Obama Wants You…Tube

On Monday, it was reported that Barack Obama had kicked off his 2010 Presidential campaign via a YouTube video. Labeled with the statement: ‘the politics we believe in starts not with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you’, his campaign video, ‘It Begins With Us’, supports the idea of ‘people power’ - and what better platform to launch this on, than social media?

Could you be Meerkovo’s social media “ambassador”?

Following in the footsteps of tiger-blooded Charlie Sheen, Comparethemarket.com are looking for a social media ambassador. The ad stipulates that the position is predominantly to “help peoples understand the difference between comparethemeerkat.com and comparethemarket.com”, and the online application form advertises the position at £40k for a six-month position – not bad at all! Entries close on the 20.04.2011, and from those that make the shortlist, a public vote on meerkovo.com will decide the final winner. Simples.

Check-in! Snack out!

On the Foursquare blog, they highlight some of the fantastic advertising being done with their API, and looking earlier this week, I discovered this wonder. From German dog-food manufacturer, GranataPet, it’s an interactive billboard that dispenses dog treats when you check-in with Foursquare. I know, awesome. And a perfect complement to the ‘Dog’s Best Friend’ badge.

Daps'em

Israeli start-up, Daps’em, is labeled as a platform for appreciation. It takes the idea of the Facebook ‘like’ to a new level, and creates a custom environment where users can nominate and ‘daps’ their friends for a job well done. The tagline - Wanna thank your friends or cheer them for something awesome they’ve done? Daps’em! - is certainly enthusiastic, but I don’t know whether I’ll be adopting this service – though it might come in handy for the Jam tea round.

Are you the new Rebecca?

And finally, we have this great campaign from London based creative agency Poke - they’re looking for a new Rebecca, and they’re wondering whether it might be you. Today, the original Rebecca has been releasing a series of challenges via the Twitter account @findanewrebecca. The challenges aim to test applicants’ responses to situations that may/will arise in the course of the job, and after the applicants have tweeted their answers/solutions, the best will be plucked out and interviewed for the position. It’s a fantastic way to separate the meat from the bone, and definitely puts a new spin on traditional recruitment. Great work, Poke. (And good luck Original Rebecca, and potential Rebeccas.)