add it up.

There’s a lot of talk in the social space about the benefits of having a high Klout score, but it is rare that one sees Klout being used for greater good.

I stumbled upon a project sponsored by Klout and Nike Basketball called Campus Roar. The basic premise is that four universities that “roar the loudest” in the social space will win a youth basketball coach, sponsored by Nike, to serve kids in need in the university’s community. A “roar” consists of a Facebook post or a tweet that is automatically tagged with the university-specific hashtag and #CampusRoar. The “roars” also show up on Nike Basketball within the respective university’s page.

It is well known that there are countless studies illustrating the positive impact being involved in sports and recreational activities can have on a child, especially for those in low-income homes, so Campus Roar stands to make a huge impact on youth in the winning communities.

What I find interesting about Campus Roar is that Nike could have easily sponsored the entire promotion solo. The inclusion of Klout really intensifies the social aspect of the competition by allowing roars to be amplified by users with a high Klout score. The leaderboard is calculated using more than aggregate number of tweets for each university, but also by number of retweets and likes the roars receive on Nike Basketball.

To roar for your favorite university, visit: Klout or Nike Basketball.

As of the date of this blog, the current Top 10 Universities on Campus Roar are:

1. Northern Iowa
2. Oakland
3. Missouri State
4. University of Georgia
5. Syracuse University
6. North Florida University
7. University of Oregon
8. Gonzaga University
9. University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
10. West Virginia University

This is a post I wrote for the Engauge Blog recently:

At Engauge, we constantly investigate the latest trends and emerging technologies, including mobile media technology. We’re interested in mobile applications across all platforms – iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and everything in between. However, the Apple App Store has recently seen an influx of branded iPhone applications; a phenomenon which, by comparison, is lacking in the Blackberry and Android application stores.

Despite their high adoption rates, iPhone applications are relatively new (the app store opened July 10, 2008). I was asked to conduct some research on how brands are using iPhone applications. Brand use of iPhone applications is steadily increasing, and the applications they are creating range anywhere from the functional to the whimsical and fun.

I delved into the 100,000+ applications of the app store and pulled out a handful of unique brand applications. On Friday, December 18th, I presented to the Atlanta office and was broadcast to all other Engauge offices via UStream.

Still, for those who missed it, I’m writing up this quick blog recap. A few key points:

– The Apple app store currently boasts over 100,000 apps and 2,000,000 downloads.

– Brands across all industries are developing iPhone applications, including airlines, grocery stores, clothing retailers, automakers, and restaurants.

– Only 20% of free applications downloaded are used the next day.

– Sports applications offer the best short-term retention rates.

– Over the long tem, entertainment applications offer the highest retention rates.

– There isn’t a lot of information on how beneficial app development is for brands, but a lot of brands are getting on board.

If you’d like to learn more you may view the presentation slideshow below: