The latest highlights from warc.com include an in-depth report on social media, a multi-article Admap feature on marketing cars and winning case studies from the Canadian CASSIES awards. We also have news on the Warc and Admap prizes as well as a look ahead to some upcoming events.

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Seriously social

Our new Warc Trends Report – 'Seriously Social – A casebook of effectiveness trends in social media campaigns' – provides key findings from a study of almost 800 award-winning campaign case studies on Warc that included a social media element.

The report finds that, while brands' usage of social channels have grown rapidly, many published cases feature social media campaign initiatives that are small-scale, short-term and lack quantified proof of their commercial effectiveness.

A full version and a summary version are available for Warc subscribers.

Non-subscribers can download a free sample version and visit the Warc Store to purchase the full report.

Last month, we also launched our Toolkit 2013 to help brands respond to this year's biggest marketing challenges. This report, drawn up in association with Deloitte, summarises the lessons from our best articles, trend analysis, data and case studies.

Marketing cars

As the new issue of Admap points out, the automotive sector is a high-ticket, high-margin business, which attracted some 45 billion advertising dollars globally during 2011 (equating to 7.9% of total adspend). Automotive marketing is also undergoing significant changes, as digital channels exert their influence on the path to purchase.

Listen to the petrolheads discusses how best to engage influential car lovers via online communities, while Change media gear emphasises the importance of experimenting with new channels.

A prestige marque for the young describes how Mercedes created an interactive driving experience to engage a youthful demographic for the launch of its A-Class model, and Driving digital highlights the role that online is playing in the Indian automotive market.

Other articles from Admap include lessons for planners in the work of UK creative legend John Webster (open access), the need for emotion in retail and an overview of a major shopper study that uncovers six behavioural types of consumer.

Browse the full issue at warc.com/admap

CASSIES 2013

The winners of this year's Canadian CASSIES awards, announced in Toronto last week, also had something of an automotive theme.

autoTRADER took the Grand Prix for a repositioning campaign that established the former print brand as a digital business. And BMW won Gold for a YouTube-led strategy that launched its 1 Series M Coupé, while Mitsubishi's Silver-winning ‘Electriphobia' initiative similarly used digital to challenge negative consumer perceptions of electric cars.

Other winners included Budweiser for the activation of its hockey sponsorship, the Hospital for Sick Children's use of mobile devices in patient care and Koodo Mobile's disruptive role as a consumer champion by offering free handsets without a contract.

Equally, Home Depot was recognised for a campaign that used customers as brand ambassadors, Gatorade won for its expansion from sports drinks to sports nutrition brand, and telecoms firm Bell was rewarded for a repeat of its ‘Let's Talk' campaign in aid of mental health.

Browse all the winners of the 2013 CASSIES.

The Warc Prize for Innovation

The 2013 Warc Prize for Innovation – open for entries until Friday 1 March – will award $10,000 for the best case study demonstrating innovation in communications.

Entry is free and open to campaigns involving any country, communications discipline, sector or budget. For full details, including free content to inspire your thinking, visit warc.com/prize.

Admap Prize 2013

The Admap Prize 2013, inspired by KANTAR, is seeking thought-leading essays on the question: Can brands maximize profits and be a force for social good?

The winning entrant will receive a $5,000 cash prize. For further details visit warc.com/AdmapPrize – but hurry, entries close on 15 February.

MAP 2013

Warc's Measuring Advertising Performance conference (London, 12-13 March) will focus on the 'real-world' commercial application of both core and new-wave techniques to address specific communications challenges.

The two-day event, chaired by Stevie Spring and sponsored by Toluna, will include leading speakers from top agencies, research firms and client companies. For a flavour of what's to come, read our reports from MAP 2012.

ARF Re:think 2013  

The ARF's annual Re:think conference (NYC, 17-20 March) will showcase the latest research ideas from companies such as GM, IBM, Google, Heinz and Facebook.

Warc will be reporting direct from the conference; in the meantime, you can browse our coverage of Re:think 2012.

Festival of Media Asia

The Festival of Media Asia (Singapore, 3-5 March) will see 600 delegates gather and debate the latest in media creativity and innovation in Asia (we've secured a 15% discount for Warc subscribers - use the code war10mpx).

We reported from the previous Festival, and will be again next month.