Social media plays a role in ad impressions, and can reap big benefits at little upfront cost. Consider how the Jeep brand reaped hundreds of thousands of impressions when Evan van der Spuy, a mountain biker on team Jeep South Africa who was hit by an antelope (red hartebeest) was interviewed by numerous networks post t-bone.
The crazy footage was launched on YouTube and was an instant hit. This kind of event is rare - it's kind of like winning the lottery.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxFIX0oPTso
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxFIX0oPTso&list=PL42A30968D1...