5 Trends Destined to Shape the Media this Year

Posted on by kesigardner

Last month, myself and a few other marketers came together at a #MarketersMeetUp to discuss our forecasts for 2015. It was an interesting conversation that lead to predictions far beyond this year. These are a few that really stuck:

1. The use of Social Media Influencers.

While Facebook campaigns and viral videos are interesting and can garner likes and shares, they don’t always produce engagement that is long-lasting. With endorsements from social media influencers such as tv personalities, athletes, musicians, etc., brands can not only reach target audiences but can create long-lasting advocates who will willingly share their love for the brand.

Chris Gayle at the 2014 Miss Jamaica Universe Pageant

See the list below of top influencers in Jamaica by category by Twitter followers:

Sports-related: Usain Bolt (< 3.6mil), Chris Gayle (<1.9 mil), Lennox Lewis (<375,000), Yohan Blake (<300,000).

Music: Sean Paul (<1.2 mil), Tessanne Chin (<250,000), Mavado (< 200,000), Jah Cure (<190,000), Taurrus Riley (<160,000), Wayne Marshall (<100,000), Chronixx (<82,000), Protoje (<32,000)

TV Personalities: Miss Kitty (<100,000), Yendi Phillips (<60,000).

An endorsement in a tweet, Facebook post or Instagram post by these top accounts could create an impact.

2. Mobile Integration

With the invent of LoopJamaica.com and its seamless integration onto every new Digicel smartphone, having the latest news at your fingertips will allow brands to target audiences even when they are away from their computers. As mobile use continues to grow, brands will have another channel to tap into. Communication is now a two-pronged approach: stories about the brands and offerings tied into ads with the links to more information about products.

Gleaner and Observer are right behind. Both have apps available for download. Most recently, TeenAge Observer discontinued its printed publication and will now be exclusively online allowing for brands to tap into the Jamaican youth market. With the high cost of print media, the possibilities of curating content that will engage preteens and teens online is limitless.

3. Online influencing offline

With the success of Dutty Berry, a vlogger who inspired Jamaica to support Tessanne on her road to winning “The Voice” and more recently Bella Blair, brands will feel compelled to utilize these personalities to become ambassadors. The real value in their presence is that they are already engaging online, have a strong fan base and are reaching the audience in a way that traditional media sometimes doesn’t. Bella Blair for example, has a YouTube channel with over 35,000 subscribers and within the past year, received her own show called, “Bella’s Bizarre World” on RETV. Bella is creating content that is fresh, young and different but still appealing to a wide audience. Check out Bella in the new 2015 Cran Wata Ad:

Cran Wata Bella TV Ad

Check out the video that inspired the TV Ad 

4. Mobile Dominance

Its been in discussion for years and now it seems to be on the “tips of the tongues” of many folks, particularly as the rise of mobile usage and telecoms are determined to sell phones and data plans. Websites will have to be designed for mobile as you will lose the interest of readers in a second. Mobile e-commerce is also a forecast for 2015.

5. Blogger Nation

With the success of the Caribbean Blog and Social Media Awards late last year, brands witnessed the possibilities of using bloggers to create content around their messages and offerings. As bloggers continue to grow their audiences and create content that is personal and inspiring–brands will want to get on board.

Here’s Irie Dawta’s Orange Chicken recipe featuring Tru-Juice

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Do CEOs Tweet?

Posted on by kesigardner
Photo Courtesy of Inc.com

 

I’m in process of planning a social media plan targeting high rollers to attend a gala for an international NGO.

I spent most of the weekend watching my mother , a former CEO and well over 45, spend many hours obsessing over her friends’ profiles on Facebook—their children’s baby announcements, marriages, trips, etc.

Which made me start to think how often do the over 45 age group really engage on social networks?

Even though she’s retired, she’s addicted to her email and still uses it as an essential form of communication with her friends and former colleagues.

But back to the strategy for the gala. I narrowed down my target audience to: White and Black males, over 45 who earn over $100,000 a year.

My mom has never tweeted or had the desire to use any other means of social media apart from Facebook. Which led me to think:

Do CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies tweet? Do they have time to tweet?

According to Pew Internet study released February 14, 52 percent of the age group 50-64 year olds use social networks with 65 percent being well educated. 66 percent earned more than $100,000 a year.

So the average CEO is online but its more than likely that they are not interested in tweeting and if they are, like many celebrities they have hired someone to do it.

Facebook is still rated the highest with an average of 67 percent saying they use it often.

What I also found interesting was that the Pew study discussed the characteristic of a Facebook user:

  • Facebook users are more trusting than others
  • Facebook users have more close relationships
  • Internet users get more support from their social ties and Facebook users get the most support
  • Facebook users are much more politically engaged than most people
  • Facebook revives “dormant” relationships

What Measurement of Success means Today in PR

Posted on by kesigardner

FILL IN THE BLANKS

“Our activities are trying to reach______ and encourage them to____. We will achieve this be influencing their_______, ________ and _______. We will connect to them through________, __________ and ________. We will work with _________, and _____to reach the audience. When activities have been implemented, the powers that be want to be able to say that this outreach has_________. ” @Carrie Schum – Planning & Research, Porter Novellli

This is a “fill in the blank” exercise,  Carrie Schum, Head of Planning & Research, Porter Novelli, proposes we use to implement our strategy. When you start filling out these blanks you are closer to finding the direction you need to be going – after listening to Carrie’s presentation at a recent meeting I was invited to, I was excited to see that not only was there a plug-in but, that “old skool” methods are still valuable when it comes to strategy.

We always think that the newest methods of measurement are the best but, at the end of the day, how do we measure our company’s PR image?

My answer to this question is engagement, engagement, engagement. When you start getting your audiences involved in a conversation that results in an action, then that optimizes success.