What PRs can learn from the US Super Bowl final….

Earlier this month America was taken over by the frenzy of the Super Bowl final -  the biggest annual sporting media event. With the final attracting more than 100 million viewers every year, it was no surprise that brands were fighting for every chance to get media exposure during the event. However, paying $4 million for a 30 second TV ad is a luxury that very few brands can afford. As brands were fighting for the attention of the Super Bowl fans, many companies turned to social media to tap into the huge potential of the event.

According to CocaCola’s marketing team  more than 60% of the Super Bowl viewers were expected to have a smartphone, tablet or laptop device nearby, while watching the game. Not surprisingly, brands were quick to respond with engaging social media campaigns that enabled users to interact during the game. CocaCola’s TV ads for example directed viewers to CokePolarBear.com, where people could watch two Polar Bears supporting different teams. The popular ad characters were also tweeting during the game, voicing their comments and sharing their experiences from the Super Bowl final.  Similarly, Chevrolet launched a free mobile app that allowed users to interact and answer trivia questions related to the game, giving them the chance to win a car and other prizes that were given away during the show.

The creative use of social media during the event didn’t stop there. The hosts of the Super Bowl event in Indianapolis created the first Super Bowl social media command centre that allowed staff to monitor social media activity around the event and proactively offer assistance to visitors at the stadium. What’s even more interesting is that the organisers used cutting edge search tools and analytics to detect potential customer issues based on specific key terms and requirements. So, for example, if a visitor is complaining on Twitter that he cannot find a parking space, the analytic tools will detect the issue and will alert the social media command centre prompting the team to provide personalised guidance and advise.

As social networks are changing the viewing habits of audiences, brands have plenty of opportunities to engage with their customers in a new and proactive way. The strong integration between social media networks, traditional media platforms and hand-held devices is heralding an era of interactive multimedia experiences. This, coupled with advanced analytics of users behaviour, can offer huge opportunities for marketers and advertisers to engage with their audiences in a more personalised and creative way. However, with social networking websites increasingly looking to feature ‘sponsored stories’ based on users’ interests, the line between social networking and brand engagement will be increasingly blurred.

PRs can use this opportunity to start meaningful conversations with their audiences. However, this communication has to be centred around the needs of the consumer rather than on commercial interests. Putting consumers first is the key to building a good relationship with the brand. And in the long run this is the only relationship that matters….

These are dark times indeed

What is this blank imageless content you may ask?

It is the image of censorship; a representation of many websites that shut down and went black January last month.

The blackout occurred at midnight on Wednesday 18th through to midnight Thursday as a protest against the proposed anti-piracy legislation in the US. In this included big internet database moguls such as Wikipedia, Reddit, and Twitpic; symbolizing what will happen to content accused of copyright infringement.

This legislation is currently known as SOPA. Now, most of you would have heard of SOPA by now and that SOPA equals bad. But how many of you actually know what it is?

In a nutshell, SOPA, or “Stop Online Piracy Act” is a new legislation which gives power to both major corporations and the government to pull the plug on websites that they accuse of copyright infringement with neither a trial nor court hearing – just like that *snap*. You can read the bill in detail at this handy website because it’s worth giving it a read to know what we’re all protesting for once.

Obviously the legislation is aggressively backed by Hollywood and record labels. I mean, why wouldn’t it be? Let’s be honest, the movie and music industry have never been particularly pleased about losing their business to sites such as Limewire, Napster, Megaupload and its sister website Megavideo, which have both been shut down since.

Just last week did I try to access Megavideo (not that I stream videos against Hollywood legislations) to no avail, only to be greeted with this very official notice

Most will know what Megaupload and Megavideo is, and if not, *tut tut* you were not using the internet to its full capacity. They are file sharing sites best known for hosting one of the biggest online library of movies and TV shows appreciated by most and especially those without the luxuries of television. Although walking a fine line between enabling piracy and profiting from it, they have always been quick to the mark when taking action in response to piracy accusations by taking down any relevant files. However sadly, this will not be the case anymore as Hollywood media companies urge the FBI to seize it along with adjacent websites. Nevertheless, will this actually limit the number of internet piracy?

According to this very “official” chart, computer says no.

In retrospect, should we be pleased with Anonymous, the last bastion of digital anarchy for their hands on retaliation strategies? At the end of the day, for the ones who protest, it’s not about losing a legacy of free movies and data but about how big corporations can shut you down and condemn you to jail time without warning. It’s about a future where the internet is not a free space to roam and learn. Wikipedia stated on their “blacked out” webpage – “imagine an internet without free knowledge”, and the reality is pretty grim.

Thoughts?

#McDStories – stop the #hype!

I have recently become a vocal defender of McDonald’s which is rather unexpected.  A couple of weeks ago, as you may have heard, they started part of a campaign with the sponsored hash tag #McDStories.  Their idea being a way to share their growers’ stories.  For those who have somehow missed this story: the tag was quickly jumped upon to share negative McDonald’s experiences.

So campaign going wrong, what did McDonald’s do? Within two hours they pulled the campaign, they also quickly rolled out their social media director Rick Wion to explain and comment to interested media.  His quotes are down to earth and reasonable. The campaign refocused on another hash tag they were working on #meetthefarmers.   The result?  McDonalds claims only 2% of the tweets were actually negative and it didn’t even make it into the top ten trending topics.

So what went wrong? 1.0 media met 2.0 social media.  And apparently 1.0 doesn’t understand 2.0. So ensued a coverage storm way bigger than the initial story one could argue.  A central principle of social media is opening up to ALL conversations – you have too – not just the version the brand wishes to broadcast.  Accepting you are not perfect and listening to your detractors is all part and parcel of this new world.  You are not going to like everything they say but at least you can listen and learn.  And your wider audience will respect you for it if you do this well.

Now, don’t get me wrong, no-one plans for a campaign to go wrong but if McDonalds did not instigate a campaign with any potential for negativity (given the size of this brand, not everyone will be a fan), the reality is they would either have to quit social media (to jeers of ‘Dinosaur’ no doubt) or reel out campaigns so orchestrated and non conversational (you know who you are some of you juggernaut brands) that they defy the very game changing opportunity that social media has bought.

The real shame is the #fail bandwagon some of the so called social media experts jumped onto.  Trending topics give rise for opportunities for self promotion.  The McDonalds bashing that ensued underlined the lack of understanding of a central social media principle.  And to add to this most detractors had nothing to offer regarding a fail safe system that would have prevented this – because there isn’t one.

Nobody truly active in social media is invulnerable to a failure like this is the real bottom line to this one. The higher the profile the brand the more likely it is to happen.  McDonalds did pretty much everything right.  It had no lasting effect on its sales, share price or brand – seriously, who’s not heard all these stories before – and if you don’t like the food, you don’t like the brand anyway so no loss there either.  What this example really shows us is to be prepared for the media and social media storm that follows the initial mistake.  Until the world view catches up with 2.0 that is.

2012 Digital PR Trends: Generation Overshare

2011 saw mass sharing in the social media age bringing new meaning to the term ‘information overload’. As Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive of Facebook, said at the f8 developers conference last year “Our development is guided by the principle that every year the amount people want to add, share and express is increasing”.

What Facebook, and brands too, are witnessing is the trend for digitally savvy consumers disassociating themselves from the enjoyment of the moment to record it. You could see this at any live event or concert last year – the masses of people with their phones/cameras held in the air, lighting up the crowds like a sea of stars as they record away for posting on Facebook or YouTube. The trend now and more so in the future, isn’t about going to an event and having an experience but defining yourself by telling and showing others you were there.

2012 will see this trend grow and develop, and experts at Trend Watching.com predict the growing manifestation of Frictionless Sharing this year. Brands like Spotify and The Guardian already benefit from its success, allowing consumers to passively share what they are listening to and reading (via automatically sharing on your Facebook profile). This is said to be taking over from the influence and power of the ‘Like’ button, giving consumers the developing concept of an automatically curated social web.

The prediction for 2012 is for brands to embrace social sharing – pandering to the consumer desire to use content and experience as their wallpaper of daily life and broadcasting it to their network of contacts. Brands know that leveraging this power will be increasing important as the year goes on. We’ll have to stayed tuned to find out if it does.

Social Media: Friend or Foe to the Job Seeker?

From being caught out whilst pulling a ‘sickie’ to posting negative comments about your employer, there has been a plethora of example where social media use has proved to be detrimental to the career prospects of the social media savvy.

According to a recent survey by social media monitoring service Reppler, 90% of recruiters and hiring managers have visited a potential candidate’s profile on a social network as part of the screening process. Whilst many may put this down to natural curiosity, an alarming 69% of recruiters admit rejecting a candidate based on content found on his or her social networking profiles.

However, it’s not all bad news for the next generation of workers, that same survey found an equal proportion of recruiters (68%) have hired a candidate based on his or her presence on those networks.

Profiles on business social networks, such as LinkedIn and Xing for example, have a variety of tools that support the recruitment process from both sides of the table. However, it’s not just these professional sites that appear to be getting people into interview room.

A recent article from Mashable.com showed that approximately 18,400,000 Americans say that they have got their current through Facebook. This is in fact more than both Twitter and LinkedIn combined, with 8 million and 10.2 Americans, respectively, stating they have gotten their jobs through social platforms.

There are also other fantastic examples of the creative use of social media being used to grab the attention of potential employers, from social CVs to entire campaigns.

Whilst social media contains pitfalls for the potential job seeker, and potentially employers as well, it has also allowed people to break the pen and paper CV mould, fostered creativity and opened up global opportunities to the next generation of workers.

Unsure of whether your online persona matches your professional ambitions, check out this article on jobsearch.com for some helpful hints.