant one. You see, the two top football schools in the state, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia, have a long-standing college football rivalry. And usually, the game where they play each other is steeped with tension and, um, even a little, shall we say, animosity?

Well, this year, Tech is a top-ranked team and headed to a BCS bowl regardless of how they play on Saturday. Meanwhile, UGA is having one of its worst seasons and has suffered some significant losses, including the unexpected death of their mascot Georgia Bulldog, Uga VII.

Well, we decided to add insult to injury and share our slightly veiled opinions of how the usually heated rivalry will play out for the 2009 game. This Mac vs PC style ad highlights that for Georgia college football fans, this is the Most Important Football Game that Doesn’t Matter at All.

The Georgia Rivalry game will be played this Saturday, November 28th. Kick-off at 8pm at Bobby Dodd Stadium.

Or Leave Us a Comment on YouTube: UGA vs GT 2009 “Obviously”

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