Which brands are activating the best social media campaigns during the 2010 FIFA World Cup? Does being an official World Cup sponsor or FIFA partner like Adidas give the brand an edge over an unaffiliated competitor like Nike?

Even more interestingly, does focusing budgets on ambush marketing actually present a greater value proposition for brands such as Pepsi whose main competitor Coca-Cola is spending millions of dollars to be officially affiliated with the most popular sporting event in the world? Read our white paper to find out more!

“LOOSE BALL!!!”…

Activ8Social is proud to announce the launch of “#LooseBall” – an experiential social media scavenger hunt featuring Boston Celtics All-Star point guard, Rajon Rondo. Red Bull, one of Rondo’s sponsors, will be providing contest prizes, which include 18 basketballs and t-shirts autographed by Rondo (in honor of the Celtic’s run for a record 18th NBA Title) as well as a pair of tickets to Game 4 of the 2010 NBA Finals for one lucky winner.

Starting today at 5pm EST, the streets of Boston might be in a frenzy with fans trying to win the first autographed ball and shirt that are up for grabs in the kickoff #LooseBall drop. And you never know if this will be the lucky basketball with two Game 4 tickets strapped to it by a headband in honor of Rondo and the Celtics.

Odds are if you’re responsible for the digital marketing or social media strategy of an athlete, celebrity, team, league, or company, you will be considering how best to leverage Facebook’s relatively new Social Plugins on an official website or blog.

If you meet this profile, you may find yourself asking “what features does Facebook now provide for my website, how easy is it to implement, and what does all mean”?  For an in depth look into the last question, check out our blog post from last month on the f8 conference.  For part one and part two, we’ve gone ahead and compiled a quick overview that should shed a little light on the basics.