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The One True King of Social Media

Five kings may have tried to rule Westeros, but in the land of social media, there is only one.

Game of Thrones, First of Its Name, premiered its fourth season Sunday, April 6th to some 6.6 million people. To put it in perspective that’s 1.5 million more viewers than its third season premiere and exactly triple its debut in 2011.

These numbers seem huge until you compare them with HBO-legacy The Sopranos who bowed out with nearly 12 million viewers, and AMC’s Breaking Bad who finished with a respectable 10 million. Yet for a show whose ratings haven’t broken any records, its presence in the media is nothing short of astounding.

As a former HBO brand ambassador myself, it’s true that I might be a little bit biased when I rave about the various HBO media campaigns over the years. But even if I am biased, it’s nice to know that I’m in good company. The network’s efforts and campaigns to promote Game of Thrones Season 4 were fantastic, but they weren’t nearly as important as what came from their audience on social media.

The night of the premiere brands flocked to Twitter to capitalize on the popularity and cult following of the show. Brand giants such as Delta, Pringles, Mentos, and even fellow political-drama House of Cards decided to pay homage. Some of these campaigns were relevant, several were clever, and most were silly; but they were all united in one thing: they all proved that there is a lot of digital traffic working for Game of Thrones.

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In fact, the @GameofThrones Twitter handle proudly boasted that the fourth season’s premiere created the most social activity of any HBO original series episode ever, and I believe it. This stands in stark contrast to the premiere of AMC’s last (well, sort-of last) season of Mad Men, which according to Nielsen debuted to only 2.3 million viewers. In fact, it too got a shoutout from Delta on the night of its premiere, although despite having more favorites than Game of Thrones‘, people were curiously less likely to actually retweet it to their feed.

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To be fair, Mad Men has done well digitally, just perhaps not as well as its peers. It’s been around longer than Game of Thrones and the Council for Research Excellence found that social media is proving to be twice as effective at attracting viewers to new shows than returning shows. Mad Men did manage to generate a trending topic on Facebook, which has been shown to be the most popular way of socially connected viewing, but it fell short of the buzz surrounding the shocking and now infamous “Purple Wedding” from Game of Thrones.

In Tweets alone, Game of Thrones saw 251,000 mentions while Mad Men brought in less than a fourth of that with 60,000. This might seem arbitrary until faced with the fact that, according to the same CRE study, 42% of viewers planned to watch a show after seeing it mentioned in a Tweet and 33% immediately change the channel to watch it live. So what does this mean? Being in its final season, Mad Men was surely expecting more hype from the digital stratosphere, but maybe it’s time to ditch the briefcase and invest in some dragons.

Warby Barker Shopping

Brands Love Pets on April Fools’ Day

April Fools': It’s the day that the internet loves to hate; but if a brand can create a funny, mesmerizing or ludicrous idea, they may just be able to go viral. Its implications? Brand recognition or loyalty, an increase in e-commerce sales or giving your brand a more human face…or as it turns out this year, a furrier face.

I noticed that there has been a large swing towards “prank campaigns” in 2014 that involve cats and dogs. People love to gush about their pets and often share pictures of the cutest ones they can find, so why wouldn’t they want to share campaigns who have recruited the cutest-of-the-cute?

Thus, I’ll be showing you 10 of the April Fools joke campaigns of 2014 that contain pets!

1. AskMen.com - These guys got the infamous Mensware Dog, a Shiba Inu, to fill the whole page. Best part? The dog in Pharrell’s hat.

AskMen - April Fools - Menswear Dog

2. LinkedIn: Cats You May Know (CYMK) - I like this one because of cats (obviously), but also because it showcases their features and best tips for using CYMK, which also happens to be great tips for using LinkedIn itself.

3. Missouri University of Science and Technology: Doge-ified - Shiba Inu’s are so hot right now, coming off being a Top Meme of 2013 and the Mensware Dog’s popularity. Luckily M.U.S.T. got on the train before it becomes totally outdated. All I can say? Wow. Much doge. Such science. Very smart.

Missouri University of Science & Technology - Doge - April Fools

4. Museum of Modern Art: Pet Membership - Take your pet to a place you’ve never been able to before, a museum! Its a cute idea, but I wish this campaign had a landing page or blog post explaining their “initiative” rather than just a tweet.

MoMA - Pet Membership

5. Moo.com - Pug Delivery: Rather than go the drone route, Moo thought of a new way to deliver its cards. Pugs! As you may know, EVERYWHERE is Pug crazy, so this was an office favorite. What I like about this campaign is that they had a slogan to go with it - “A delivery option that’s sure to put a smile on your face”.

6. American Well: Puppy Connect - While I didn’t know about their company before today, they did use April Fool’s Day as a way to showcase their product. “Puppy Connect” connects you to a webcam with playing pups and then the app connects you with a real doctor. I think this campaign was great because it brought their brand to light and taught me all about their product, but with dogs instead of doctors. The video is cute too!

American Well - Puppy Connect - April Fools

7. REI - Adventure Kitten Gear: Cute kitten with hiking gear? This cat could give the new Call of Duty dogs a run for their money. REI had a site built out with a “Your Kitten Might Also Like” section like what you see elsewhere on the site, which makes it feel a little more real. What also makes it feel real? The prices of that gear, even in kitten size. Ouch!

8. Google Chrome App: Qwerty Cats - This app gives your cat 4 buttons to choose from (M. E. O. W.) and will then translate what those string of letters mean. The point of this campaign? Not really sure, but the again, when are any of Google’s April Fools pranks for a reason?

Google Chrome Qwerty Cats App - April Fools

9. Warby Parker’s Pet Line - Warby Barker: Warby Parker actually bought a domain name for their “new line”, which is pure dedication to the prank. They feature a Pug in a monocle, so you know it has to make the list. When you try to buy a product, it lets you know that the monocle you wanted is a trick, but steers you towards their real site, as well as the Humane Society.

Warby Barker Home - April Fools Warby Barker Shopping

 

10. Cats by Opera: Opera, the browser, came out with a blog announcement and video for their new browser for cats. The video shows footage of a cat using an iPad with Tongue Touch Interface, PawPredict, and Catified Speed Dial. While none of the features translate to anything the regular Opera browser offers, the campaign does bring publicity that Laptop Mag’s Best Android Browser article never could.

Cats By Opera - April Fools Cats By Opera - April Fools

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Keep it ‘Pinteresting’: Secret to Pinterest

By Leighanne Ferri

I’m sure many can relate when I say that after spending an hour (or five) on Pinterest, I often feel a strong urge to work out, bake, craft or shop. On our personal Pinterest pages, we pin things that apply to our own interests, lifestyles and hobbies.

On the consumer side, we want to see things we are interested in from the people, and companies, we follow. We want ideas on how to put an outfit together, how to bake the perfect birthday cake or plan the ideal vacation. Brands can, and should, use this to their advantage. In order to create advocates for your brand, you must actively engage your consumers. After reading up on some creative ways of how brands are using Pinterest, I’ve come up with a few of my own.

Promote your Brand’s Lifestyle

Free People, a popular boho-chic fashion brand does an impeccable job promoting not just their brand, but the lifestyle they represent. The Free People woman is free-spirited and in tune with her mind, body and soul. One of their boards entitled ‘FP Movement’ boasts gorgeous photos of women in yoga poses, inspirational quotes, health tips and beautiful photography. The ‘Festival Fashion’ board highlights style trends from booming music festivals like Coachella and Bonnaroo. This is all a part of the FP lifestyle, and thus, the FP brand.

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Image courtesy of styleblazer.com

Limit the Clutter

The next thing a brand should do is limit the clutter. As a consumer, I want to hop on a company’s Pinterest page and immediately see boards that stand out to me and push me to explore further. Although Walmart is a huge, well-known company, they have 80+ boards that seem repetitive to the buyer. A good example of pinning brevity is the Nike Women page, which has 10 concise boards with relevant content that supports current campaigns, as well as workout graphics and motivation pins.

Be Relatable and Relevant

The Whole Foods shopper is typically a health-conscious individual who appreciates being kept up-to-date with current health trends. Whole Foods Market does a fabulous job relating to its consumers and staying relevant. Their ‘#HealthYeah’ board provides an enthusiastic outlook on getting healthy while tying in the trendy use of the hashtag. Boards labeled ‘Summer Vacation!’ and ‘Savor Summer’ are seasonal and valuable to the follower.

Stay consistent (if it makes sense)

For brands that have a distinct voice or social media presence (like us), it is recommended to carry that presence into your Pinterest boards. Take our example. Everywhere brands its boards by remaining consistent, with titles including ‘Everyday Everywhere’, ‘Infographics Everywhere’ and ‘Events Everywhere’. Notice a pattern? Consistency makes your brand easily recognizable and accessible. This example aside, some companies may benefit from changing up their boards to appeal to different consumers; it’s all about what works for your brand.

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Image courtesy of hongkiat.com

As a Pinterest fanatic, I can vouch for most consumers when I say that utilizing these methods to keep your brand’s Pinterest page up to par would definitely appeal to me. Executing these tactics engages viewers and can immensely benefit your social media and real life presence in the mind of the consumer.


Everywhere has a robust internship program and we invite our interns to participate by writing on our blog. Leighanne Ferri is an intern from Florida State University. She authored this blog post.

SXSW: A Simplified Guide to Finding Your Way to the Best Stuff

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By: Lexi Severini

Everywhere’s founding members Tamara Knechtel and Danica Kombol are 2 of the roughly 300,000 prospective attendees at this year’s SXSW convention in Austin and we’re all collectively envious of them.

If you happen to be a part of that oh-so lucky pool of people who have already, or will be descending upon Bat City in the next few weeks, consider this list your guide to new and sought-after SXSW social apps! I also threw in a couple of apps that will help you navigate the scene itself!

Apps to check out while you’re there:

  • Screen Shot 2013-03-08 at 3.58.22 PMHighlight: This start-up got a lot of attention last year, and it’s back for round two! Call it an app for the “socially adventurous” among us! This app lets you meet people based on similar interests who are in close proximity to you. According to their website’s description, “…as you go about your day, Highlight runs quietly in the background, surfacing information about the people around you.” This one might be creepily intuitive but these days, who doesn’t want to know about everyone and everything around them? And the goal of SXSW is to connect, so check it out and let us know what you think!
  • Screen Shot 2013-03-08 at 3.22.23 PMGauss: a.k.a. “The People Magnet,” Gauss utilizes information that already exists in your Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare profiles to assess the types of people it thinks you might be interested in meeting. By maintaining a list of things you would like to do, the app will notify you of people it thinks you should connect with. The good news is no one can see your info, and you get to choose if and when to connect with other users.
  • Screen Shot 2013-03-08 at 3.22.59 PMPearescope: Danica is what we call a “connector.” She somehow miraculously keeps a rolodex in her head of how and where she knows people from. This comes in handy for business moves etc., but if you don’t have that natural talent, this app is for you. Curious about or interested in a friend of a friend? Pearescope allows you to meet people by introducing you to other mutual friends. You’ll even be able to see who’s met whom and through which friend that you both have in common. An ideal way to capitalize on those 6 degrees of separation. Think LinkedIn, but in a socially intuitive app.

 

Apps to use while you’re there:

  • Screen Shot 2013-03-08 at 4.00.57 PMMashable SXSW Trendspotter- This website (with analytics by Topsy) will provide you with an up-to-the-hour look at the topics that are trending at SXSW based on categories like Music, Interactive, Brands, etc.
  • Screen Shot 2013-03-08 at 3.59.26 PMSXSW Go – This is a succinct mobile app created to help the busiest of SXSW-goers to stay organized and keep in the know. This app allows you to schedule your day, browse event media, find venues, and search for events/exhibitors. What’s especially great? It’s available on iPhone, iPad and Android.

 

SXSW can be overwhelming, but if you have the right arsenal you will survive. What other apps help you get around?

Dad 2.0 Summit

Let’s Hear It for the Boys!

A lady marketer makes a foray into the world of dad blogging at the phenomenal Dad 2.0 Summit.
by Kelly Heisler

At Everywhere, we are a female owned and mostly female staffed agency. Over the four years we’ve been in business our “We are Woman, Hear Us Roar” war cry has formed an empire in the social space predominantly ruled by estrogen.

Dad 2.0 Summit

We love mom bloggers. We get them. We know what they like and we know what resonates with their audience. We’ve collaborated and succeeded with these lovely ladies, hosted Wise Women Wednesday sessions and supported women empowerment initiatives in our community.

As our client list continues to expand we have found ourselves in unfamiliar territory. One in which some of our brands are better, if not equally suited for a man. It seems in our lady power party, we may have neglected a segment of very influential writers who just so happen to have a Y chromosome.

It wasn’t until my maiden voyage to Dad 2.0 Summit that I realized not only were men suitable for super manly products like shave gel, lawnmowers and shoeshine, but there is an increasing number of men taking the majority role or equal control of rearing their children and heading up the household.

Dad 2.0 Summit

Andy Hinds (Beta Dad), Random Photo Bomber, Kelly Heisler (Everywhere), Trina O’Boyle (Happy Family Brands)

Dad 2.0 Summit was filled with talented writers, businessman and entrepreneurs. In between evenings of raucous karaoke and whiskey tastings, we heard painfully funny, vulnerable and relatable stories of fatherhood. Speakers like Ted Rubin brought the crowd to tears with stories of fighting for a relationship with your children in the face of controversy. Black Hockey Jesus, spoke with poetic eloquence bringing a resounding depth to the often-bumbling stereotype portrayed by dads in the media. These men are sharing their stories and building communities that spread much further than just their fellow fathers.

As brand managers these authentic and genuine voices are just the sort of people we need. As an agency, in order to truly be “Everywhere” we absolutely must include everyone. So bring it on boys, we’re ready to share our clubhouse.

Click here for more recaps from of Dad 2.0 Summit.