Social media has become incredibly influential in recent times, even impacting world events like the Arab Spring uprisings and the 2012 US Presidential election. Companies haven’t failed to notice this either; in the last few years, a number of highly creative and effective marketing campaigns have had social media as a major – or indeed, the only – component. 

Take, for example, the KFC ‘Good Times’ campaign, which uses social media to mobilize Good Charlotte music fans. Fans are encouraged to visit the KFC Facebook page and post inspiration to band frontmen Benji and Joel Madden, who will then write a song to be performed on Australia Day 2013. It’s a fun way for a company to tap into popular culture. Social media has made marketing a much more interactive affair.

Let’s take a look at five more innovative marketing campaigns of 2012 that have used social media to get the public engaged.

5. Macy’s Department Store

The all-encompassing social media campaign put together by fashion store Macy’s is to be admired, if purely for the amount of effort that went into it. Featuring the usual Twitter and Facebook integration, the campaign also provides a so-called ‘Backstage Pass’ offering all kinds of goodies to those who sign up. Customers have the chance to go to any Macy’s store and scan QR codes on products they like, enabling them to view videos featuring celebrity fashion advice for that particular item. It’s a low-cost method of bringing glamour to individuals’ shopping experiences and it’s working; to date Macy’s has over 4.9 million likes on Facebook.

4. Nike at the 2012 London Olympics

Nike pulled off a coup this year in its continuing battle with rival Adidas, managing to eclipse the official sponsor of the 2012 London Olympics with an aggressive marketing strategy. The campaign, driven by the Twitter handle #findgreatness, chose to eschew the usual round-up of sports celebrities in favour of ordinary athletes. While Adidas spent millions on ad campaigns featuring Team GB and other sporting greats, Nike concentrated on increasing its visibility in and around London. The message was a simple one: everyone has greatness within them, not just famous athletes. The dissemination of this inspirational life lesson did wonders for Nike, resulting in over 16,000 tweets about the brand during the Games as well as an extra 166,000 Facebook likes.

3. The Hunger Games

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, chances are you’ve heard of The Hunger Games. The tremendously successful film adaptation of the series of books began this year with an advertising campaign that encouraged fans enter into a virtual Hunger Games universe. A link from the film’s Facebook page leads you to a website, where you can register as a citizen of Panem, the dystopian setting of the film. You are even sent your own District Identification Pass in return for minor postage costs. It’s a fantastic way to get older children engaged with the film and the wider issues it raises.

2. Heinz

Heinz has always been on the ball when it comes to social media, and this year has been no different. Building on last year’s successful ‘Get well‘ soup campaign, in 2012 Heinz created a Facebook app that asked users ‘What kind of bean are you?’ In addition to the fun personality quiz, Heinz offered hourly prizes and goody bags for anyone who could get ten friends to sign up. It’s bribery, perhaps, but there’s no denying the success: over 22,000 people took the quiz and the campaign was estimated to have reached an incredible 11 million people.

1. Cadbury’s

Everyone remembers Cadbury’s delightfully quirky drumming gorilla advert from 2007 and ever since then, the confectioner has continued to take an offbeat approach, crossing over to its use of social media. When Cadbury’s Facebook page reached 1 million likes, the company built a giant ‘like’ thumb out of chocolate to say ‘thank you’. The event was unveiled by live video feed. It allowed the company to engage with consumers and humanized what may otherwise have been seen as a soulless corporation. Endearing themselves to customers, Cadbury’s earned themselves another 40,000 Facebook fans for the trouble. The memorable, light-hearted concept takes my top spot for best social media advertising campaign of 2012.