Guava, strawberry, pineapple, tamarindo – these are just four of 11 drink flavors offered by a Mexican-based company making a global splash via a smart social media strategy.

Jarritos has always been popular among Hispanics in Latin America. Now the company is targeting young, non-Hispanic followers well beyond its borders. How? By creating an online community and engaging millennials using social media, Jarritos has expanded nationwide and globally. They are definitely playing the social media game correctly: They have more than a million Facebook “likes” and almost 4,000 Twitter followers.

The company introduced its brand to the world using Facebook, Twitter and other sites. Wisely, they have empowered millennials to share the brand with peers, encouraging fans to upload photos of themselves with the product and conducting an art contest that featured Jarritos’ vibrant bottles. Via their Facebook page, fans also can participate in a Jarritos scavenger hunt, join a club and send friends a virtual Jarritos.

Their contests, prizes and interactive pages create excitement and loyalty among followers. Taking advantage of a place with no closing hours or time zones, the company continually engages with the Jarritos community by being active online and available 24/7. As important, the company stays true to their brand and target audience, using fun, eye-popping and consistent images online. Their website, Jarritos.com, is colorful both in art and content.

It’s clear: Jarritos knows what it needs to do to target the audience the company wants and grow the brand. They have made an impact in social media, and people are talking about it.

While it can be hard for a foreign company to do a crossover in the United States, social media is changing that. At least, in the case of Jarritos, consumers who may have never known about the company, its products and brand now do. That’s a big step in the land of social media – and an example for others to emulate.

Image credit: Jarritos Facebook Page.

The holidays bring a special kind of fun, frantic, crazy energy to the jhP office! Part jolly and part manic, we work tirelessly to celebrate the season with friends and family, while we end the year strong for our client partners.

While we take a few days off to celebrate the season (our office will be closed tomorrow, December 23 and Monday, December 26), we’re flipping out over our holiday plans.

I’ll be sharing lots of holiday cheer with my family, and I’ll be rehearsing with my dear friends from Laughing Matters for our special New Year’s Eve performance at Topeka Civic Theatre. – Chelle

The holidays are always a crazy mad dash to get everything done, but I absolutely love how we take the time to really let those who mean the most to us know how much we care and appreciate them. – Tracey

The Eisenhuts hopefully will not be digging out like we did last year from all the snow. We are looking forward to spending lots of time with family and friends. – Linda E.

Sharing my wonderful life with an energetic 4-year-old son; a creative 6-year-old daughter; my Mr. Fix-It husband; an elderly cat; and a new dog makes for a holiday season full of controlled chaos. This year will no doubt involve a few broken-then-glued nutcrackers, LOTS of cookies and crafts, plus a few ridiculous pet sweaters. – Robin

This holiday season, my family will maintain its tradition of competition and good eats. We’ll maintain our strength with delicious food covered in calories so we can battle it out in card games, board games, and our annual ping-pong tournament. – Angie

I am looking forward to just slowing down the pace of life, and hanging out with my family … watching a movie, sitting down for a good meal or hanging out with friends over a good bottle of wine. It all sounds like heaven to me. – Michelle

The Billen family is staying in Topeka this year. My kids are flipping out at the thought of getting a new Wii. I’m flipping out because the last video game I played was Atari’s Frogger. – Dan

Lisa and I are admiring our 5-month-old granddaughter Raina in her ridiculously precious holiday dresses. We’re blessed to have so many family members nearby to enjoy Christmas together! – Kurt

With the Huyetts, you never know what to expect at a family gathering. I am sure it will be epic. – Jake

I plan on using some time off to spend with my family and friends. Of course, there will be several large meals so I’ll need find time to squeeze in a work out or two so I won’t have to squeeze into clothes after the new year. – Dustin

I’m flipping for two Christmas celebrations and a holiday wedding. – Suzie

All my wrapping and shopping is done. Woo Hoo! It’s a Christmas miracle! Christmas Eve we all play Christmas Trivia while snacking on cheese, crackers, various dips and other goodies. We have a great time with some of the answers they come up with. – Theresa

Santa arrives at our house with gifts for the little ones Christmas Eve. It will be interesting to see who will actually sit in his lap and talk to him. Could also be interesting to see if this is the year one of the kids figures out who is wearing the Santa suit. The grandkids, great nieces and nephews are what make our Christmas Eve exciting. – Leslie

I’ll be flippin’ out with a Karaoke sing-off with family members at my parents’ home. In the past I’ve rocked the house with my rendition of Janis Joplin’s “Bobby McGee.” (Remember, “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose …!”) – Renee

I’m really looking forward to some comical dance competition this holiday when my brother, sister and soon-to-be brother-in-law have an epic Just Dance 3 showdown at my parents house. It’s bound to be intense and full of laughs! – Alissa

I’m flippin’ out this year because I thought the NBA was going to be cancelled, then Santa Stern decided to deliver a season right on time ­– Christmas Day! – John

I’m really excited that I’m going to spend Christmas with my grandma, who came from Mexico. I know it’s going to be a good Christmas because my grandma is an amazing cook. I’m just ready for those tamales! – Maria

The Terwelps and my sister-in-law’s family will renew their holiday tradition of a late night Christmas battle of “Risk” complete with a traveling 25-lb machined WWI bayonet trophy. This year the trophy will travel back to Kansas. – Al

We’ll be flipping out all over Northeast Kansas! I have no doubt that each of us will consumer enough food in a day to feed a small country and we will have tummy aches for DAYS but it will all be worth it to spend the holidays with family and good friends. – Brie

What an exciting time at Washburn University! Fall enrollment is up – setting a new record of 7,303 students on Washburn’s main campus and beating the previous record of 7,261 students in fall 2005. The University’s latest enrollment number includes a 6.2% increase in high school graduates enrolled at Washburn. The incoming freshmen Ichabods will also be a part of Washburn’s sesquicentennial celebration in 2015.

jhP is especially proud of Washburn’s accomplishments because we had the opportunity to help the University with its re-branding efforts that led up to the fall enrollment period. The new Washburn brand illustrates prestige, heritage and pride, and the emphasis on the Washburn mascot – the Ichabod – has generated a lot of positive feedback.

Not only do incoming students resonate with the prestige of “being an Ichabod,” we have heard from alumni who truly appreciate the renewed enthusiasm the re-branding efforts have sparked. Mark Nordstrom, President of the Ichabod Scholarship Fund, shared with us the excitement generated among fellow alumni about the re-designed alumni magazine.

“It’s fantastic to see how Washburn alumni, students, faculty and staff have a rejuvenated sense of pride about being an Ichabod and a part of the Washburn community,” he said. “We’ve always had a strong sense of pride, but now people are talking about it again. The work jones huyett Partners is doing for the University has played a big part in that.”

jhP applauds Washburn’s recent successes and is grateful for the opportunity to be a partner during such an exciting time at the University. We look forward to watching the next four years unfold, culminating in Washburn’s 150th anniversary in 2015. jhP is glad to celebrate Ichabod pride!

Why market to teens? Tracey Stratton, our Director of Public Relations, has four of these little terrors. She explains why building a relationship with the teens running rampant across the U.S. is so important for businesses in this short video.

Are YOU marketing to teens?

While Klout’s online-influence rating system is somewhat controversial, users all over the web are scoring free stuff through Klout Perks, including me!

What is Klout?

Klout is an algorithm that measures your influence online. From your basic social media profiles (Facebook and Twitter) to your more niche networks (such as LinkedIn, Flickr and Blogger), Klout collects the data you post, then analyzes and scores the things you talk about, how big your audience is and whether you have the ability to get others to take action.

To determine your Klout Score, Klout measures:

• True Reach: The number of people you influence. Just because you’ve got hundreds of Facebook friends or thousands of Twitter followers doesn’t mean any of them are really paying attention to what you’re posting – or that they’re even real people. This number focuses on how many people you’re truly able to influence.

• Amplification: How much you influence people. For example, when you share a YouTube video or recommend a new movie, are people following your lead and spreading your message?

• Network Score: How influential your online network is. Are the people connected and do they have the ability to influence others? Or is your network comprised of lots of empty profiles to boost your friend/follower numbers?

After analyzing your online influence, Klout determines your official Klout Score, a number from 1 to 100, which Klout updates daily. The higher your score, the more influence you have. Klout reports the average Klout Score to be around 20. (Currently, mine is ranging between 53 and 55.)

Now back to that free stuff …

Awhile ago, I received an email letting me know my Klout Score had qualified me for Klout Perks: a year’s supply of Secret Clinical Strength Waterproof antiperspirant. So I opted in and even tweeted a link for my friends to sign up for a year’s supply of Secret.

I had my doubts about actually receiving anything, but about a week later, a box arrived with four sticks of Secret. After trying the product, I found that it’s really something I like and will probably buy in the future (even though I won’t need to for, like, a year). So in this case, Procter & Gamble’s social media giveaway strategy through Klout worked. I’m not only a converted user of the product but I’ve spread the word about it.

Don’t worry, you don’t have to have tons of friends/followers to qualify for Klout Perks. Klout decides who receives Perks based on topics of influence and location, so being influential – even if it’s related to only one thing you’re passionate about – might still help you score free stuff.

So, where’s the controversy?

Well, it can be pretty easy to cheat and inflate your Klout Score. At the end of the day, Klout’s entire system is computerized. So, to some degree, you could game the system and appear to be an influencer on topics you don’t really know that much about.

The fact that a Klout Score can be pretty superficial has made a lot of people wary of it. Although I tend to fall into this group, I do see some value in using the service as a benchmark and initial research channel when I’m evaluating people online.

According to Klout, the best way to improve your Klout Score is “to consistently create great content that people want to share and respond to.” And for the most accurate Score, Klout suggests you connect all of your social networks.

What do you think?

How much value do you place on your Klout Score? Have you ever received free goods/services/access as a Klout Perk? Tell me!