Philadelphia Business Journal’s Social Media Stars announced/Jennifer Sherlock judges PBJ Social Media Contest

Attributed by: Philadelphia Business Journal Date: Friday, February 25, 2011, 9:45am EST

Vote for your favorite social media project here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QCGWC86

Read more: Philadelphia Business Journal’s Social Media Stars announced | Philadelphia Business Journal

The Philadelphia Business Journal presents the winners of its inaugural Social Media Stars contest honoring the best social media projects, applications and campaigns in the region.

Nominations were sought in January from individuals, companies, consultants, marketers, programmers and entrepreneurs. Entries were evaluated by how well they leverage social media in creative and influential ways to accomplish a business purpose. The top projects were selected by a panel of judges made up of Business Journal staff in consultation with Howard Yermish and Jennifer Sherlock, independent social media consultants.

The winning projects will be detailed in a special print supplement on March 25. In addition, the winners will be recognized at a cocktail event open to the public at National Mechanics on April 7 between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.

Readers are invited to vote for their favorite social media project to select a People’s Choice winner, which will be revealed at the event at National Mechanics. To cast your vote, click here.

The 15 winning entries are below:

“Team Ra-Ras Kick Breast Cancer viral video”

Creator or team: Steve Rosen, The Star Group.

Digital footprint: www.youtube.com/user/KomenPhilly#p/a/u/0/cfRSDbV8Adw, www.KomenPhiladelphia.org/Video, www.facebook.com/KomenPhillyThe Affiliate, @komenphilly.

From the nominator: Team Ra-Ras Kicks Breast Cancer was launched on YouTube on Oct. 4, 2010. It reached 1 million views, raising $100,000 for the Philadelphia affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure in less than four weeks. In that same time period, it was ranked the 12th most-viewed YouTube “nonprofit & activism” video and received 300+ thank you comments from the YouTube community. It also gained a nomination for Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s nationwide leadership conference awards, to be announced in the spring.

“Twitter convention/secret delegate”

Creator or team: National Constitution Center, with Beneficial Bank.

Digital footprint: www.constitutioncenter.org, www.facebook.com/ConstitutionCenter, @ConstitutionCtr, blog.constitutioncenter.org/.

From the nominator: Beginning on May 25, the day the Constitutional Convention began in Philadelphia, the National Constitution Center reenacted the events of the convention on Twitter through the perspective of a secret delegate. The Twitter Convention feed, located at www.twitter.com/SecretDelegate, featured educational tweets from a secret delegate and invited followers to guess his identity. The historically accurate tweets were inspired by James Madison’s notes from the convention, as well as “Plain, Honest Men” by Richard Beeman, a scholar and Constitution Center trustee. The daily tweets gave followers insight into the disagreements, compromises and light-hearted moments of the convention, and provided clues as to the identity of the tweeter. The Twitter Convention concluded on Sept. 17, the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, and the rogue delegate was revealed at a celebration attended by 500 at the center. The first person to correctly identify the mystery tweeter was awarded a membership to the center.

“ShareURmeal.com”

Creator or team: Devon Segel Perry; Randy Schmidt, technology lead; Michael Meulstee, design lead; Andy Mroczkowski, iPhone app lead; Olivia Rabe, Facebook lead; Gloria Bell, Twitter lead.

Digital footprint: shareURmeal.com, @shareURmeal, Facebook.com/shareURmeal. There is also an iPhone app.

From the nominator: ShareURmeal.com was created to increase awareness of hunger relief within social networks and to inspire philanthropic giving. Each time someone posts a photo of a meal to Twitter or shareURmeal.com, $1 is given directly to hunger-reducing programs. ShareURmeal.com has raised more than $15,000 across three continents.

“Respage”

Creator or team: 4 Walls Inc. — Ellen Thompson; Jackie Koehler, operations manager; Lauren Rubino, editor; Lisa Hankin, client services manager; Nick Krefting, technical services associate; Melissa Lawler, client services associate; Greg Hoffman, creative services associate.

Digital footprint: www.respage.com. Sample blogs: www.respage.com/blog/yono/ (student housing community in Philadelphia), www.respage.com/blog/mark-taylor/mark-taylor-blog/ (corporate blog for a large Phoenix-based property management company), rentfurniture.com/blog/ (blog for a furniture rental company based in Pennsauken, Pa.) and blog.ardmorecourtapts.com/ (one of 52 blogs for Trinity Property Consultants, a management company based in Newport Beach, Calif.).

From the nominator: Respage is a turnkey social media solution that property managers can use to improve resident engagement, generate rental leads and leases, and increase search engine optimization, while investing only minutes of staff time per month at a cost of less than $150 per month. Facebook- and Twitter-only solutions start at $49 per month, with pricier plans including weekly blog writing, posting service and monitoring of major social media vehicles. The project integrated a number of technologies and platforms — including a proprietary content management system, social media posting and monitoring tool and social media networks and systems —to drive down the costs out of delivering social media campaigns for property communities.

“VisitPA tourism campaign”

Creator or team: Red Tettemer + Partners — Steve Red, CCO; Steve OConnell, ECD; Annie Heckenberger, community trailblazer; Todd Taylor, CD; Greg OLoughlin, account director; Linus Graybill, lead developer.

Digital footprint: redtettemer.com/PAFoursquare/, Foursquare.com/visitPA, @visitPA, Facebook.com/visitPA, www.visitpa.com/pa-foursquare, www.youtube.com/visitPA.

From the nominator: To renew interest in travel to Pennsylvania during the economic downturn, the team created a customizable road trip experience that lived online and added a social gaming level to the experience that was unique and exclusive to Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania also became the first state to partner with Foursquare; the team created three special Pennsylvania badges to promote aspects of the state: PA Shooflyer (dining), PA Retail Polka (shopping), and PA 4 Score & 7 (history). In less than 50 days, visitPA picked up more than 9,000 followers who unlocked 1,532 badges and checked-in at 4,596 Pennsylvania Foursquare locations. By September, the campaign had more than 17,000 friends that unlocked 4,663 badges and 13,000 check-ins at 200 locations throughout Pennsylvania. Thousands became fans of the Facebook page and hundreds submitted entries to a Facebook contest.

“Lisa B. Marshall, authors platform”

Creator or team: Lisa Marshall.

Digital footprint: www.lisabmarshall.com; publicspeaker.quickanddirtytips.com, itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-public-speakers-quick/id288508989, us.macmillan.com/thepublicspeakersguidetoaceyourinterview6stepstogetthejobyouwant, www.audible.com/search/ref=sr_lftbox_1_1, www.interviewextras.com, www.facebook.com/ThePublicSpeaker, @lisabmarshall, www.linkedin.com/in/lisabmarshall.

From the nominator: Lisa B. Marshall is a professional speaker who became an early adopter of social media by using it to get a book deal and expand her business. By creating a podcast that became an iTunes Top 25 business podcast, she extended and broadened her existing audience, which then helped her to secure an audiobook deal from major publisher Macmillan Audio. She leveraged social media to develop content, to create and test book titles, and to get early reviews and feedback, and she has plans to use social media to execute a best-seller campaign for her upcoming third book. Her weekly audio program boasts more than 200,000 worldwide monthly downloads with more than 3 million downloads. Her Pubic Speaker companion blog enjoys an Alexa traffic rank of 23,898 (and 6,571 traffic rank in the United States). Her show was fan nominated (via a social media campaign) as a Top 5 business category finalist for the 2009 Podcast Awards and a Top 5 education category finalist for the 2010 Podcast Awards. Also, in 2010, her show was selected by BNET-The CBS Interactive Network as 7 Great Business Podcasts for your Daily Commute.

“Tweet2Feed”

Creator or team: Alison vah Harskamp, director of corporate communications, Susquehanna Bank; Steve Trapnell, corporate communications manager, Susquehanna Bank; Crystal Mills, community relations manager, Susquehanna Bank; Kelly Heritage, account manager, IMRE; Annie Sullivan, program coordinator, IMRE; Adam Streets, program director, IMRE; Alison Giella, account executive, IMRE.

Digital footprint: @SusquehannaBank, Susquehanna.net/tweet2feed (since removed because the campaign ended), blog.susquehanna.net.

From the nominator: Tweet2Feed was the first community bank-sponsored social good campaign on Twitter. The goal of Tweet2Feed was to raise 150,000 meals for nine food banks from Nov. 15 through Dec. 31, 2010. This goal was surpassed by more than 48,000 meals — an overwhelming success. The @SusquehannaBank account was newly followed by 430 people; a 350 percent increase in followers. Tweet2Feed was covered by three bloggers, four TV news stations, seven news outlets online and eight print newspapers. Tweet2Feed coverage from social media and public relations resulted in 2,942,662 impressions. Some customers opened accounts with Susquehanna Bank after hearing about the GiveNReceive promotion, which donated 50 meals to Tweet2Feed with each checking account opened in-branch.

“Saint-Gobain employee wellness”

Team: Natasha Romulus; Suzanne Weirback, director of employee benefits; Fran Melmed, Context Communication Consulting.

Digital footprint: @livewellsgc, www.sgcbenefits.com, www.blogtalkradio.com/livewell-at-sgc, www.livewellsgc.wordpress.com.

From the nominator: Saint Gobain is an example of a corporation using social media to immediately improve its bottom line. Specifically, the company sought ways to reduce its health-care costs, which exceeded $115 million in 2009. Since incorporating social media into the company’s internal communications the company has reduced its annual enrollment printing and mailing costs from $59,000 in 2008 to $18,000 last year. More importantly, wellness participation has increased from 9 percent in 2006 to 46 percent in 2009. Those groups who participate in the wellness program have a 7 percent lower annual per employee claim cost compared with prior year. In an online satisfaction survey of employees in early 2010, 78 percent of employees said they feel they have a good understanding of their benefits, up from 67 percent in 2006.

“Melinda Emerson’s #SmallBizChat”

Creator or team: Melinda Emerson.

Digital footprint: www.succeedasyourownboss.com, www.facebook.com/smallbizlady, @Smallbizchat, www.linkedin.com/in/melindaemerson.

From the nominator: Melinda Emerson is the host of #SmallBizChat, a weekly interactive interview chat on Twitter for small business owners. Interviews take place every Wednesday from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. Participants and guests type answers to questions from the host, using the social media platform Twitter. Top small business experts have come on as guests, including Michael Gerber, Peter Shankman and David Allen. On a weekly basis since April 2009, the chat has convened 400 to 500 entrepreneurs.

“‘With Love’ Letter for Cliff Lee”

Creator or team: Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corp.; Meryl Levitz, CEO; Caroline Bean, national media relations/social media; James Zale, director of internet strategy and development; Ethan Connor Ross, research director; Linda Huss, writer.

Digital footprint: visitphilly.com; uwishunu.com; Facebook.com/VisitPhilly; Facebook.com/VisitGayPhilly; Facebook.com/Philly360; four Twitter accounts @VisitPhilly, @PhillyTeAma, @Philly360, @uwishunu; foursquare.com/VisitPhilly); youtube.com/VisitPhilly, flickr.com/VisitPhilly, online radio station HearPhilly.

From the nominator: Within hours of learning that the Philadelphia Phillies had resigned ace pitcher Cliff Lee, GPTMC created a social media campaign customized around its existing “With Love, Philadelphia XOXO” marketing campaign, which features humorous love letters written from the city itself to specific travel groups. A With Love letter welcoming Cliff Lee back to Philadelphia was distributed across four Twitter accounts, three Facebook pages and the uwishunu.com blog. It fueled online buzz, which in turn fueled traditional press coverage in sports sections and programs, broadcast TV and radio. When the public demanded to see a billboard featuring the love letter, GPTMC created within days an outdoor billboard version along I-95 South at the Girard Avenue exit.

“True Blood”

Creator or team: Gunter Pfau, Stuzo. Digital footprint: www.stuzo.com/project-page?true-blood-ultimate-fan-experience, www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=179896&id=69144888562 (Photos from events), www.youtube.com/watch?v=12xKVQdooPg (Ultimate Fan Experience trailer).

From the nominator: To build anticipation for the Season Three premiere of the TV series “True Blood,” the show’s producers turned to Stuzo to create a social experience that would attract new fans, engage “Truebies,” and increase online merchandise sales. Stuzo conceived, designed and developed a custom cross-platform contest, the Ultimate Fan Experience, which featured multiple phases and promotion overlays to encourage sustained engagement. Visitors to the official True Blood Facebook page could enter to win two VIP tickets to a 50-city one-night-only event featuring a screening of the Season 2 finale, a sneak peak of the Season 3 premiere, a red carpet, giveaways, and a live simulcast Q&A session with the show’s creator and cast. One lucky fan could also win a $5000 grand prize and all the essentials for hosting a Season 3 finale party. To emphasize the date of the season premiere, June 13th, tickets could only be won every 6 minutes and 13 seconds between 6:13 p.m. and 6:13 a.m. As a result, the True Blood Facebook page grew 115 percent to 3 million fans. The application itself was visited more than 750,000 times with 120,000 instant win game plays. There were 26,000 wall posts from fans. A 20 percent off exclusive promo code for entrants drove $40,000 in merchandise sales at the online store. Finally, on the day of the Season 3 premiere, not only did unique page visits increase by 155 percent, but also 6.4 million viewers tuned in, nearly double the previous season.

“Gore-Tex Experience More”

Creator or team: Brownstein Group — Adam Deringer, senior vice president, chief digital officer; Joe Weinlick, senior vice president, chief brand strategist; Erin Allsman, vice president, public relations director; Kelly Lange, public relations and social media manager.

Digital footprint: www.myexperiencemore.com. Experience More Facebook and twitter accounts, which have since become general GORE-TEX brand profiles. Archived files and promotional materials: staging.brownsteingroup.com/gore/gore_stage.

From the nominator: To create an online community around Gore-Tex, the Brownstein Group observed and interviewed hundreds of outdoor enthusiasts and bloggers to identify Gore-Tex users who loved the brand and were already talking about it. The Experience More strategy was not to build a new community, but rather to create an online forum for the existing community to share their experiences. The team worked with influential bloggers and brand loyalists to act as site ambassadors and site moderators who were heavily involved in the launch, moderating the site, and keeping the conversation going through a variety of activities including a scavenger hunt, prizes and contests and philanthropy. Brownstein Group launched a grassroots marketing campaign complete with an Experience More Blogger Summit, Experience More Ambassador Program and Experience More Photo Contest. In the first three months, the campaign garnered 1,875 members and established relationships with influential outdoor and snow bloggers. More than 3,500 photos and videos of members experiencing more were uploaded to the site and 345 experiences were entered into the Experience More Challenge. The communication amongst members also soared with nearly 500 posts in the same timeframe.

“Stonyfield Grant a Farmer’s Wish Facebook campaign”

Creator or team: King Design — Michael King, Jessica W. King, Christine Henke, Brian Borman, Dan Gold and Abby Tolotti, with original conception and photography by Stonyfield Farms.

Digital footprint: http://www.facebook.com/stonyfieldfarm?v=app_113467162059322.

From the nominator: King Design created an online Facebook contest for the yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm that will end with the company awarding a grant to a farmer, chosen by fans, who has shown a commitment to sustainable organic farming. Through Facebook, fans are invited to watch individual videos and read personal stories and proposals from six farmers, and then vote for one farmer/family to receive grant funding. The farmer with the highest amount of votes will receive $10,000 in funding, 2nd and 3rd will receive $7,500, and 4th through 6th place will receive $2,000. Although the contest hasn’t ended yet, it generated 10,000 new fans in the first two weeks.

“Loop”

Creator or team: ChatterBlast Media — Steve Cisowski, social media consultant; Matthew Ray, principal; Evan Urbania, principal.

Digital footprint: www.LoopYarn.com, www.LoopKnits.com, www.facebook.com/LoopYarn, @LoopYarn, foursquare.com/venue/61923.

From the nominator: Loop, a Philadelphia retail store that sells high-end yarn and knitting supplies and operates a successful national online store, asked ChatterBlast Media for help tapping into the community of knitting enthusiasts. The agency launched a Facebook advertising campaign, mobile Foursquare-based rewards for customers of Loop, an interactive viral online sweepstakes targeting knitting aficionados in the Top 10 national DMAs, and tapped into niche social networking site Ravelry.com. Facebook fans grew from 600 to more than 3,200, and Loop saw record-breaking sales from October through December, 2010 — the best in Loop’s six-year history. Monthly sales were up 32 percent, 23 percent, and 34 percent over 2009, respectively.

“Phillies Twitter Holiday Week of Giving”

Creator or team: Mary Ann Gettis, The Phillies.

Digital footprint: @philaphillies.

From the nominator: The purpose of the Phillies Twitter Holiday Week of Giving project was to thank the Phillies’ 28,000 Twitter followers for their support and to promote a Christmas merchandise sale at the team’s store at Citizens Bank Park. Each day, the Phillies Twitter Holiday Week of Giving message was retweeted at least 200 times and became a Top 10 Trend in the United States on Twitter each day of that week. Online traffic increased, as did shopping at the team store, where overall sales were up over 150 percent that week compared to the same dates last year.