Hacked?

Burger King and Jeep were subjected to social media nightmares this month. They were both hijacked. Burger King was the first victim. The hackers changed the handle picture and name to McDonald's claiming they had bought out Burger King. Also, if I'm not mistaken, tweeted a few obscenities out as well. The Jeep hackers decided they would follow in the BK hackers' footsteps. They made it look like Jeep had be sold to Cadillac. Lesson from this: use better passwords. After a few hours they were able to claim their Twitters back, but the pictures/screenshots will always be out there.

For a bit, we thought MTV and BET had become the next victims of the Twitter hackers. However, it was just a witty PR move on the part of the companies. The two accounts were "hacked" by the other. Companies have been playing off what has been going on in the world like the Super Bowl Blackout for instance. So, why not play off the pain of other companies too! They chose to use the hack to mostly advertise BET's Hip Hop Awards in June. It's definitely different. Effective? Eh...not so sure about that one. I think they thought it would be funnier then it actually was. Creative? I will give them that. Social media is all about creating conversation and when company's twitter account gets hacked, it creates conversation. And when it turns out the company hacked itself, it sparks even more conversation! Plus, they can get away with it. They're MTV. It fits with their brand image. Getting a laugh at the expense of others? It's like Punk'd for social media!

 

Desperate. Desperate. I am really desperate.

I think the theme of my last few blogs is been how in today's age we see social media everywhere. It's really hard to escape it. You constantly go into to stores or look on advertising material and see "Make sure to "like" us on Facebook!" or "Follow us on Twitter @..." This doesn't bug me. It's businesses wanting to connect with their fans on social media. I am all for that. Plus, if one of my favorite stores or restaurants has a Facebook or Twitter page, hell yeah I'm going to like it! I want to see what special deals/events they have going on. However, some businesses have gotten to a point where they just scream desperate with their social media campaigns. Begging for likes, follows, shares, etc. And I found one prime example of this right in good old Athens, GA.

Now, I won't go into details, but I HATE my apartment complex. The only reason I still live there is because I am far too lazy to move all my stuff for only 6 more months of school. But my loathing for them is another story that I won't waste your time with. However, as a disclaimer, my hate for them did not influence what I thought about their recent contest. Their recent contest was just dumb social media marketing in itself.

I was driving out of the complex and noticed a sign for a contest they were holding: "Recommend us on Facebook and you'll be entered to win a $50 gift card to the Last Resort". All I read was "Desperate. Desperate. I am really desperate!" I just could not believe that they were literally begging for recommendations and trapping their fans who want a $50 gift card into giving them a recommendation that is not genuine. I heard one resident say, "Well I really don't like them, but I want a Last Resort gift card." One, I don't think the even thought about ethics with this. Half of those recommendations on their Facebook page are fake now. Two, you performed a big social media no-no by making your fans spam their friends with their fake recommendations. Now, they are a small business who has probably never been to a single seminar or class on social media. However, I feel like this is common sense. You literally just want to "boost" your image whether it's fake recommendations or real. They quit using their page as a connection and simply are using it as advertising.

However, I think there is a lesson to be learned from their mistakes. My apartment complex is not genuine with their fans/residents. They are not using their Facebook page to really connect with their residents. It's consistently full of things like "Renew your lease today and get this and this!" And this is why they are not getting recommendations (among other reasons). You make that real connection with your residents and fans and you will get those recommendations on your own. Without the contests and gimmicks. It is as simple as this: be polite, nice, responsive, and approachable. That will get people to like, share, follow, recommend, etc. And they will be real. Not just done because someone wants a gift card. It will be surprising in the next few days to see how many of those recommendations are deleted by the person who wrote them because they did not believe in what they said. It was just all for the money.

Land of the free...Because of the Brave

Not going to lie, the Super Bowl (aka the Blackout/Beyonce Bowl) this past Sunday had to be one of the most boring. Normally, I do watch for the game, but since I was not a fan of either team, I was all about the commercials and Beyonce. However, even the commercials were disappointing. The one, however, that did catch my eye (like I said in my last post) was Jeeps. For those of you who have not seen the Jeep Super Bowl commercial, here it is below.

Now...maybe I am biased. I am a military girlfriend after all. When your boyfriend is in the Air Force, it's hard not to get teary eyed at any sentimental thing that has to do with the military especially ones about our men and women in uniform coming home. However, it is what Jeep did after the commercial aired that really warmed my heart. I was looking through my twitter feed and came across a retweet by @KissMySthrnSass (if you like all the Southern, I suggest you follow her...like yesterday). It was a tweet about Operation SAFE Return with the hashtag #joinOSR. The tweet essentially said for every tweet that goes out with the hashtag #joinOSR, Jeep will donate $1 to the USO. The goal: raise $300,000 for the USO to help our servicemen and women with their return home. Not only did Jeep honor our armed forces with a really expensive commercial, but they are also giving back to them as well. I love a company that gives back especially to our military men and women. The best part is Jeep didn't need you to tag them in it. It didn't say tag or hashtag Jeep. It just said hashtag #JoinOSR. They are not begging for people to like them in order to donate or saying the charity will not get money if you do not follow them. They just want to show support for our troops and that has definitely brought them up a few notches in my book.

So...if you have not tweeted #joinOSR yet, do it now! Make sure to tag @Jeep and @the_USO in it to show your support! 

God bless our troops and bring them home safe. 

Cookie or Cream?

In my last blog post, I talked about how a few years back you would have never seen a social media section in sponsorship contract. As I am sitting here watching the Super Bowl tonight, I am noticing something else you never would have seen maybe even 2 years ago. So far tonight, I have already seen two commercials that used some form of social media. One was Miller-Coors and one of their Bud Light commercials. They had hash tagged their famous phrase, "Here We Go", at the end. The other one was from Oreo in their first ever Super Bowl commercial. Two people in a library started arguing about whether the cream or the cookies were the best part of the Oreo. The small, whispered fight turned into a full on whispered, brawl. However, the weird quiet, brawl was not what caught my eye. At the end of the commercial, it says to make your choice using Instagram. So, being the curious person I am, I investigated. They want their fans to take a picture with the hashtag #cookiethis or #creamthis. This will not only be their choice of cookie or cream, but it's also their choice for what they want their picture to be made of. Yes, oreo will sculpt their favorite pictures out of oreo cookies or cream.

While the sculpture and whispered commercial are odd, the idea of using Instagram is genius on their part. Instagram continues to grow as a social media platform. And other companies have seen major success using Instagram as a way of reaching their market (Taco Bell anyone?). And in order to really connect with your audience on Instagram, you have to do more then just post pictures of your product. You have to get them to interact with you. And people are passionate about their Oreos. I am Oreo will get a huge response from this campaign. Not only because people want to show their passion for the cookie or cream part of the oreo, but they also want to see if Oreo will really sculpt whatever they send in. It'll be interesting to check back in a few weeks and see if Oreo got the response they were looking for. 

Oh and also...Beyonce is fabulous and Jeep wins the best commercial of the night. 

#QueenBey #Merica