One to Watch for 2012: The Social TV Convergence

There was a time, a long long time ago before the internet, The X Factor and Pringles existed, when the phase ‘water-cooler moment’ was coined. This was a moment of community and shared experience, where the tele-visual event of last night was watched by the majority so they could be involved in the conversation. Then, as time passed, the number of channels grew and digital recorders such as Sky Plus and online catch-up sites like 4oD and iPlayer evolved, and the relevance of the event diminished to a point where advertisers withdrew and ratings dropped.

Now, however, an online revolution is changing all that, it’s no longer the water cooler but the social media moment, and it happens live, as the programme is broadcast. Suddenly a two screen revolution is under-way as internet access and multi-platform applications such as Twitter and Facebook are used in unison with the television to analyse, discuss and ridicule the exploits of soap characters, reality ‘stars’ and world events. No longer does it take any great effort to access the social media platforms for the average viewer, of a certain demographic, has mobile phones, tablets and laptops at their sides while they watch TV. There are even services like Zeebox springing up that embrace this trend and give users a one stop social media stop.

This is a sign of the future where all forms of media channel (YouTube, ITVPlayer and Sky TV) are viewed within a web environment that is not confined to the window of that company. So what does this mean? Well, for the consumer it means more feedback which could lead to better programming but also more power to those who air their views. For the businesses involved, the broadcasters lose control over image but have more metrics by which to show value to advertisers and these advertisers will no doubt be the target of the social media platforms collecting opinions.

Want to win the Election? Make sure you’ve got a strong social media communications campaign….

A Daily Telegraph article which explores the rising importance of social media for grassroot democracy activism in China, prompted me to write this posting.

The popularity of Twitter-like microblogs and internet chat forums has made it harder for the Party to control the system  with  more than 100 “independent” candidates standing for local elections in China.

Social media tools have been increasingly influential in election campaigns elsewhere.  The US presidential and UK General Election are two of the most recent examples of the impact of social media on large-scale campaigns. Obama’s presidential campaign was one of the biggest success stories in this regard with his social media programme driving more than 5 million new supporters, 8.5 million visitors to his website and 80 million YouTube views.

Last year the UK witnessed its first general election in the social media age with almost half of the population turning to the Internet for information about the parties and candidates.  A study of the elections revealed that 97% of the polled participants used Facebook during the election and the majority of 18-24 year olds preferred online media as their primary source of information.

Furthermore the social media space was inundated with comments and tweets providing real-time opinion and information about the progress of the election campaign. The immediacy of the social media ‘coverage’ could not be matched even by good old TV, with Twitter and online forums quickly becoming the harbinger of public opinion trends.

The recent experience clearly shows that social media is no longer a nice to have addition to political campaigns but a must-have tool which should be integrated into the overall communication strategies. The strength of the online medium is that it enables different levels of engagement with the audiences, i.e. on personal, social and political level.

It will be interesting to see how social media usage in election campaigns will evolve with the development of new technologies. In upcoming elections campaigners will be able to use mobile apps, geolocation tools and users’ data to tailor political messages to smaller areas while encouraging people to engage in interactive conversations on the go.

The ‘personalisation’ of political messages will be further enhanced by a deeper interaction between traditional and social media, empowering people to take active role in the political ‘conversation’.

The Royal Wedding: A Fairytale PR Opportunity

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for last 5 months, you may have noticed the media frenzy surrounding the impending Royal Wedding. Whilst regular updates on the guests (Fergie has not been invited,) best man (Prince Harry, of course) and bridesmaids (small Royal children) have fuelled the nation’s anticipation, the real stars have been the creative minds behind the many opportunist PR campaigns.

Following the announcement of the engagement at Clarence House, QVC released the Epiphany Platinum Clad Diamonique Oval Cluster Ring, a replica of the engagement ring for snip of the price at only £34.42. VisitBritain created a royal wedding itinerary complete with a tour of St Andrew’s, where the couple “went from students to soulmates.”

Boutique Hotel, Ten Manchester Street, offered all engaged couples called William and Kate a complimentary afternoon tea with chilled bottle of champagne, and confectionary brand Swizzels Matlow, created a mosaic image of the couple using Love Hearts, though it takes a few minutes of to realise the couple is William and Kate.

Even toy brands got a piece of the action. At Toy Fair Sylvanian Families launched its Royal Wedding Celebration Set featuring two rabbits called Catherine Chocolate and William Balmoral, with the help of a Wills and Kate look-a-like for a photo call. Lego issued a series of images depicting their take on the big day using mini figures and building blocks to represent the monarchs and Westminster Abbey.

Topping the list of more bizarre announcements: Benidorm Tourist board invited the happy couple to honeymoon on the island with a promise of “unforgettable days very near of your British people.” Whilst Revolver Entertainment has gone to the lengths of producing a film – Will & Kate: The Movie – a fictionalised documentation of their love story, shot in LA.

So why has the wedding served PRs to well?

Firstly, love them or loath them, the Royals get column inches. Like a good celebrity brand ambassador they have high profiles and are of interest to both the media and the Great British public. Secondly, weddings are one of the few events that almost any brand can be linked to. From Travel and Tourism to Food and Drink, and everything in between, there is a Royal Wedding themed story within almost every industry.

Thirdly, it’s a celebration, and celebrations mean special limited edition offers, products and services i.e. something ‘new’ to approach media with. Another key factor is that details of the day have been kept under wraps meaning PRs can take advantage of the nation’s curiosity to speculate and make assumptions to help their clients take centre stage.

Although it might seem like an easy target, securing standout coverage with a Royal Wedding-related campaign takes skill and PR nous. This has been demonstrated by the varying success of the stories over the last 5 months.

All that’s left for Wills and Kate to do is say “I do,” marking the start of their happily ever after, and the end of the PR coverage fairytale.

Who is Rebecca Black?

In weeks where world events have been grabbing headlines, an unlikely target/social media sensation has also been born in the form of Rebecca Black. 

 While many of us were blissfully unaware of this unknown tween’s “music video” it appears to have gone viral, attracting all kinds of attention and receiving nearly 70,000,000 views on YouTube.  I, myself, wondered what on earth Rebecca Black was as I checked the trending topics du jour and found it every day.  Ordinarily something like this would be a good thing, especially if you remember overnight tween sensation Justin Bieber. But poor old Rebecca appears to have become a victim of some serious cyber bullying (though I must add that there is something good that came of it in the end). 

 So how did a $2,000 parentally funded video made by using a boutique studio come to be such a “hit”?  Apparently it was considered so bad that people forwarded it to their friends for a laugh and the video has gone viral, culminating in a TV appearance and earning $1m (donated to Japan).   Some may think that it was some cynical marketing ploy, but the saddest thing about Rebecca Black’s video and Twitter trending is that it attracted an incredible volume of excessively negative comments. 

In a day and age when people are entitled to widely share their thinking that something is rubbish and also post comments directly to the individual in cyberspace, is it really necessary to threaten their lives?  Does some sort of filter need to be put in place to prevent such comments or is it just part of normal life?  As creatively ‘interesting’ as the single is, catchy through its limited vocabulary and interesting style of rapping, why the need to be so incredibly barbaric and hateful? It’s a thirteen year old girl at the end of the day.   Rebecca Black’s case has managed to highlight a vicious tendency that is quite worrying in young and old alike.  Lots of people seem to be commenting on it, but perhaps it will take a brand or a NGO to campaign the issue before ‘normal’ people realize that in this case they are the bullies…

Video below, for those who are yet to see it. *Warning* May not be to everyone’s taste and is very catchy.

Are user made virals good for the brand?

When brands attempt to create “viral” content, they have very little idea of the impact they will have.  A vast number of blogs and articles discuss the effect of viral content in great depth making it an almost academic subject.

One thing that is clear, is that when a video, for example, goes viral, if there is a brand involved, it can create a host of positive results and brand views.  When the old spice guy videos hit our computer screens, he changed the image of old spice, and this caused a huge upturn in sales. 

An incredible example of when the consumers do it them selves, is one of onechocolate’s favourite videos that has been bouncing around the office this week.  so head over to our home page and watch our video of the week.