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.

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!

Photo credit: Jennifer Young Looper as posted on the Reading Tornado Facebook Group.

I turned immediately to Facebook on Saturday, May 21, when a series of storms hit where I grew up in east-central Kansas and drew my concern. Reading, Kan., about 13 miles northwest of my hometown, Lebo, took a direct hit from a tornado. Several classmates lived in Reading when we were kids and one of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Barbara Schlobohm who taught my sixth-grade class, still lives there. For hours I was consumed by Facebook, watching for my friends to post that they were OK. Over the next few weeks, I continued watching Reading’s progress on Facebook, seeing friends post about their struggles and what they’d lost.

Of particular interest is the official Reading Tornado Facebook Group, now being updated by Mrs. Schlobohm! She is using Facebook to coordinate volunteers, solicit donations of food for volunteers, educate people about what they could do to help, and post general news about what’s going on in Reading. She’s using Facebook to keep the community life-blood flowing, to boost morale and revitalize a small town that could have disappeared.

Mrs. Schlobohm’s efforts have been so impressive that I sent her a few questions so we could learn from her use of Facebook to respond to Reading’s natural disaster.

I was glued to Facebook the night of the tornado, anxiously waiting for my friends – and sixth-grade teacher ; ) – to update and let everyone know they were OK. After the storm, when did you first get on Facebook and what did you post?
We had no electricity, water or landline, but as soon as we got to the hotel Sunday night, I got online to let family and friends know what had taken place and that we were all right.

After the initial posts on the Facebook Group letting people know the conditions and health of everyone involved, a grassroots effort to organize help quickly formed. At what point did you get involved?
After the first days of actual “emergency” were past – on Thursday following the tornado – the county clerk who had been serving as public information officer (PIO) asked that I accept that position for the city. Mayor Atchison then confirmed my appointment.

It seems you’ve become the unofficial leader/organizer of the Facebook Group help effort. What type of information are you posting and what reactions are you getting from people?
Reading residents Jeremy Luby and Ray Lauber set up the “Reading Tornado, May 21” site to allow people to find their relatives and friends, and allow information to be disseminated. When I was appointed PIO, I began using the site to get factual information out quickly.

You’ve effectively solicited help through Facebook. How do you feel about what you’ve accomplished? How does it compare to what you’d expected?
To steal a phrase, I am filled with “shock and awe” at how quickly help arrived from all over the state. Law enforcement from Kansas City, Topeka and the surrounding areas were in control within a couple hours. Road crews had all their heavy equipment in town on Sunday along with volunteer private companies from our good friends in Lebo. Westar arrived Sunday morning to begin replacing all of the broken poles and lines, etc., etc., etc.

At this point, 55 homes have been torn down and their lots cleared. We’re still clearing the city park, but the ball field has been prepared for the t-ballers’ games each week!

I know from experience that Reading-ites are a tough breed. How do you think the tornado will affect the community, long-term?
Many of the folks who are able to step forward in leadership roles are from families who’ve been in Reading for 75, 100 and 125 years. The newer folks are providing additional excitement around this opportunity to create a “new and improved” Reading community. The property owners I have personally spoken with have definite plans to rebuild and make their homes a good addition to the community.

With what you’ve learned, how would you improve use of social media in a time of great community need? What advice do you have for others?
I should probably have you teach me to use one of those “new-fangled” phones : ) so that I could get news out quicker! There should also be a plan in place as to who should step up immediately and what their role should be.

My advice would be to immediately set up an informational Facebook page and post that site on the information board that will be posted by your county in the town. Be sure you have a “one-voice PIO system” in place so there are not people taking it upon themselves to call the media or make requests on behalf of the city. Most of all, be calm and caring in your actions and responses to people. They are in shock and need attention.

Thanks a million to Mrs. Schlobohm for telling us about her experience. If you’d like to help Reading recover from the tornado, please mail your donations to the Reading United Methodist Church, 33 Franklin, Reading, KS 66868. In the memo line note “Community” so that all funds go directly to their recovery effort.

jhP recognized for role in “Google, Kan.” campaign

Topeka, Kan. (June 6, 2011) – Alissa Sheley, senior digital strategist for jones huyett Partners, a regional advertising and marketing firm, will speak at the #140 Conference, Exploring the State of Now in New York City on June 16. She will discuss Think Big Topeka’s campaign to bring the Google Fiber Experiment to Topeka and how social media brought national attention and prompted Google to change its name to “Topeka” on April Fool’s Day 2010.

The #140 Conference is a premiere national conference that brings in speakers and participants from all over the world to discuss social media. The conference started in 2009 and has hosted conferences across the United States. The conference serves as a launch pad for the Twitter world to listen, share and engage with each other, while collectively exploring the effects of the emerging real-time Internet on business.

“The great thing about the #140 Conference is that the different experiences the speakers bring really inspire people and get them thinking about how they can impact the world with the use of technology,” Sheley said.

There’s been a lot of discussion around the office lately about the staying power of all the social media tools on the market today. A new report released by ZDNet quotes Adeel Najam, senior industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, as saying there is “no typical lifespan” for social networks, “but their longevity depends on whether there are attractive, compelling features for users.”

As we’ve seen with MySpace, even more established social networking sites can fall prey to the whims of the consumer. So in a digital world where people have the ability to flirt with new social networks like guests at a speed-dating event, we wanted to introduce to you a few of our newer “friends” and let you decide which ones you’d consider taking home to mom.

Location Based Social Networks

LBSNs like FourSquare, Gowalla and others on this list have found their way into the digital market thanks to the increased use of smart phones. The trend’s been so hot even Facebook jumped into the game.

With LBSNs you “check-in” to a business, place or event to read tips left by other patrons, earn special deals or prizes offered by either the business or the platform, and eventually earn badges or points that give you bragging rights among other tech-friendly acquaintances. Most LBSNs are free for both the business and the consumer. The companies enjoy the additional exposure and the ability for customers to conveniently leave reviews of their experience. Consumers benefit from the discounts and specials as well as the comments shared by other LBSN users.

On the other hand, checking-in can get old. How many times are you willing to check-in to your favorite dive bar or tell people you’re grocery shopping on a Saturday night? There are also issues of privacy (do you really want others to know where you are at all times?) and relevance (do others really care to know your whereabouts constantly?).

Deal A Day Sites

Deal-a-day sites like Groupon, LivingSocial or CJOnline.com’s Daily Deals are taking the market by storm, as we talked about in January. Since that post, even more deal-a-day sites have started up, offering the same kind of discount services without a lot of distinguishing characteristics.

So that leaves us wondering: With so much competition for businesses – which end up making little to no profit on the actual deal – is it realistic to expect these sites to be sustainable?

Microblogs

Microblogs sites like Tumblr and Posterous are quick ways to post your blogs, pictures, videos, music, etc., in a format that is somewhere between a full blog entry and a Twitter or Facebook status update. Microblogs allow you to say a little more than what a Facebook or Twitter update entails. However, these sites still deliver it in the stream where the poster’s friends can see it and comment immediately.

Some of the other major social networking sites, such as Tumblr, are focusing on connecting locally and creating a community both online and in the real world. The big question for these sites is what really makes them different? When you can post the same ideas on a Twitter or a Facebook page – where you already have a presumably larger, set network – why go elsewhere?

Now give us your input on these social networking sites. Do you think they have what it takes to make it in the market long-term? Why or why not? Any suggestions on what developers could do to give them staying power?