Rocket Red

Merry Christmas from Rocket Red!

2012-12-14T12:12:00.000-06:00

Play "What's Under the Tree" and $1 will be donated to Toys for Tots!*

'Tis the season to be jolly! Join in the holiday fun by guessing what Santa has under the tree this year. This is a game for all you shakers, rattlers and package peepers! Put your listening and guessing skills to the test to see if you can guess what's inside our packages.

For playing "What's Under the Tree" and sharing with others you're helping us wrap more toys for children this year.

Spread the joy and share the wonder of Christmas!

Spotlight On: Stephanie

2012-08-23T16:37:00.002-05:00

Stephanie is the newest member of Rocket Red's account service team and a digital marketing specialist. She's spunky, smart, and sometimes brings us bagels. Here's more about Steph:

Time at Rocket Red: 4 weeks

Favorite Project: Laura U Website Re-Design. This was a great client to work with.

Alma Mater: University of Oklahoma

Prior Work Experience: iProspect – Digital Agency, McAfee

Hobbies:   Kickboxing, running, foodie adventures, and playing with my two 80lb dogs.

If you were to surprise me with a random gift tomorrow, I'd want:   Some fabulous boots for fall.

Why I Love Rocket Red:  I love my co-workers and my clients!

Each month we highlight a different member of the Rocket Red team. We hope you enjoy getting to know us a little better!

Do You Know Your Olympic Sponsors?

2012-08-07T15:33:00.001-05:00

You’ve probably been following the Olympics. You can probably tell me who won women’s gymnastics and how many medals Michael Phelps has now. You likely caught those 9 seconds of glory that was the 100m sprint.

Can you tell me who is sponsoring the Olympics in London?

According to an online survey sample of 1,034 respondents, U.S. consumers are very confused as to which brands are tied to the Olympics.

The highest correct percentage went to Coca-Cola with 47% of respondents citing it correctly, but 28% also (incorrectly) believe Pepsi is a sponsor. A similar situation occurred with McDonalds, with 40% identifying the burger chain correctly but another 19% thinking Burger King is as well.

Perhaps only by assumption, 37% named Nike as an Olympic sponsor, but only 24% picked Adidas. Adidas is an Olympic sponsor. Nike is not.

That’s not good news for these brands and the popular reasoning is that the ads are predictable and the competitors are smart. Much of the reason that Nike is outscoring Adidas may be its years of great advertising can’t be overcome by a few weeks of Adidas promotions. Making things worse for Adidas, Nike was smart enough to use these few weeks to step away from the standard formula “high-powered athletes conquering near-impossible feats” campaigns that all start to blend together. Instead Nike created its “Find Your Greatness” campaign featuring everyday struggling athletes and launched it the day of the Opening Ceremonies. They instantly became part of the Olympics message but without the hefty sponsorship investment – brilliant.

So who are the Olympic sponsors? Some of the top names are:

For more fun, try this “Guess the Brand” game:

· Recognize products without their branding

· Guess brands without seeing their names

Which ones did your bomb? (It’s okay…we won’t tell!)

Olympic Trivia & Giveaway

2012-07-24T17:12:00.000-05:00

The London 2012 Olympics officially start on July 27th – that’s this Friday! Here at Rocket Red we’ve been anticipating the games by following the trials, reading about new social media trends, and getting to know the athletes representing our country.

Did you know that the very first Olympic Opening Ceremonies were held in London back in 1908? Here’s some more fun trivia to get you in the Olympic spirit: (answers end the end of the post)

How were the colors of the Olympic rings chosen?
What year was the Olympic flag first used?
What is the Olympic motto?
Are Olympic gold medals real gold?
What country always leads the athlete procession at the Opening Ceremonies?
In what year were women first allowed to participate in the Olympics?
What year did the Winter Games first begin?
In what years were the Olympics cancelled?

In honor of Olympic Week, we’re hosting a giveaway on our Facebook page.Just leave a comment telling us which Olympic event you’re most excited about watching and you could win a $15 Amazon.com gift card! It won’t buy you a trip to London, but maybe you can find some patriotic gear to help you cheer on the USA in style.

Answers:

At least one of them appears on the flag of every country in the world.
1920
“Citius, Altius, Fortius” (“Swifter, Higher, Stronger”)
No – the last year that the medals were made entirely of gold was 1912. Now the only requirement is that they be covered in six grams of gold.
Greece, the country where the Olympics originated. After that the athletes proceed by country in alphabetical order.
1900, the second modern Olympic games.
The first Winter Olympics were held in 1925 and originally were held just a few months before the summer games. In 1994 the Winter Games began being held two years apart from the Summer Games.
The games were cancelled in 1916, 1940, and 1944 due to World War I and II.

Spotlight On: Tiffany!

2012-07-18T16:12:00.000-05:00

Tiffany Cunningham is Rocket Red's go-to girl for PR. She covers all of our clients, produces outstanding work, and has one of the most contagious laughs I've ever heard. Here's more about Tiff:

Time at Rocket Red: 7 months

Favorite Project: Scott Trent’s new artwork revealings for Newman Village in Frisco, Texas.

Alma Mater: The University of Oklahoma – BOOMER SOONER!

Prior Work Experience:

Internal Communications at Yum! Brands and Pizza Hut Corporate - Plano, Texas
AT&T Corporate Communications Intern at Fleishman-Hillard - Dallas, Texas

Hobbies: Cooking recipes and creating different things from Pinterest, rollerblading, working out, traveling, visiting family, watching The Bachelorette and playing with my loveable Labradoodle, Blakeley!

If you were to surprise me with a random gift tomorrow, I'd want: 2 tickets to Italy or New Zealand

Why I Love Rocket Red: The family of friends I work with every day!

Each month we highlight a different member of the Rocket Red team. We hope you enjoy getting to know us a little better!

The Social Media Olympics

2012-07-11T09:14:00.003-05:00

If regulations are put on what can be tweeted or posted on Facebook, does it take away personal, real-time fun of social media?

London 2012 is being called “the first social media Olympics” even though that’s not quite true. Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube were all around for both Beijing in 2008 and Vancouver in 2010. The difference is that social media has exploded since then, with over 850 million monthly Facebook users and 465 Twitter accounts, and this is the first time the Olympic Committee is making substantial efforts to integrate social media platforms into the Games. These Games will feature an “Athlete’s Hub” website where all competitors’ Twitter, Facebook, and other social media feeds can be found in one location.

Brilliant! The only thing people like more than watching TV is watching TV while tweeting about it.

The problem is that what makes social media so great – instant, personal updates, real-time information sharing, interacting with people, brands, and businesses – is bound to cause trouble at the Olympics. Someone is going to post an inappropriate picture, release information that needed to stay private, or step on a sponsor’s toes. We nosy viewers love when that happens, but the Olympic Committee? Not so much.

To prevent any mishaps, the Olympic Committee has placed restrictions on how social media can be used. Here are some examples:

·         Athletes cannot use their social media activity for commercial or advertising purpose
·         All tweets, posts or blogs must be in a first-person, diary-type format as opposed to being in the role of a journalist commenting on the competitions
·         Posts, blogs, and tweets must conform to the “Olympic spirit” and be in good taste without vulgar or obscene words or images
·         No photos, video, or audio taken within Olympic Venues can be posted
·         To post photos taken in the Olympic Village, athletes must obtain permission of any other person that appears in said photo.

In addition, there are numerous bans on word usage, including “Olympic,” “Twenty-twelve,” and “gold” in certain situations.

With all these limitations, how will social media be used?

Well, despite the laundry list of “no’s,” athletes will still be able to post updates about what they are doing and how they are feeling. This first-hand view of the Olympics will truly change the viewer’s experience of the Games. No longer are we just watching an event on TV, but participating in the emotions and thoughts of the Olympians, right there with them. Not to mention that every event will now be live-streamed online, so viewers can watch any event instead of only what’s being shown on TV.

With the help of social media and new technology, how we experience the 2012 London Olympics is literally in our hands. What is your preferred Olympic Social Media?

Happy Birthday!

2012-07-03T14:29:00.004-05:00

Guess whose birthday is July 4^th? Ours! We can’t think of better holiday to symbolize what our company is about – a bold new way of thinking, fueled with passion and excitement.

In honor of this special day, we’ve compiled a little patriotic trivia. Answers are at the bottom of the post:

1. Which three presidents died on the Fourth of July?

2. How many people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th?

3. When was the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence?

4. On what date did most of the signers actually sign the doc?

5. What other countries celebrate the 4th of July?

6. In what year did July 4 become a paid legal federal holiday?

We hope you’re celebrating our nation’s birthday with family and friends, perhaps a barbeque, and of course the Rocket Red glare of fireworks. Don’t forget to enter our birthday giveaway on the Rocket Red Facebook page.

Happy Fourth!

Trivia Answers:

1. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe. Adams, the second president, and Jefferson, the third president, both died on the same day in 1836.

2. Two

3. July 8, 1776. Actually, the Liberty Bell rang out from Independence Hall to summon the crowd.

4. August 2, 1776

5. Denmark, Norway, Sweden and England.

6. It became an unpaid federal holiday in 1870. And a lot of trivia sites say that it became a paid holiday in 1941 but it was actually passed by congress in 1938.

Spotlight On: David

2012-06-26T12:09:00.003-05:00

David Massoth is an account executive and a constant source of laughter and energy. He is always willing to help with any project around the office. We hope you enjoy learning a little bit more about him!

Time at Rocket Red: 1 year, 9 months

Favorite Project: The Bush Center Blog because it enabled me to be a part of creating a voice for the Bush Center.

Alma Mater: Texas Tech University

Prior Work Experience: Two internships relative to the advertising and marketing industries, graduate school teaching assistant, various retail positions, cheerleading coach (i.e. many a college job).

Hobbies: Competitive cheerleading/tumbling, skiing, snowboarding, long-distance running, surfing (not in Texas!), traveling

If you were to surprise me with a random gift tomorrow, I'd want: A Sprinkles cupcake

Why I Love Rocket Red: The culture and experience. Working at Rocket Red has allowed me to learn and grow more than I ever anticipated. Being a small- to medium-size agency, I have had the opportunity to be an integral component in more parts of the process. I touch and take ownership of more projects, and interact with key agency players on a daily basis.

Each month we highlight a different member of the Rocket Red team. We hope you enjoy getting to know us a little better!

Social Media Wills

2012-06-18T14:32:00.002-05:00

Not so long ago, when your time here on earth ended, memorials, headstones, photographs and memories were the marks of your life. Today everything you “liked”, said in 140 character increments, vented on a blog, and photographed with a retro filter survives in perpetuity.

As crazy as it sounds, a “social media will” is now one of the government’s official personal finance recommendations. Social media is getting increasingly prevalent, and posthumous debates regarding ownership and survivorship of social media accounts are popping up frequently.

Today over 845 million people use Facebook, 127 million use Twitter, 21 million use Pinterest and 150 million use LinkedIn. That’s an enormous amount of people that have an online presence, choosing how to represent themselves in the digital world. It makes sense that they should be able to choose how that presence is handled when they die as well.

It may seem ludicrous, but just like all other personal property the government now wants you to decide what will happen to your online real estate when you die. Options include having your pages closed or memorialized, having a final message sent, or even continuing to post from the grave. That’s right - DeadSocial allows users to pre-schedule messages that are activated upon confirmation of death. Kind of cool, kind of creepy.

Perhaps even more important than just an online profile, now that “blogger” is an accepted profession, there is an infinite number of articles and videos on the internet. The author has rights to these, but the internet makes it incredibly easy to copy and share someone’s work without permission. By writing it into your will, you can decide how future access and distribution of your online portfolio is handled so long as someone is designated to monitor and police on your behalf.

The tricky part is that the terms of service agreements we sign when we start social media accounts can take precedent over any laws allowing an executor to access to your accounts. Facebook sites the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, originally created to restrict government wiretapping and unauthorized access to electronic communication, in its privacy policies. Lawmakers are still working on the question of what legal authority an assignee can have, so it’s important to leave a list of relevant usernames and passwords for your executor in case the social media sites won’t turnover access.

It’s always been difficult to plan past your own demise – writing wills, buying life insurance, and choosing burial plots. But those were at least finite and tangible. Technology and social media now truly provide immortality to our thoughts, deeds, and words. Is that a good thing?

Sources:

http://californiabusinesslaw.blogspot.com/2012/02/social-media-accounts-probate-estate.html

http://www.primeparentsclub.com/2012/05/09/living-online-do-you-have-a-social-media-will/

http://www.chadsanderson.com/2010/10/careful-social-media-addiciton-can-kill-your-brand/

Spotlight On: Jen

2012-06-04T11:54:00.001-05:00

Jen McAbee is an assistant account executive here at Rocket Red and is always organized and on top of things. She definitely keeps us on track!

Time at Rocket Red: 13 months.

Favorite Project: The Darling Homes Website. It’s been amazing to see the process from conception to finalization. The designs are beautiful and I have learned so much about project management in the process.

Alma Mater: Cameron University.

Prior Work Experience: I worked at another small agency, Agency Creative, prior to joining the Rocket Red team. I worked mainly on interactive projects and learned a lot about SEO.

Hobbies:I love to read. I also have a 6-year old Westie named Patrick, whom I love playing with. My husband would say I am a Westie and book addict.

If you were to surprise me with a random gift tomorrow, I'd want: Anything Westie related or a new book.

Why I Love Rocket Red: The pure passion of our team. Rocket Red alludes the passion that most agencies only dream of. Our agency can do more than just talk the talk; we can walk the walk. It’s an honor to be a part of something so exciting.

Each month we highlight a different member of the Rocket Red team. We hope you enjoy getting to know us a little better!

E-Readers & The Sanctity of Design

2012-05-29T11:06:00.001-05:00

The other day I was asking my mom how she liked the Kindle we got her for Christmas. She, a traditional book lover, raved about how easy it is to download books, how convenient it is to have them all in one place, and also how she loved being able to read in a dark room.

However one E-reader capability that she mentioned sparked a bit of discussion. On the Nook, Kindle, or Ipad, the reader has the ability to choose not only the size of the text being read, but also the font it is being read in and the background of the page.

The benefit is understood immediately. Now people that have trouble seeing can now read books that used to only be available in 10pt font, and no matter the lighting or location, the page can be changed so it's legible.

However what about the designers of those books? The art of book design includes not just the content, but also the format, style, font, and layout. To anyone else the font goes unnoticed, but to a graphic designer every detail contributes to how the book feels.

So when a reader can change the carefully chosen font with the touch of a button, is the sanctity of the design lost? Are designers outraged and should they be? What does this mean for the future of book design?

To get a closer answer, I asked the opinion of our design team here at Rocket Red. Much to my surprise, they didn't seem to think it was a problem.

Becks, our web designer, said "I actually like the ability to change the font and backgrounds when I'm reading. I don't think I'd be offended at all if I wrote a novel and readers were able to change the font and background. The content, not how many paragraphs and in what typeface..would be what's most important {for a writer}".

Lance agreed. "Let them do what they want with it if it helps them read. The actual print piece is still in tact, set, still beautiful, just like it was designed."

Others outside of Rocket Red are distressed, however. Font Feed's Stephen Coles says "If you're not going to let the publisher/book designer select the book's typeface...the user's options better be good. Unfortunately Apple offers just five. Of these, I'd say Palatino is the only legitimate choice for reading a book on screen".

I suppose it's always going to come down to whether or not people care about the design. Graphic designers who are passionate about specifics may be outraged at the option to change something created with purpose, while others recognize the functionality of the options.

What do you think? Do you like that E-readers offer the option of changing font and font size, or do you think it's doing a disservice to the original book design?

Sources:
http://craigmod.com/journal/ebooks/
http://siliconangle.com/blog/2011/12/28/the-year-of-the-e-reader-where-price-meets-necessity/ipad-ereaders-2/
http://www.fastcompany.com/1609981/ibooks-vs-kindle-battle-of-the-ipad-e-reader-apps

Mobile Payment: Are You Ready?

2012-05-08T11:16:00.000-05:00

It's never been easier to get your caffeine fix. If you've got the Starbucks app, you can order your grande mocha, hold your phone up to the scanner, and be on your way.

image source

This is just one example of Mobile Payment, which ReadWriteWeb listed as one of the top 5 trends of 2011. With so many apps and new technologies allowing people to skip their wallet, credit card companies are having to step up their game. All four major credit card companies are working on their own "NFC" or "Near Field Communication" systems that allow users to pay for things simply by holding their smartphone up to a device at a retailer or restaurant. Visa's Digital Wallet latches on to the trend by suggesting that consumers will have no need for their wallet at all after putting all of their card information on their phone.

There are also plenty of start-ups in the arena such as Zoosh, Card.io and Square, which did one million transactions in May. Even banks are recognizing the need to allow consumers to pay virtually with Wells Fargo, Bank of America, US Bank, and more offering smartphone payment programs.

image source

The problem is that not everyone is ready.

Master Card recently unveiled it's "Mobile Payments Readiness Index" which analyzed 34 countries' readiness to use mobile payment options. While Singapore, Canada, the USA, Kenya, and South Korea were found to be most prepared, other countries (including those in Europe) lagged behind.

Everyone knows that mobile is the direction of the future, but not everyone is ready to dive in quite yet. According to Mashable, we have the technology and regulations in place, but we need both consumers and industries to be on board for mobile to really take off.

I've yet to use mobile payment options, though I'm not opposed to them. I suppose I'm waiting for more companies to offer it before I take the time to figure it out myself.

What about you? Are you ready for mobile payment? How long will it take for mobile payment to stop being "new" and become "the norm?"

Content sources:

http://mashable.com/2012/05/07/mastercard-mobile-payments/

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/mobile_payments_2011.php

Spotlight On: Kat!

2012-04-30T10:55:00.000-05:00

Kat is a Senior Account Executive here at Rocket Red who is a wealth of knowledge and an invaluable asset to the company. Here's what Kat had to say...

Time at Rocket Red: 1 year and 9 months

Favorite Project: The Global Report Card Website - and not just because we were named an official honoree of the Webbys!

Alma Mater: Austin College, Sherman, TX

Prior Work Experience: I've been both client side and agency side with time spent at Madix, Inc., mundayMorning Creative Group, Agency Creative and Rocket Red.

Hobbies: When I'm not in the office I am typically running...and then running some more. I also am a crazy person when it comes to shopping for bargains (TJ Maxx and Ross are just a few fav stores). And of course I make sure to spend lots of time with my family and close friends - always with a nice glass of red wine:)

If you were to surprise me with a random gift tomorrow, I'd want: "The no exercise, but I'm still really skinny" pill that comes inside a Fig Newton. A fat-free Fig Newton of course.

Why I Love Rocket Red: Let me count the ways!! Our amazingly fun culture that never allows for a dull moment is something to look forward to every day. Here at Rocket Red, you can work on a variety of client and neat projects while learning and preparing for the next best thing to come our way!

Each month we highlight a different member of the Rocket Red team. We hope you enjoy getting to know us a little better!

Last Week's Post: The Value of Creativity

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The Value of Creativity

2012-04-25T09:19:00.000-05:00

How important is creativity to you?

Adobe recently released a creativity study coinciding with the launch of their new "Creative Cloud" application for Android and Ipad. Adage.com reports that the study featuring 5,000 adults in the USA, United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Japan was intended to find out how creativity is valued in different regions.

The results were somewhat surprising, with American’s viewing themselves as more creative than respondents from other countries. Though only 39% of all participants viewed themselves as creative, in the USA that number rose to 52%. In addition, while only 6 in 10 of the total respondents said that creativity was valuable to their country's economy, in the USA that ratio was 7 in 10.

The problem, however, is that the majority of respondents felt creativity is being suppressed. Many said that the education system was part of the problem, seeing as arts programs are typically one of the first things cut when the budget gets tightened.

Additionally, most study participants felt that their work environment wasn't conducive to creativity and that productivity was valued more than creativity in the workplace. This sentiment was incredibly strong, with as many as 80% of American and 85% of French respondents agreeing.

But what can we do about it? Many of the most aspirational new companies like Google are known for their laid back offices and open culture that encourages idea sharing, but is that type of work environment a reasonable goal for all industries? Could every type of company, from accounting to health care, benefit from more creativity on the job, or is creativity just not that important for many types of work?

Here at Rocket Red we love to share the latest new trend or video we find, and we even keep a Pinterest board to log all of them. As a full-service advertising agency we recognize the importance of keeping our creative juices flowing so that we can surprise and delight our clients with the best possible results. Could this belief that creativity leads to the best solutions be of use even in the most straightforward and technical fields as well?

Tell us what you think!

Rocket Red is a 2012 Webby Honoree

2012-04-16T16:15:00.000-05:00

Last week Rocket Red was announced as a 2012 Webby Honoree for its work on The Global Report Card. For the past 16 years, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences have honored excellence on the Internet, and this year there were over 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards are the Internet's most respected symbol of success and Rocket Red is thrilled to have been selected.

The Global Report Card was developed by Jay P. Greene and Josh B. McGee as part of the George W. Bush Institute's Education Reform Initiative. The study compares academic achievement in math and reading between 2004 and 2007 for virtually every public school district in the United States with the average achievement in a set of 25 other countries with developed economies that might be considered our economic peers and sometime competitors. As the data proves, America's education problems do not only exist in poor and urban areas. Even some of the most affluent zip codes tested average or below average when placed next to International peers. The hope is that providing this information will inspire more citizens to work for Academic reform.

Rocket Red received the study's data and was charged with the task of bringing it to life. Our team developed not only the website that houses the information, but also created understandable and appealing visuals for readers. From the maps and graphs to the search functions and navigation, the entire Global Report Card website was a work of Rocket Red's hardworking team. The result is a clean, functional, and beautiful website that makes an important study accessible to everyone.

We are so proud of our work and ecstatic to be named a Webby Honoree in the Education category.

World Water Day

2012-03-23T15:49:00.001-05:00

March 22^nd was World Water Day. This day draws attention to the current global water crisis and the importance of water to public health. Many organizations fighting for water sanitation have used social media to help spread the cause toward clean water across the globe. One good example of this is “Charity: Water.”

Charity: Water has launched a new site about giving up your birthday for clean water. People around the world can pledge to give up their birthday for clean water, meaning friends’ gifts will go toward helping 2.5 million people affected by Charity: Water projects around the world. This is one of the main fundraisers for the organization. The founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, has given up three of his birthdays, and Justin Bieber recently gave up his 18^thbirthday to support the cause. Followers of Dorsey and Bieber on Twitter have helped donate to the special cause and have helped millions of people all over the world. To learn more about World Water Day, click here!

Pinterest: The Newest Trend in Social Media

2012-02-10T14:48:00.002-06:00

Pinterest is the hottest trend that is getting all of the social media attention these days. So what is Pinterest? It is a mix between a social networking site and an online scrapbook where users can create and manage theme-based image collections. The mission statement for the site is to “connect everyone in the world through the things they find interesting.”

Pinterest is becoming a social media bombshell and there is great opportunity for retailers to sell their goods online through Pinterest. Although it is still somewhat new and an invite-only community, the possibility for brands is huge on this platform.

This service allows users to create online bulletin boards, known as “pinboards” for popular categories such as home décor, food inspiration, wedding inspiration, places they’d like to travel, etc. Pinterest members can use their iPhone app or Pinterest’s “Pin It” bookmarklet tool to save things they see online. They can also explore and repin the images their friends have saved through their newsfeeds. Right now Pinterest is popular mostly among women, but the company is working on ways to get men more involved.

Launched in 2010, Pinterest is already experiencing wild growth. The site has registered more than 7 million unique visitors so far and is driving more traffic to company websites and blogs than Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube combined. This is a substantial amount of traffic, especially for a social network that most marketers still don’t know exists! If you have yet to experience Pinterest, take a look for yourself here!

Now that you know what it is and how it works…how can you use Pinterest to promote your business?

1. Market your products: create a Pinterest account for your business and pin your own products. It’s kind of like creating an online catalog of your products.

2. Lead prospects to your website: adding a price tag to your pins and linking it to your product website allows prospects to learn more about the products they see on Pinterest and possibly purchase them.

3. Showcase your services: if you are an interior designer, landscape artist or an architect, for example, you can create a virtual portfolio of your work on Pinterest.

4. Engage with users: Pinterest is a fabulous social network, so time should be taken to form relationships with other Pinterest users to build a community around your particular brand.

TV Tweeting

2012-02-02T11:13:00.000-06:00

A recent article from AdAge.com tells us that "Social-TV" is on the rise. It seems that people aren't just using Facebook and Twitter to talk about themselves anymore, but are now commenting on their favorite TV shows as well.

The ever increasing number of social media users in general means it's hard to compare TV shows that air at different times throughout the year, so instead Bluefin Labs looked at increases in "Social-TV" for individual TV shows from 2011 to 2012.

Any guesses on which TV shows saw the most dramatic climb?

source

The number one spot goes to Desperate Housewives with a year over year increase of 836%! The number two and three spots to go Parks and Recreation (739%) and Jersey Shore (612%), respectively. Other noteable spikes were seen for American Idol, The Bachelor, and Southland with the average growth for the top 20 being 362%.

That's huge!

I know some of us here at Rocket Red have been known to send a quick message about some of The Bachelor drama on Monday nights. Guilty pleasure!

So you're turn to share - have you contributed to the rise in "Social-TV"? What's your favorite show to talk about?

Play-by-Play with the Coca-Cola Polar Bears

2012-01-27T13:49:00.000-06:00

With Super Bowl XLVI coming up in just over a week, it is quite the buzz. This will not be the first match-up between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, and both teams are far from being Super Bowl rookies. This year marks the second time in the past five years these two teams will have a Super Bowl face-off. The Patriots, the Giants, and viewers will not be the only veterans present at this year’s world championship game, as big-name advertisers are once again flexing their ad muscles for the big game next Sunday.

As these marketers return year after year, a benefit they receive is the ability to plan ahead. One particular example of this is Coca-Cola. In years past, everyone can recall the Coca-Cola ads with their iconic polar bears. Coca-cola is a Super Bowl regular because they know that it is a huge cultural moment where people come together for a great time. Large-scale occasions like these are ideal for marketing their products. The managers at Coca-Cola are taking it a step up this year and campaigning a live video stream of the Coca-Cola polar bears throughout Super Bowl XLVI. They are hosting their website through Facebook, and it can be viewed here.

This is a huge step for Coca-Cola. The video stream contents will be in real time as the polar bears react to the game. Some polar bears will be wearing red for the Patriots and some in blue for the Giants. Not only will they show their reactions to the game, but also to the halftime show and all of the commercials. One funny element to expect during Pepsi commercials is the polar bears sleeping in front of the television.

In addition to this live video stream, Coca-Cola has prepped two different versions of their :60 commercial that will run during the second quarter. They will determine which one to run when they see if the Giants or the Patriots have the upper hand. Click here to view a sneak peek of the potential ad.

Whoever you decide to cheer for next Sunday, be sure to follow the Coca-Cola polar bears as they watch Super Bowl XLVI with you here!

Have it Your Way at Home!

2012-01-25T13:46:00.001-06:00

When thinking of home delivery, the first to pop into mind for most is Pizza Hut, Dominos and other local pizza joints. Well, that could soon be changing as Burger King has begun testing home delivery at four of its restaurants within the Washington, D.C. area. With high hopes in creating an industry change, Burger King’s home delivery could expand nationwide by next spring as they would be the only burger chain to deliver directly to your home (McDonald’s offers delivery to businesses only).

Worried about your time-sensitive burger and fries arriving in a soggy mess? Not to worry. A thermal packaging technology was developed to ensure your meal arrives hot and fresh. It even has separate compartments for each bun – genius! Locations try to deliver within 30 minutes of the time you call in or submit your order online (that’s right – you can now order fast food online!). Depending on the location, customers can expect an additional $1-$3 tacked on to your bill as a delivery service fee (and it's so worth it!).

Click here to see if delivery is offered in your neighborhood, and be sure to let us know if you think Burger King’s delivery is here to stay!

Super Bowl XLVI

2012-01-12T16:26:00.000-06:00

With Super Bowl XLVI quickly approaching, NBC Universal announced last week they have sold all advertising space for the highly-anticipated game which will air on February 5th. Advertisers understand the importance in claiming their presence during this year’s Super Bowl as it reached a U.S. record last year with 111 million viewers.

According to NBC, a 30-second spot on average will cost advertisers a whopping $3.5 million with some costing as much as $4 million. In a recent report by The Wall Street Journal, ad slots have increased 59% since 2001. But what could be the cause for such a high increase within the past decade you ask? Sure, it has a lot to do with the increasing amounts of viewers over the years (see charts below), but how many people are watching isn’t as important as who is watching.

The Nielsen Company noted the Super Bowl’s audience is young, has money and is willing to spend it. In addition, there are those who could care less about which team actually wins the Lombardy Trophy and instead watch the game solely for the advertising entertainment. Ever notice how Monday morning after the Super Bowl, talk around the office includes buzz about the “best” ads? The Nielsen Company also reported Super Bowl commercials prove to be 58% more memorable compared to the average TV spots. The most popular commercials last year are Volkswagen’s mini Darth Vader “Force”, the Bridgestone beaver and a Doritos chip craving-pug.

Click here to check out the top commercials that changed Super Bowl marketing and be sure to leave us comments on Facebook and Twitter to let us know which 2012 Super Bowl commercials become your new favorites!

Think You Have the Flu? Check out Sickweather.com

2011-11-01T12:03:00.001-05:00

Dallas -

As we were browsing (some might call it 'filtering') through some of today's headlines, we came across an interesting article from Fast Company's new social endeavor, Co.Exist: "Sickweather," a new startup Website currently in beta.

According to the article, Sickweather combs through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to find if people are talking about being sick or co-workers coming down with a nasty bug.

Essentially, Sickweather is a sickness aggregator, compiling data on to a map of your area to let you know what illnesses could be heading your way.

With cold and flu season just around the corner, we're hoping that Sickweather will workout the algorithm bugs currently keeping them from taking the site public, and will keep us on our toes to stay healthy and take preventative measures as the holiday season approaches.

Sickweather is encouraging people to sign up for e-mail alerts for when the site goes public, so click on over to www.sickweather.com and stay updated and healthy!

Crippled by Natural Disasters, Japanese Tourism Agency Goes Social to Bolster Economy

2011-10-12T09:34:00.043-05:00

Dallas -

At first glimpse, it seemed too good to be true.

The headline "Japan offers free trips to boost tourism" seemed like one of those spam e-mails from a Ugandan prince seeking to rejoin his family that had been exiled - all you need to do is give him your bank account information and social security number.

But when I saw that this story was being picked up by Bloomberg, ABC News and CNN, any doubts slowly faded away.

Pending approval from government agencies and lawmakers, tourists from around the world could be receiving free, round-trip airline tickets to Japan by April of 2012. Pending is the key word here, but Japan's tourism industry has been decimated by the earthquake and tsunami of last March and they are hoping that this "bailout" of sorts will help revive a rebuilding nation.

There is one interesting catch to this story -- Japan's Tourism Agency will require of each traveler, a "social itinerary," meaning they must publicize their journey via social media channels, in hopes of assuring others that traveling throughout the country is safe. The big worry is radiation from the nuclear power plants that were disabled by the March earthquake, especially in areas such as the Fukushima Prefecture, which is 180 miles northeast of Tokyo.

Japanese officials have made it clear that traveling to the nation of 127 million people is perfectly safe, albeit it you stay clear of areas that have been cordoned off by nuclear energy agencies.

Would you blog about your journey to Japan or post your videos and photos to Facebook? Are you still worried about the radiation?

Follow the Twitter hashtag #freeJapantrip as more details arrive from Tokyo, and we will be keeping you up-to-date on the blog and our social media sites. Send us your comments on our Facebook page by clicking here!

The State Fair of Texas - Big Fair, Big Brand

2011-10-05T12:02:00.027-05:00

Dallas -

From a thousand different vantage points in our "fair" city, you'll see the gigantic Texas Star Ferris wheel, the largest such wheel in North America, welcoming visitors to Dallas.

At 212 ft. (21 stories), it dominates Fair Park and has been one of the most visible non-skyscrapers to dot the Dallas skyline since it debuted in 1985.

When it comes to branding at the State Fair of Texas, you might think about the livestock that is hauled in from points as far as El Paso to right next door in Fort Worth. There's plenty of branding going on, but we're not talking about cattle here!

The Star of Texas is just one of the hundreds of iconic brands that almost 2.6 million fair-goers saw in 2010 and will see again this year as the annual State Fair of Texas is now in its first full week of operation.

True to our "Texas Hospitality" roots, one particular gentleman will greet you as you make your way through the turnstile and onto the midway - Big Tex.

At 52 ft. tall and decked out in Dickies denim, Big Tex has been greeting fair-goers with a big Texas "howdy" since 1952. In fact, the Fair's official Website is named in his honor, which only adds to Tex's larger-than-life legacy. This is, literally, a huge branding opportunity for Dickies. Every four years, Big Tex gets a new wardrobe from the Fort Worth-based company.

When Dickies took to Facebook and Twitter to ask what new shirt design Big Tex should wear this year, over 20,000 people voted. That's an incredible opportunity for the clothing and apparel manufacturer.

The branding opportunities at the State Fair of Texas are as big as the Lone Star State - The Auto Show has grown to take up almost 300,000 square feet of prime real estate in Fair Park, giving Ford, GM and Chrysler plenty of room for their latest fleet members and demo cars.

The Fair gives the Big Three and other OEMs the opportunity to roll out new trucks in the largest truck market in the country. Industry insiders expect to see models boasting higher fuel efficiency and in-cabin technology offerings this year, as truck sales continue to rise in Texas.

After checking out the latest from Detroit, sit yourself down for a real taste of Texas; no trip to Fair Park and the State Fair of Texas is complete without a corny dog from Fletcher's or a fried Twinkie. For those less adventurous, there's always some good old-fashioned Texas BBQ for hungry patrons.

During the 24-day Fair, two more iconic brands descend upon Dallas to grind it out on the gridiron, as the University of Texas Longhorns and the University of Oklahoma Sooners meet for their annual Red River Rivalry game at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday, Oct. 8.

A sea of Burnt Orange and Crimson will take over much of the action during the second weekend of fair operations, so make sure to plan accordingly this weekend if you're brave enough to venture to Fair Park.

Enjoy all the offerings of the greatest State Fair in America and we hope to see you there! As always, let us know what you like and didn't like this year by leaving your comments for us on Facebook and @RocketRedDallas on Twitter!

Twitter, Journalists, Providing 'Raw Draft' of History

2011-09-27T08:52:00.013-05:00

Dallas -

When the Library of Congress announced in 2010 that it planned on archiving Twitter posts, I thought to myself, 'what a gigantic waste of time.' I could not have been more mistaken in my assessment.

As a self-anointed history buff, I failed to look at this enormous digital undertaking from a historical perspective and failed to see how valuable of a tool this is for journalists.

Browsing an incredible article from Poynter's Mallary Jean Tenore today, she highlights the story of NPR's senior product manager for online communities' Andy Carvin, who's Tweets from Cairo, Tripoli and and Sanaa (Yemen) gave followers of the 'Arab Spring' uprisings a glimpse into the front lines of a revolution.

Carvin, a former coordinator of the Digital Divide Network, recently purchased from the Library of Congress his own archive of Tweets and plans to turn them into a database.

Ms. Tenore makes a great point when she says that 'Real-Time Tweets hold Long-Term value.' Journalists that are embedded in war zones or are chronicling humanitarian efforts are essentially providing us with a 'raw draft' of history, whether they are aware of it or not.

We are making history with every Tweet we send out. Whether it's one word or 140 of them, we must remember that we are chartering our own digital history.

Winston Churchill, who once famously said "History is written by the victors," might not have approved of Twitter, because history is now being written by all of us.

Send us your feedback, comments and suggestions to our Twitter page, @RocketRedDallas.