There’s no question, social media has changed the way we interact with entertainment brands. From friends’ recommendations and online community discussions to social platforms for viewing and listening, to social commerce and viral videos – social media now touches almost every point in the distribution, promotion, and consumption of music, movies, and gaming.

Here are a few examples of entertainment brands not just leveraging social media, but instilling excitement, anticipation, and wonder in their fanbase – through their creative social marketing campaigns. These brands are truly using their social media channels as an extension of their brand’s image and products.

Netflix

Netflix pulled out all the stops with its marketing campaign – online and offline – for the return of Arrested Development on Netflix. To help feed the hype and anticipation for the show’s return, Netflix thrilled facebook fans by providing an Arrested Development countdown on their facebook page – sharing hilarious images and quotes from well-known scenes, with the caption AD2013. Fans loved the anticipation and shared the images with their own networks. Today, the Arrested Development Facebook fan page has almost 2 million likes.

Disney

To promote their movie, “The Muppets” excited and enticed fans by becoming one of the first brands to engage directly with fans at a Google+ Hangout. The Disney film earned $158 million worldwide.

AMC

To promote “The Walking Dead,” AMC rolled out a Facebook game. In the game, fans enter the world of The Walking Dead, complete missions, meet characters from the show, and recruit Facebook friends. The game provides fans with a fun way to interact with other fans on their network, and keep The Walking Dead experience going. The Walking Dead Facebook game has been incredibly successful with almost 1 million likes.

Warner Bros.

To promote anticipation around the last Harry Potter film, Warner Bros. provided Harry Potter fans with a steady stream of engaging content. To add to the excitement, Warner Bros. made some of the earlier Potter films available for rental on Facebook. The Harry Potter page gained 100,000 fans a day just before opening weekend.

Fox

Fox has done an amazing job creating fun social media campaigns that engage, excite and entertain their community – and most importantly, keep the conversation and the experience going between episodes. A great example of this is Glee’s “Gleek of the Week”, which is promoted on the Glee Facebook page. Viewers submit why they think they should be “Gleek of the Week”, and the winner gets an on-air shout out. Their engagement strategy seems to be working – the Glee Facebook Fan page has over 23 million likes!

Which entertainment brands are wowing you with their clever social media campaigns?