Awesome things brands did on Social Media in 2013

2014 is already here. Brands have begun to roll out new campaigns, new products and all other things new. We know, we know; but we just couldn’t get over how good a year 2013 was for brands in the world of social media. The crazy Chipotle hack, Oreo’s well-timed Super Bowl post, the return of the Twinkies and so many other amazing events are all probably going down in social media history.

Though thousands of campaigns were rolled out on multiple social platforms, using Unmetric’s new Campaign Intelligence feature, we easily sifted through thousands of brands and discovered the best campaigns, tweets, videos and stunts. Take a trip down memory lane with us to re-live some of the brand wins of the year. And who knows, you may just discover the social media hacks that worked for brands in 2013 to add to your roadmap of social media strategies for 2014.

The year started off with Internet Explorer owning nostalgia. The web browser brand from Microsoft hit the right spot by re-introducing an old friend to the child of the 90s. The video gained over 10 million views in 10 days and remains the most viewed video on the channel. While this was a great way to start the year, what came soon after only got better. By the end of January, everyone was all geared up for the Super Bowl although few more so than an army of
brands, waiting to unleash their campaigns.

Everyone remembers Oreo’s tweet when the power went out, but there were other campaigns that were just as good. Toyota leveraged Kaley Cuoco in their #wishgranted campaign and Tide washed off the Joe Montana stain. Just as the Super Bowl madness settled, the Harlem Shake craze kicked off. Hordes of brands did their own shake but no one shook it as well as RedBull did – how do brands top a Harlem Shake from 3,000 feet?

March was the month Jeff Gordon took an incognito test drive, only to end up with 40 million views. No other video on Pepsi’s channel has come close to this, which is an indication that well executed practical jokes are still loved the world over. Speaking of world loves, the insatiable love for bacon was reiterated in March with Scope’s launch of a Bacon flavored mouthwash. The Facebook post introducing the product is the most engaging post for the whole of the personal care sector in the year.

In April, Dove showed women how good-looking they really are with the Real Beauty Sketches campaign and Evian came out with the dancing babies. May housed Memorial Day but still Xbox stole the thunder with the teaser post to Xbox One which has now become the top post of the Consumer Electronics sector in the year. Geico reminded people their insurance can make them as happy as a camel on “hump day”.

June is a very popular month with the ladies, it’s when God gave the world Kraft dressing’s Zesty guy. The womankind finally understood what it is like for men to watch Axe commercials and sadly after the guy was introduced, no man will ever be good enough. Sigh.

It was also the month when Heineken pulled the insane #dropped PR stunt. The beer brand dared travelers in an airport to take the challenge, spin the wheel and fly to wherever the roulette pointed them to. The experience, I’m sure, must’ve been as exciting as the video deemed it.

The second half of the year was kicked off by the birth of the Royal Baby. While many brands capitalized on this occasion, it was also time for the sweetest comeback in the history of ever – Not following me? Hostess’s Twinkies hit the shelves again.

As kids prepared to go back to school in August, retail brands all launched campaigns to drive ‘Back-To-School’ sales. Kmart’s “My School Bus is my Limo” was a hit as was JCPenney’s #FirstDayLook campaign. Meijer on the other hand organized an instore party for students doing a spot of late night shopping. Chanel told us the story of Coco in September and Burger King even went to the extent of re-christening itself to Fries King for the launch of the
#Satisfries. Our favorite from this month though was Mercedes’s Magic Body control ad that captures the unique control that a chicken has over its body. In a sign of the social times Jaguar, has already done a smart video in reply to this ad. Speaking of cars, Uber launched the cutest event of the year and gave professionals a chance to play and maybe adopt a kitten with their unique #icanhasuberkittens campaign. The brand was mentioned over 14,500 times in the course of this event.

It’s National Cat Day! SEA, SF, & NYC teamed up w/ @Cheezburger to bring you KITTENS…literally. http://t.co/eqB2aqC3DM #ICanHasUberKittens

— Uber (@Uber) October 29, 2013

 

As the year drew closer to the end, Xbox and PS4 sent gamers in to a frenzy with the release of XboxOne and PS4. Both brands came out with campaigns that engaged extremely well and attracted thousands of new fans. Meanwhile, brands didn’t shy away from leveraging BlackFriday and Movember. Volvo captured a year end win by teaming up with Van Damme and executed the epic split, which of course was pretty epic.

Burger King ended the year with a bang thanks to their 64 Pre Roll ads. The brand created exclusive customized ads for 64 different types of videos making the ad that plays before a video an experience in itself.

The year was truly eventful and many campaigns took social media by storm. Social media gives campaigns an edge traditional media never could. Campaigns are interactive like never before and reaching and involving the audience has become easier and customized.

Here are the biggest blockbusters of the year. They sure have set the bar high for 2014. 

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