This week showcases how brands have a handle on marketing in the time of COVID-19, as collaborations with big names across arts and sports are arising every day. Along with brand collaborations, some are also announcing new products, such as Justin Bieber’s Croc line and Apple announcing the iPhone 12 this past week. This week we have been shown, yet again, how intertwined the entertainment industry is, with Addison Rae presenting at the Billboard Music Awards, truly merging the worlds of TikTok and mainstream music.
Celebrity
Justin Bieber Debuts New Single and Croc Line
After a long hiatus, the classic improv comedy show Saturday Night Live has made their return to 30 Rock. Justin Bieber will be taking over the SNL stage this weekend to promote his new single ‘Lonely’ that debuted on Friday. Bieber is known to be the first star to ever get their start on social media, so it is safe to say that the singer took to his roots to advertise the single. Ten minutes before the debut, Bieber and popular DJ Benny Blanco went live on Youtube to connect with fans, giving a deeper insight into the making of the song and music video. The live stream accumulated 20 thousand viewers, while the music video currently has over 2 million views. In addition to the single, Bieber has been branching out in the past few years to the fashion world by developing clothing lines and most recently a Croc line. The Crocs X Justin Bieber collaboration launched on Tuesday and has since then sold out, leaving them in high demand. According to Business Insider, the collaboration immensely increased Croc’s sales resulting in an 11% stock rise this week. This is a great example of when musicians expand to different parts of the industry to promote their music. Producing the Croc line, the single, and SNL performance all in the same week, Bieber performed an effective strategy that encouraged fans to take part in all promotional aspects.
Timothée Chalamet’s GQ Cover
Young women and teenagers on Instagram have been going crazy over the new Timothée Chalamet GQ photos - posting and sharing them like wildfire. Timothée Chalamet has been a prominent figure for young women and teens since his renowned performances in Lady Bird and Call Me by Your Name in Fall 2017. However, upon reading the GQ article, written by Daniel Riley, the shoot in Woodstock goes much deeper than good looking photographs. The article encourages its audience to reevaluate what the past three years have been like for Chalamet, going from casually walking around New York City to touring the world and being adored for Call Me by Your Name. Chalamet promoting the photographs and GQ article on Instagram allows fans to not just see his face and have a casual update about his life, but allows them to go deeper into Chalamet as a human being. We often do work with lifestyle influencers, influencers who post about their day to day lives. However, getting this same insight from a person who is so adored as an actor, helps shift the tone to showing how people are “really” doing on social media, and not only the most glamorous aspects of life.
Brands & Industry
Abercrombie & Fitch Address LGBTQ Mental Health with IG-TV Mini-Series
On October 11th, National Coming Out Day, Abercrombie & Fitch, in collaboration with Megan Rapinoe, created “A&F Conversations x Megan Rapinoe,” where the women’s soccer champion discusses various topics with A&F’s “Fierce Family”, which is a team of influencers and activists via IG-TV. Over the course of the series, Rampinoe will interview a myriad of different celebrities, from Olympic Skier Gus Kenworthy to model Laith Ashley, about their experiences with being LGBTQ in their respective careers. This IG-TV mini-series helps appeal to A&F’s target audience of young people, and the feeling young people have to create change. According to Mobile Marketer, from an advertising perspective, “By running the series on IGTV, Abercrombie & Fitch can reach a target audience that's more likely to use social media and is harder to reach through traditional media channels ... the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in social media usage among people who use apps like Instagram to stay connected with friends and family, giving Abercrombie & Fitch a chance to boost viewership.”
Apple Launches iPhone 12
Upon the release of the iPhone 12, Apple is known to consistently be the leader in where technology is heading. With the launch of the newest iPhone, it features more advanced technology than ever before. In addition, Apple is branching out to increase its outreach on social media platforms such as Youtube and TikTok. To announce the release, Apple premiered its advertisement on their Youtube channel that currently has over 13 million followers, that now has gone on to trending number one while counting 13 million views. In attempts to reach an even larger audience, Apple had infiltrated their advertisements to the viral video app TikTok. With the algorithm tailored to each user, this allows for businesses like Apple to get their products seen by an expanded younger audience.
Influencer
Addison Rae Crosses Platforms to Billboard Music Awards
In the height of major events like award shows being transformed into virtual and socially distant events, the Billboard Music Awards did not disappoint. Premiering on Wednesday night, it was a star-studded event with appearances by Billie Eilish, Post Malone, Lizzo, and to the surprise of many, TikTok star Addison Rae. Rae presented the Billboard Chart Achievement award which is a great representation of social media influencers crossing over to mainstream media. This tactic is being seen more every year and is due to the attempts to increase viewership and engagement with broadcasted and live television. With the increased attention that social media apps such as TikTok are getting, it is not out of the ordinary that television networks that have seen a large decrease in popularity are cultivating news ways to appeal to a larger and younger generation. According to Variety, ratings totaled around 3.6 million viewers, a 55% dip from last year. Although viewership was below than expected, Rae brought much-needed attention to the award show on Twitter. With the trending hashtag #BBMAs, the feed was flooder with how surprised viewers were to see a TikToker present an award. This is an interesting tactic that is used and will be exciting to see in the future how more award shows and network television incorporate social media influencers.
Campaigns
Hilton Announces a New Global Campaign
Hilton recently announced their new global campaign, coined as “Memories,” which encourages people to travel again and make memories at one of their resorts worldwide. According to a survey Hilton conducted with over 2000 Americans, people are ready to begin traveling after over half a year of putting their vacation plans on hold. Hilton’s campaign is all about creating new memories. The campaign kicked off on their social media last month, and the video spots on Instagram include a range of memory types: from weddings to alone time from your families. These posts also include the hashtag “#HiltonMemories, which has now been featured in over 500 posts. Some of the ads, now featured on various online platforms and television commercials, also discuss their new COVID-19 protocols. According to Marketing Dive, Hilton, “in addition to contactless arrival and more flexible reservation policies, the hotel chain is highlighting its CleanStay cleanliness and disinfection program.” By tying together individuals’ desire to travel by providing the information about how their stay will be made as safe as possible, we suspect this will be an influential campaign.
Major League Baseball Teams Up With Lysol
In the year where hand sanitizer and cleaning products are at the top of our shopping lists, things are no different for Major League Baseball. MLB has agreed to a multi-year partnership with RB-owned cleaning products brand Lysol. This campaign is in efforts to promote health and hygiene to players, staff, and fans at ballparks due to the COVID-19 outbreak. These efforts are being put into place at an additional higher standard than ever before to attempt to bring baseball fans back into the stadium for the upcoming World Series. In wanting to provide the safest and best experience possible for fans, according to TheStadiumBusiness, MLB’s vice-president of the drug, health, and safety programs stated, “As a brand that is synonymous with cleanliness, the Lysol brand will be an important partner in our management of the evolving pandemic as well as in amplifying health and safety messages around baseball.” By incorporating Lysol to baseball, MLB hopes that this campaign also carries on to outside of the ballpark and include these safety measures in day to day life.
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