Social media goes green

How did you celebrate Earth Day last Friday? Here are companies that came up with good ideas.

The Earth Day Network celebrated the day through its ongoing campaign A Billion Acts of Green. The campaign website lets visitors register a local event, give to the cause or share the campaign via social media outlets; it also features the campaign’s several projects. In addition, visitors can pledge their green acts on the website or join the campaign on Facebook. The campaign goal is to deliver a billion Acts to world leaders at the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to encourage them to stop climate change. So far, the campaign already inspired more than 100 million Acts of Green.

Green-labeled Starbucks started a Facebook campaign to encourage sustainability by offering free coffee to all customers that brought in a refillable mug on Earth Day. Starbucks fans were also asked to upload a photo of themselves with their mugs as their Facebook profile picture to promote waste reduction.

A bunch of companies helped to raise money for green causes. Online money collection site WePay donated $500 for a green cause if the donation page was set up using the company’s Earth Day page.

Online sharing platform Meebo pledged to donate $1 for every user (up to $ 20,000) who checked in to charitywater.org, an organization that brings clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations, via the Meebo MiniBar.

And hair and skin-care company Aveda supports access to clean water all month long, with a Facebook campaign that donates $1 to Global Greengrants Fund for every user checking in on their campaign tab. The goal is to raise $4 million.

Please join Castle’s “March”

Friends and Colleagues:

Next week, our Castle Group team will be participating in the March of Dimes annual March for Babies. Our Castle team is proud to support the March of Dimes mission to end premature births and ensure that all babies are born healthy.

This is personal.

Few people know that I was born with a twin sister. We were born several weeks early, and I weighed only 4 lbs. 7 oz. My sister weighed much less. But the biggest issue was not her birth weight, it was the fact that my sister was not physically developed—in short, she was born "too small, too soon." Over three days, my tiny sister endured three surgeries. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, and my sister did not survive.

As a business owner, many of the "extracurricular" activities that I am engaged in often have a business angle. But as I said before, this is personal. As a mother of two healthy children, I can only imagine what it was like for my mother to go through the pain of losing one of her children, at a time that is supposed to be the happiest of her life.

Today, as chair of the Massachusetts Chapter of the March of Dimes, I have the opportunity to interact with families who have benefited from the hard work, research, grantmaking and support the MOD provides. I know that because of the March of Dimes, babies like my sister survive every day, and grow up to live happy, healthy lives.  

The March of Dimes succeeded in its original mission—to eradicate polio. Today it fights to ensure that all babies are born healthy, with the hope that it will also one day permanently fulfill this mission.

Until then, we participate in events like the March of Babies, to raise funds and awareness for this important mission. I hope you will consider joining us—as a walker, a sponsor, supporter, or even with words of encouragement. We have a modest goal of $2500 but hope to raise much more, and we'll be out there rain or shine (hoping for
"shine!") on May 7—fittingly, Mother's Day weekend.

To join our team or donate, please go to: https://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?SeId=1562867&si=

Thanks.

Sandy

Social Tuesday: Feeding back and moving forward

What did you have for breakfast today? And how many children could you have fed with it? The World Food Programme’s Feedback Calculator can tell you. Users type in their food and how much it costs, and the application calculates how many children could have eaten for that money. Your $2 donut, for instance, could have feed eight children and your $3 morning cappuccino 12. The application is part of the World Food Programme’s WeFeedBack campaign and raises awareness on the impact that the small things you take for granted, like your morning coffee, can have on other people’s lives. Rather than asking for donations, the app puts things into perspective and encourages its user to think about food and its value. The WeFeedBack campaign and the calculator are integrated into social media like Twitter and Facebook with plans to expand by using embeddable widgets and going mobile.

Remember the Toyota recall? Because of accelerator pedals that could become stuck, the company recalled nine million cars and even stopped sales. Not easy to re-build trust after a disaster like this. But social media made it work. Early into the crisis, Toyota created a social media group that employed social media efforts to connect with and update the consumers. Via a recall hub and later a safety hub as well as Digg Dialogg, Toyota established itself as a source of information on the recall. In addition, the company used Facebook as a platform for positive consumer experiences and promoted its new Sienna van on YouTube. The efforts paid off. Within a year, brand opinion improved by 22 percent, and purchase consideration by 29 percent.

Keep running, keep moving, keep up

After President Obama launched his social media campaign for his reelection run last week, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney called him out using the same channels, YouTube and Twitter, announcing his Exploratory Committee for President of the United States this Tuesday. On his official website, Romney invites visitors to connect with him through additional social media channels, Facebook and Flickr. A prominent “Join the Community” button on the website also leads to Facebook, making the network one of the four major website features, together with the YouTube video, a sign-up and donation button.

Toyota has landed a sweet social media product placement deal with Electronic Arts (EA). The Toyota Prius is now a mover in Facebook’s free Monopoly version Monopoly Millionaires. The game’s user base is currently 6.2 million. The deal with EA is Toyota’s latest social media buzz after provoking a social media debate on the “Plural of Prius” in January and the real-time Prius Records event launched in March.

Feel like you need to brush up your social media skills? A new mobile application is here to help. Social Media Friend is “designed to give you brief and informative information and tips on a range of Social Media and how you can get the best out of using it.” Of course, for the most “informative information” you still need to read this blog!

Castle partner MK3 looking to hire sales professional

MK3 Creative, our creative services partner/team based here in our Charlestown offices, is seeking a top-performing Sales/Account Executive. This position encompasses video, interactive media, event and graphic design sales.

They are seeking an ambitious, professional and team-oriented individual with an existing book of business, significant sales experience and training, and excellent customer relationship skills.

MK3 Creative is a marketing agency. They offer the storytelling ability of an ad agency and the in-house capabilities of a production company. They deliver event marketing services, video production, interactive media and print design to local, national and international clients. MK3’s company culture is fun, dynamic and creative.

This is an opportunity to join a strategic and creative team dedicated to creating entertaining and effective marketing campaigns for some of the most successful corporations in the country and around the world. Learn about MK3 Creative by visiting: www.mk3creative.com.

Learn more about the position here.