So it’s the 21st century, and lots of brands want the public to know that they’re invested in the most powerful social movements of the day — be they environmental, ethical, or cultural. We also know that audience engagement is often the most important element of a successful social media-powered PR campaign. Social@Ogilvy recently conducted a study and published a white paper on the phenomenon, and we had a chance to talk to the firm’s “Global MD” John Bell about its conclusions.

What inspired you to conduct this study?

Our original motivation came from working with major brands on the idea of creating a movement around a major issue that both coincides with business goals and serves the larger social good. The Pepsi Refresh project, for example, not only benefited the company but also the communities that received funding. The “members project” from American Express was similar.

We’ve been designing big social programs for a while, but when considering the word “movement” we asked: how big is big — especially when the idea is centered around a brand?

What were the study’s parameters?

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Social@Ogilvy–a new Ogilvy & Mather practice created to connect the agency’s global social media experts and deliver solutions across all areas of business–appointed Peter Fasano as senior vice president and head of Social@Ogilvy Atlanta. Reporting to Ogilvy Public Relations (Ogilvy PR) Atlanta managing director Mickey Nall, Fasano leads a growing team dedicated to developing and implementing cutting-edge social business strategies and solutions for clients. (Release)

VPE Public Relations announced the hiring of Veronica Rodriguez as account director as the organization expands its East Coast operations. In her new role, Rodriguez will oversee the Verizon Wireless account and expand the agency’s business on the East Coast. She will be based in New York. Rodriguez previously served as a senior PR and social media manager at Hispanic PR and advertising agencies in New York. (PRWeek)

MillerCoors has appointed Rudy Rodriguez senior director for multicultural marketing. Mr. Rodriguez comes to MillerCoors from General Mills, where he spent nine years as director for multicultural marketing. According to a MillerCoors memo, Rodriguez will be responsible for “leading our multicultural team to acquire more volume and share among Hispanic, African-American and LGBT audiences.” (AdAge)

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Ogilvy & Mather, one of the sponsors of Social Media Week (which starts today), has used the occasion to launch Social@Ogilvy, a global practice that brings together the company’s digital experts across companies and around the world.

The division began with Ogilvy PR and now spans across marcomms, sales, and other areas. There are 550 social media experts and another 4,000 digital experts working within the group. John Bell, who is delivering an #SMW12 keynote as we type, is the global MD of Social@Ogilvy, working out of the group’s HQ in New York. Christopher Graves, CEO of Ogilvy PR Worldwide and Gunther Schumacher, COO of OgilvyOne are among the others heading the division.

After the jump, we’ve got a Slideshare deck from the group called “Does investing in social media create business value?” And you can click here to check out the Social@Ogilvy blog.

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