I am the Champion of Tetris Battle

Social gaming is growing in popularity year by year. Given that 44.8% of these gamers are engaged through social networks, social media platforms have a huge opportunity in marketing through this medium. In my personal opinion, Tetris Battle is one of the best example that shows the true significance of social gaming in the marketing sense.

Tetris Battle is a social game played on Facebook developed by Tetris Online, Inc. Of the three apps developed by Tetris Online, Tetris Battle is the most popular app and the most fun. It has over 5 million active players and ranks 75th for monthly active users rate These numbers are not surprising when you realize the addictive game play combined with effective marketing strategy. Tetris Battle seeks to make money and grow their consumer base. The game meets these goals by emphasizing co-op and versus mode among your Facebook friends. From the moment you start playing the game, you see a list of friends who already have the application who are ready to play with you. Tetris Battle also ranks you among your friends, and encourages you to make others friends to play the game.

At the end of the day, Tetris Battle seeks to make revenue through their application. They are successful at this through ads and mainly in game purchasing to further enhance the experience. These items include such things as different levels, skins, and game modes.

All of this components makes Tetris Battle a wonderful game with effective marketing. I personally was borderline addicted to this game. At one point, I was ranked in the top 5 among the hundreds of my friends who played the game. My friends and I took great pride in being ranked in the top 10 in Tetris Battle. Social gaming is a constantly growing trend. If you don't believe it, try Tetris Battle for yourself; you won't regret it!

Social Media in Disaster Aid

Social media has revolutionized the way people collect information. One field where this is evident is in the reporting of natural disasters. Conventionally, news outlets would be the first to cover disasters upon which the public would be aware of the situation. Today, the order has shifted. People affected by the natural disasters are often the first ones to cover the unfolding of events, damages, and casualties as they happen. It has become less of collect then publish but rather publish then collect.

Most recent example of such a phenomenon is the country of the Philippines devastated by the Typhoon Haiyan. Recorded as the worst case of typhoon in the history of earth, the Typhoon Haiyan left thousands dead and brought horrible damages. As a response, the victims and supporters united and utilized social media to provide relief. Due to under resourced government, victims are using social media to bring attention to different communities. They list different supplies needed and send out mayday calls through whatever social media possible. In addition, social media is incorporated to account for causalities and locate people who are missing.  









In many ways, the increasing relevance of social media has brought many positive changes in the distribution of information. It is much easier for people across the world to be aware of disasters such as one in Philippines and increase relief efforts from across the world as well.

Be sure to check out http://www.redcross.org.ph/donatenow for ways of providing donations and support for this disaster.

Don't Eat It Till You Instagram It

Social media marketing has worked wonders for any food or beverage company.
It has now become common for the Y and the Millennial generation to take pictures of food before eating. You could almost say it's a social media version of saying grace. Food and beverages is one of the most popular topics covered in social media platforms, and smart enough restaurants and cafes take advantage of it in every way possible. Although there are many companies who get this right, Starbucks takes the gold medal in social media marketing advertising. As shown in the picture below, Starbucks ranks first in terms of reach, loyalty, and influence across many social media platforms:



Starbucks makes sure to utilize different social media platforms accordingly that meets the different platform's dynamics. On facebook, there are always new promotions and gift card of some sort. On twitter, there are refreshing posts and pictures that announces new products and behind the scenes snippets of Starbucks. Such utilization of social media marketing led Starbucks to amazing success by continuously engaging its audience with the content that matters. As a reward, Starbucks gains unwavering loyalty from its consumers worldwide.

The next time you see someone taking pictures of their food or drink, try to appreciate the influence and power of social media marketing.