The platform most utilised by the Inc 500 is Facebook, with 74% of companies onboard, and 73% using LinkedIn. Twenty-five and 24%, respectively, report that Facebook or LinkedIn is the single most effective social networking platform they use. Texting, mobile apps and Foursquare are used by 13-15% of companies.

However, blogging has declined for the first time among the Inc 500. In 2010, half of members had a corporate blog – up from 45% in 2009 and 39% in 2008 – but last year the use of blogs dropped to 37%.

Companies in advertising/marketing are most likely to blog, while companies in government services and construction make very little use of this communications tool.

“The use of social media in the Inc. 500 is evolving,” says Dr Nora Ganim Barnes, senior research fellow of the Society For New Communications Research. “Older tools are being shed in favour of newer, more nimble tools. Creating networks with other professionals is seen to be as important as communicating with target markets via Facebook or Twitter. These fast-growing companies intend to continue to invest in social media and will fill their needs in a variety of ways, including new social media hires.”

The solution: immersing the consumer in an action-packed chase – The Chase – across PC programmes. A heroine outwitting two thugs trailing her through YouTube, Facebook, and Microsoft Office, all the while demonstrating the amazing things Intel’s processor lets us do on our computers. The two-minute video was a big hit and was named an ‘Ad Worth Spreading’ by TED that you can watch here.

Following on the success of the video, Intel partnered with Microsoft Advertising to take elements of its creative and continue The Chase on a global scale across Microsoft platforms, spanning mobile, web and Xbox Live, and covering the UK, Germany, France, Russia, Poland and Turkey. To make this phase of the campaign a truly engaging experience, we kicked off with a 24-hour bespoke homepage takeover across MSN sites, created one-on-one games on Windows Live Messenger, and offered Intel theme packs for Xbox Live Spotlight users. And importantly, we extended The Chase experience to handheld devices with the use of expandable rich media.

The campaign was a great success for Intel. Research conducted by Dynamic Logic across the UK, Germany and Russia showed uplifts in the campaign association for the brand across all markets, with the highest spike seen in Russia. The campaign also boosted Intel Core i5 processor awareness, particularly amongst the Windows Live Messenger audience, which saw a 21% increase. We were able to help Intel, a giant company that makes products people don’t necessarily touch or see, bring its brand story to life.

By creating a branded experience with rich, interactive content across multiple markets and screens, we really demonstrated what Microsoft Advertising’s unique offering is all about. In a way, today’s consumer is like our heroine jumping effortlessly from screen to screen – our task as digital advertisers is to engage them holistically and tell a good story in the process.

*David Pugh-Jones is brand strategist at Microsoft Advertising

Players of the game will be able to explore the world of Panem – the setting for The Hunger Games trilogy – and complete missions that will take them to each of the ‘Districts’ and the ‘Capitol’ where they will interact with characters from the story. The game will be the first place fans can see the official Map Of Panem, and the Districts layout. Details for the Map Of Panem will be rolled out in the game with a steady stream of chapter expansions.

“Suzanne Collins’ amazing novel delivers an unbelievably detailed world that completely immerses the reader,” says Sam Glassenberg, CEO of Funtactix. “Fans want to enter this world, interact with the characters and truly become a part of it.”

As part of the marketing effort for the film, Lionsgate has also launched an online immersive games experience at TheCapitol.pn, where visitors can register as a Citizen are be assigned to one of the Districts. Users can head to the square and collect their gifts, as well as send letters of love and support to their District’s Tributes.

“We believe the result of these policies then will make the Chinese TV advertising industry hard pressed to find workarounds, such in the form of sponsorship and other special-ad formats to compensate for these regulation-induced challenges” says Zhini Xia, researcher, advertising and television at IHS Screen Digest.

China’s television advertising market was worth €24 billion in 2011, up from €21.4 billion in 2010.

“Young people will be logging on to listen, watch and take part in the show,” says Ben Cooper, controller of BBC Radio 1. “I hope that this will be to our young listeners what listening to the chart and waiting to record your favourite pop songs was for another generation.”

The radio outfit is allying with outdoor advertising firms JCDecaux and Clear Channel to push a live RSS feed from the Absolute Radio studios and slot it on the boards.