Examining best practices in social media measurement, microblogging, communication, reputation management, mobile media, collaboration and more
Since 2006 the Society for New Communications Research has evaluated and judged the most creative and effective social media efforts across the corporate, media and academic landscapes. Its Excellence in New Communications Awards program, announced each year at NewComm Forum, honors pioneering uses of social media, mobile media, online communities and collaborative technologies in such areas as business, media, entertainment, education, social initiatives and governance.
I’ve been a senior fellow with SNCR since 2006 and regularly speak at its annual SNCR Research Symposium & Awards Gala. The roster of SNCR fellows, who judge the rich, detailed case studies submitted in the contest, include some of the best and brightest analysts and consultants in the social marketing constellation.
Whether you work in management, marketing, corporate communications, PR or elsewhere, you’ll find useful, actionable takeaways in each of these case studies. Click through to see how these companies and organizations, often with the help of a digital marketing team, designed and implemented best-of-breed strategies and campaigns.
Contact us if your business needs a deeper dive into any of these areas.
Update: SNCR has put these reports behind a firewall since this article was published.
2012 winning case studies
Case studies of winning entrants in the 2012 Excellence in New Communications Awards.
External Communications and Communities
- Stanford University’s School of Engineering (Education and Academic)
- Cisco: “The Network” (Corporate)
- Goodwill Industries International: GoodProspects (Nonprofit)
- Social Media Today: “Best Thinkers” Webinar Series (Media)
- West Wind Education Policy, Inc.: Iowa Forum on Competency-Based Education (Government)
- Avignyata Inc. with Riteish Deshmukh (Media)
- Lamaze International: Website and Online Community (Nonprofit)
- The City of Calgary – Calgary.ca Website (Government)
- SDL BeGlobal (Technology/Vendor)
Measurement and ROI
- Rutgers Center for Management Development: Press Releases (Education and Academic)
- Emirates Identity Authority (EIDA) with SocialEyez: Population Register (Government)
- Etisalat with SocialEyez: Shifting the Sentiment (Corporate)
- UNIFIED Social Operating Platform (Technology/Vendor)
- UNICEF: Social and Civic Media Section (Nonprofit)
- Sprint Nextel (Corporate)
- NextPrinciples: Social Performance Module (Technology/Vendor)
Mobile Media
- Sodexo (Corporate)
Social Media Marketing
- Adobe Creative Cloud (Corporate)
- Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) with Arketi Group: “Where Georgia Leads” Campaign (Nonprofit)
- Royal Dutch Shell: Global Audience (Corporate)
- 360PR with High Ridge Brands: Alberto VO5 (Corporate)
- Goodwill Industries International: Donation Match Game (Nonprofit)
- Cisco: The Human Network (Corporate)
2011 winning case studies
Case studies of winning entrants in the 2011 Excellence in New Communications Awards.
External Communications and Communities
- Recyclebank with Bateman Group (Corporate)
- Bollywood Murder 2 Movie with Avignyata Inc. (Media)
- Ashworth College (Education and Academic)
- IBM WebSphere (Corporate)
- swissnex San Francisco (Nonprofit)
- Lyris, Inc. with Dacor (Technology/Vendor)
- Daylife Publisher Suite (Technology/Vendor)
Influencer Relations
- Jarden Home Brands with 360 Public Relations (Corporate)
- DuPont with Social Media Today LLC (Corporate)
- Zocalo Group (Corporate)
- Vizu Corporation (Technology/Vendor)
Internal Communications
- PepsiCo (Corporate)
- Air Force Medical Service (Government)
- NetApp (Corporate)
- Goodwill Industries International (Nonprofit)
- Stanford Law School (Education and Academic)
- Penn State University ( Education and Academic)
Online Reputation Management
- American Express OPEN (Corporate)
- Sprint Nextel: Sprint Social Media Ninjas Program (Corporate)
Social CRM
- Dell Social Media Listening Command Center (LCC) (Corporate)
- Next Principles (Technology/Vendor)
2010 winning case studies
Case studies of winning entrants in the 2010 Excellence in New Communications Awards. Click a category heading to access each winning entry.
Behind the Firewall
- Joint Tactical Radio with BOOZ Allen Hamilton, Inc.
- Service Coordination, Inc.
Collaboration and Co-creation
- Illinois Institute of Technology (Education and Academic)
- CBC Radio 3 – University of British Columbia (Technology/Vendor)
- American Red Cross (Nonprofit)
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park (Nonprofit)
- c3: Center for Conscious Creativity (Nonprofit)
External Communications and Communities
- Rogers Communications with Thornley Fallis Netapp
- eSmart Tax with Madison+Main
- G(irls)20 Summit Case Study with Veritas Communications Inc.
- NetApp, Inc. ( Corporate)
- H&R Block ( Corporate)
- Cordoba, A World Heritage City (Nonprofit)
- Call of Duty Endowment (CODE); DCI Group & Activision Blizzard ( Corporate)
Influencer Relations
- Cuyahoga Valley National Park Association
- Eloqua
Measurement Innovation
- SAS with KDPaine & Partners
Microblogging
- Dell, Inc.
Mobile Media
- Survivors Connect
New Communications
- Business Wire
- DoD Defense Centers of Excellence; The Real Warriors campaign
New Media Creation
- Link TV
Online Publishing
- Stanford University School of Medicine
- Seven Towns
- Sacramento Press
- Goodwill Industries International
- Chalkboard Project with Mambo Media, Inc.
- Daylife
Online Reputation Management
- Network Solutions
- Rogers Communications
- Disaster Assistance Improvement Program
- Synaptic Digital
- IKEA North America with KDPaine & Partners
Social Media
- SAS
- Dorel Juvenile Group
Technology Innovation
- Zocalo Group
Video
- Swedish Medical Center
- Rogers Communications
- Cisco Systems
- National Institute of Justice
2009 winning case studies
Case studies of winning entrants in the 2009 Excellence in New Communications Awards. Click a category heading to access each winning entry.
Behind the Firewall
- Manheim (creation of social intranet)
- Sprint (extending social media platform)
- NetApp (communication platform)
- Fleishman-Hillard for Novartis (internal communications campaign)
- Allyis (intranet)
- JWT Inside for U.S. Department of State (social networking platform)
- American Express (internal blog for vice chairman)
External communications & communities
- Stanford University (social networking)
- VerticalResponse (expanded Twitter presence)
- Palladium Group (online community)
- LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell (social networking)
- NetApp (user community)
- AT&T (mobile apps)
- State Bar of Texas (online courses)
- Business Wire (new media tools)
- Sutter Medical Center Castro Valley (social media project)
- uTest (social tools)
- Clickable (customer engagement/community platform)
Influencer Relations
- EMBARQ (branded YouTube channel)
- Vocus/PRWeb for Parents magazine (online contest)
- Gutenberg Communications for Kaavo (blogs and influencer outreach)
- Topaz Partners for Black Duck Software (social media outreach and engagement)
- 360PR for PBS KIDS (awareness campaign)
- Intel (social media advisory board)
- War Child Canada (expanded digital footprint)
Measurement Innovation
- Philadelphia Ford Dealers Association (social media campaign)
- HubSpot (social media news release)
- Hill & Knowlton for Waterfront Toronto (engage online influencers)
- Zocalo Group (measurement methodology)
Microblogging
- Washington State University, Spokane (Twitter presence)
- IKEA North America (Twitter management)
- Sprint Nextel (customer care through Twitter)
- Step Ahead for MyrtleBeachHotels.com (Twitter outreach)
- Advertising Specialty Institute (blogging)
- M Booth & Assoc. fo The Macallan (digital footprint)
- SAP (stakeholder outreach)
- Cisco (Twitter presence)
- Project On Government Oversight (social tools)
- #hcsm (Twitter health hashtags)
- Aspen Ideas Festival (Twitter campaign)
Online Reputation Management
- Georgia Institute of Technology (social media benchmarks)
Online Publishing
- Yale University (enhance online communications)
- Converseon for Lion Brand Yarn (open up conversation channel)
- Community Roundtable (enhance community environment)
- Adweek coverage of Cannes (microsite)
- Canadian Centre for Architecture (online enhancements)
- CE — Youth Interactive Portal for Enterprise (East Africa business portal)
- Phoenix International Raceway (social media program)
- Moldova’s periodical Adevaruloj (social tools)
2008 winning case studies
Case studies of winning entrants in the 2008 Excellence in New Communications Awards. Click a category heading to access each winning entry.
Internal communications
- Dell
- Monsanto
- iContact
Mobile media
- Cisco Systems
- Raytheon
- IBM
- DOVE
- United Nations University
- World Vision International
- LexisNexis
- TradeKing
- Sg2
- Wal-Mart
- Vizu Ad Catalyst
- Dell
New media creation & social media production (corporate)
- Washington Capitals
- PUMA
- Ugobe
- PlayStation
- Radian6
- Fanista
- IBM
- Symantec
- Yahoo!
- Focus
- New Media Business Wire
New media creation & social media production (technology/vendor)
- Mobility Public Relations
New media creation & social media production (media, nonprofit, academic)
- Lynn University
- Revision 3
- Homeless Nation
- CitizenShift
- Canadian Centre for Architecture
- Intercultural Development Research Association
- The Public Radio Exchange (PRX)
- Adevărul
- Moldovan
- You2Gov
Online reputation management
- University of Illinois at Springfield
Blog/Blogging/Bloggeer Relations
- Zannel
- The Library of Congress of Chile
- Jarden Consumer Solutions
- MobileSphere
- Second Rotation
- ElectraTherm
- Graco
- Kona Blue
- Molson
Wiki
- iContact
Additional social media case studies
• Tod Maffin’s Case Studies Online
• WOMMA’s Case Study Library
• Geoff Livingston’s Now Is Gone list of case studies
• Superlist of social media examples (Interactive Insights Group)
• Russell Pearson’s Parallax Blog ‘hot’ list of case studies
• Peter Kim’s comprehensive wiki list of 1,000+ examples of corporate social media/social marketing efforts
• Ray Schiel of the Global Social Media Network has organized Peter Kim’s list into specific categories
• Socialtext list of 30 Enterprise 2.0 case studies
• Jacob Morgan: Roundup of Enterprise 2.0 case studies
• Chris Brogan Delicious bookmarks of social media case studies
• Scott Hepburn’s Media Emerging list of B2B social media resources and case studies
JD Lasica, founder of Inside Social Media, is also a fiction author and the co-founder of the cruise discovery engine Cruiseable. See his About page, contact JD or follow him on Twitter.