In the world of Digital Public Relations we work hard to connect with an audience. Make them feel apart of a community, understand what our demographic and publics are wanting so we are able to provide the best content. Some of the way we are able to do this is direct contact with users and customers, ask them what they want to create the best experience.

However, another form of ever so subtle marketing is know as content marketing. Content marketing is this sneaky yet so effective trick PR practitioners use to help guide the audience to what they want. You might not know you needed a Coke until you saw your name on one. Or who would have thought you could use the iPhone camera opposed to your Nikon.

One great example of content marketing has to be the “Shot on iPhone” Campaign. This nifty campaign originally appeared on billboards all over the country.

This billboards did not have a catchy phrase that tried to embody the companies objectives to get you to buy into there product. No, instead you see one very simple message under the photo and is says what phone the picture was taken on. Some of the strategies they incorporated are as follows:

1. User generated content. 

The entire campaign was centered around iPhone users who took pictures and decided to share them. This campaign is a perfect example of how instrumental user generated content can be to you and your company.

2. Social media campaign. 

Shortly after the billboards were gaining traction Apple launched an Instagram account. However, this account is not your run of the mill corporate account. This account is centered around the “Shot on iPhone” campaign. Each post highlights a user and talks about the photo they captured with there iPhone.

3. Audience engagement. 

By Apple creating a hashtag to go along with this campaign they were creating a form to have there audience be involved. This hashtag was able to create a community of photographers who were all partaking in the “Shot on iPhone” campaign. A community is built around people with similar interest and by apple creating that with there hashtag, they foster this community.

I think Apple was very strategic in there launch of this campaign and I think the execution of this campaign went very well. Apple was able to encompass user generated content and engage with there audience all while remaining constant in there campaign.

I feel that Apple could have possible allowed for more development of this over the years as the technology improves I think it would have been beneficial to continue the campaign.

All in all Apple has done a great job of content marketing and encouraging engagement with there publics and audience.

In today’s day and age it is impossible to not spend time on your phone. I mean with one simple click you can place a grocery pick-up. (Which is magical btw). Or you can instantly connect with your friends just by the opening of an app. Social media has provided a platform that has changed the way we live, think, act, react, and create.

But do you remember the times in which we didn’t have VSCO to be editing our photos, Instagram never existed, and Mark Zuckerberg without Facebook? If your answer is no, me either. There is not a time I cannot remember some type of social media. Back in my day of circa 2010 I watched my friends older brother upload YouTube videos, and revision his Myspace wall.

Social media is great. It provides a platform where social meets business and you are “friends” with the people behind your favorite brands. So today if you will, please join me for a stroll down memory lane as we look at three methods that existed before social media.

1. Word of Mouth. 

This method is as old as time itself. Word of mouth is such a vital part of any Digital PR campaign. This is so important to remember because if people like your product, they will talk and tell other people. If people don’t like your product they will talk and tell other people. No matter who you are you will always have an option on something its just a matter of finding an audience who will listen to it. A good example of this would be Nike announcing partnership with Colin Kaepernick. Nike simply just said, “hey this is what we are doing.” Everyone in there dog however had something to say about it. I had more conversation with others about there opinions on Nike, social justice, and the NFL then I had had in my entire life. regardless if the conversations were good or bad people were talking and they were talking about Nike.

2. Hosting Special Events. 

When you are able to host big scale events you are able to connect your clients name to something they can specially cater to. This also helps when you are trying to reach a target audience. A good example of this is American Cancer Society Discovery Ball. This entire event is centered around the awareness and fundraising efforts of the work of the American Caner Society. This event also proves to be a success for the audience it is able to connect to. You may not have cancer but you might know of someone who does. When that proves to be the case your audience is more willing to invest into your client.

3. Sponsorship Opportunities. 

As you can see from this example from Waynes World. Sponsorships can play a big part into brand awareness and furthering your PR campaign. However depending on who you have sponsoring your products they can prove to be more detrimental then positive. A good example of this is Ryan Lochte. He had a very positive image within the public eye. He was an up and coming Olympian had just won a gold medal. He was sponsored and was a representative for Speedo and Ralph Lauren. Two major brands who benefited from having him team up with them. However after some mishaps at the Rio Olympics Lochte lost these two major sponsorships and proved to be semi-detrimental to these brands.

As fun and effective social media can be, let us not forget these important and strategic methods that help us formulate a bases of digital PR.

For many people we are all connected to our friends and family through social media. We are updated on major life events and get to celebrate with others all within minutes thanks to social media. With many opportunities to be connected online we often find ourselves amerced in digital communities.

Based upon the communities we actively participate in, in person can be integrated into online platforms. One community I actively participate in both in person and online is my sorority. We have events hosted where we are given the opportunity to interact with our members on a weekly basis. However, most of our interaction takes place online, and in the form of Facebook conversations. Being apart of a sorority has given me the opportunity to see and understand what it looks like to be an active participant in a community.

With a sorority in general you are apart of not just your chapter community but an entire international community made up of sisters. Having a platform like Facebook to keep track of everyone and create conversation proves to be beneficial.

Sisters share everything from experiences to t-shirts. and being apart of the               Alpha Delta Pi T-shirt Exchange Facebook is just one example of a digital community I am an active participant in. This community is a great example of user generated content. From sisters sharing there own t-shirt designs, from others selling “vintage” Adpi memorabilia gets everyone actively participating.

One of the unique aspects of this online community is it is members only. Only active or alumni members of the sorority are allowed to take part in this community. This may seam harsh to anyone hearing about it but to the members of the Adpi community both in person and digitally it is a privilege. Another unique aspect of this community is we are given the opportunity to interact and buy and trade with sisters all over the nation and Canada. This is a really great appeal to sisters who are looking to network or just make a new friend.

Most of the topic of conversation among the community members shifts to the buying and selling of t-shirts, and the trading of Adpi memorabilia. We also talk about the different events we are hosting as chapters and different philanthropic ventures we are doing for the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

One brand that has come to be apart of this community is University Tees. 

University Tees has brand ambassadors that are Adpi members. The job of the brand ambassadors is to design and share shirts that are available to order for the Adpi community members. The brand ambassadors also reach out to see what designs we want to see as community members. This opens up the opportunity for us as members to create and share user generated content. Another benefit of having ambassadors in the community is they have the ability to actually to create and execute the shirt design for sales.

Being apart of a digital community is something that provides value to any organization and encourages members to be actively participating in person and online.

As someone who doesn’t live under a rock I am sure we are all aware of the sporting/fitness brand Adidas. From their partnership with Kanye to bring to life Yeezy’s to global partnerships like the FIFA World Cup. Adidas as always been a national and global recognized brand. With such a large brand recognition will often come a large audience that is fast to scrutinize and quick to blame.

This proved to be true in April 2017 when Adidas got ready to release what was to be their next big PR idea. The idea was to send emails out to all of the finishers of the Boston Marathon and congratulate them on such an accomplishment. Adidas was one of the sponsors for the race that year so they wanted to congratulate the finishers all while promoting there products. What better way to do that than in an email right? It’s fast, instant, and provides a direct link to Adidas products. However when the racers received the email the subject line read: “Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon.” With this email coming not even 5 years after the tragic Boston Marathon Bombing the racers, family members of the fallen, and community members were not pleased with this subject line. Many people took to Twitter to express their concerns with this subject line and call out Adidas marketing team.

Even national brands such as Sports Illustrated were calling attention to Adidas major PR error.

Despite the major errors that occurred with this email, Adidas acted swiftly and took to Twitter to respond very transparently with its consumers and the Boston Marathon Racers.

Adidas was able to call attention to the fact that they made a mistake and a lack of thought was very evident in the launch of their email campaign. The CEO of Adidas also remained very transparent during the time of media scrutiny. This proves to have a positive affect for Adidas.

Something Adidas could have improved upon was just having more thought when constructing the campaign. Something that could have also been beneficial is having more of an open conversation about pervious marketing plans or major/historic events that happened around the time of the Boston Marathon.

Something I would have changed was not have sent out an entire email chain to every single person who accomplished the race. I would have constructed an advertisement that celebrates the champions of the Boston Marathon, the fallen racers families and friends, and community members. This ad would be released the day following the race opposed to the email. The goal was to connect with an audience, and an ad that evokes positive emotion would connect more to the audience than an email ever could. I would also have had the marketing and PR team to think back to 5 years ago and talk openly about the Boston Marathon Bombing. This would hopefully bring a certain amount of sensitivity to the marketing creation.

All in all with Adidas ability to remain transparent with its audience and quick to apologize, the scandal ended better than it could have. Slight backlash from consumers and a very apologetic CEO later, Adidas is still a well known and respected brand. Adidas still continues to come out with trendy shoes and workout wear all while continuing to build a very loyal customer base.

If you were in Adidas shoes what would you have done differently?

So if you are one of my lovely followers on Twitter, you probably know that I am a big fan of Nalgene products. Specifically Nalgene’s line of water bottles. I remember when I got my first one. I was a junior in high school and more excited than anything to start adding stickers, and having it as a new travel companion. After four adventure filled years with my Nalgene it was sadly lost. After tweeting about what happened I noticed how quick Nalgene was to express their sympathies and wish me well. Seeing this got me thinking about all the Awesome things Nalgene is doing to communicate with their audience.

1. They are active on social media outlets. 

   

   Nalgene remains active on Twitter by liking and commenting with customers who get in contact with them. A simple like can go a long way. Also active on Instagram they are constantly posting and following customers who are active users of their products.

2. User generated content. 

   

   Nalgene is always reaching out to their followers and public asking them to share photos of adventures they have taken their Nalgene on. They often do this with a hashtag or asking users to tag them in their photos.

3. Building a community. 

Like any company based upon products and overall digital branding, a company will begin to start attracting a certain demographic. This proves to be beneficial for Nalgene because it allows them the opportunity to truly target their market and create content with an impact.

4. Showing true use of the products on social medias. 

Customers are more trusting of companies and brands they are using when they see real people using their products. Nalgene does a great job at being able to share that kind of content without losing it’s voice.

5. Product and brand recognition.

The constant shape of this product you know exactly what it is. Consumers have the ability to identify what this product is and who makes it right off the bat. This has also lead the way for other marketing materials such as stickers, artwork, and limited edition bottles.

So if you can’t tell already I’m a big fan of Nalgene and the community they create for me through their products and social medias.

I would love to hear from y’all: What are some products that you enjoy using and have had positive experiences with?