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News

Pity Colin Kaepernick’s sponsors—As a starting quarterback, Colin Kaepernick amassed the usual group of brands hungry for his endorsement. Now that he’s at the center of a controversy, they face a dilemma. Keep him as a spokesperson and you risk the ire of those who disagree (often vehemently) with his decision to remain seated during the National Anthem at games as a protest against treatment of African Americans. Boot him as a spokesperson and you risk alienating those who agree with his actions (or staunchly defend his right to take those actions). The takeaway: Taking public stands on social issues is becoming more common, both for companies and celebrities. It would be wise for companies that sponsor athletes and other celebrities to develop a playbook for how they’ll deal with these issues. Read more

Facebook’s “Trending” change backfires big-time—Under pressure to eliminate bias from the items that appear in its “Trending” feature, Facebook shifted to pure algorithm and fired its human curation team. The result has been awful on a number of levels. In addition to surfacing fake stories and other worthless content, you now have to mouse over a vague label to figure out what the subject is. The takeaway: Here’s hoping Facebook brings back real human curators soon and finds another way to avoid bias. Read more

Mattel positions Barbie as a paid influencer—This may seem absurd, but I worked at Mattel for four years (1984-88, director of corporate communications) and I know that the PR efforts around Barbie treated the iconic doll as a personality, not a product. The company even hired personality-focused PR agency Rogers & Cowan to handle the account. So it’s not at all surprising that Mattel is taking money to have Barbie pitch other companies’ products, like Dyson’s Supersonic hairdryer. One photo of Barbie at a Dyson event got nearly 42,000 likes. The takeaway: It’s fascinating to see the crossover potential realized in this story. How many ways are there to make money from a product? The possibilities are only starting to reveal themselves. And how long will it be before Hasbro is paid for G.I. Joe to pitch something, you know, manly?) Read more

Google launches “search live coverage carousel”—A pilot program from Google allows publishers to feed breaking content to Google in real time that will appear in in smartphone search results as a carousel. The pilot limits content to live sports, elections, and breaking news, and requires publishers to use Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages language. The takeaway: Once it shows up for you, pay attention to the kinds of stories that find their way into the carousel in order to better prepare your pitches so they result in the kind of coverage that accommodates the carousel algorithm. Read more

So you don’t think social media training is necessary, do you?—The head of GM’s Cadillac division just had to correct misinformation he read in a post on a car blog by laying out product plans the company had not yet revealed—even though they had not yet been approved by GM’s leadership. The takeaway: Senior executives often bow out of the training frontline employees are required to complete. This cautionary tale should help you convince senior leaders that they may need the training more than anyone else based on the proprietary information they might inadvertently leak. Read more

Instagram introduces photo zooming; brands jump on board—You can now zoom in on Instagram pictures—something users have long wanted—and brands have wasted no time sharing images designed for zooming. Ge, for example, shares an aerial view of a train pulled by one of the company’s locomotives. Zooming in gives you a closer look. The Cheesecake Factory posted an image featuring a dozen pieces of cheesecake and invites users to zoom in to figure out which one appears twice. The takeaway: Brands are exercising some creative muscle with zooming capability. It’s easy to think of ways to invite engagement with an image by letting users focus in on something interesting. Give it a try with your brand Instagram account. Read more

Snapchat to introduce behavioral targeting—Snapchat will introduce behavioral targeting functionality in the third quarter, according to a third-party report that Snapchat is not confirming. “What that means is if users were heavy consumers of basketball content, for example—perhaps following an NBA Snapchat account or consuming lots of content on the ESPN Discover channel—advertisers could target them around categories such as ‘sports’ or ‘basketball.’” The takeaway: Getting relevant ads is great (compared to seeing ads for stuff you’d never buy), but the industry’s track record so far hasn’t been stellar. I looked at one Amazon listing that turned out not to be what I wanted, but the product followed me to Facebook and elsewhere for weeks. Here’s hoping Snapchat does a better job. Read more

Gene Wilder’s passing bucks the brand tweeting trend—Usually when brands take to Twitter to grieve over a celebrity passing, most misfire. In the case of Gene Wilder, though, some of the bigger candy companies that had a natural connection to the comic genius (based on his iconic portrayal of Willie Wonka), opted to remain silent. Those that did were personal in their approach, like Dandelion Chocolate, which tweeted, “Every holiday season we show a screening of ‘Willie Wonka’. RIP Gene Wilder.” The takeaway: While I maintain that the best course in these situations is to keep quiet unless you have a direct connection to the celebrity (e.g., Chevrolet and Prince, given his hit “Little Red Corvette”), some of the candymaker tweets were genuine and heartfelt. Still, it is exceptions like these that prove the rule. Read more

Trends

The EpiPen story demonstrates social media’s power—Most situations labeled “social media crisis” aren’t. They play out in social media but are actually operational, ethical, or some other kind of crisis. The tale of drug maker Mylan’s public lashing over the steep price increase for its EpiPen product reveals a new category: a crisis that might never have happened without social media even if social media isn’t the cause of the crisis. The company was forced to offer savings mechanisms for the name-brand product and develop a cheaper generic version based entirely on awareness (and resulting outrage) of the price hike that spread like wildfire over social media (and Facebook in particular). Without social media, the complaints of a few patients most likely never would have spread. The takeaway: Business as usual isn’t anymore. In years past, gradual price hikes over several years would never get the kind of attention the EpiPen story did. Just because actions a company took 15 years ago escaped notice then doesn’t mean they will today. Prepare communications accordingly. Read more

Storytelling as a marketing tactic gains momentum—Telling a compelling story is the best way to create a lasting impression, leading more marketers to adopt storytelling techniques. IBM Commerce’s CMO is hiring specifically for storytelling skills, including bringing Hollywood screenwriters—with their script-writing and storyboard-plotting expertise—on board. “These folks will help IBM engage specific audiences in a very different matter than we’ve done before,” she said. The takeaway: I remember when a company hiring a storyteller raised eyebrows. Today, it’s vital. It wouldn’t hurt to hone your own storytelling skills. If you haven’t read “The Writer’s Journey,” it’s a great place to start. Read more

Animation is becoming a more common tool for building brand identity—Advances in animation technology are making it easier for brands to use animation as a brand marketing tool. We’re not talking cartoons here. SmartBrief writer Evelyn Timson points to the Australian Metro Trains an animated video—Dumb Ways to Die—used during its safety campaign. (It has amassed more than 137 million views.) “The power of animation is its ability to be memorable in a way that ‘live action’ filmmaking can’t,” she writes. It also has several advantages, including the ability for multiple producers to create consistent-looking content. The takeaway: Agencies should beef up their animation capabilities and brands should keep it top of mind as a viable marketing tool. Read more

Brand podcasts are paying off—Brands including GE, eBay, Netflix, and State Farm are creating their own podcasts as well as tapping into popular existing podcasts to cross-promote branded content to produce a new revenue stream. eBay is behind a Gimlet Creative podcast called “Open for Business,” a “curriculum-style” guide to starting a business. The show appears in the top business spot on iTunes podcast page, achieving 200% of the download goal eBay set for the podcast. There is no eBay ad in the podcast episodes but there are tales of small businesses that used eBay in their business plans. The takeaway: The podcast audience continues to grow, too, as podcasting goes more and more mainstream. There are a lot of ways for brands to get into podcasting. Explore your options, but don’t ignore this increasingly important channel. Read more

What the Internet of Things will mean to marketing and SEO—The Internet of Things will make it easy for people to interact with appliances and other objects. Amazon’s Echo, for example, lets you use natural spoken language to turn lights on or off, open garage doors, raise or lower the thermostat, and issue commands to other connected-home devices. As a result, according to tech journalist Jayson DeMers, search will transition to conversational queries while organic click-through rates will plummet as more people use Echo-like tools to get answers to questions. That means big changes are coming to search engine response pages (SERPs), a surge in personalization, and the rise of “residential marketing.” The takeaway: DeMers’ vision is inevitable but it won’t be the norm anytime soon. Communicators and marketers need to develop a solid understanding of IoT technology, but most won’t find a strong case to employ it for a while. Read more

Programmatic buying won’t come to native advertising anytime soon—Speculation has been growing that programmatic buying was bound to come to native advertising, but low demand from buyers has held up the development of the pairing. Another problem: not enough inventory of native ads. The takeaway: Programmatic buying won’t help native advertising’s reputation as a means of pushing ads that masquerade as content. The longer it takes for programmatic buying to come to native advertising, the better. Read more

Research

Followers unfollow brands that post too often—Respondents to a Spout Social survey said too many promotional posts are the top reason they’ll unfollow a brand. Nearly 40% are annoyed by brands using slang and jargon, 34% dislike a lack of personality, 32% don’t like forced humor, and almost 25% react badly when brands don’t respond to user messages. Forty-six percent unfollow brands that post too many messages, 41% because of irrelevant information, and 35% for excessive tweeting. The takeaway: Knowing what ticks off followers is a great way to adjust your social media efforts so you don’t. Read more

Journalists find social media more reliable than PR contacts—Nearly 80% of journalists see social media as important to their work, connecting them with their audience, and nearly half said they couldn’t do their jobs without it. Respondents to a Cision survey said social media was the most valuable resource they h ad for publishing and promoting content and engaging with their readers. Only 35% use it for sourcing news. As for PR practitioners, 42% of journalists responding to the survey said they’re a main source of information, though industry and professional contacts and experts were viewed as more important. Younger journalists were more likely to see PR pros as a primary source of information, with 88% of news journalists appreciating the input of PR people (compared to 74% among those who write features, editorials, and reviews). Fifty-three percent of younger journalists agreed that PR people are reliable sources of information; 51% said PR people enhance the quality of their reporting. The takeaway: Older journalists produce less content destined for online publications. Seek out younger journalists for your pitches. It’s also important to be active on social media as a means of building relationships with these younger reporters. Read more

The continued rise of social media as a source of news—Twenty-eight percent of 18-24-year-olds get their news mainly from social media while 24% said television is their main source, meaning social media has overtaken TV as the top source of news for that demographic. Facebook is the top network for finding news, with 44% of respondents saying they get their news there; only 10% named Twitter. The media are paying heed, pouring more resources into video development for sharing on social networks. The takeaway: When pitching a story, having video—B-roll at the very least—can help make your pitch more enticing to news organizations that want to make sure their stories are shared on Facebook and elsewhere. Read more

Millennials prefer email for brand communication—As counterintuitive as it may sound, “Millennials overwhelmingly prefer brands that communicate with them via email.” The study from marketing agency Brightwave found email beating out social media, SMS, phone calls, and other marketing channels. However, only 8.7% said they share brand emails and 47.1% said they unsubscribe from emails that come too often. The takeaway: Given how important it is to have fans share content, email should be viewed as one channel in a mix of methods for reaching Millennials. It would also be useful to figure out what kind of content inspires people to share via email, though it won’t be easy to find out. There’s a reason it’s called “dark social.”. Read more

20% of top brands’ social media accounts are fake—An analysis of the social media accounts of 10 top global brands found 19% were fraudulent. 28% of the fake accounts were “either scams or offers for counterfeit goods or services.” Most were created to generate ill-gotten ad revenue “by tricking followers into visiting junk websites.” The takeaway: Fake sites your customers may think belong to you threaten your reputation. Be vigilant—social media fraud is on the rise—and take action when you find a fake site. Read more

Big companies aren’t prioritizing search—91% of large enterprise don’t prioritize search in their marketing efforts. Only 5% considered search engine marketing (SEM) a top priority and only 4% see organic search (SEO) as important. The main reason they cite: demonstrating ROI. The takeaway: Ninety-five percent of the 500 large US companies included in this study are nuts. With more and more PR agencies acquiring search companies, the importance of search should be top of mind. It is for you…isn’t it? Read more

Less explicit native ads perform best—A report from native ad company Polar found that native ads that fail to comply with FTC rules for explicit identification of the content as paid performed better than those that complied. Only 55% of the 137 placements studied followed the FTC rules. The takeaway: Just what we don’t need is proof that breaking the rules pays off. When more companies try to hide the fact that the content was paid for, the FTC will crack down harder. Talk about killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Read more

Video

Instant Video comes to Messenger—Facebook’s Messenger app now lets you share video with others in real time with a single tap. The demo video Facebook shared in is newsroom features one person at an ice cream shop asking the other what she wants. She taps the video icon and live-streams the menu to her friend. The feature is built into the latest version of Messenger for iOS and Android. The takeaway: While there are plenty of tools for video calls (like the relatively new Google Duo), I like the fact that this feature recognizes the popularity of text messaging but lets you add video when it makes sense. Read more

Twitter will share revenue with video creators—Facebook and YouTube do it so it was only a matter of time before Twitter followed suit. Twitter has announced it will pay individual video creators a share of the advertising revenue their videos generate. The takeaway: Revenue opportunities inspire the production of great user-generated content. Fans are willing to sit through pre-rolls to get to those videos. It’s an important ecosystem. Read more

YouTube live video is becoming a real competitor—Facebook Live and Twitter’s Periscope have a genuine competitor in YouTube, where live content is gaining a large audience. Live video views on Google-owned YouTube have soared 80% in the last 12 months while the number of live streams grew 130%. The takeaway: Know your audience when choosing the channel for live-streaming. It’s also worth considering a multi-channel approach to live streams. I just finished a proposal that includes simultaneous live streams on both Facebook Live and Periscope. Read more

Branded dramatic series a hit for Kimberly-Clark—When you consider the growing importance of storytelling, the rise of video consumption, and the expansion of scripted shows available for TV watchers, it’s not a stretch to see why “Carmilla,” a teen-oriented vampire series, took off. It’s not your typical Netflix or Hulu show. Each episode is about five minutes and it’s available only on YouTube. The show is designed to subtly promote the company’s Kotex brand. The takeaway: I’ve never bought into the notion of “content crash” precisely because brands will innovate ways to grab attention with content. If this works for Kimberly-Clark, what kind of content can you imagine for the brand you represent? Read more

Vertical videos are cool. Facebook says so—Facebook is responding to user demand by more completely displaying vertical videos in iOS and Android news feeds. The move also has been promoted by advertisers, who like the idea of videos that occupy more of the screen, which leads to fewer distractions. The takeaway: Vertical video has a large corps of haters, but its continued adoption is inevitable. If you produce videos, consider how many mobile views you’re looking for and consider vertical as the aspect ratio of choice. Read more

Brands can now sponsor Periscope broadcasts—Brands can now sponsor Periscope broadcast series and create branded video highlights to appear in pre-roll ads. The takeaway: Twitter must see enough traction with Periscope video consumption to see it as a revenue generator. If you watch NFL Thursday Night football on Periscope—which isn’t as silly it may sound, given people who will be able to watch when they’re not near a TV—expect to see pre-rolls before you’re taken to the game. Read more

This week’s wrap image, “Red Leather Wrapped,” appears courtesy of crudmucosa’s Flickr account.