Case studies
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: Shel Holtz, Giovanni Rodriguez, K.D. Paine, Neville Hobson, Shel Israel, John Cass, Tom Abate, Dr. Nora Barnes, Paul Gillin, Francois Gossieaux, Adrian Chan, Joseph Jaffe, Steve Lubetkin, Don Middleberg and Joseph Thornley, among others.
I've found SNCR's evaluations of corporate efforts and campaigns to be the best in the business. Whether you work in management, marketing, corporate communications or elsewhere, you'll find useful, actionable takeaways in each of these reports. The Socialmedia.biz team has also assembled a wide range of additional corporate case studies that you'll find useful. Contact us.
2010 winning case studies
Case studies of winning entrants in the 2010 Excellence in New Communications Awards.
Behind the Firewall
- Joint Tactical Radio with BOOZ Allen Hamilton, Inc.
- Service Coordination, Inc.
Collaboration and Co-creation
- Illinois Institute of Technology
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.
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.
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)
Stanford
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.
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
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
Credits
Image credits for the rotating slide show for the Case studies navigation:
• Twitter bird by Matt Know (with thanks)
• Stanford's Hoover Tower by Kostas Pagiamtzis (with thanks)
All copyright owners retain their full copyright in the images used as thumbnails here.
JD Lasica is founder of Socialmedia.biz. We work with large companies and nonprofits on social media strategies and campaigns. See JD's business profile, contact him or leave a comment.
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