Tag: YouTube

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The Power of Social Media: Chewbacca Edition

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

There’s a viral video that just came out that I just love, not only because it’s funny, but it appealed to the geek in me.  It’s a woman who bought a fun item for her own enjoyment, and was getting a kick out of how funny it was and how it made her laugh. What can I say? The Force was with her:

Watch here:

It’s a contagious video because it’s so silly, and as she said, it’s the simple joys of life that makes it worthwhile. She has so much fun with the mask, and you can’t help but laugh along with her. My husband and I were laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes.

But wait…did you catch that first part of the video? While she had not intended this to be a marketing video, this ended up being a great marketing video with great content. Where did she get that mask? She got it at a department store chain called Kohl’s.  And with this video going viral as quickly as it did, Kohl’s picked up on her video and this woman’s love of Star Wars, and essentially got free advertising! Not only that, but they took it a step further:

Kohl’s was smart! They not only picked up on her mention of the store and how she was a frequent customer, but also on how much one random item at the store brought her so much joy.  She had provided fantastic content that reflected well on the store! Fortunately for her, they recognized this, and did something nice by giving her all those gifts as a thank you.

Why do you think that Kohl’s did all that? As I said, they realized the value of this social content. It was all in the storytelling. People who love Star Wars items–and there are lots of them–would especially relate to this story. Even people who didn’t like Star Wars would get a good laugh from watch this woman play with her mask.  Kohl’s wasn’t selling anything directly by posting these videos.  (Although when I played the videos later, I did see some marketing overlays trying to sell the masks at Kohl’s did pop up, but it was still after the fact.) They did show, in showing their appreciation to the woman, that there were lots of other Star Wars things they sold as a means of indirect selling. Kohl’s showed that they appreciated the value of her sharing her good experience not only with finding her mask, but that she wasn’t discouraged because she had to return some items simply because of sizing issues, and she still found something else she liked. They showed the value of a satisfied customer, which has more value than almost any other kind of marketing or advertising. The gifts were even intended, if you think about it, as a way of keeping her as a value customer.

Chewbacca and Han Solo
“Chewie, this is content marketing through social media at its best.”
“RAWWR!”

This is a great example of the power of social media through content and content marketing. The woman was simply sharing her experiences on video through her Facebook account, the video went viral, and as a result, she received all these gifts from the store itself to ensure that she continues to be a valued customer.  Kohl’s found appropriate content from a customer that I’m sure will be helping to boost sales for a bit–at least with the Star Wars merchandise–for a while. I’m sure she never expected the attention that she’s gotten, but due to the Kohl’s gift, she extremely glad she shared it!

You never know where good content will come from. This is a great example to show that it can come from anywhere if you have the opportunity to make it or appreciate it.

What do you think of this event? Include your comments below.

 

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The Power of Social Media: Batkid

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom
Batkid. Photo courtesy of ABC News.com
Batkid. Photo courtesy of ABC News.com

I received an email today promoting a new movie that’s coming out at the end of June.  It’s a feel-good story in the end, and you might have read about it in the news several months back, like I did.

It’s about the story of a little boy with leukemia, and how the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted his wish for him to be Batman for a day. Being the big comic book hero fan that I am (I’m still trying to become Batgirl myself, if not Wonder Woman), I thought this was great when it happened at the time, and it’s great that they captured the preparations and the day on film. What impressed me in watching this trailer was the HUGE part that social media played in how the day came together. As much as people complain about social media, I still hold firm to the idea that social media is for making connections, and this movie is yet another example that proves that point. That day’s overwhelming success is due to the power of social media.

I want see this movie, but I think I shouldn’t because just watching the trailer alone made me cry! I’d be crying through the whole movie (Mom/sad tears for how sick the little boy is, and joy tears of how wonderful a day this must have been and the power of community to support him).

Check out the trailer:

**This is a personal endorsement–no one asked me to promote this film. I just think it looks like an awesome film, and demonstrates how powerful social media can be! **

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Content Strategy and the Royals

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

KateWillsIt was recently announced that in the UK, the Royal Family was going through a bit of a corporate merger and restructuring, one might say. Her Majesty The Queen is getting up there in age (she’s almost 88 years old), and while she still maintains a full schedule that probably would put people half her age to shame, it was announced that her communications office and the communications office of her son, HRH The Prince of Wales, would be merging. This inferred that 65 year-old Prince Charles, who’s of retirement age himself yet shows no signs of slowing down either, is slowly going to be taking on more affairs of the regency on behalf of his mother. While the Queen has vowed never to abdicate or give up the throne (and if she lasts as long as her own mum, that could be another 15 years), it looks like she might be winding down to a point that she is slowly transitioning the affairs of state to Charles, as well as delegating responsibilities to her grandchildren as well. According to the Sunday Telegraph, “Reports suggest the move should avoid clashes of coverage of royal events as younger royals perform more engagements, and spread expertise in modern media.”

For more information, read this article.

Even HRH Prince Charles is wondering how this transition relates to content strategy. "Do tell, TechCommGeekMom."
Even HRH Prince Charles is wondering how this transition relates to content strategy. “Do tell, TechCommGeekMom.”

So, all this is fine, but what does this have to do with content strategy, you may ask? Simple. This scenario really isn’t that different than any other company having to merge content written by different departments, like that of technical content writers and marketing content writers. Everyone in the merger or restructing needs to speak the same “language”, or to use a better description, they all need to use the same terminology. One of the issues that has been surfaced in recent tech comm talk in conferences and blogs is the idea of “silos”–different departments writing content, but not getting together to make sure that everyone is using the same terminology and language to communicate the company message consistently. This can lead to mixed messages in print, in multimedia, and online very quickly if everyone isn’t on the “same page”. Joe Gollner’s Adobe Day-Lavacon 2013 talk came to mind as I was thinking about this merger, and what it meant to have different departments sending out different messages.

Don't think too hard about it, Prince Harry. It's really not that complicated.
Don’t think too hard about it, Prince Harry. It’s really not that complicated.

So, the merger of the royal communications offices makes total sense, really. In an age where news is spread quickly throughout the internet, especially through social media, it seems like a proactive move on the part of the royals to start this transition. One office will need to juggle multiple products–in this case, the royal family members–by providing a single voice and consistent message to promote their activities or relevance, whether it be in print or by digital means. The royals are already a bit ahead of the curve of many corporations, having already set up fairly active websites and social media presence on the internet. They even have their own YouTube account and several Twitter accounts, for example! The communications offices are already on top of internet media, and this step seems like a modern move that many companies are still hesitant to make.  Perhaps the royals, known for being a bit stuffy and overly traditional, might actually be cutting edge, and setting the example of how to move forward in the 21st century.

It’s something to think about.