Digital

In addition to announcing a new corp comms model, the Arthur W. Page Society is having a spring conference in NYC that wraps up today. Yesterday, I sat in on the “CEO Spotlight,” which was placed on healthcare/pharmaceutical company Novartis.

Novartis faces a dilemma, according to CEO Joe Jimenez. “We’re ranked first as Fortune magazine’s most admired pharmaceutical company, but the whole industry suffers from a poor reputation,” he said. He bemoaned that “public trust of pharma even ranks below oil and tobacco.”

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Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

Since last we wrote about the massive popularity of the Kony 2012 campaign, the documentary video created by the group Invisible Children has gone on to become the most viral video in history. Focused on the Lord’s Resistance Army and its leader Joseph Kony, the video reached 100 million views in just six days, beating out Susan Boyle, Lady Gaga, and Rebecca Black.

But that massive viral wave has come with criticism as well as global notoriety. Responses have come from all directions — from the government of Uganda to the leaders of Invisible Children. Moreover, it appears that Jason Russell, the co-founder of Invisible Children and the filmmaker behind the documentary, has cracked under the pressure. He’s been caught on video ranting while taking a naked walk on the streets of San Diego.

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Weber Shandwick has promoted three executives in its digital practice. Chris Vary is now EVP of digital program innovation, Patrick Chaupham has been named SVP of digital operations, and Colin Moffat has been appointed SVP of digital content strategy.

The changes come at a time of even more change in this area of the firm, including the addition of Jim Paul as executive creative director, Matt Dickman as EVP of social business innovation, and Vanessa Muir Johnson as SVP of digital.

In the release announcing the changes, Weber also touts some of the digital practice’s recent work, including the social media launch of Simple Skincare last month, the centennial campaign for L.L. Bean, and the firm’s relationship with Mattel, which includes digital and crisis work.

Domino’s Pizza, Fiat, and Levi’s – what do they all have in common? On the surface, very little. But a New York-based business has named the companies among the top 100 brands with “social currency.”

Vivaldi Partners, a group of three companies that includes a strategic consulting firm and an “organizational change” company, rates social currency on six attributes: affiliation, identity, information, conversation, utility, and advocacy. The firm reviewed and analyzed campaigns coming from across Europe, the Americas, and Asia over the past three years.

To sum it up, Vivaldi says: “Social currency is achieved when consumers: share a video, an image, a blog post, a tweet, or a thought about a brand.”

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The godfather of reality TV, Mark Burnett, has announced that he has partnered with Los Angeles-basd ACTV8.me, meaning anyone with an iPhone, iPad, or Android device will be able to interact with all kinds of juicy reality programs.

Well good. How can a devotee sit through an episode of Celebrity Apprentice without asking his or her entire  network, “Is it just me or is Ivanka a cardboard cut-out???”

Tech companies and viewers have already shown their interest in ways to make TV social. Interactive TV is the new model for marketers whose progress in reaching television viewers has been severely hampered by that enemy, the DVR. Consumers who download the apps and interact with TV shows are rewarded with exclusive content, special offers, and coupons.

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Matthias Lüfkens, head of the World Economic Forum‘s digital group since 2004, is joining Burson-Marsteller to lead its digital team in the EMEA region starting February 1, 2012.

Lüfkens will be based in Geneva and will oversee a team that handles digital efforts including comms strategy, online reputation, and mobile marketing across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

In addition to his work for the World Economic Forum, Lüfkens has worked with a number of Fortune 500 companies, writes a column for a business magazine, Bilan, and speaks at tech events.

For children too young for Second Life but too old for WeeWorld, a Canadian company has launched an online virtual world that promises Internet safety and positive reinforcement. Its name? BunkiMunki.

The tagline, “Unlock the power of happiness,” features a key, and the site encourages children to buy the BunkiMuni keys to wear as jewelry, so they can recognize fellow Munkis on the street.

Tween, one of those irritating “mash-up” words like Frolf and bromance, refers to children between about 8 to 14 years old, some of what used to be known as the pre-teen years. Tweens are a lucrative market, spending upwards of $40 billion annually, the largest amount in video games, footwear, and impulse buys, researchers say. Experts say the mobile phone market for tweens is growing too, with more than 75 percent carrying phones now.

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Publicis Groupe announced today that it has taken a 51 percent stake in Big Fuel, a New York social media agency. Big Fuel will be integrated with Vivaki as the social media arm of the company’s digital firms, which include Digitas and Razorfish.

According to the press release announcing the stake, Publicis could purchase 100 percent of the company by 2014.

Big Fuel has 170 employees, growing from 30 in 2010. Publicis’ press release also states that the company is expected to experience a 500 percent year-over-year increase in revenue to nearly $30 million. Its clients include GM, Clorox, and Colgate-Palmolive.

Last week, Ad Age speculated about the move, writing, “All told, the Big Fuel acquisition gets Publicis one step closer to achieving its goal of deriving 35% of total revenue from digital business.” The article goes into detail about Publicis’ May acquisition of Rosetta Marketing Group for $575 million, another digital investment.

May sales numbers may have shown a decline of 3.7 percent, but the outlook for many auto makers is positive. Over recent months, we’ve noticed increased signs of PR activity across the auto sector. We asked a few PR experts at auto companies what they’re observing and the role that PR is playing in their businesses.

“People are definitely buying more cars,” says Kyle Bazemore, senior manager of Infiniti product communications. The luxury auto brand recently re-upped its partnership with Amex Publishing, targeting gourmet foodies at a series of events over the next few months.

“Now it’s getting to the point where customers are saying, ‘I need a car,’” he added.

Ways of reaching those consumers have changed due to a number of factors.

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