More Than 851,000 Members Join the Aflac Cancer Center Facebook Cause

<h2Aflac ‘Causes Campaign on Facebook’ Raises $1.16 Million for Fight Against Pediatric Cancer

Aflac (NYSE: AFL) announced that it has raised more than $1.16 million for the Aflac Cancer Center through a matching grant campaign with Causes on Facebook, making it the largest sponsored campaign in the history of Causes. The effort also resulted in 851,215 new members joining the Aflac Cancer Center Cause, helping to generate awareness and financial support during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

The Causes application on Facebook has more than 85 million users who have created over 300,000 charitable causes that have benefited 60,000 nonprofits in the United States and Canada. Donors have used the Causes application on Facebook to give more than $14 million to these organizations. Prior to the launch of Aflac’s pediatric cancer Cause, the largest matching grant on a Facebook Cause was $100,000.

“Thanks to Aflac’s campaign to raise money for childhood cancer and blood disorders on Causes on Facebook, children at the Aflac Cancer Center will be assured cutting edge treatment and clinical research to get them back to being kids,” said Dr. William G. Woods, Director of the Aflac Cancer Center. “With every dollar raised we offer new hope for our kids and their families.”

“Our goal is to find a cure,” said Aflac chairman and CEO Dan Amos. “We want to thank the more than 851,000 people who rose to the challenge and joined Aflac’s fight against pediatric cancer. With their help we can continue the progress that has seen survival rates soar from 20 percent in the 1980’s to 80 percent today.”

Aflac Chairman and CEO Dan Amos personally contributed $100,000 to the cause, and his donation, like all the others, was matched dollar-for-dollar by Aflac. NASCAR driver Carl Edwards, who is sponsored by Aflac, responded to Amos’s gesture by contributing his portion of his team’s earnings from the September 6th race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“Aflac’s $1 million initiative is the largest sponsored cause that we have ever seen on Facebook and it demonstrates the growing philanthropic power of Causes,” said Joe Green, founder of Causes. “This matching grant is a success not only because of the money raised, but also because 851,215 individuals were empowered to make a difference through peer to peer activism. We’re delighted that Aflac chose our application to generate awareness and that together, we were so successful in producing potentially life-saving results for children with cancer.”

Each year the Aflac Cancer Center treats more than 350 new cancer patients. It also provides the largest sickle cell disease program in America, with 1,635 active cases and has cured more children of sickle cell disease than any treatment center in the nation. In addition to funding research and treatment, Aflac contributions serve other critical needs, including new facilities, a new state-of-the-art pediatric research building, and endowments for the Family Support Team and Fellowship Program. In August, the Aflac Cancer Center announced that Aflac had surpassed $50 million in donations to this cause.

About Aflac:

For more than 50 years, Aflac products have given policyholders the opportunity to direct cash where it is needed most when a life-interrupting medical event causes financial challenges. As the number one provider of guaranteed-renewable insurance in the United States and the number one insurance company in terms of individual insurance policies in force in Japan, Aflac insurance products provide protection to more than 40 million people worldwide. In 2009, Aflac was recognized by Ethisphere magazine as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the third consecutive year and was also named by the Reputation Institute as the Most Reputable Company in the Global Insurance Industry for the second consecutive year. In 2009 Fortune magazine recognized Aflac as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America for the eleventh consecutive year. Fortune magazine also ranked Aflac No. 1 on its global list of America’s Most Admired Companies in the Life and Health Insurance category. Aflac appears on Hispanic Enterprise magazine’s list of the 50 Best Companies for Supplier Diversity and on Black Enterprise magazine’s list of the 40 Best Companies for Diversity. Aflac was also named by Forbes magazine as America’s Best-Managed Company in the Insurance category. Aflac Incorporated is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol AFL. To find out more about Aflac, visit aflac.com.

About Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta:

The Aflac Cancer Center and Blood Disorders Service of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is a national leader among childhood cancer, hematology, and blood and marrow transplant programs, serving infants to young adults. Recognized as one of the top childhood cancer centers in the country by U.S.News & World Report, the Aflac Cancer Center treats more than 350 new cancer patients each year and follows more than 2,500 patients with sickle cell disease, hemophilia and other blood disorders. Visit www.aflaccancercenter.org or call 404-785-1112 or 888-785-1112 for more information.

SOURCE Aflac

A Media Revolution: the inclusion of Social Media

Tribune Co. Launches National Marketing Initiative

In a major national marketing initiative, Tribune Co. today announced the launch of Tribune365 (www.trb365.com), its multichannel sales solutions group providing customized marketing programs to advertisers looking to reach consumers across a variety of media platforms. Tribune365 gives marketers unprecedented, consolidated access to the nation’s top markets, and makes its official debut in a national media campaign of its own that breaks today in ad trade publications.

Tribune Co., whose properties across the U.S. include major-market newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Orlando Sentinel, 23 local TV stations (including KTLA-TV in Los Angeles and WPIX-TV in New York), and radio, digital, and mobile assets, will deliver results for national and local advertisers at a time when they are demanding solutions that work. Tribune365 was recently selected by the Dallas Morning News to serve as its national sales representative.

“As a content company, we’re in the business of delivering the local news, information and entertainment that consumers are looking for when, where and how they want it,” said Don Meek, president, Tribune365. “Tribune365 gives our marketing partners unique access to innovative, multi-platform solutions that help reach their target audiences and meet their business goals.”

Specifically, Tribune365’s national marketing initiatives include:

  • National advertising campaign: Using the tagline “Tribune. We Deliver.”, the campaign includes a series of executions in major advertising publications, both in print and online. In the ads, consumers are depicted in various locations (on the beach, on the train, at home) getting their news from Tribune’s collection of diverse media properties. The campaign positions Tribune as a multimedia company that is innovating amidst the evolving media landscape and delivering news to consumers according to their preferences.
  • Proprietary research: In partnership with Cincinnati, OH-based firm Personal Media Research, Tribune365 commissioned a national study on local media to more closely examine the way in which consumers get their local news and information, and the way advertising across various media platforms influences their purchase decisions. Among the study’s findings, consumers consider local news and information particularly valuable in their purchase decisions. Newspapers, in particular, rank stronger than all media on key measures related to ad trust and the shopping occasion. While no single medium has the “magic bullet”, the study finds that the best marketing solutions involve a combination of media as consumers choose to get their news from a variety of media and platforms throughout the day.
  • Web/podcasts: Through a microsite, http://trb365.com/tribunewedeliver, Tribune365 developed a series of podcasts featuring conversations with key members of the company’s leadership team, who speak to the vitality of newspapers and offer insights into how consumers get their local news across a variety of platforms.

“A good offense is always the best defense and we’re committed to evolving the business we’re in and leveraging the power of our local media assets,” said Meek. “We are already seeing positive results from advertisers who have come to us for innovative solutions to connect with their consumers.”

About Tribune365

TRIBUNE365 National Solutions Group is the new national, cross-platform sales team for Tribune Company, offering advertisers customized, innovative, multi-market solutions across all media platforms, including TV, print, digital, mobile, direct and event marketing. For more information about TRIBUNE365, including sales contacts, visit www.trb365.com.

About Tribune Co.

TRIBUNE is America’s largest employee-owned media company, operating businesses in publishing, interactive and broadcasting. In publishing, Tribune’s leading daily newspapers include the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, Sun Sentinel (South Florida), Orlando Sentinel, Hartford Courant, Morning Call and Daily Press. The company’s broadcasting group operates 23 television stations, WGN America on national cable, Chicago’s WGN-AM and the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Popular news and information websites complement Tribune’s print and broadcast properties and extend the company’s nationwide audience. At Tribune we take what we do seriously and with a great deal of pride. We also value the creative spirit and nurture a corporate culture that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

SOURCE Tribune Co.

Social Media Success Story Flawlessly Executed

A brilliant example of an Advertising campaign and Social Media success story with flawless  execution and of how to measure social media results:

Social Media Success Story: media exposure equaled $6.67 million in ad spend

The campaign “One Thousand Casmurros,” made for the biggest TV network in Brazil, Rede Globo. It was the agency’s first entry in Cannes.

Commemorating 100 years since the death of one of the greatest writers Brazil has ever seen, Machado de Assis, Rede Globo launched a miniseries inspired by one of his best-known books, “Dom Casmurro.” In order to promote it, LiveAd divided the book contents in a thousand pieces and organized a collective reading of the entire text, inviting people to upload their homemade videos reading in front of their webcams. The videos were posted on a special social network.

To pay tribute to one of Brazil’s most respected writers, Machado de Assis, the largest TV network in Brazil was launching a mini-series based on one of his books, Dom Casmurro.

Through the launch of the mini-series, we needed to build up TV Globo’s reputation with a new generation, disconnected from the television.

We created a website with the book and divided it into one thousand excerpts. In the website, people could choose and record pieces in real time with their webcam. We enabled a large scale collective reading.

At the same time, we hid one thousand DVDs with unique scenes in public places for people to find them and hide them again once they had seen it.

The results were astonishing: Spontaneous media exposure equaled $6.67 million in ad spend.


One Thousand Casmurros from Livead on Vimeo

In less than a month, the reading was completed ending in a total social media success story.

Influential admirers talked about it in public. 33 million viewers watched the series’ first episode. The media called it the best tribute to Machado de Assis of 2008.

Almost 106 million people were exposed to press notes related to the mini-series.

The subsequent media exposure was worth the equivalent of 6,7 million dollars in advertising spend.

Roundhouse Mini Cooper London guerilla marketing ads
Have a Social Media Crisis Plan
Social with Hispanics
Elianne Ramos is the principal and CEO of Speak Hispanic Communications and vice-chair of Communications and PR for LATISM.
never lose your sense of wonder

A brief introduction to Social Media

What is your Social Media goal?

Social media sites are becoming a major strategy for brands and business.

What tools should we use to get a return on our social media efforts?

Use them all. But use the tools for different purposes and audiences.

When you are on Twitter you are everybody’s friend. Simple as that. Facebook is your home. Who do you entertain in your home? Facebook is the place where you can truly connect with your audience. LinkedIn is your office. There are thousands of social media sites: YouTube, Digg, Reddit, Delicious, hubspot, winelifetoday, univision.

Log in to our site and watch the rest of the introduction to Social Media presentation to learn Twitter basics and tips to increase your follower base. Do not overextend yourself on social media and increase your connections!

 

Click on social media presentation to advance

First Hispanic Website for New Moms on Natural Family Care

New Site to Serve Community of Latina Mothers across the U.S. and First Hispanic Website for New Moms on Natural Family Care

Hyland’s, Inc., a leading provider of natural over-the-counter medicines, announced today that it has launched ComienzosSaludables.com (Comienzos Saludables), a unique social networking, education-based website for Latina mothers. Comienzos Saludables continues Hyland’s strategy to improve the availability of, and accessibility to, important healthcare resources for this growing population. The new site offers Hispanic mothers a fully bilingual Spanish/English community to assist with information on pregnancy, infant care, raising a family, healthy lifestyle, and treating your family’s health issues with natural medicines.

Hispanic Website for New Moms: New Site to Serve Community of Latina Mothers across the U.S.

Hispanic Website for New Moms: New Site to Serve Community of Latina Mothers across the U.S.

Comienzo Saludables marks Hyland’s latest initiative to reach out to the Hispanic consumer. Already, the company has made packaging on 22 products Spanish/English bilingual, developed a baby development calendar in Spanish and sponsored a community health worker, Promotoras, program called Salud con Hyland’s. Now, with usage of social networking sites by Hispanics up 200% in 2006 (Forrester’s Hispanic Technographics Series Research), Hyland’s delivers this new resource for Latina mothers.

“Hyland’s has a longstanding commitment to providing accessible healthcare,” said J.P. Borneman, PhD, chairman and CEO of Hyland’s, Inc. “With 25% of U.S. moms of Hispanic origin, that access, in this case, comes in the form of a website full of culturally relevant, in-language educational material for Hispanic families. Our goal is to empower pre- and post-natal Hispanic mothers with information and a community of support as they strive to give their babies the very healthiest start in life.”

Studies show that a growing number of Hispanics are online and seeking information in their own language. Specifically, according to eMarketer, 23 million U.S. Hispanics were online in 2008 and that number is expected to surpass 29 million by 2012. Also, according to AOL/Roper Public Affairs Hispanic Cyberstudy 2005, Spanish language content is important to 75% of Hispanic web users.

Comienzos Saludables brings health information and social media, in a fully bilingual format, together to address this growing demographic. With 70% of Latina mothers under the age of 30, and with an increasing number of Hispanics shown to have a natural affinity for online social networking, Hyland’s expects tremendous response from Latina mothers to its new site. Free membership to Comienzos Saludables, or Healthy Beginnings, provides access to interactive community tools, including community forums, photo galleries, blogs, personal profile pages, over 400 articles on family health and lifestyle topics, and monthly newsletters. The site is divided into the following sections: Healthy Pregnancy; Your Baby; Parent’s Corner; Home Remedies and Homeopathy; Healthy and Natural Lifestyle; and Community.

Comienzos Saludables features the latest in web 2.0 technologies and provides a secure, friendly online environment for Latinas to stay in touch with their friends and family, as well as make new connections by sharing tips, advice and experiences of motherhood with others.

When it comes to a kid's television-viewing habits, the mom's language can matter.
New Site to Serve Community of Latina Mothers across the U.S.
Kids with Cancer
Hispanic Children In U.S. At Greater Risk For Obesity Than Other Ethnic/Racial Groups

Visit www.comienzossaludables.com or www.hylandshealthybeginnings.com to join the new online community.

Source: Yahoo