Jimmy Fallon takes over the Tonight Show and social media

The long awaited Tonight Show takeover by Jimmy Fallon took place on Monday, and Jimmy proved to the world exactly why he is the perfect host. His infectious personality raked in about 11.3 million people for the premiere episode. The whole week he has had incredible guests and musical performances, including Will Smith, Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper. Many people may ask what exactly he has to offer coming in to the Tonight Show, and the answer to that would be his ability to connect with his audience, especially through social media.

On his previous show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy would do weekly hashtag contests about either a funny topic or something to do with holiday seasons. Since this gave him the ability to engage directly with his fans, he decided to carry over the weekly hashtag tradition to the Tonight Show. Through his weekly hashtag segment, he is able to utilize Twitter to the best of his ability and get fans excited about his new show.

Picture received from: latenightwithjimmyfallon.com

Jimmy Fallon is very active on Twitter, with a whopping 8.5 million followers. Part of his success on the social media site is due to the fact that it is actually Jimmy Fallon tweeting. It’s possible that his audience can read his tweets and picture the comedian saying these funny bits on television. It feels as though he is having a one-on-one conversation with you personally, which is what makes his interaction so special. He is constantly being true to himself, on television and social media, and that is why he has such a huge fan following.

The Tonight Show host also likes to pay homage to his favorite social media site through his funny #Hashtag sketches. The skit, which he has done twice with Justin Timberlake and Jonah Hill, feature the comedian and his famous friends talking in hashtags. It is so true to real life situations, because people that are a part of this social media generation actually interact like that. Jimmy Fallon is able to take something that is such a big part of our social world, and make it funny and relatable to an audience of all ages.

Picture retrieved from: ibtimes.com

In the months leading up to his long awaited Tonight Show debut, Jimmy took to Twitter and Instagram to tease what was to be expected on his new show. Viewers of the previous Tonight Show with Jay Leno were not engaging on social media, so Jimmy Fallon and his team positioned the show for social media dominance. According to RelishMIX, Fallon’s team increased Tonight Show engagement in the seven days following Leno’s departure by 12.3 times.

It is even rumored that Fallon’s ability to connect with his audience on social media is one of the reasons he replaced Jay Leno on the Tonight Show. With Jimmy Fallon on board at the Tonight Show, NBC can still keep its traditional media roots while incorporating a new, younger audience that is engrossed in the world of social media. Jimmy Fallon has definitely proven that he deserves to be the new Tonight Show host, and is planning to stick around for a while. The comedian, actor, dancer and singer has been captivating his audience since Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and plans to captivate a new one on the Tonight Show. The man is a legend on television and social media, which is a great combination for the generation that we live in today. I look forward to seeing what else Jimmy Fallon has to offer.

Sources:

• Bloom, D. (2014, February 17). Jimmy Fallon Seizing Social Media Ahead Of 'Tonight Show' Takeover. In Deadline. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://www.deadline.com/2014/02/jimmy-fallon-social-media-surge-tonight-show-debut 
•  Faughnder, R. (2014, February 18). Jimmy Fallon's 'Tonight Show' debut draws 11.3-million viewers. In Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-jimmy-fallons-tonight-show-debut-draws-113-million-viewers-20140218,0,3321196.story#axzz2tp3DQfHP
•  Kerpen, C. (2013, April 24). What Jimmy Fallon Can Teach You About Social Media. In Inc. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://www.inc.com/carrie-kerpen/jimmy-fallon-social-media-lessons.html

Is Valentine's Day Over Yet?

It’s Valentine’s Day, just incase you’re the one person on the face of the planet that hasn’t been bombarded with pink, red, flowers and talk of love today. Every store and business joins in the love fest, so it’s almost impossible to escape from. People either love this holiday, or completely hate it. If you’re like me, you love to hate it. It’s also one of the few days of the year that public relations professionals can get away with promoting love and sentimental things since many people are especially vulnerable on this particular day.

It seems like some public relations professionals take part in leveraging a product, event or service with Valentine’s Day, even if it has absolutely nothing to do with the holiday. I read an article on PRNewser earlier today about the worst press releases and public relation stunts dedicated to last year’s Valentine’s Day, and it was some of the weirdest things that I had ever seen.

IKEA was one of the companies who targeted the single people on Valentine’s Day. If a single customer came into the store, they were to tell the cashier they were single and they could get free sodas and cake. And if the awkward encounter led to scoring a phone number, you could even get 50 percent off of a couch IKEA was promoting.

As if being single on Valentine’s isn’t embarrassing enough. Who would actually want to go to IKEA to celebrate the fact that they’re single on the most romantic night of the year? I’m not sure if IKEA was attempting to promote a couch or the fact that it catered to single people on Valentine’s, but the whole thing was very odd.

After that disaster of a public relations move, IKEA decided to step it up for the following year. The company placed an ad in an Australian newspaper providing coupons for a free crib for all babies born on November 14, exactly nine months after Valentine’s Day. All the parents needed to provide to receive the crib was a birth certificate and coupon.

Instead of throwing Valentine’s Day, or lack there of, in the customer’s face, IKEA promoted something that its target audience would actually enjoy. The company received publicity from the promotional tactic and many people became customers at IKEA because they simply fulfilled customer needs. At the end of the day, isn’t gaining customers and satisfying existing ones the main goal of a public relations professional?

Whether or not one hates Valentine’s Day, everyone can agree that it is part of the job of public relations professionals to promote products, services or events during a holiday, but it needs to be done in a dignified way and with some class. Not every company will benefit by using Valentine’s Day as a promotional method. It is up to the public relations department to decide if it works for your business or company.

I could definitely be on board for the Pizza Hut $10,000 proposal package, though. The insane Valentine’s Day package promoted in 2012, provided a ruby engagement ring, limousine, flowers, fireworks, photographer and of course pizza. Not entirely convinced I would want Pizza Hut involved in my engagement, but I guess it’s the thought that counts.

Sources:

• Stampler, L. (2013, February 14). Ikea's Brilliant Ad Offers Crib To Babies Born 9 Months After Tonight. In Business Insider. Retrieved February 14, 2014, from http://www.businessinsider.com/ikea-valentines-day-coupon-for-free-crib-2013-2
•  Coffee, P. (2013, February 14). The 18 Best, Worst and Weirdest Valentine's Day PR Stunts. In PRNewser. Retrieved February 14, 2014, from http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/the-18-best-worst-and-weirdest-valentines-day-pr-stunts_b57583
• Pizza Hut offering $10,010 proposal packages (2012, February 9). In FoxNews.com. Retrieved February 14, 2014, from http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/02/09/pizza-hut-offering-10000-proposal-packages/

Public relations for the win at Super Bowl XLVIII

Is anyone even talking about the Seattle Seahawks win over the Denver Broncos at Sunday night’s Super Bowl XLVIII? If you’re like me, you only tuned in to the game for two reasons: the commercials and Bruno Mars’ half-time performance. Bruno Mars didn’t disappoint, while the commercials left me bored and in need of more entertainment. This year the excitement was on Twitter, where brands took their public relations and marketing strategies instead of forking out millions of dollars for a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl.

Public relations professionals knew it was time to play and step their game up during Super Bowl Sunday, and that is exactly what they did. They knew precisely where the audience was that they wanted to reach for their brands. They knew it was their job to make the brand stand out and be a slightly controversial so people would talk about it long after the game had ended. Public relations professionals knew the audience they needed to reach was on Twitter, so they came up with creative ways to get their brand out to the public on one of the biggest nights of the year. Social media, specifically Twitter, is where the buzz was this year, so brands that capitalized on it this year are seeing it pay off. While people have forgotten about the score of the game, everyone is still talking about what their favorite companies were doing on Twitter.

Let us just take a second and bow down to J.C. Penney for their Twitter “controversy.” The popular retail company had its Twitter followers concerned after posting two tweets that seemed odd for the brand.

Picture retrieved from: http://www.thewire.com/technology/2014/02/jcpenneys-drunk-super-bowl-tweets-were-really-just-mitten-selling-stunt/357652/

This prompted Kia Motors, Doritos and Snickers to join in on the fun and offer J.C. Penney’s some assistance during their obvious time of need. These companies were able to react and respond quickly to J.C. Penney’s “drunk tweets” and take advantage of the Twitter publicity. I bet that if Kia, Doritos and Snickers knew that the biggest buzz of the night was going to be surrounding Twitter, they wouldn’t have paid for a commercial during the Super Bowl. It was later revealed that J.C. Penney’s strange tweets were to promote their Go USA mittens for the Olympics.

Some argue that the stunt wasn’t planned and the individual on the end of the tweets was in fact drunk. For a company like J.C. Penney’s who hasn’t been a contender on social media, this was a huge gain. No, people probably aren’t going to go out and by a pair of mittens, but at least J.C. Penney’s is attempting to engage with a younger demographic through humorous Twitter ideas. #TweetingWithMittens was a social media success for the night and a genius idea on the public relations end of the brand.

Picture retrieved from: https://twitter.com/jcpenney

Sources:

• Maheshwari, S. (2014, February 2). J.C. Penney Planned Fake Drunk Super Bowl Tweets To "Create Own Narrative". In Buzzfeed Business. Retrieved February 6, 2014, from

http://www.buzzfeed.com/sapna/jc-penney-planned-fake-drunk-super-bowl-tweets-to-create-own

• Garcia, T. (2014, February 3). PR Plays a Role on Super Bowl Sunday and Beyond. In PRNewser. Retrieved February 6, 2014, from

http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/pr-plays-a-role-on-super-bowl-sunday-and-beyond_b33439

• Wiener-Bronner, D. (2014, February 3). JCPenney's 'Drunk' Super Bowl Tweets Were Really Just a Mitten-Selling Stunt. In The Wire. Retrieved February 6, 2014, from

http://www.thewire.com/technology/2014/02/jcpenneys-drunk-super-bowl-tweets-were-really-just-mitten-selling-stunt/357652/

Facebook PR introducing “WatchWith” party during Super Bowl

by Kelcey Blanks 

Excitement is in the air leading up to Sunday’s Super Bowl match up between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos, and Facebook is also finding a way to be a part of the big game. The public relations team at Facebook has decided to involve and reward celebrities who share updates, pictures, and posts with fans throughout Super Bowl XLVIII.

Photo retrieved from: http://calvinayre.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/superbowl-xlviii-opening-line-has-denver-broncos-as-1-5-point-favorites-against-the-seattle-seahawks.jpg

These famous people are connecting with fans during the “WatchWith” party. Celebrities and fans are being encouraged to use the hashtag #FBWatch during the game when posting anything relative to the game.

Celebrities participating in the “WatchWith” party:

• CNN host Rachel Nichols
• Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams
• New England Patriots defensive back Devin McCourty
• Tennessee Titans cornerback Jason McCourty
• Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo
• Denver Nuggets guard Nate Robinson
• Actor Josh Duhamel
• Atlanta Falcons receiver Julio Jones 

This PR move by Facebook is to get famous people to start sharing “public content” much like what is done on Twitter. Facebook sees how well it is working out for other social media sites and is trying to get a foot in the door of celebrities using their site for more than just the typical fan page. Celebrities don’t usually do a lot of interacting with fans on Facebook, and the PR folks are trying to change that. And they figure it might not hurt to throw some incentives in while they’re at it.

That’s right, these celebrities aren’t in it for some fun and to socialize with fans over the biggest night in football. Facebook is planning on hooking them up with some awesome perks, including free advertisement, partnership with press to highlight those who participate in a feature about the “WatchWith” party, amplified promotion and the list goes on.

In order for the celebrities participating to receive these incentives, they have to achieve a few things on the social media site first. They must share a pre-game photo, answer fan questions, comment on the half-time performances, share their favorite commercials and promote the #FBWatch hashtag with fans.

It all seems simple enough, but it sounds strangely familiar. Sounds like Facebook may be taking a play straight from the Twitter playbook. And why wouldn’t they? Twitter’s interactive approach seems to be working very well for them. Celebrities and companies appear to be interested in Twitter’s approach for promotion and branding tactics. It is huge in the world of marketing, advertising and public relations. Twitter is also so fast-paced that is constantly changing and evolving, while Facebook has remained stagnant over the years. Even though Facebook claims to not be morphing into an exact replica of Twitter, they have recently added verified accounts, hashtags and are introducing trending topics

Photo retrieved at: http://content.animalnewyork.com/wp-content/uploads/facebook-hashtags-dont-work.jpg

Facebook has over a billion users. Why do these semi-famous people need to be offered incentives to participate in an event that will probably help them gain an even bigger following? It all just seems like a promotional tactic to get people to switch from Twitter to Facebook.

Facebook has been all about changing in the last couple years, so maybe this might put them ahead of their competition. Or maybe, people will just realize that they prefer the original Twitter. As innovative as Facebook is, it shouldn’t be this hard to create something new and fresh for social media users to latch on to.

It seems like a good try by Facebook PR to try and shift Facebook in a new direction. It’s justifiable to give consumers what they want, and everyone appears to be interested in the interactivity that Twitter has to offer. I’ll be eager to see if the Facebook Super Bowl party is a success for the organization or a complete bust. It is time for the social media site to be making changes, I’m just not sure if ripping off Twitter is the way to go about it.

Sources:

• Kafka, P. (2014, January 31). Here's How Facebook Rewards Celebrities Who Post About the Super Bowl. In Recode. Retrieved January 31, 2014, from http://recode.net/2014/01/31/heres-how-facebook-rewards-celebrities-who-post-about-the-super-bowl/
• Kafka, P. (2013, August 7). Facebook Takes on Twitter by Courting Celebrities, Building Twittery Tools. In All Things D. Retrieved January 31, 2014, from http://allthingsd.com/20130807/facebook-takes-on-twitter-by-courting-celebrities-building-twittery-tools/
• Coffee, P. (2014, January 31). Facebook PR Really Wants Famous People to Post During the Super Bowl. In PRNewser. Retrieved January 31, 2014, from http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/facebook-pr-really-wants-famous-people-to-post-about-the-super-bowl_b84259