And the award goes to...

I may be overlooking something really obvious, but to my knowledge, there aren't any social media awards programs out there. Maybe we need to create some. (The Fullies? Ok, bad idea.) Because I have a shoo-in for Best Use of Social Media to Sustain a Personal Brand.

And the award goes to...Will Ferrell. Through a series of small market hits, Ferrell has maintained top-of-mind awareness among the general public, with social media doing its part to extend Ferrell's reach. First there was the series of ads he shot - for free - for Old Milwaukee beer. The ads ran exclusively in small markets in the Midwest, including Davenport, Iowa and Terre Haute, Indiana:

And unbeknownst to anyone outside of North Platte, Nebraska, Ferrell also appeared in a Super Bowl ad for Old Milwaukee. The rest of the country can only see the ads thanks to YouTube.

Then came Ferrell's random cameo as a PA announcer for the NBA's New Orleans Hornets. This is gold:

Pulling this in a relatively small NBA market would seem counterintuitive if the goal was to make a media splash, but again, YouTube and rapid link sharing of the news article telling the story provided the extra audience. Ferrell is content to be himself, wherever he finds himself, and trust that the content will be enough to sustain his brand, using the tools of social media


Not that his brand needed sustaining, of course. But without a title at the box office, it seems many entertainers would do well to provide value and utilize modern communication tools to stay top-of-mind.