The "Frozen" campaign that reached Twitter before it even began...

A campaign to mark the release of Disney's "Frozen" on DVD saw children being offered the chance to adopt a snowman. Snowmen were set up in Covent Garden on Wednesday, the morning of the last day of winter, and were said to bring a solution to the snow-less winter seen by the capital this year.

The campaign was noticed on social media before it even began with people tweeting sightings of the snowmen being delivered. This is a prime example of how quickly news can be picked up on through social media

Dear Future Mum...

15 Down's Syndrome sufferers star in an emotional video for World Down Syndrome Day today that has been viewed 1.2 million times in a week, and is being shared all over social media. A concerned mother-to-be emailed the National Association of People with Down Syndrome asking what she can expect her future child's life to be like living with down syndrome. The film was created by Saatchi and Saatchi and is made up of clips of people with down syndrome telling the mother not to worry and that her Son will still be able to live a happy life.

This video addresses the concerns of the mother whilst raising awareness of the condition and spreading the word about World Down Syndrome Day. Video content such as this is a very helpful PR tool to get an important message across, and as it appeals to people's emotions they are likely to share it on their own social media after viewing it. 

#NoMakeUpSelfie

A craze of no-makeup selfies has taken social media by strom over the last 48 hours. Thousands of women have been posting pictures of themselves with no make up and claimed it is to raise awareness of cancer. It all began with people taking their pictures and then nominating their friends to do the same. At this point there was little evidence of people actually donating to cancer charities, causing doubts about the motives behind the activity. However, throughout the day more and more people have been donating to cancer charities as they post their photos.

Cancer Research UK have said that they have no idea where the craze started but that they are in support.

They sent out this tweet, embracing the trend and urging people to donate £3 by text as they upload their selfies. This is a fantastic example of social media listening. Cancer Research have seen what is being done and responded quickly, meaning that their message was able to be linked the the craze. This turned it into a PR campaign that required little effort on their behalf, but one that has gone viral and looks to gain them lots of support and donations. 

Disney On Ice's Instagram Tactic

Disney On Ice have been embracing the power of social media by encouraging people to take pictures amongst Disney characters on their advertisements and posting them on Instagram. The trend takes a very simple idea but creates publicity with people sharing the photos online. The hashtag #DisneyOnIce on Instagram has been linked to the photos and they appear amongst pictures from the shows. The PR tactic is successful because it creates a fun activity in getting children involved in the social media activity whilst gaining publicity for the show.

60% Twitter users read news content on social media that they wouldn't read in print.

A study by Newsworks has found that 60% of twitter users read news channels on Twitter that they wouldn't read in print.It was found that more than half of Twitter users follow at least one UK national newspaper. 43% said they actively post links to articles and 57% retweet stories that interest them.

The results of this study show the growing importance of new media, and how old media is now integrating with social media and being viewed on new platforms. I am very interested to see how this trend continues and whether social media and online news sources will eventually completely take over from print.

Further details of the results of the study can be found here:  http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/03/04/60-twitter-users-engage-newsbrands-social-network-they-wouldnt-read-print-study-says