Whether you’re flipping channels on TV or walking around town on the weekend, it’s clear to see there’s a movement happening. Commercials, websites, Facebook applications and people – everywhere – are in pink in support of people affected by breast cancer.

Many of us have been touched by the stories of people affected by cancer. With the advent of social media and social technology, connecting with survivors, discovering a community for support and fundraising online has never been easier.

A perfect example? The Tic Tac: Shake, Share & Care app on Facebook.

The app has two main functions, the first is to share how you’ve helped or cared for someone affected by cancer. Upon submission, your act of sharing will automatically donate $5 to CancerCares, care of Tic Tac.

Secondly, you’re invited to play a game of memory. The game encourages players to challenge their friends. That one action also invites people to share their own stories, thereby increasing Tic Tac’s donation tally – smart!

With this application, Tic Tac is offering a great example of how social technology can be used by brands as a vehicle for social good. We recommend visiting their application now, and sharing your own story. It’s hard to believe that one simple action can amount to so much.

Go on – inspire people who have been affected by cancer. Make a difference.

If you have two minutes instead of just one, please donate your extra minute to vote for both of Invoke’s SXSW panels, which address topics relevant to the subject at hand.

1. Creating Corporate Campaigns on Facebook – WTF?
2. Discovering Lady Kind in the Social Web

Thanks!

Last week, Agency Record interviewed Invoke partner Dario Meli for the series On The Record.  The open format interview touches on Dario’s role at Invoke, HootSuite, Vidrollr as well as the future of Twitter and social media.

AR: Introduce us to yourself, your roll and your company.

Dario: My name is Dario Meli and I, along with David Tedman, run Invoke Media. My responsibilities are on the strategy and revenue generation side. Translation: I run sales and marketing.

AR: In one sentence, sum up your job.

Dario: When not working with my team to create best-in-class web-apps I form strategic partnerships with ad agencies and brands and make sure they are impeccably serviced*.

*Servicing clients isnt talk or nice dinners. It’s accomplishing business objectives and having a hell of a lot of fun doing it!

AR: You are a multi-venture man, so lets start at the core – tell us about starting Novare Res and the 2006 merger with Invoke Media.

Dario: This was very simple. Novare was more design oriented and focused on working with socially responsible organizations. Invoke was more technical but with the same core values. Complimentary skill-sets made working together obvious. It only took one afternoon coffee on a patio for Ryan and I to see it made sense. The rest was just paperwork.

AR: On to Hootsuite then, I know you are closely involved with the platform – take us from its beginnings through to its current success.

Dario: HootSuite, like all Invoke applications, was born out of a need to efficiently execute campaigns for our clients. It started with scheduling tweets and we quickly saw the opportunity to create a central dashboard suitable for a marketing team to really understand what was happening around brands from a social perspective. Monitoring, participation, and measurement have always been at the core. Check out the latest release. It’s just excellent.

AR: Vidrollr is a social video platform you are involved with, how does the platform leverage social aspects and how does it measure social ROI?

Dario: Vidrollr is a unique animal in that it fits into a few different holes. We’re combining it with traditional social media streams to create a social TV tool we call a Social Viewing Companion. It’s slightly under wraps right now but if anybody wants to see an excellent 2-screen approach to engaging and increasing television viewers they should contact me. ROI is measured using a few engagement metrics.

AR: What challenges have you overcome while both helping run a company and launch multiple platforms, what has been you most enduring lesson learned?

Dario: Running a small company with multiple products and services is certainly interesting but the biggest challenge is focus. Once HootSuite was allowed to completely focus on itself and no longer be distracted by some of the other Invoke products it simply rocketed forward. You can expect to see that exact same scenario at least twice this year with two different products. It is about to get very exciting especially for Memelabs, our contesting platform that is about to re-launch in a major way.

AR: How do you stay on top of emerging trends and keep your team informed and motivated?

Dario: Identifying emerging trends for the most part is pretty easy. Anybody can talk about whats going to be hot. Invoke excels in the execution within the context of the trends. We create excellent tools that address the needs of marketers who want to capitalize on the emerging trends, thereby getting a jump on competition, looking cool, and actually accomplishing business goals.

Keeping the team motivated and excited comes from the drive to make the best products available. They all have a voice and a say in the matter and each person contributes their absolute best. I couldn’t be more proud of the people I work with.

AR: Being a true twitterati, with such a unique view on the platform – where do you see it going next?

Dario: Twitter is wrapping things up and taking more control of their platform. Good for them! Tighter restrictions allow for more innovation, not less. Long gone are the days of simply producing another means of tweeting. There is no value in that. So what is next? It’s clear that Twitter has serious ambitions in the geo space, that’s no mystery, but I am as excited as anybody to see if they can take it to a new level and not merely replicate/integrate existing check-in style functionality. That would be boring.

AR: Will Twitter see rivals in the future?

Dario: Even back in the day when they were down as much as up nobody could unseat them. I would say that anybody posing a serious threat to Twitter will have to come from a completely different place.

…

AR: Leave us with a little inspiration or word of wisdom for our readers:

Dario: Ha, I’m going straight-up corny on this one but it’s legit: be genuine, be excellent. There is no more room in this world for half-assed attitudes or products. Have an opinion, don’t be afraid to offend but don’t be afraid to sway either. Fluidity reigns supreme but there is a fine line between being fluid and being irrelevant.

Saving some of the best questions for last, Agency Record seeks out Dario’s views on the future of Twitter and social media.  Be sure to check out the full article here and feel free to leave Dario your questions & comments below.

Want more information regarding Invoke’s Social Viewing Companion, Vidrollr, memelabs or our social media services? Contact us here.

image from Mashable.com

This is Part 2 of a two part series focusing on Facebook’s API and using it to create Facebook applications for brands.

With Invoke’s latest application, we were able to develop a highly customized application that maintained the client’s branding and integrated nicely into Facebook’s framework.  The client Invoke was working with already had a Facebook Fan page with a large number of fans but they needed to give their campaign a boost and make the fan page more dynamic and engaging for their loyal fan base.  Invoke saw this challenge and suggested the solution – add an completely customized app seamlessly through a new tab on the fan page.

How did we do it?  By utilizing FBML (Facebook Markup Language), our team created a user experience that made it apparent this application reflected the clients brand within Facebook.  A major challenge was determining what data was available from the API.  For example, we created an interactive Flash Map that allows users to post events on a map that feed into the Facebook database.  On paper it was a simple task, but the solution proved to be much more complex as the format of the API data was not as expected.  Other aspects of development went smoother than expected.  The application uses Flash to load videos and display a counter for donations.  Because Facebook’s API provides strong support for Flash, these flash pieces were easily reusable as “widgets” that could be posted onto Walls and News Streams.

All of these small details enhanced the user experience for both primary users of the application, and passive users who see the news stream postings.  It’s these “small details” that can lead to big results for the client as passive users “like” a posting, visit the page, become “fans”, and hopefully become primary users.  These metrics are used when determining a marketers ROI.  Within a few days of launching, the application we developed experienced this Facebook effect as the application received more than 1000 signups in just a few days.

In the end, our primary focus with Facebook development is agile development, which requires many iterations with wireframing, design, API research, and programming.  Put all of these together, and it’s a fine balance to launch an application that uses the latest offerings from the API and can be maintained for future revisions down the road.   A well conceived and executed Facebook application is a fun and engaging way to deliver a marketing message or organizational facts. The interactive factor (which is demonstrably important for Facebook users) mobilizes existing fans and turns them into active promoters of your message, which in turn builds the fanbase.  These brand ambassadors will then share and interact via the application and the messaging spreads.

Nashville Flood photos via Mashable

From a very captivating video of the Tennessee flood, Federal regulations on privacy, class action lawsuits against virtual worlds, to re-shaping the models of marketing, here is a list of what we’re reading right now.

Tennessee Flooding Inspires Stunning YouTube Video
via Mashable:
“While most on-the-ground videos covering disasters and other world events are hurried and low-quality, this one is beautiful and professional-looking; it was made by a photographer named Michael Deppisch, who used a Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR camera. “You don’t see YouTube videos like this very often, and as one commenter put it: “This video so captured the heart of this story… if it doesn’t move someone, they should check their pulse.” ”

Facebook Stirs up Trouble for Silicon Valley
via AdAge:
“Days after Facebook launched its “Open Graph Platform” that extends the social net’s web across third-party sites, the Palo Alto-based social network got a surprise rebuke from New York Sen. Charles Schumer, who wrote a letter asking the Federal Trade Commission to develop guidelines for how Facebookers’ information can be used.  The flap couldn’t come at a worse time for online advertising, facing the very real prospect that it will be regulated in the form of privacy legislation that would require publishers, networks or marketers to receive specific consent to use consumer data for a variety of purposes on the web.”

How Effective are Corporate Social Media Policies?
via eMarketer:
“According to a survey by security solutions provider nCircle, about three-fifths of US security and IT professionals say their company has a social media policy, and two-fifths ban all usage of social media on the job.  Those bans may stem from legitimate concerns, but researchers have warned that security and productivity problems can be combated while allowing employees to harness social media in ways beneficial to their business.”

Gives and takes from #AdtechSF
via Marketing With Meaning:
“Yesterday I returned from the first Ad:Tech event of the year in San Francisco. Here in this post I will share what I shared, as well as some of the highlights from the Tuesday sessions. Including: A New World of Word of Mouth: Using Influence to Re-invent the Impression and Jamie Cohen Szulc—CMO of the Levi’s Brand.” Slideshow by Bob Gilbreath

Second Life Users File Class Action Lawsuit Over Virtual Land
via: Mashable
“A group of Second Life users is suing Second Life’s creator over a virtual land dispute. They say their contractual property ownership rights have been changed and that this alteration of the terms of service constitutes fraud and violates California consumer protection laws.  Second Life’s parent company, Linden Labs, was recently valued at $383 million.”

Happy last Friday in April!  Here are Invoke’s favourite Tweets of the week:

Follow Invoke for top news stories involving: social media marketing, agency, tech, mobile, widgets, design, and more:

Gizmodo: HP Buying Palm for $1.2 Billion http://gizmodo.com/5526620/
Techcrunch: Jon Stewart Rips Into Apple Over Lost iPhone Debacle. That’s Going To Leave A Mark. – http://tcrn.ch/ahbJ0q
Wired: Guy who found the 4G iPhone in a bar ‘regrets his mistake’ http://bit.ly/bW1vmx
Fastcompany: Does Privacy on Facebook, Google, and Twitter Even Matter? http://su.pr/1XslhN

Follow memelabs for the latest in video advertising, video contests, UGC, viral videos:

Mashable:  YouTube’s Video Player Gets a Clean New Design [PIC] – http://bit.ly/c3i0lI
BRIANSOLIS: In Mobile, Women Rule Social Networking http://bit.ly/9auQ7o
Invoke: Developer’s thoughts on Facebook’s API and Customized Applications http://ow.ly/17dz0u
memlabs: Memelabs’ favorite viral video of the week – http://ow.ly/1ESL4 Share your favorite viral video with us.

Follow vidrollr for insight into social TV, interactive TV, branded advertising, audience commenting, and participatory media:

Mashable: Google TV to be Unveiled Next Month – http://bit.ly/aKdoph
Alexkjerulf: RT @zappos: “Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness.” -Frank Tyger
Vidrollr: How Well-Stocked Is Your Video Toolbox? http://ow.ly/1DN8G add social media app @vidrollr to your toolbox ^JE
NextGenLog: #MIT’s 10 #Emerging Tech: Realtime Search, Mobile 3D, Solar Fuel, Photovoltaic, Social TV, Green Concrete, Implant, Cloud http://ht.ly/1Fcvz