As 2009 Comes to an End, Who’s at the Top?

I’d guess there would be few people who’d argue that 2009 was the biggest year for social media to date, in terms of participation numbers alone. I’m the first to admit that while quantity isn’t always as meaningful as quality, a handful of the top leaders when it comes to numbers on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube certainly demonstrate the power of spreadable media.

YouTube:
Susan Boyle: 100,000,000+ hits (and counting)

When it comes to YouTube, the most popular hits are either visually interesting, unusual or funny. The top video of 2009 was all of the above.

Scottish singer, Susan Boyle, didn’t look the part when she took the stage on “Brittan’s Got Talent” in the spring of 2009. Her homely appearance had Simon Cowell rolling his eyes from the moment she stepped out behind the curtain. However, when she sang the first note, her angelic voice captured audiences. And once the performance was posted on YouTube, she became an international sensation.  This fall, Boyle’s YouTube video hit 10,000,000 views—the most in history.

Facebook:
Michael Jackson: 10,465,618 fans (and counting)

Of all the social media websites, Facebook is certainly one of the most personal. There we demonstrate our personalities, behaviors and likes/dislikes—often distinguished by the badges of specific fan pages on our profiles.

This time last year, Barak Obama was the leader of the pack on Facebook, but in mid-2009, the Michael Jackson page took the president’s record and “beat it” shortly after the death of The King of Pop. Even though MJ is no longer with us, the Epic Records-managed Facebook page continues to distribute information about the singer, links to relevant news stories and promotion of the concert bio flick “This is It.”

Twitter:
Ashton Kutcher: 4,223,448 followers (and counting)

The art of tweeting comes from frequent updates with a strong point of view. Millions of people have taken to the microblogging trend, but few have mastered the art of garnering followers better than one Hollywood actor.

For the past year, Ashton Kutcher has become one of the most accessible celebrities, regularly updating his account with daily musings, links to interesting organizations he’s involved in and other topics his fans would appreciate. He also used his Twitter audience for good when he challenged CNN to reach 1 million followers. He won the bet in April 2009 and he delivered on his promise—donating 10,000 bed nets to third world countries on World Malaria Day.

In the Wake of Brittney Murphy’s Death, Twitter Provides Platform for Newsworthy Public Statements

As the Sunday news cycle erupted with news of Brittany Murphy’s tragic death, I couldn’t help but notice a consistent mention in each story I read: celebrity condolences from Twitter. Not only were People, E! and other tabloid-esque media including this information, but The AP, The New York Times and other more traditional news outlets included Twitter mentions in their coverage of the actress, as they would a formal public statement.

CNN even posted a follow-up article discussing the social media frenzy the ensued following the announcement:

The topic “RIP Brittany Murphy” began trending on Twitter on Sunday evening, as millions included the phrase in their Twitter postings. Most fans simply wanted to share their feelings about Murphy, 32, and talk about their favorite movie roles. . . One Facebook page, “RIP Brittany Murphy,” had 2,000 members as of Monday morning with fans posting their shock about the “Clueless” actress’ death on the page’s wall.

While recent deaths including Patrick Swayze and Michael Jackson resulted in similar trending topics on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, this was the first time that “hard-hitting” news sources substituted interviews for tweets—and I don’t think it’s a bad thing.

Whereas more traditional means of getting public statements from friends and family of the deceased would have travelled through a conduit of publicists, lawyers and agents, the commentary tweeted directly by Kutcher and others appeared to be heart-felt and genuine. In my humble opinion, I find that “from the horse’s mouth” commentary to be a refreshing addition to the news cycle, especially in reports of loss and tragedy.

AVATAR and the Interactive Trailer

When going to the movies, I always arrive early to make sure I have a chance to see the previews. Trailers showcase the best elements of a film, like high-energy action sequences with bad guys in toe, heart-warming embraces between the heartthrob and his leading lady, epic soliloquies by the underdog-turned-hero or that one punch line that everyone will remember for years to come. Whether or not the movie is actually good, the preview never seems to disappoint. While I may be an easy critic, every once-in-a-while there is a trailer that creates such buzz and generates such curiosity that it nearly crashes the Fandango site weeks before the film is in theaters.

One of these aforementioned previews is for the James Cameron flick Avatar, out in theaters today. While the futuristic storyline sounds awesome and the special effects look out of this world, you have the chance to really get to know this movie before you even hit the theaters.

If you haven’t already, I highly recommend checking out the Avatar interactive trailer powered by Adobe AIR. Offering much more than your average two minute preview, this desktop application takes over your screen with a variety of video clips, behind the scenes interviews and connection to social media sites like Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. As you scale through the many features, you can track the Avatar Twitter account, which disseminates updates about the cast, links to additional YouTube clips and offers updates on ticketing. If you see something you like, you can update your Facebook status or Twitter page with the click of a mouse.

For decades, movies were very one-way; the audience would sit in front of the screen and absorb the movie in front of them. Today, we have the option of becoming involved with a particular movie even weeks or months before we see it. Through social media outlets like Flickr, YouTube or Twitter and with interactive applications like the Avatar trailer, we are able to watch and absorb information about the film and share our opinions with our peers and directly with the production companies.

How do you feel about the interactive trailer? Does it enhance the movie experience or ruin the element of surprise?

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Thanks to Rob Longert for the idea behind this post.

Spoiler Alert

I just joined the 21^st century less than a year ago and got actual TV channels. (To clarify—I had watched TV before but my apartment had zip reception and for years I had refused to pay for cable. Finally, I broke down). Now, I’ll have to admit that I’ve made social plans around Gossip Girl, Lost and Entourage.

Nowadays, it is practically mandatory to have a digital landing page for each show on the network’s site. And more and more, social networking-esque features are cropping up to allow viewers to share commentary on the most recent episode, play games to find out which character personality they most resemble and share show content via Facebook or other third party sites.

I’m all for the camaraderie these sites offer when it comes to shows like Dexter that have a bit of a cult following; the virtual “water cooler” dialogue they offer allows fans to have a more personal connection to their favorite shows and the characters they love (or love to hate). However, in other ways, social media has spoiled the experience completely for me.

Take last night’s Dexter season four finale. I’ve been anxiously awaiting the culmination of the season’s twists and turns leading up to Dex’s revenge over the Trinity Killer. However, I wasn’t able to watch the episode live last night. That didn’t stop fans from promoting the killer twist via Facebook (don’t worry, I won’t say what happened). So now, when I finally get to watch the episode tonight, I won’t be as close to the edge of my seat.

In many ways, social media allows us to stay up-to-date on any kind of news we would want. But in some cases, life doesn’t allow us to keep up and we end up missing out on the personal experience.

In short, please include a SPOILER ALERT announcement when you are talking TV.

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Update: I was able to watch the episode last night and despite knowing the ending, I still found it to be the best season finale of the series. What did you think?

A Burton Exhibit Before Christmas

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, so why not talk about Tim Burton’s dark genius? I had the fortune of attending a private event at the MoMA over the weekend, at which I was able to view the most recent exhibit to grace the modern museum; a look back at the last three decades of Tim Burton’s work.

I’ve always been a fan of Burton.  Beetlejuice and A Nightmare Before Christmas have always been in my top 10 favorite films and you may have read in one of my recent posts that I am anxiously awaiting Burton’s upcoming interpretation of Alice in Wonderland. What I enjoyed most about this exhibit was not only the massive, well-rounded collection of Burton memorabilia—everything from scribbles on cocktail napkins to the costume worn by Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands—but the creative use of multimedia throughout, which brought a level of modernity and added insight to the bizarre collection.

I would never consider myself an art connoisseur and, while I enjoy visiting museums and learning about famous works of art, am in no way an authority on the subject. However, I always appreciate an art experience—something more than just wandering down never-ending hallways of paintings without any direction. In this instance, the multimedia features including video of feature films and interviews with the artist provided a hint of insight into the seemingly normal life of Burton that somehow led to a series of eerie cartoons, satirical doodles and classic Hollywood costumes, including props from Batman, Beetlejiuce and Mars Attacks. 

While after visiting the Salvador Dali museum in Barcelona a few years back I was not surprised to find that his bizarre, dream-like paintings were not necessarily a far cry from his mental state, I was surprised to find that Burton grew up in a seemingly normal suburb outside Burbank, CA and his creative instinct came from nothing more than perhaps an overactive imagination—

something I honestly had more of! After spending the good part of three hours wandering through the multiple rooms, everyone in my group, which included Burton fans and non-Burton fans, was able to find a deep appreciation of his work.

Whether or not Burton is your bag, we can all take a little something from this when it comes to creative inspiration. The exhibit is available until April 2010, so if you are in the New York City area, I wholeheartedly encourage the visit. If you do attend, please let me know what you think! If not, please note that A Nightmare Before Christmas is on Netflix instant watch. Enjoy!

Best of 2009: Paranormal Activity Finds Abnormal Amount of Success Thanks to Online Following

As we approach year’s end, I’ve begun to think back to some of the best examples of digital campaigns in 2009. One in particular stands out to me–Paranormal Activity.

I’m not a fan of scary movies, but I have great respect for the creators of Paranormal Activity, a low-budget horror flick released earlier this fall. With a miniscule budget of just $10,000, Paranormal Activity was able to reach blockbuster status after bringing in $22 million in its first weekend in wide-release. And it was all thanks to the power of social media.

While the film earned respectable viewership while in limited release, Paramount Studios saw even greater potential in mainstream audiences—but before investing the cash, they wanted to make sure. The studio launched a grassroots digital campaign to generate buzz around the film and gauge interest from potential viewers. Should 1 million viewers announce online that they’d like to see the film, Paranormal Activity would be expanded to wide-release across the country.

This campaign was hugely successful and the online chatter surrounding the psychological thriller was even more than expected. Horror film buffs took to their blogs, Twitter pages and Facebook account not only asking, but demanding to see the film in wide-release.

“The fans have really made this their film and they are doing the bulk of the work to market the film,” said Megan Colligan, co-president of marketing for Paramount Studios.

The grassroots approach enabled consumers to feel like they were a part of a movement and encouraged them to spread the word—a benchmark of a successful online campaign. Even though I respect and appreciate what the marketers were able to accomplish, I’ll stick to watching It’s a Wonderful Life this time of year.

When you look in a mirror, do you see your face(book profile)?

This week, I came across an interesting article in Time Magazine about “the psychology of Facebook profiles.” The article stated:

“Given the online forum of Facebook to create whatever public persona you’d like, it would seem logical that people might portray an idealized version of themselves—putting up their most attractive photos, editing down their thoughts to the most clever and pithy before posting them in a status update, carefully choosing favorite books and movies to portray a certain sophistication. Not so, say researchers from the University of Texas at Austin. Instead of using Facebook to create rose-tinted portraits of themselves, more often people’s Facebook profiles reflect their authentic personalities, with all of the quirks, funny faces and moodiness they entail.”

I found the piece particularly relevant for a few reasons. First, this study is really legitimizing the pay-per-click advertising, which posts relevant ads on an individual’s screen based on interests, according to their profiles. Having quantifiable data that supports the idea that most profiles accurately portray their demographic information, personal behaviors and interests will certainly help marketers sell this strategy.

Second, I’ve had many discussions with colleagues about the 1-9-90 theory (the majority of chatter online comes from one percent of the population, 9 percent of the population are somewhat vocal on the Internet, and the remaining 90 percent keep mum—thus presenting an unbalanced reflection of consumer sentiment when it is based solely on online commentary). I’m happy to see that this topic is addressed in the third paragraph.

“Not all personality traits transfer equally to the internet, however, Gosling points out. While extroverts are consistent, whether in person or on Facebook, nueroticism is more evident in person than it is online.”

However, as more and more people each day are becoming more familiar with and active on social media sites, the gap may close.

More and more, we are relying on the Internet as a primary communication tool, both professionally and personally. We are able to conduct business with a global team from every continent participating at the same time. We are able to catch up with college friends on a daily basis and maintain relationships no matter the location. With so much time and energy dedicated to the site, especially when interacting with others, it makes sense that the majority of people want to project their true selves on digital platforms like Facebook.

Do you agree? Does your profile reflect who you really are?

When publicists need a publicist

Ali Wise at Dolce & Gabbana event

This past July, publicist Ali Wise was accused of hacking into the voicemail system of her ex’s new girlfriend. Despite these charges and the unflattering light that is now cast on her personal and professional life (her employer Dolce & Gabbana gave her the boot), Wise has refused to step out of the spotlight.

Just last week, she was spotted at multiple fashion events in Manhattan and while she’s keeping mum about the legalities of the situation, it hasn’t stopped her from commenting on her possible jump into reality TV. More recently, this trained public relations professional hired her own publicist—none other than Matthew Hiltzik, who has previously done damage control for

Jane Friedman, Don Imus and Annie Leibovitz.

And so we have another front page (or maybe Page 6) story about a publicist gone bad, adding fuel to the fire created by shows like MTV’s PoweR Girls, which depicts young, beautiful women in big cities planning parties, hanging out with celebrities and creating a ‘buzz’ by any means possible.

Blake Lively as Serena on Gossip Girl

Even more absurd, a recent story line on Gossip Girl depicted Manhattanite Serena Van Der Woodsen receiving a job offer to work for a publicist based solely on her ability to attract paparazzi—with complete disregard for the fact that her character has no college education and zip work experience.

Could this be why PR is still considered a “dirty word” in some circles, or why the general consensus is that “publicity” is managed by the cliché “PR girls” featured on these programs? I’ve experienced it personally, even in casual conversation with friends and acquaintances. Based on the questions I’ve been asked about my job (“Which celebrities do you represent?” “Don’t you just spin the truth?” “Do you get free stuff from companies like [enter luxury brand]?”). I’m certain that many people outside of the field think of PR as party planning and creating buzz at any cost—a no-brain job for cute girls who photograph well.

I got into the field of public relations for many reasons. I love writing and thinking creatively. I enjoy problem solving and working with teams. I have a vested interest in connecting relevant groups of people, particularly through social media. But these elements of the job are often lost amidst the image and reputation exuded by episodes of PoweR Girls and headlines featuring the likes of Ms. Wise.

So what can we do? We need to be proactive advocates for our profession. We need to value and recognize those female innovators in our field who embody out-of-the-box thinking, sound business ethics and determination to move the profession forward. Only then can we shake the “PR girls” image.

[Note: This post by Lauren Begley originally appeared on RepMan on 12.2.09]

World AIDS Day: @JoinRED

One of the biggest mistakes companies or organizations make when they decide to take on an integrated campaign is adding too much breadth and not enough depth. By this I mean launching a Facebook page, Twitter account, Flickr page, blog, etc. without generating enough content and infrastructure to maintain each effectively. In doing so, you loose readers interest, fail to create a sense of engagement and prohibit consumers from taking your desired action (purchase a product, support a cause, join a group, etc.).

Today is World AIDS Day. To kick-off the international day of awareness, (RED) announced its newest corporate sponsor: NIKE. And they did it right.

NIKE has created a line of (RED) shoelaces and all proceeds will go towards fighting AIDS in Africa. Backed by Bono and top-notch football players (Note to my fellow Americans: soccer) Joe Cole (Chelsea), Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal), Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan), Denilson (Arsenal), Lucas Neill (Everton), the campaign was “kicked” off at a London NIKETOWN location—though the true strength lies within the digital components.

The integrated social media campaign tackled the internet this morning. From the (RED) Blog posting a detailed summary of the account, to the complete takeover of Twitter, turning the more familiar blue homepage to red (and turning all tweets including @JoinRED actually red, which is awesome), the campaign cast a wide net. The Facebook, Flickr and YouTube components feature a wealth of information and a call to action to consumers.

Messaging remains aligned across all existing NIKE and (RED) online platforms, with each component linking to the additional features to ensure that each consumer is aware of the complete endeavor, encouraging them to remain engaged and pass the information along.

I encourage you all to check out the JoinRED webpage and explore the supporting social media platforms. Not only will you help benefit this important cause, but you’ll have a great case study about a digital communication campaign that did it right.

I Am Thankful For. . .

In honor of Turkey Day, I wanted to share a few things I am most thankful for—of course, relating to Pop Culture and Social Media.

In no particular order. . .

- Twitter Lists – God bless you, Jack Dorsey for launching Twitter lists this year. You cater to my constant need to feel organized.

- Matthew Bishop RTing Me – As a PR professional, having American Business Editor and New York Bureau Chief for The Economist retweet me earlier this month was a hugh honor.

- GameTracker – Thank you to whoever invented this awesome program that allows me to watch my University of Dayton Flyers basketball team play all across the county in real-time from my home or office in New York City

- Wedding Dance on The Office – While I found the actual YouTube video obnoxious and awkward, I have never laughed harder than while watching the spoof on The Office during Jim and Pam’s wedding.

- #BizofPR – This was the first hashtag I ever created—along with my colleague Rob Longert—at an event that didn’t have an official hashtag. The phrase was picked up by several others at the event, which made us feel awesome—but then made us feel like huge nerds. I’m OK with that.

- PepperDigital – A very HUGE thanks to Peppercom for allowing me to work on our digital communications team. Not only do I get to be on Twitter and Facebook for a living, this experience has allowed me to expand my traditional PR practices into the one area I truly love – Social Media.

- PopCulture2Point0 Readers – For the most part, I don’t know who you are, but I love you for thinking what I have to say is interesting. PLEASE continue to comment and share your ideas with me. It makes us all better!

In the words of my dear friend:

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey be plump,

May your potatoes and gravy

Never have a lump.

May your yams be delicious,

And may your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner,

Stay off your thighs.

Happy Thanksgiving!