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Rihanna is going all social for the launch of her new album with the release of 'Unlocked' - a Facebook application that lets fans uncover the album, Talk That Talk, detail by detail. Disclaimer: This post does not mean that we are Rihanna fans.

To access 'Unlocked' all users need to do is “Like” the page and then go on “missions” to uncover content released by Rihanna’s label. These 'quick wins' include the lyric sheet for the album, Rihanna’s new “R” logo, the single “We Found Love,” access to her new website and the album cover.

Since the app’s launch in late September, UNLOCKED has received some staggering numbers. The campaign added one million new Twitter followers and more than 2.5 million tweets (a 445% increase from before UNLOCKED was launched). The project has also given Rihanna more than 700,000 Facebook fans with an estimated 208 million Facebook impressions.

What picked our interest was the fact that the campaign has taken its lead from a handful of key trends within the tech and social media sector in order to make something quite unique and interesting.

Firstly, the idea of the 'product reveal' builds on the fact that social (and digital) is a great way of distributing content piece by piece. Such activity can create a landslide of dialogue in the build up to and prior to a product launch. This is something many early adopter tech users have themselves been producing. The concept of 'unboxing' - slowly unwrapping a product from its packaging - is a huge trend and something that electronics giant Samsung has taken to heart. Its 'Samsung Unboxed' videos have become a thing of legend.

There there is the concept of rewarding participation. In our opinion all social activity needs to have a mechanic for rewarding fans, followers and customers for participation, but the Rihanna campaign takes it a step further by rewarding them with content that isn't even publically available - which in turn gives her fans something to talk about to their social graph as well as the obvious 'bragging rights'. There's even an element of Groupon here  as certain “offers” only become available when theyu reach a tipping point in demand.

In its entirity, Unlocked is a smart way for Rihanna to engage with her fans. The app provides users with unprecedented access to the artist, making them feel like they’re interacting with Rihanna and by unlocking special content they are in turn helping promote her album. We totally agree that it’s a model that should be applied not just to other artists but across many different industries and sectors.