Babies utilizing technology: is there anything cuter (read as: creepier)?

So by now we've all heard the news: a child is born unto the Royal Family, and of course the internet went completely bananas over it. Now, we at On-Target! weren't exactly glued to our screens begging for coverage about this, but then we found out that the Royal Baby had gotten 2 million+ Twitter mentions. We wouldn't be great at our jobs if we didn't take at least a little time to think about what this meant for brands on social media.

The virality of a subject like this is always an amazing opportunity for brands to market themselves. Doing it the right way, however, is a totally different story. Yeah, you could easily just use a #RoyalBaby hashtag to insert yourself in the conversation, but then what? You've got to make your message meaningful, and you've got to be able to tie the message back to your brand somehow. Luckily companies have had a few months to mull this over, and there were some really awesome examples. Here are just a few.

Coca-Cola:

For a very long time, Coca-Cola has used celebration as an element in its ads. Yesterday was no different.

With its absolutely apropos advertisement, not only did Coca-Cola engage its audience with relevant content, but it also gave its audience another hashtag to further promote the brand. By extending its #ShareaCoke campaign into the royal baby news, Coca-Cola was able to deliver a timely ad that grabbed attention and heightened its credibility.

Oreo:

Remember when Oreo wow'ed us with its impossibly relevant Super Bowl post? The social media team continues to win the internet with its newborn ad.

Long live the creme, indeed. This one has actually become really controversial, gaining a lot of internet hate. Peronsally, I like it because it's babies... and milk... and Oreos... c'mon! In my humble opinion, milk's favorite cookie should be considered one of social media's favorite brands because of posts like these.

Argos:

A well-known UK retailer with a sizeable baby and nursery department, Argos cashed in on the baby boom with a simple, yet suitable congratulatory message to all the new "Mums and Dads."

The message was, in our opinion, bloody brilliant.

These are only a small handful of some truly incredible brand efforts to increase awareness amidst a social media frenzy. We love seeing brands, small and large, take advantage of events like this to reach out to possibly untapped audiences. After all, creating meaningful conversations with your customers is what PR and social media are all about.