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Beyoncé kills the Super Bowl; Oreo wins it By Caroline Ferrari Super Bowl XLVII. Third quarter. The Baltimore Ravens were beating the San Francisco 49ers, 28-to-6. It looked like a blowout until the blackout.
Inside This Issue: Page 2 News from North Road Communications and Mentor Program Page 4 Learn the importance of a portfolio from PR professors Page 6 The latest PR news from the stars of Hollywood Page 8 Consider Facewash for your next Facebook clean-up Page 10 The Twitter hashtags that made the Super Bowl
The power outage became a rallying point for the 49ers and for some serious social media PR. Once the game came to a halt, viewers tuned out the technical difficulties and turned to Twitter. The blackout was a phenomenal success for Beyoncé. Even before the lights went out, her lip-synching scandal was far from everyone’s minds after her epic half time show. But, although no explanation was given for the blackout, all Twitter could do was blame it on Beyoncé’s electrifying performance. “The force and power that is Beyoncé just shut the Super Bowl down! Too funny!" tweeted Kelly Clarkson. Others, like Jimmy Fallon, had similar things to say, “Beyoncé literally killed it at the Super Bowl.” But Queen Bey was not the only one who reigned
Superstar Beyoncé stole the show at last month’s Super Bowl, outshining the creative commercials and unforeseen blackout at the Superdome. Source: beyonce.com
triumphantly. Knowing viewers were away from the television, companies brought their ads to social media. The most popular advertisement of the night belonged to Oreo (@Oreo) who tweeted, “Lost power? No problem” with a link to an ad with the playful tagline “You can still dunk in the dark”. According to the Huffington Post, the ad was designed, captioned, and approved within minutes by Oreo’s agency, 360i. The agency and Oreo representatives had been watching the game from a “mission control” room within the office,
allowing them to respond quickly to the blackout. AdAge reported that Oreo’s message was retweeted 10,000 times within one hour. This is a perfect example of how advertisers can deliver their message through Twitter, showcasing their brands. The actual score of the night is as follows: Beyoncé became more fabulous than ever before, without actually causing the blackout, and Oreo had the best ad of the night. Even if the blackout was not enough for the 49ers to win, it demonstrated how victorious social media can be.
Oreo wasn’t the only blackout tweeter of the night... Tide - @tide: We can’t get your #blackout, but we can get your stain out #SuperBowl #Tidepower
Volkswagen USA - @VW: Lost power during the Big Game... Don't worry, #GetHappy
Audi ‐ @Audi: Sending some LEDs to the @MBUSA Superdome right now...
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A word from North Road Communications By Charlotte Catania Firm Director
N o r t h Road Communications is off to a busy start this semester! We began working with The Cancer Resource Center of the Hudson Valley, in addition to past clients Family Services and Sprout Creek Farm. We have 23 enthusiastic staff members, each with a diverse range of experiences
and talents. In addition to our client account teams, we have a new publicity team, who is working on promoting our services to Marist and the surrounding community, developing promotional materials and researching clients for the future. On February 14th we had our first internal development session that focused on writing the perfect press release. Led by senior Deanna Morosoff, the session was both interactive and informative! We will continue
to have these development sessions in the future to keep our staff motivated and up-to-date on the latest public relations practices. A special congrats goes to sophomore Mary Kate Mulhauser, our new Assistant Firm Director. She will be working with the account teams on deadlines, status reports and preparing for meetings. As we enter the second half of the semester, everyone at North Road Communications is excited for a successful semester ahead!
Catching up with the mentor program By Abbey Scalia Secretary
abroad options and the public relations field.
Freshman PRSSA students often join the Chapter for several reasons: to meet other students with a similar major, because it is the club associated with their concentration, or sometimes for a priority point. But, the biggest reason Marist PR students are compelled to join PRSSA is to get more information about public relations.
“The Chapter is continually seeing that members want to be more involved in PRSSA as freshmen and sophomores,” said Faculty Adviser Jennie Donohue. “The mentor program is a great segue for underclassmen to become more familiar with public relations and become active in the chapter faster.”
During the summer, the eboard brainstormed on how to get more information to our members, specifically underclassmen. The result is the Chapter’s own mentor program. Upperclassmen act as counselors to underclassmen by providing information about communication courses, study
Throughout the year, the mentor program holds several meetings where mentors and mentees get a chance to catch up. Past meeting themes include a LinkedIn workshop, registration advising and an internship information panel. Frequently, mentors and mentees meet outside the designated meeting times as well to discuss the public relations industry. The mentor program isn’t mandatory, but during the first semester of
implementation in the fall 2012, almost forty members signed up. “The mentor program is a unique addition to our chapter this year, and something that we found extremely benefits our members,” said Chapter President Michael Bernardini. “As a Chapter of more than 100 individuals, we have found that it is the key to connecting our members to each other. By meeting in an informal environment outside of our ordinary meeting times, mentor program participants have benefited immensely.” This semester, mentees will look forward to experiencing a mock interview workshop to prepare for summer internship and job opportunities. The program is excited to continue hosting innovative and beneficial workshops for our members.
Michael Bernardini Chapter President @mrBERNARDINI Erica Conover Vice President (President-Elect) @vivalaerica Jackie Mucilli VP of Chapter Development @YackieYacks Meredith Lowe Director of PR @merekaylowe Charlotte Catania Firm Director @charcatania Deanna Morosoff National Delegate @Deanna_Morosoff Chelsea Conroy Treasurer @ccon27 Abbey Scalia Secretary @abbeyscalia Elizabeth Odachowski Historian @LizOda27 Jennie Donohue Faculty Adviser @JennieDonohue
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By Elizabeth Odachowski PRSSA b e g a n with a monumental start this semester when we kicked off with two of our most important events of the year. In February, Michael O’Brien, executive vice president and director, New York client service, at Ketchum PR came to host a brainstorming and creativity workshop. Members experienced Ketchum’s crowd sourcing program, Mindfire, which allows graduate and undergraduate students to submit project ideas for actual Ketchum clients. The workshop was a complete success and we are very grateful for Michael O’Brien sharing some of his tricks of the trade. Our second event focused on our mentor program. Mentors held a workshop based on the social media site, LinkedIn. Mentors coached mentees on strategies for improving their personal LinkedIn accounts and showed others how to create a successful profile. This workshop proved to be very beneficial to all participants. Aside from our events, we also have two teams currently competing in the Bateman competition. The Bateman Competition is PRSSA's premier national case study competition for public relations students. We are excited to see the results our teams will produce. We look forward to the other upcoming events this semester including the induction ceremony for our new members.
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A Letter from the Chapter President After an incredibly busy start to the semester, our Chapter shows no signs of slowing down. April is our busiest month yet; the executive board is planning three fundraising events, two guest speakers, our annual community service event and elections. While members are sure to benefit from all of these opportunities, running for a leadership position within the organization strikes me as the most important contribution one can make. The executive board carefully reviewed our Chapter's existing constitution and bylaws and made sweeping changes to all executive board positions. Although these revisions are still pending PRSSA National approval, I am confident these changes will improve both the Chapter and officer involvement. Ultimately, I can say with confidence that
being on the e-board was one of the most rewarding experiences during my undergraduate career. Through PRSSA, I have built lasting friendships and professional working relationships with the entire eboard. We understand each other's working styles and truly became a well-oiled machine this year. PRSSA helped me form close connections with the faculty and staff in the School of Communications and the Arts, which is crucial to the functioning and advancement of our Chapter. This type of networking is the foundation of PRSSA and is certainly one of the things I will miss most. A leadership position enhances skills that extend well beyond a class or internship, such as time management, organization, teamwork and critical thinking. Being on the e-board gives you one-on-one exposure to PR professionals, helps you network with pro-
Photo Courtesy of Brian Apfel
fessors and fellow students, and allows for practical, hands-on PR experience. Not to mention, PRSSA involvement is a tremendous resume booster and really helps you shine on internship and job interviews. As we gear up for elections, please highly consider running for a position. If you have any questions, the entire e-board and I are more than happy to answer! We have a lot of fun opportunities planned for the weeks ahead, and we're glad you can be a part of it. Hope you enjoy reading this issue, and receiving your shot of industry insight.
Cheers,
Michael Bernardini Chapter President Class of 2013
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PR professors help members prepare for future interviews By Meredith Lowe On Wednesday, Feb. 6, the Marist College PRSSA Chapter held a portfolio and resume workshop to prepare members for future interviews. Communications professors LoriBeth Greenan and Arien Rozelle led the discussion filled with public relations wisdom and personal anecdotes of their own interviewing experiences. The basics of resumes, interview attire and etiquette were discussed during the event, but the topic of portfolios was the main concern for most members who had little knowledge on the subject. Professor Greenan explained that a portfolio is a live document that tells a story and grows with your experience in the field. Members were encouraged to include press re-
leases, course work, writing samples and anything else that would interest an employer. Rozelle added that you can even include
pieces” as well. Attendees learned how to document video, social media and class presentation pieces which helped those who
Big thanks to Arien Rozelle and Loribeth Greenan for sharing their portfolio insight to the Chapter. Source: LoriBeth Greenan
pieces from an event you helped to organize by showing media hits, event brochures and measured results of its success. Professor Greenan and Rozelle offered great advice for “tricky portfolio
were confused about how to present them in a professional way. Greenan also advised the group to have a “mother portfolio” that includes all of your work as well as having separate portfolios for events, press releases and
even social media. Greenan also stressed the importance of a “leave behind,” a smaller portfolio with a few highlights of your best work. She explained that a leave behind will benefit members in the long run when employers are comparing candidates for a job, providing a lasting impression of enthusiasm and dedication. The portfolio and resume workshop was a great success for the Chapter. Members can now successfully utilize new techniques in order to showcase their work to prospective employers. All attendees certainly gained a lot from the great portfolio advice given by Professor Greenan and Professor Rozelle.
Email:
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Sending personal brand feedback, one Tinder at a time Souce: businessinsider.com
By Lizzy Peper In our current technologyfocused era more than 5.5 million single Americans use online dating. These same Americans with smartphones spend an average of 667 minutes a month on apps. When looking at these statistics there is no surprise that some of these 667 minutes are being spent more and more on online dating apps. Tinder is the newest investment for smartphone users. This app asks users to provide four photos to represent themselves to other eligible singles by linking through Facebook. Originally piloted on college campuses, Tinder searches for other singles in a location radius range that you can set to a closer or farther proximity.
App users file through pictures of other singles in their area and have the option of liking or rejecting each new prospect. Achieving a match with a “like” from each person is the only way to start chatting, giving singles the ability to avoid those they are uninterested in. Matches lead to the opportunity to view mutual friends and common interests. Tinder currently brags of over 15 million matches. Positive elements described by Tinder fanatics include the ability to simply pick a few optimal photographs from Facebook to provide fellow users with a specific snapshot look at themselves. Much like in the field of public relations, Tin-
der users create a brand for themselves as they select the images that will be the sole pieces of information other viewers will evaluate them from. Each user possesses the power to deliver a certain overall image deciding with each photo if they wish to portray silly or sultry, artistic or casual, fun-loving or introverted. One’s brand is given immediate peer feedback as matches are made or not. Whether Tinder is a way you simply pass your 667 minutes a month or a method of meeting appealing singles in your area, there is no doubt that this online dating app is changing the way we carefully brand ourselves to potential romantic interests.
App gains instant popularity through the Twitter grape vine Let's face it-- your smartphone is probably cluttered with several apps, but this isn't entirely your fault. After all, who can resist the constant intrigue sparked by the abundance of new social media prospects? In a time where technological innovations are being presented to us left and right, there is one unique app you may have overlooked: Vine. Quietly introduced by Twitter, Vine is a video creation app similar to Cinemagram. Vine allows its users to create and post six-second video clips for all their followers to see. Vine users may comment, like, and use hashtags to classify their videos. Also among Vine's incredibly user-friendly fea-
tures is the ability to share masterpieces with friends via Facebook and Twitter. Despite its initial lack of buzz, Vine has managed to rapidly climb its way to the top. Videos on Vine have ranged from explorations of someone's work space to sneak peeks of Fashion Week, comedic clips, resumes, and even advertising for other products. Whatever the creations may be, Vine has proven itself to be an extremely useful tool. Both its users and uses are expanding daily, causing it to seem as if the folks at Twitter are granting people with much freedom to explore. However, this freedom comes with a cost. One month after its launch, pornographic images and other adult content was found
scattered throughout Vine, including the "Editor's Picks" section. Vine was forced to increase its user age requirement from 12+ to 17+. This issue did not take a detrimental effect on the app, and neither did a minor dispute with Facebook.
Source: pcmag.com
By Amanda Orzo
Lasting just a few days, Facebook blocked its services through Vine. Users were temporarily unable to find Vine friends through Facebook or post their clips to the site. Fortunately, the issue was resolved peacefully and fans of Vine can continue benefiting from all Vine’s offerings. All in all, Vine is more than just another app you've downloaded onto your phone. Its popularity explodes daily, with over 20,000 downloads thus far. Check out what other
Vine users are posting and you'll find yourself inspired to create a clip of your own. With all the capabilities provided, the only question remaining is : Why not?
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B E YO N C É JENNIFER L AW R E N C E By Casey Galasso
By Amanda Fiore
Beyoncé is no stranger to media attention. She is an international star, named the best performer of her time. It is no surprise that the superstar was asked to sing The National Anthem at President Obama’s second presidential inauguration in January. But the media attention following her inauguration performance was a different breed.
F r o m Beyoncé was accused of lip-syncing, astounding audiences everywhere. She kept Jimmy Kimquiet about the scandal, a risky PR move that could have been misinterpreted as avoidance. At a press conference regarding her Super Bowl appearance she attacked mel to Piers the scandal on her terms. Before answering any questions, she sang The National AnMorgan to them, without accompaniment. Challenging critics she laughed and asked, “Any quesDavid Lettions?” terman, This bold PR tactic was a success. Beyoncé immediately took control and began the Jennifer conference with a bang. Her rich voice shut up critics and her light-hearted laugh Lawrence proved that they were the fools. has been The following week, Beyoncé's Super Bowl performance was iconic. She stole the gracing the Source: insidemovies.ew.com show from right under the cleats of the football players themselves. The lip-syncing small screen these past few controversy powered Beyonce to defend her vocal talent. The 47th Super Bowl will forweeks to promote her Academy ever go down in history as the “Super Bowlonce”, forget those Ravens and 49ers. Award nominated film, Silver Linings Playbook (while having the JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE flu, we might add)! Lawrence is also the second youngest woman in Oscar history to take home the award for Best Actress, but instead of coming across as entitled, her recent talk show and media appearances have revealed the starlet’s true colors: she is a bright, charming, eccentric and goofy 22-year-old living her life to the fullest. From her witty banter to her consistent composure, it’s hard not to be Team Jennifer.
By Amanda Hickey
From his Disney sing-alongs to the hits of his NSYNC days, Justin Timberlake has evolved from a boy-band pop star into a fullfledged superstar. The entertainment tycoon released his second solo album, The 20/20 Experience, earlier this month. JT embarked on a heavy promotional tour, including stops on The GRAMMY Awards and Saturday Night Live, as well as an hour-long album release special.
Source: nbc.com
In addition to juggling his music career and acting stints, Timberlake has taken on a new project as creative director for Bud Light Platinum. Bud Light executives feel that Timberlake will bring an ample amount of sleekness and pizzazz to the company and will only add to Timberlake’s impressive persona and ever-growing resume. So, music, movies, booze and…MySpace? Yes. Timberlake has also recently revamped the social networking site transforming it into a LinkedIn-like music profile. Does Justin have the power to bring people back to MySpace? Time will tell.
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T H E K A R DA S H I A N S
MARC JACOBS
By Amanda Fiore
By Casey Galasso
The Kardashian Empire is slowly collapsing, from the bitter divorce surrounding the family to the decreasing ratings of their television show; the Kardashians may be exiting the public scene quicker than expected.
To celebrate Diet Coke’s 30th anniversary in Europe, the brand has brought on designer Marc Jacobs as its latest creative director. In the fashion world, Jacobs is known as a sex symbol, so it makes sense that in addition to designing the product’s new packaging, he will also be starring in the latest campaign. Jacobs, who appears topless at the end of the commercial, shows off his tanned and toned physique while sipping on a Diet Coke.
Source: buddytv.com Let’s face it; the Kardashians aren’t the most exciting people to watch on TV anymore. The television series Keeping Up With the Kardashians used to be a drama-filled show involving hilarious hookups and late night partying, but the current season is full of breast-feeding and baby proofing. No wonder the ratings have dropped.
The Kardashians are loosing credibility as their talent is being called into question. After ending her 72-day marriage people are questioning Kim Kardashian’s motives for marrying ex- Kris Humphries. Also Khloe Kardashian has just been fired as host of The X Factor. It appears the family is on a downward spiral. With baby “Kimye” on the horizon, will the family officially call it quits? Some sure hope so.
What makes this a PR win? Not only is Diet Coke using a celebrity endorsement to boost their brand rating in Europe, where fashion reigns supreme, but Jacobs is also using the campaign as an opportunity to put a face to his incredibly successful label. This ad doesn’t just sell Diet Coke. It sells Marc Jacobs.
LANCE ARMSTRONG By Briana Flynn The Uniited States Anti-Doping Agency’s accusations of doping against Lance Armstrong have been a highly debated topic in the world of sports and PR since last summer. Accusations have been occurring since 2003, yet for the past ten years Armstrong has been denied all claims and continued racing. However, an official investigation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency used blood tests and teammate testimonies to release a formal accusation in June 2012. Armstrong immediately denied that he had participated in doping, steroids and blood transfusions and filed a lawsuit against the USADA. He continued to ignore the accusations, though he did step down from his position as chairman of the Livestrong Foundation in the same month that the USADA published a 200-page report of evidence. In October 2012, Armstrong was stripped of all of his titles since 1998, including all seven of his Tour de France wins.
Source: npr.org
Armstrong finally admitted to participating in doping in an interview with Oprah Winfrey on January 13, 2013. The interview featured Armstrong feeling remorseful about having to tell his son the truth, rather than the fact that he was banned from competition, had to leave the Livestrong foundation, and lost $75 million in sponsorship deals. Armstrong also clearly stated that he would like to start competing again soon, and did not think it was fair that his dope-using teammates received six-month suspensions compared to his lifetime ban. Personally, I believe it is too soon for Armstrong to be making such statements regarding his career. Not only did he participate in doping and cheat in many victories, but he also lied continuously about it. This is a major crisis and from a PR standpoint the first thing that Armstrong should have done was admit the truth. Instead, Armstrong waited nearly seven months before coming clean, and in the process he lost a lot of support from sponsors and fans. With his cancer recovery and record-breaking races, Armstrong became a true inspiration to his fans worldwide. He lied to all those who looked up to him for over ten years, which makes his deception even more disappointing. By saying that he thinks he should be able to race again, Armstrong appears to be selfishly ignoring all the people he let down so that he can get another chance to race. He lost all credibility through his actions, and I personally do not think he will be able to redeem himself soon.
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An evening of networking proves successful for students vertising) and the students students is to attend these had the opportunity to min- networking events, and to be gle with them. The event yourself. On Monday, February 11, was structured so that every One of the alums, Kristen communication students 15 minutes or so students Spirko, ’09, is an account had the opportunity to netwould switch tables to get in executive at Taylor and is work with Marist alumni in as much networking as pos- currently enrolled in the MarNYC. sible. ist Integrated Marketing The networking event was “The networking event was Communications Graduate hosted by the communication internship department at the offices of Taylor, a marketing communications company, which is located in the Empire State Building. “I thought this event was the best one yet (we’ve run three in NYC) in terms of energy, engagement and participation. The students were very active and the alumni never took a break – a sign that things were humMarist students and alumni meet in NYC for a evening of networking. ming and everyone was enSource: Gina Rose Sirico gaged,” Prof. Gerry McNulty, director of communication & perfect because it was a Program (expected to gradumedia arts internships, said. great way to meet very ac- ate summer 2014). The turnout for this year’s complished professionals, event was 34 students and while still staying in the comSpirko was pleased with 13 alumni. fort of our wonderful Marist the turnout of the event and The alumni sat at tables family,” Kelsey Odom, a sen- how prepared the students designated by industry (TV, ior journalism major, said. were. “I’m always impressed Sports Comm, PR, and AdOdom’s advice for younger By Gina Rose Sirico
by Marist students, and this was no exception. Students came prepared with printed resumes and business cards, and most importantly, lots of questions. You could really appreciate the strength of the internship program at Marist in speaking with these students, who were eager, professional and enthusiastic about the opportunity,” Spirko said. Spirko said that networking is so important in communications fields, especially for college graduates. “Marist has a really unique alumni network that is so important to tap into. It is great that Marist is guiding students in making these connections, and it is the responsibility of those in attendance to follow-up with alumni to build the relationship further,” Spirko said. Networking events like this one will occur annually. *This article is an excerpt from the Marist Fox Tales blog.
Facewash is the name, cleansing is the game By Cassie Yettru In the past, college graduates never had to worry about potential employers not hiring them because of some bad decision they made in high school with their friends. The heavy use of social media sites in recent years has allowed everyone—even potential employers—to be “connected,” and they’re using that connection to look at the candidates they are considering hiring. As a result, three computer science students at Kent State University
created an app to help college students and recent graduates “cleanse” their social media sites. According to an article from ABC 10 News, the app is still in its early stages of development, or the “beta” stage as computer-savvy people affectionately know it, but at the end of January it already had almost 50,000 users. The concept of the app is quite simple; it goes through the Facebook profile of the person using it, looking for any words or phrases that could be considered inappropriate. It not only looks through the sta-
tuses, comments, posts, and “likes” of the app’s user, but also anything that the user has been tagged in. Once the app finds something it finds questionable, the user gets a link to the post or comment and then can delete the post from there if they choose to. Signing up for Facewash is incredibly easy, and might mean the difference between a second interview or rejection down the road. All you have to do is go to facewa.sh, and you can then sign in with either a Twitter or a Facebook account.
The downside to Facewash is that it does not have the ability to recognize photos with undesirable qualities. People often don’t realize how much information about them is out in the cyber world, and don’t think that any of that information could hurt them. The team behind Facewash is in the process of getting the app to analyze photos as well as words, but in the meantime everyone should be conscious of how they are being represented in the mediayour future boss (or not) certainly is.
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Manti Te’o’s online woes pave the way for Catfish success By Monica Couvillion po. This story gained enormous media attention due to Te’o’s status as a famed college football player and Heisman Trophy contender.
With the recent scandal involving Notre Dame football player Manti Te’o, it seems that America is more obsessed with online Stories such as these predators than ever. Ac- are happening across the cording to various sources, world every day. The auTe’o had been exclusively thenticity of the TV show
false profiles to pursue fake relationships. Other subjects act as the “catfish” and are fishing a profile that they assume is real but could also be false; a case of a “doublecatfish.” Some viewers have been said to enjoy the show for its optimistic portrayal of relationships while others simply find enjoyment in watching others be blindly misled.
portance in recent years. The idea that “you may not be who you say you are” fascinates the public who collectively longs for shocking stories, such as the Manti Te’o example. Since his fall from grace, it has opened eyes to the dangers of romantic conquests online. Such relationships have the ability to undermine one’s credibility, as seen on Catfish, as individuals who have believed themselves to be in a legitimate relationship for years are thrown offcourse when it is revealed that they have been tricked. The human invincibility is questioned through these catfish examples, the prime reason why America has suddenly found them so eerily entertaining.
With these two public displays of catfishing in online relationships becoming a fixation in the media, one cannot help but wonder why America has suddenly become obsessed with the phenomenon. One possible explanation is the Even football starts like Manti Te’o have been duped by fake notion that the Internet can be deceptive, a possibility online profiles. that was high in value Source: nbcnews.com about ten years ago but Catfish puts these individu- has seemed to lose its imchatting online to a woman al experiences into the pubnamed Lennay Kekua who lic eye, thus spreading the was battling leukemia and word that phony online ultimately died in a car ac- profiles are a real threat. cident on September 11, However, Catfish has 2012. He identified this become a fixation for some woman as his girlfriend audiences. Airing on MTV, it and, although never meet- has gained somewhat of a ing her in real life, was cult following as two men, ashamed of his secret rela- Nev and Max, travel across tionship and lied to family, the country to follow men friends and teammates and women who have been about their legitimacy as a chatting online to people couple. After investigation, with whom they have never it was brought to light that met. Some subjects are Kekua’s online profile was afraid they are being not who she claimed to be; “catfished,” a term that Nev and Max travel the United States to expose the “catfish” n online relationships. it was operated by a man loosely represents how named Ronaiah Tuiasaoso- social media users create Source: tumblr.com
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Twitter hashtags score touchdowns for big brands’ Super Bowl commercials
TOP TEN SUPERBOWL COMMERCIAL HASHTAGS
1. Doritos: #doritos, 33,323 tweets 2. Calvin Klein: #CalvinKlein, 29,381 tweets 3. GoDaddy: #TheKiss, 16.231 tweets 4. Volkswagen: #GetHappy, 10.100 tweets
M&M’s was one of the 26 commercials that used hashtags in their commercials on Super Bowl Sunday. Source: YouTube.com
By Deanna Morosoff Did you notice the hashtags at the bottom of your screen during Super Bowl commercials? They were included in so many commercials this year, they were almost hard to miss. According to a jointstudy between digital PR strategist Arik Hanson and digital research company Sysomos, Twitter was mentioned in exactly half (26/52) of the Super Bowl commercials this year. So why did these brands use such a strategy? Using Twitter hashtags is a way for companies to continue conversation and buzz about the brand on social
media. Arik Hanson is one of many internet-marketing pros to use term “secondscreen advertising” to describe this phenomenon. With 24.1 million tweets about the game and the halftime show, brands have a huge opportunity to create buzz and get more out of the 1.2 million dollars they spend on Super Bowl commercials (source: Twitter blog). While this is certainly a good strategy because of the visibility social media provides and the popularity of Super Bowl ads, study results show that brands needs to work on the content of their hashtags to boost effectiveness. Using
a long, random hashtag like Subway’s “ # 1 5 y r w in n i n g s t r e ak ” proves to be less effective, generating less than 2,000 tweets, because of its specific content and Twitter’s 140-character limit. Short and general hashtags like #Doritos, #CalvinKlein and GoDaddy’s #thekiss proved to be more effective, generating upwards of 16,000 tweets. So here’s a lesson for future PR pros: If you’re going to incorporate hashtags in your commercials, use the PR writing motto KISS we have come to know and love, Keep It Short and Simple!
5. Bud Light: #HereWeGo, 7.417 tweets 6. Best Buy: #InfiniteAnswers. 3,971 tweets 7. Toyota: #WishGranted, 3,866 tweets 8. Budweiser: #Clydesdales, 3,498 tweets 9. Audi: #BraveryWins, 3,032 tweets 10. Samsung: #The NextBigThing, 2,225 tweets