This Week in DM2PRO:

SAMMY AWARDS Finalists Announced:

Winners to be feted Sept. 14 at the W in Union Square

Award Briefs Will be Publicly Available for a Limited Time

Social Advertising and Marketing efforts scored incomparable reach and engagement in the past year with lightening-fast speed to market: Public Enemies leveraged Mafia Wars and other gaming nets to drive 55 million interactions in one week. 38 Mad Men avatars were downloaded every minute in the first week of AMC's "Mad Men Yourself" and in two weeks Kotex generated more than 270,000 visits to its brand site and fielded 185,000 sample requests.

Social games played an overarching role in the success of many marketers, underlying not just scores of engagement campaigns judged as part of DIGIDAY's SAMMY awards, but also contributing millions in aid for Haiti. It was the air of competition that also drove social video online, from Carl's Jr.'s "How do you eat your burger?" contest to Kellogg's Pop-Tart's sing off. More than 11 million views of people eating hamburgers drove a kind of user-based takeover of YouTube; at one point, Carl's Jr.'s had seven of the top 18 most-watched videos on the video sharing site.

Marketers also pushed the medium conceptually, using it to make trade experts available to consumers involved in renovation projects, and health experts available to answer questions for teen-age girls having their first period. Women used it to engage men in conversation about why feminine hygiene is such a taboo topic. Con Agra, looking to drive home the message that one in four children in America don't know where their next meal is coming from, engaged bloggers across the country with influence to turn the conversation online to how neighborhoods can help.

Transforming the conversation, creatively reaching consumers at work and at play, offering up advice from experts and peers alike - these are some of the factors made brands like Kimberly-Clark, Con Agra, Mazda, Ford, Bing, AMC, USA TODAY, Chick fil-A, Redken, American Express, Carl's Jr., Public Enemies, Lionsgate, Benjamin Moore, Air New Zealand, Ben & Jerry's, Hasbro's, Kellogg's, Realtor.com, Energizer Battery, Oakley, Adobe, Hyundai, MasterCard, H&R Block, Heinz, Mercedes, and more finalists in our 2010 SAMMY Awards.

Order Your Tickets Today!

Here are our finalists, alphabetized in category. (Click the links to see the entrant's campaign brief or explanation of how their work in social media moved the needle.)

Best Engagement Campaign
appssavvy/Public Enemies
Deep Focus/Mad Men
Kimberly Clark/U by Kotex

Best Branded Social Media Video
Initiative/ Carl's Jr.
Kellogg Pop Tarts
Team Detroit/Ford

Best Use of Social Media for Social Good
ConAgra Foods/Fleishman Hilliard
USA TODAY
Zynga

Best Social Creative
Deep Focus/Mad Men
Engauge/Chick fil-A
MEA Digital / Oakley

Best Integrated Social/Cross Media Campaign
Cramer-Krasselt / Benjamin Moore
Doner / Mazda
Kellogg's / Pop Tarts

Best Social Community BtoB

American Express OPEN Forum

IDG / CIO
Redken

Best Branded Social Community
Focus Features / Babies
Hasbro / Trivial Pursuit
T3 / Windows Mobile 7

Best Twitter Branding Campaign
TenFour / Air New Zealand
Digital Royalty / UFC
Wizards of the Coast- Dungeons & Dragons

Best Social Branded App
Cramer - Krasselt / Benjamin Moore Paints
Microsoft / Bing
Edelman / Ben & Jerry's Scoop of Happiness

Best Branded Social Fan Page
Engauge / Chik-fil-A
Energizer Battery, Inc.
Move, Inc. / Realtor

Best Social Promotion for Product Launch
Edelman Digital / Adobe CS5
Engauge / Chick-fil-A
MEA Digital / Oakley

Best Social Content/Entertainment
Initiative / Hyundai Motor Tucson
Lionsgate / KICK-ASS
Microsoft / Deep Focus

Best Social Media Marketing Agency
360i
Converseon
Deep Focus

Best Social CRM
H&R Block
Kellogg's Pop-Tart sprinkles

Best Direct Response Campaign
H.J Heinz / Heinz Ketchup
Spongecell / Fuel Up to Play 60
Northlich / Northlich Spirits

Best Social Media Platform / Media
Bing & FarmVille
Bing & Foursquare
KickApps

Best Social Media Platform / Marketing
Context Optional
Rock You
Sharethrough

See all these plus Best B2B campaigns for Twitter Branding and Engagement, Best Socialized Business, Best Use of Social Media for eCommerce, and Best In Show.

Note that WE'VE OPENED both our full conference video and our COMMUNITY Site to members without a password. If you want to post your own video, podcasts or blogs, you'll still have to register, but there will be no other barrier to the growth of the most digitally savvy media and marketing practitioners in the business Click on Video to see our groundbreaking, bi-coastal digiday:VIDEOUPFRONT, or on COMMUNITY to start building your own connections.

Headlines

SAMMY 2010 Best Use of Social Media for Social Good Finalist: USA TODAY (in: Social) Aug 31, 2010: On April 13, 2010, USA TODAY launched a Twitter hashtag campaign called #AmericaWants. Geared towards philanthropic organizations, the campaign gave organizations a chance to use social media to receive a complimentary full-page, full- color advertisement in USA TODAY. The hashtag campaign was promoted across numerous social media sites by USA TODAY and various participating organizations. #Americawants was the social media extension of an aggressive brand campaign launched by USA TODAY in March 2010. The brand campaign, “What America Wants,” highlights USA TODAY’s unique connection with the American experience and how its readers engage with products across all media platforms.

MOBI 2010 Best Mobile Website Finalist: Us Magazine / Kargo (in: Publishing Platforms) Aug 25, 2010: Kargo has also integrated an extensive advertising platform to serve rich media ad units that include expandable banner ads, scrolling banner ads, video interstitials, and custom integrations. In doing so, Kargo enabled this publisher to monetize their mobile inventory. Kargo has also negotiated carrier distribution for Us Magazine’s mobile content to further promote the sites reach. This has been extremely successful in creating active user adoption. With all of the major US carriers promoting access to this site, Us Magazine’s mobile traffic has been drastically increasing month over month to over 35mm page views.

MOBI 2010 Best Branded Mobile Game Finalist: Moblin for Gillette (in: Mobile) Aug 24, 2010: Creative, Design and Developing of a mobile branded car racing game for Gillette Fusion Power Raiser Knife (P&G EMEA). The game is for Java supported devices/users and including a wide mobile marketing campaign:
• Text "Gillette" to a short code to get the game
• On deck mobile advertising campaign
• Off Deck Mobile advertising campaign
• Proximity campaign based in Bluetooth hot spots that were installed in 2 sport stadiums (Basket ball & Soccer) for reaching over 80,000 men.
• SMS Broadcasting campaign
• Web 2 Mobile camping – type you phone number in dedicated web banners and get the link to download the game
Target Audience: Men 15-40 in Israel

MOBI 2010 Best Mobile App for Branded Content: Best Buy / Despicable Me (in: Apps) Aug 24, 2010: Best Buy Movie Mode is a first of its kind, mobile application designed to provide users with a differentiated movie viewing experience. Available as a free download on iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile; Movie Mode’s first film enhancing experience offers fans a deeper connection to Universal’s 3D summer blockbuster “Despicable Me” by translating for audiences what the film’s mischievous little yellow characters, the Minions, are saying during the special 3D end credits digital short. A phone in Best Buy Movie Mode dims the mobile screen, silences the ringer, and disables the camera to ensure audiences have a positive, uninterrupted movie-going experience. The app is also being updated to translate the Minion language throughout the entire movie on the Best Buy exclusive “Despicable Me” DVD released later this year. Best Buy Movie Mode uses patent-pending sonic cue technology syncing the app to the movie through audio cues embedded within the film’s sound-track. After the application is activated, the “Extras” portion of the app is unlocked revealing exclusive digital video content from the movie as well as a $10 credit for digital video service at Best Buy CinemaNow.com, allowing Best Buy to cross-market digital & physical movie offerings in a highly personalized way.

MOBI 2010 Best Mobile App for Branded Content: skyrockit for VitaminWater / 50 Cent (in: Apps) Aug 24, 2010: With an ear on the pulse of the music industry, skyrockit was early to spot the wide spreading appeal of remixed versions of new and classic tunes. But it seemed the fun was only being had by DJs with the equipment and skills to perfect the mashup. But what if the remixing process was simplified so that any one could remix their favorite songs? If given the right tools, the right samples and the right outlet, skyrockit knew everyone would jump at the chance to live out their club DJ fantasies. The remix posed a new way of interacting with music: not just listening, but playing with it too. In order to maximize the pop-appeal of the campaign, skyrockit integrated supplemental branding by hip-hop mogul 50Cent, offering users a chance to remix 50’s upcoming single, baby by me. The result was “50s Sound Lab,” an iPhone application and complementary website, to engage consumers and create vitaminwater brand ambassadors by activating and connecting with music fans around the brand. The app was coupled with a contest for the best remix, chosen by 50Cent, in which the winner would win a trip to visit 50s' studios.

MOBI 2010 Best Mobile App for Branded Content: Toy Story 3 / Disney (in: Apps) Aug 24, 2010: “Toy Story 3” is the first Disney app to feature a collectability component where users are rewarded for exploring, playing and purchasing new apps with collectable, Toy Story-themed, virtual Pins. The app also features cross over with the Mac version of Toy Story 3: The Video Game in which players can use the “Toy Story 3” app on their iPhone or iPod touch to control their gaming experience. Disney also plans to update the app with new features throughout 2010 and beyond.

MOBI 2010 Best Mobile App Platform Finalist: Handmark (in: Mobile) Aug 24, 2010: Handmark has launched mobile applications for nearly a hundred leading brands around the world including The Wall Street Journal, Thompson Reuters, Forbes, New York Daily News, London Evening Standard, Newsweek, CBS News, and many others leveraging its innovative Mobile Publishing Platform technology. As a result, Handmark partners have consistently reported 10-20X the number of page views versus traditional mobile websites and significantly higher brand engagement with more than 1% of users actively sharing articles via their mobile phone.

MOBI 2010 Best Mobile Direct Response Campaign Finalist: U.S. Navy (in: Mobile) Aug 24, 2010: The U.S. Navy's mobile campaign was a perfect fit for its target audience of 18- to 24-year-old men. It was a National Campaign that integrated SMS Sponsored Alerts, WAP Banner Ads, and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) to generate qualified leads.The WAP Banner Ad campaign used Ad Networks like Jumptap and Quattro, Mobile Directory Go2, Social Network Brightkite, standalone publishers like The Weather Channel, gaming network Greystripe and Boost on-deck inventory to direct prospects to Navy’s WAP site (m.navy.com) to click to call. Over the ten month flight the mobile campaign accounted for over 60% of the total National call volume to the Navy Call Center. This was the first time mobile out produced all other sources to the National Call Center. This was a major feat considering Navy’s mobile budget was over twenty times less than the traditional media budget (TV, Radio, and Print), which incorporated traditional 800 numbers.