The Big Heart Behind the Brand of Big Bird & More

Brand managers and creators, from Big Bird to Oprah and IBM, speak out during Brands Conference 2011.

Brand managers and creators, from Big Bird to Oprah and IBM, speak out during Brands Conference. Including Dan Lewis.

Meet Dan. He is: 
- The Director of New Media Communications
- The human behind Sesame Street via social media
- Responsible for creating and implementing a strategy and program that helps families of veterans 
- Jeff Pulver’s cousin

These are the fun facts behind the story Dan presented at the Brands Conference in New York City. 

But, as businesses are learning, social media strategies are about more than fun and games and learning about the letter of the day.

Dan uses the various channels of social media for the sole purpose of market outreach and deliverability of media formats as his program reaches out to our country’s families of veterans. The family programs he’s responsible for include a media kit of educational and supportive stories of some of our favorite Sesame Street characters to help children better understand their emotions and cope with the raw truths of war and loss. Growing heart of the Sesame Street brand through social media is a noble call that the entire community can connect to and help. Thankfully the messages are not limited to one television broadcasting channel, or the DVDs sent by a mail carrier. With the new world of the internet and its millions of channels, the Sesame Street productions made for families of veterans can be made readily available.  

Want to share some of the videos that Sesame Street has created to help families of veterans? Please visit and pass this link on to anyone you know who is experiencing deployments, homecomings and changes of having a family member away to serve: http://www.sesameworkshop.org/initiatives/emotion/tlc

Want to see the full presentation leading and following Dan’s story? Here you go: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/18407514

Social media makes it easier to make social impact. It is more than just about the Letters ABCs and 123s. It is about reaching the hearts. — at New York City, New York.

Contributed by Andrea Cook, #140Conf Live Event Correspondent. Andrea Cook has brands and buzz on the brain. Since 1999, her chicago-born consultancy, The Midas Center has provided award-winning marketing and media solutions to law firms, education facilities, non-profits, artists and hyper-local communities. She strives to support the noble game changers and life savers through social media marketing. She is a pioneer, coach, editor, cowork-owner and consultant for hire. Services vary, Live Event Correspondent services preferred.