Social Media: 2014 GRAMMY Recap

The 56th Annual GRAMMY Awards took place on Sunday, January 26 and it was a huge social media success.

Throughout the East Coast broadcast of the show (8:00 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. ET), there were 15.2 million Tweets about @TheGRAMMYs.

During the Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lamar performance, Twitter peaked at 171,593 tweets per minute (TPM).

Lorde was also extremely popular on Twitter; she had the third and second- most talked about events of the evening.  During her performance, there were 146,083 TPM and when she won Best Pop Solo Performance the TPM rose to 152,688.

Check out some of the most popular tweets from the night via blog.twitter.com

And the most retweeted Tweet of the night is:

Facebook was also a popular social media outlet.  On Facebook, 6.3 million people had more than 13.5 million interactions related to the show. The top Facebook moment, based on likes and comments during the show, was the Queen Latifah, Macklemore and Madonna performance of "Same Love and "Open Your Heart."  The second-biggest moment was the Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons collaboration. 

Twitter and Facebook were not the only social media outlet that covered the Grammys this year.  Check out Tumblr, Instagram, Pintrest, LiveBlog and YouTube.  
There is even a GRAMMY Mobile App! 

For a complete list of all GRAMMY Awards Winners & Nominees click here! 

Photo credits: blog.twitter.com

NFL endorsement deals: True reflection or facade?

Picture via HeraldNews

Coming off of the great Sunday of football, I thought that a reflection on the endorsement deals that this year's four final quarterbacks have would be an interesting topic. First of all, it is very evident that all four of these men have extremely differing personalities and are known to the public for very different reasons. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are both experienced and talented quarterbacks who have been around for awhile, while both Colin Kaepernick and Russell Wilson are relatively younger and representative of the new generation of quarterbacks. Although some similarities, their differences far outweigh and are visible not only on the field, but in the world of NFL endorsements as well.

Off the field, Brady is known for his fashion sense, supermodel wife, and lavish spending. Manning, on the other hand, is often referred to as an "average joe" and depicts a humble individual, despite the fact that he is extremely wealthy and enjoys a lavish lifestyle as well. In regards to Kaepernick's and Wilson's off the field persona, look no further than this (relatively bias) comparison put together by Mashable:

Picture via Mashable

My question, however, is whether these men come into the NFL with these types of personalities or if perhaps, the brands they decide to endorse paint a picture of their personalities that is not one hundred percent accurate. Are these endorsement deals true reflections of the individuals' morals or are they all a facade? It's an interesting thing to think about and one that I feel many lose site of. After all, the media can construe things in whatever way they see fit and these endorsement deals are just another way they are able to do so. To see some of the brands that these players endorse, check out the full article at Time Magazine.

Some Do's and Don'ts of Social Media

It has been said that there is no wrong way to eat a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, there is, however, a wrong way to do social media.  The good news is when mistakes are made, there are ways that Public Relations Professionals are able to counteract them!

- Don't Take Short Cuts:

A huge mistake made today is professionals forget one of the main purposes of social media: to help build a brand.  According to Simply Social, " Businesses must embrace the opportunity to engage in the lives of consumers. Social media provides an open forum to which everyone is invited to collaborate and share ideas, experiences and interests."  By taking shortcuts in social media and putting out a false brand, you are essentially tricking people into thinking that you are a well-liked brand.  Any knowledgeable social media user will be able to look right past this.  Stephanie Frasco wrote an article recently titled "How I Increased My Twitter Followers By 30% in 6 Months" which summarized how she was able to boost her following on Twitter.  She did this by not buying any followers and didn't follow - unfollow.  

- Do Create a Plan:
A great tip from Lohas is "Random acts of social media do not work.  A clear aim is the key to reaching [your] destination... Without a proper identified goal and direction, your company would likely propel at a slower pace, if at all.... 'random' is not a word to include in your social media marketing."
The diagram below I found through an article written by Oliver Busmann titled 4 Powerful Social Media Shortcuts That Will Surprise You! Check it out for more great tips in being present on social media.

Photo Credit

- Don't Be A Ghost:
A crucial part of being present on social media is being active... The more you put in with social media, the more you get out!  Some great advice from MediaTrust is  "The audience need to see regular activity on the page or else they will lose interest, so the amount of staff time really depends on what your strategic aims are.  You may also want to get more than on person feeding into the page."  It is important to create a team with a unified goal of correctly branding the product.


What are some of your tips on social media?

A look back on 2013's biggest PR moments

Picture via blog.search-mojo

Happy New Year, everyone! Today marks the first day of 2014 and I am very excited for all that it has in store. Our chapter has already grown so much these past few years and I feel that success will only continue in 2014. This year was not only a big one for the Marist PRSSA Chapter, but for the PR industry as a whole. Therefore, I thought that it would be interesting to reflect on what PRWeek is calling "the most popular stories of 2013".

The first big story comes from an announcement made by the USPS of the switch from a six- to five-day mail-delivery schedule. The newly updated five-day website will be accompanied by a heavy PR push and is set to go into effect on August 5. All packages and prescription drugs will continue to be delivered six-days a week. The switch is predicted to save the USPS $2 billion annually. To read more about this story, click here.

The death of PR pioneer and founder of Edelman, Daniel J. Edelma rocked the PR world. Edelman passed away at age 92 from heart failure. He began his career as a reporter in Poughkeepsie, New York (fun fact!) and went on to found Edelman in 1952 in Chicago. Edelman was a great man and an inspiration to all. His work ethic and values are highly regarded by all and he will certainly be missed. To read the full story, click here.

Ketchum was accused of aiding Vladimir Putin in the composition of a controversial op-ed piece. However, the firm denied this and stated that they had only pitched his piece, not written it. Instances like these are interesting because it is a situation filled with blurred lines and can be used as a reference for future situations. To read the full story, click here.    

Edelman's VP of crisis and issues, Errol Cockfield, is reportedly helping Adam Lanza's father, Peter Lanza, deal with the media following the shootings in Newtown. I was not aware that organizations such as Edelman take on these types of clients, but I have to say that it does make a lot of sense. There is some controversy regarding this relationship, however, and the entire situation is rather secretive. To read the full story, click here.

 

Additionally, Chobani lost a few of their communications employees due to "refocusing" and Blue Cross Blue Shield launched an effort to educate uninsured consumers on the new Affordable Care Act. Finally, Dove's Real Beauty Sketches received a lot of praise and recognition at Cannes and was given two Gold Lions for Best Use of Social Media and Best Integrated Campaign Led by PR. All in all, it is undeniable that 2013 was filled with huge PR moments and I am excited to see what awaits us in 2014!