What I’ve Been Reading – Social Media & Marketing

Marketers Look to Learn from Loyalty

eMarketer – Marketers worldwide are looking to loyalty programs to improve customer retention and value, but Internet users need incentives to join.

Rethinking the Value of Social Media to Online Shopping

TheNextWeb – According to a recent survey (source: Compete.com), a majority of consumers do not visit retailer pages on Facebook or Twitter. When consumers do follow or ‘friend’ brands or companies, it is to mostly to stay informed of exclusive deals or offers (source: Razorfish).

Clydesdales May Suit up for Super Bowl After All

AdAge – Anheuser-Busch asks consumers to vote on its Super Bowl ad. A-B posted the Clydesdale spot, along with two competing ads, on Budweiser’s Facebook page late last week.

Social Media Marketing: How Pepsi Got It Right

Mashable – Rather than spending money on Super Bowl television ads this year, Pepsi is spending $20 million on a social media campaign.

Foursquare Teams With Bravo TV

The New York Times – Bravo TV and Foursquare will announce a new partnership on Monday that will integrate Bravo TV shows with the game aspects of Foursquare, a social networking site that encourages people to interact in the real world.

Is the Day of Tiny Ads Finally Here?

The New York Times – With Apple and Google buying mobile advertising companies, 2010 could finally be the year mobile ads take off.

New Campaign Metric: Social Chatter

Brandweek – Social media is giving birth to a new way for advertisers to gauge the success of ads: whether they generate consumer buzz. Ad measurement firm Millward Brown is moving to establish that metric with a new service that will place digital word-of-mouth measurements for online campaigns alongside ad effectiveness metrics like awareness, brand lift and intent to purchase.

AdAge: Pepsi Goes to Washington

image of Pepsi's RefreshEverything.com

Brands change direction when they need a boost. Pepsi is doing just that with its redesigned smile logo and newest ad campaign. Advertising Age reporter Natalie Zmuda recently wrote about Pepsi’s turn towards optimistic marketing, which is intended to piggyback on President-elect Obama’s message of change, hope and optimism. Although, it’s also quite similar to Coke’s long-running theme of happiness.

To support the brand’s new direction, Pepsi is planning a significant presence at the inauguration next week.

In keeping with the brand’s new optimism push, Pepsi is plastering messages such as “All for One” and “Yes You Can” on buildings, billboards, buses and public transportation hubs around the city. Beginning Sunday, street teams will make their way around the nation’s capitol, distributing commemorative Pepsi campaign buttons, scarves and hats.

Pepsi is giving consumers the opportunity to submit videos as part of an open multimedia letter to the new administration. At RefreshEverything.com, videos beginning with “Dear Mr. President” range from the frivolous to the serious.

Pepsi’s presence in Washington next week will go beyond traditional marketing and advertising. The brand is also sponsoring a Refresh the World Symposium on Jan. 19 and The Creative Coalition Gala Inaugural Ball on Jan. 20…The symposium is being organized with Spike Lee and Howard University and will feature such heavy hitters as Andrew F. Brimmer, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Arianna Huffington. Sessions include Refresh Education, Refresh Gender and Refresh Black America.

It’s an interesting and seemingly well-rounded ad campaign, but hardly original. I think Pepsi could steal some of Coke’s thunder. After all, it’s hard not to like a happy, positive message so connected to a historical moment such Obama’s inauguration. Personally, I still prefer Diet Coke.

UPDATE: Pepsi, Coke Try to Outdo Each Other With Rays of Sunshine