With COVID-19 spiking in the majority of the United States, shoppers are not as willing, or able, to go out to their favorite stores for the best deals this Black Friday. Instead, customers are pushed to take advantage of Cyber Monday sales, this year even more than usual. Online shopping has already been on the rise. With the increased demand for internet sales, companies will have to keep up with the immediacy of online shopping. Amazon, for example,  has the infrastructure in place for mass scale orders and will not have to be as concerned as smaller brands that may have to adapt to the shifting marketplace. How these brands will adapt depends on a variety of factors. Social media platforms like Instagram have integrated features that enable vendors to sell goods directly from a post. It is theorized that this year, social media will be used as an additional platform for Black Friday shopping, as brands will be able to promote and sell specific items in an extremely accessible way, which will inevitably increase sales. We have already seen this feature installed from high-end companies like Saks on Fifth and Prada to leisurewear companies like Aerie, and it is known to increase sales. We predict we will see an increase in influencer marketing being used by all types of companies because of their power to encourage consumers to buy the products through promotion. Influencers are also important for the promotion of entire brands, not just singular items, especially when the brand or product seamlessly blends into their everyday lifestyle. Brands like The Girlfriend Collective, an athletic wear clothing-line that makes all of their clothing out of recycled materials, have taken the online and Instagram world by storm. The company relies almost entirely on its online presence and store for sales. This past week, Girlfriend had a sitewide sale (including on a new color collection for the winter), which the motive behind could be two-fold. While Girlfriend is known by women to be an entirely ethical brand, their decision to try and clear out their current stock of clothing is admirable. In order to keep up with the orders from the impending Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales, they have reduced the number of items they have in stock to sell when the day comes. By taking this action, Girlfriend took care of their customers, since packages are already heavily delayed in the United States and the large influx of online sales from Thanksgiving weekend will slow down shipping even more. They also took care of their employees by giving them less product to worry about packaging and shipping at the end of the month. Overall, brands will have to make extra efforts this Black Friday and Holiday season to move their holiday shopping traffic online while also staying aware of the large package shipping delays in the United States. It will be important for them to utilize social media platforms like Instagram as an alternative way to sell their products. Instagram has become a crucial way for users to find and immediately purchase items, and will be imperative for advertising deals and what items each brand is trying to push.

Intro As the election approaches, we have seen social media sites put measures in place to protest misinformation from being spread. Facebook’s approach to not allow new election advertisements was announced in September, while Instagram's United States update was released just yesterday. TikTok has teamed up with the Associated Press to give their users direct access to an interactive map which will showcase live events on Election Night. Brands are also becoming more innovative as marketing teams figure out how to work with social distancing guidelines but still have a create strategy, like with Jerry Garcia x Holistic Industries cannabis line launch. This past week our excitement continued to grow as the social media industry evolved further toward inclusion, creativity, and policing of misinformation. Celebrity & Entertainment Celebrities such as Vanessa Hudgens, Sofia Richie and Gabrielle Union have all posted the skincare product going viral, Loops. Launched in February, Loops is a brand of face masks, acclaimed for their simple and all natural ingredients, optimizing results in a short amount of time. Although the brand launched pre-Coronavirus, it’s label has swarmed the Instagram space as of recent, with their creative direction partnership with Emily Ratajakowski. Loops viral marketing skills utilizing celebrity endorsements shows the power of leveraging creators with high engagement, as the new brand is already verified with over 20,000 followers. Jerry Garcia's Cannabis Line Collaborates with Holistic Industries Holistic Industries has partnered with the late Jerry Garcia’s family to create a new cannabis line. The original marketing and launch campaign involved the largest gathering in the country for buying and consuming weed, the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the event has been canceled. According to Adweek, the launch strategy shifted to an “Airstream trailer straight out of a Grateful Dead song that will tour California beginning next month.” After touring California, the trailer plans on making its way across the country. As for who will drive the Bertha (the trailer)? Holistic Industries hosted a contest and, while they did not release a name, they chose a San Francisco resident and long time Deadhead as the winner. This person even has Garcia’s hand tattooed on them, including his partially missing finger! Holistic’s CMO Kyle Barich said about the campaign and the contest, “We wanted to do something Covid-safe that would get attention and launch the brand in a style that would be very unique to the cannabis industry … It’s a tough time for job hunting, and we got some incredible videos from very talented people, probably the most overqualified group you could imagine.” Brands/Industry TikTok Partners with E-Commerce Site Shopify To further expand their brand and usage, TikTok has recently partnered with e-commerce platform Shopify. Investing in social commerce is a big step for the viral video sharing app, as it will now allow for Shopify to reach a younger audience to ultimately drive sales. This partnership comes quickly after the app has a strong ability to drive merchant traffic and sales, an example being the participation of Walmart in the TikTok-Oracle deal. According to TechCrunch, in preparation for potential merchants, TikTok has already experimented and launched “Shop Now” buttons for brands’ video ads, and introduced shoppable components to hashtags with e-commerce features. On Shopify’s side, the app has been working to deliver tools that highlight small businesses, where they will have a chance to compete with larger companies. TikTok claims that in addition to these newly launched features, these are just the first step. Facebook Stops New Election Advertisements This week, Facebook has stopped all new advertising about the election on their platform. The social media site made this announcement in September, and it has since received extensive push back. Democratic political advertising consultant Tim Lim, who works with federal campaigns and social interest groups, said “To have these problems happen at the most crucial time before the election, it’s a real disservice to voters and it’s a real disservice to democracy.” Instagram, another social media site under the Facebook company, announced on Twitter on October 29th, “As we near the U.S. elections, we’re making changes to make it harder for people to come across possible misinformation on Instagram. Starting today, for people in the U.S. we will temporarily remove the “Recent” tab from hashtag pages. We’re doing this to reduce the real-time spread of potentially harmful content that could pop up around the election.” TikTok Announces Their Election Integrity Measures With four days left until Election Day, social media apps are ramping up their participation. TikTok has announced their latest integrity measures to ensure the mitigation of spreading misinformation regarding the election. In an attempt to get rid of false narratives on the app, TikTok is implementing new elements to its Election Guide Resource tab according to SocialMediaToday. This tab provides correct and updated information on polling locations, state voter registration requirements, and general resources about the election. In addition to these new features, TikTok has teamed up with the Associated Press to give direct access to an interactive map which will showcase live results and happenings of the race on the “for you” page. This will also be regulated by fact checkers before being showcased on the app. TikTok engages a  much younger audience compared to other popular social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, due to a third of their users being under the age of 14. It will be interesting to see how effective these measures will be, given the fact that a portion of users are not of legal voting age. Campaigns Hulu’s “Bad Hair” Campaign Boosts Black Owned Brands Hulu released their anticipated horror-comedy film, Bad Hair on October 23rd. Leading up to the release, Hulu launched a “Bad Hair” campaign which sent kits to Black influencers with content from Black owned businesses. According to Adweek, these kits included products like “90s-style press-on nails by She’s Pressed Nails; a hair care kit from Tracee Ellis Ross’ company Pattern Beauty; hair clips by 3 Woke Girlz; and hair wraps by Nicole Ari Parker. The kits also offer items that specifically tie into the film’s narrative, including a Cult Live hoodie and a folk tale about the Moss Haired Girl.” The kits are also tied into the film’s 80s theme, using colors like purple, pink, green, and yellow. Marcus Best, VP of Allied Moxy said, “Even though Bad Hair is a horror film, we didn’t want to have that sensibility with the mailer,” Best said. “We wanted to make it lively and upbeat.” Snapchat Launches Virtual Reality Feature for Halloween With Halloween around the corner, social media platforms are quickly creating ways to bring the spooky spirit to their apps. Due to the effects of COVID, Halloween celebrations are looking entirely different this year, with many transitioning to online platforms. Snapchat is taking advantage of this by launching a new set of 3D body scan lenses where they can detect and respond to movement in the frame, working with front and back camera lenses. It applies a variety of digital characters and costumes on you, allowing for more user engagement within the app. In a similar attempt, Tim Horton’s is using this new virtual reality feature in ads by providing users the ability to turn themselves into a box of Timbits.

The social media landscape has changed a lot in the past year. From COVID-19 messaging to social justice calls to action, it seems like human interest topics have taken over the conversation. This presented an interesting opportunity for brands who were left with 2 choices: using their voice and platform to speak out or remain quiet. Many brands chose the first option and decided to support social justice causes through influencers. With influencer and brand activism more apparent than ever, it is important to recognize the impact that this has on one's platform. Using influencers with strong voices can increase engagement and also brand sales, due to how followers may connect with the product’s messaging. According to TheInfluencerNews, brands like Old Navy and Reddit are stepping up to increase voter registration in preparation for the presidential election happening on November 3rd. Partnering with Power the Polls, Old Navy is pushing for their employees to get active by providing them with eight-hour pay if they volunteered to work the polls on Election Day, while Reddit is using its platform to relay information about voting by encouraging users to post questions about candidates and other related topics. In addition to brands actively speaking on these issues, celebrities and influencers are taking it upon themselves to seek out more partnerships that authentically align with their values. On the topic of the upcoming election, chief social officer at Mekanism, Brendan Gahan expressed why incorporating influencers into campaigns are crucial, “However, I think [influencer marketing is] wildly under-utilized. What other medium can you get young voters to listen and pay attention to for hours on end? It’s not TV. It’s not print. Influencers are the medium that can accomplish that.” This has been recently apparent in the Biden campaign where influencers like Elle Walker and Bethany Mota have collaborated with Biden’s team to increase their marketing outreach. Hosting live streams on Youtube and Instagram, Walker and Mota interviewed Biden asking his stance on various issues to engage and inform viewers. Youtuber and content creator David Dobrik has also been a key influencer in encouraging his fans to hit the polls. Partnering with the non-profit organization HeadCount that promotes increased participation in elections, Dobrik had joined the #GoodToVote campaign. Celebrities such as John Stamos, Emma Roberts, Samuel L. Jackson, and Debra Messing joined in on the same campaign, but Dobrik has surpassed all previous campaign outcomes. By hosting a giveaway with three Tesla’s, the contest required users to verify their registration status via the HeadCount website, share the post on Instagram Stories, and tag a friend in the comments. This partnership has broken HeadCount’s voter registration record with 100,000 people newly registered in just 24 hours and more than 250,000 people verifying their registration status.

Introduction This week, between political news and businesses leveraging this unique moment in time to get people to the ballots we continue to see how the digital world is diversifying. We saw the cast of New Girl and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez take advantage of various digital platforms to increase voter action, and Harry Styles and Paris Hilton using their online presence to sky-rocket music and business sales. In addition to these tactics, social media apps such as Instagram and Snapchat are constantly updating to benefit personal and professional usage, and adapt to their ever-growing population. Celebrity Harry Styles Hints at New Music Video with Interactive Website COVID has created problems for virtually every industry pushing people to adapt in new creative ways. This evolution has been specifically prominent in the music industry where artists are constantly finding new ways to create hype for releases. Press junkets and concerts are, at least for now, a thing of the past so artists are turning to digital channels to create a buzz. Harry Styles turned to the power of digital marketing in a very effective way, using rumors and speculations to get people excited. With a possible new music video on the way, the singer has updated his personal website that was used to promote the album last December to include new experiences and prompt fans to engage by answering one simple question ‘Do you know who you are?’. Once fans enter their name to the website it creates and presents a personalized message signed by Styles asking them to share it on Twitter using the hashtag #DYKWYA. The hashtag and Styles went on to global trend after the website update. The cast of New Girl Comes Together for Voting PSA Zooey Deschanel, Zoe Lister-Jones, Lamorne Morris, and Jake Johnson reunited with a hilarious yet important voting PSA through IG Reels. The cast of New Girl produced a short video clip giving valuable information about how to transition to mail-in voting and the steps that viewers need to take to have their vote accurately counted. The video was posted on Deschanel’s account (6.3 million followers) 2 days ago and it already received over 170K likes and 6M views. Brands/Industry Instagram Implementing New Prompt for Influencers who Fail to Disclose Commercial Partnerships As social media influencers and paid partnerships are on the rise, Instagram has recently vowed to protect consumers by establishing features to disclose paid and sponsored posts. According to SocialMediaToday, when social media influencers are posting on behalf of a brand, they are required to tag the post with hashtags like #ad and #sponsored. However, with a large amount of paid posts going out every day, not everyone is following this rule nor is it being regulated. To fix this issue, Instagram is looking to add a new prompt that would require influencers to select whether they are receiving compensation to promote a product or service. In addition, Instagram is implementing a new algorithm to detect potential paid content, which would then alert the account to follow the newly added promptly. These tactics are all in attempts to make Instagram an overall better experience that seamlessly bridges the gap between personal postings to paid promotional postings. Snapchat Adds “Sounds” Feature Aligning with TikTok TikTok is the gatekeeper of short-form video platforms being the largest and most important amongst competitors. It’s unsurprising then that many competing platforms are now taking hints from TikTok and adding new features to their own services. From Instagram creating Reels to Triller using influencer houses, it seems like every platform is trying to adapt. Snapchat is hopping on the trend of adding a “sounds” feature through a third-party music publisher. According to Variety, “Users of the iOS app worldwide can add music to their Snaps (pre- or post-capture) from a curated catalog of music. Snapchatters can add music before recording video by selecting the Sounds tool (with the music notes icon) on the right-hand side of the Camera screen and choosing a track from the Featured Sounds list.” Providing exclusive clips and early releases of songs such as Justin Bieber’s recent single Lonely, Snapchat is looking to compete with the other platform and bring their interface and features to 2020. Influencer Paris Hilton from Reality Star to Entrepreneur Paris Hilton, one of the most iconic celebrities and the world’s first influencer, continues to expand her brand and capitalize on business opportunities. Hilton wants to leverage her longevity in the entertainment world as well as her business, Paris Hilton Entertainment, to bring her name back amongst a younger audience. Her integrated media and product organization, which encompasses 19 products, has accumulated over $4 billion in revenue over the past ten years. According to AdWeekly, Hilton is the leader when it comes to developing brand partnerships, she stated, “The ways I and others have worked with brands in the past needs to continue to evolve. With the launch of my broader media company in digital, social, audio, and television, I’m building a platform to take a more holistic approach to how I work with brands.” This sheds some light on Hilton’s newly found presence on TikTok where she holds over 3 million followers and averages 8 million views on each post. Paris demonstrates once again how personal brands can adapt to new platforms and gain relevance across generations. Campaigns MLB World Series Created #WorldSeries on TikTok to Increase Engagement In the age of live sports having little to no audience due to COVID-19, professional league sports have been having to get creative in ways to incorporate an audience without them physically being present. In attempts to achieve this, Major League Baseball has taken to TikTok to promote the World Series and make it more engaging for fans. Using the hashtag #WorldSeries, MLB encourages TikTok users to create a video showing how they are getting in the baseball spirit, whether that be from your couch, practicing a curveball, or chasing a trophy. So far, the campaign has reached over 630 million views and is trending on the discover page. AOC plays Among Us on Twitch to Encourage Viewers to Vote With election day fastly approaching, celebrities and political figures are teaming up to encourage more people to get to the polls. U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took to the streaming platform Twitch to play the viral online game Among Us and inspire the players to vote. Playing alongside professional Twitch streamers including Pokimane and Hasanabi, AOC drew a large number of people into the stream. After streaming for three-and-a-half hours, viewership ranged from 300,000 to 400,000 the entire time, peaking at 439,000 views. This has since become the third-highest-viewed single stream of all time. While it’s not entirely measurable how many people took action because of the stream, the strides that public figures are taking to spread awareness of voting has gotten more and more digital.

Social media advertising on platforms like Instagram has evolved into an essential part of a brand’s marketing strategy. Another major aspect that has become an essential part of a brand's strategy is influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is by definition the balance between talent and brands. Brands aim to get visibility for their products while content creators are focused on creating authentic content that will monetize their accounts. This equilibrium can be hard to maintain as partnerships are often one-time and influencers who monetize their accounts too often can lose engagement. This is one of the main reasons why more and more brands are using ad spend to further the reach of their influencer partnerships. While the influencer’s followers are helpful when it comes to seeing the original (unboosted) post, boosting allows the brand to target specific demographics of profiles on the account, such as gender, age group, location, etc. These posts feature organic content from an influencer with the brand’s product, so no additional advertising or marketing content strategy is required. Boosting an influencer’s post is also helpful in regards to increasing brand loyalty. Users who see the post are more likely to buy from the company organically, and in return, start to associate it with themselves and even their day to day lifestyle. The action of boosting a post also mutually benefits the influencer and the company, as the wider audience gains knowledge of both parties. The terms “whitelisting” and “blacklisting” have evolved in meaning in terms of social media. When an influencer’s account is “whitelisted,” this means that a brand has established a partnership with a specific influencer/influencers and has access to their account. This benefits the brand because they are able to use an influencer’s engagement at their disposal, and this benefits the influencer because they create the content and the brand gets to post it at ideal times for their followers. Lumanu InfluencerDB suggests that “sponsored posts tend to generate higher engagement than non-sponsored posts, likely because influencers put more effort into creating high-quality content when they're being sponsored and because Instagram's algorithms give higher precedence to “higher quality” posts.” Blacklisting, when talking influencers, is when a company puts ads spend on the influencer post on their own account. This, for example, happens when a company wants the message to come from their own channels rather than the influencer ones. It can also happen when brands own the rights to all content (i.e. TikTok) and therefore have the ability to use influencer content to their liking. While the term blacklisting in this aspect is relatively new, this practice is often frowned upon. Another way to interpret this is when an influencer gets paid by a brand to boost its own branded posts without making it known that it's a paid partnership. This can happen when influencers and brands want to get more reach out of their posts and, although it goes against the IG community guidelines, it has become a common way for smaller influencers to achieve higher reach numbers while working with brands. As influencer marketing and social media work hand in hand, it is important to notice the effect that influencer involvement has on advertising, and engagement as a whole.

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.

The events of this week truly show the power of social media, and how it continues to adapt to the current climate of our world, from voter registration and virtual events to micro-influencers In an effort to keep the Halloween spirit alive, platforms such as Facebook Messenger are including fun stickers features for users to interact with. Social campaigns are helping businesses reach an all-time high, like David Dobrik’s Tesla giveaway with HeadCount to encourage voter registration before the upcoming Presidential election, which generated over 400,000 newly registered voters. Large live music venues will be put on hold for the foreseeable future, and popular musicians like Billie Eilish are joining the trend of live streaming concerts. Aside from being exciting and entertaining, these movements continue to show the importance and impact of engagement, and how celebrities and influencers continuously drive this so successfully. Celebrity & Entertainment Lily Collin’s Netflix series ‘Emily in Paris’ The fall season usually means new releases of movies and TV shows, but due to COVID-19 filming has mostly been put on hold this year. The good news is that series’ filmed prior to the world-wide shutdown are still being released. In a time where everything has gone digital, streaming platforms are constantly trying to find new ways to reach a wider audience. This can be seen first-hand in the recent release of Netflix series Emily in Paris, starring Lily Collins. The streaming giant has seen major success by tapping TikTok influencers to promote the show. Influencers such as Chriselle Lim, Janina, and Caroline Ricke participated in the campaign by creating a TikTok showcasing their best Emily in Paris work from home look using the sponsored hashtag #EmilyinParis. After just one week of the release date, the hashtag has accumulated 2 billion views. Billie Eilish’s Live Streams “Where Do We Go?” Billie Eilish is the newest musician to hop on this trend. Like other performers, her 2020 ‘Where Do We Go’ tour was postponed indefinitely, but on October 7th the singer announced a Livestream performance of the tour setlist on Instagram. This announcement directed fans to the Billie Eilish Livestream website where they have the ability to purchase tickets for the virtual show on October 24th, as well as purchase exclusive merchandise. Transitioning concerts to an online format is the new normal in 2020, and Eilish has definitely embraced this as she has been a part of multiple virtual concerts in the past few months. Not only is Eilish providing a safe outlet to connect with her fans, but is also allowing for a larger audience to engage with the performances, compared to traditional live touring. Brands & Industry Instagram’s 10th birthday Feature In honor of its 10th birthday on October 6th, Instagram implemented a wide range of new features. These include the ability to choose your Instagram icon, which coincides with the iOS 14 update allowing iPhone users to fully customize their home screen. Additionally, Instagram has implemented a Stories Map which is designed to map out your stories based on the location that they were taken, stemming from the location sticker already within the app. They’re also taking action to encourage brands and influencers to use Reels and IGTV more frequently by enhancing their eCommerce feature. A shopping bag icon appears at the bottom of the video-sharing pages, allowing brands and influencers to market their products and themselves in new and creative ways. Streamlining ways to buy products also allows for maximizing the platform’s revenue potential. Facebook Messenger New Halloween Features Halloween is quickly approaching, and with the holiday comes questions and concerns about how people can celebrate safely. Now more than ever, social media platforms have been increasing the duality of their features as users are spending more time on the apps. Facebook Messenger has stepped up this spooky season by adding new Halloween features including AR filters, stickers, and 360 backgrounds. From skeletons to monsters, Facebook is bringing the costume to you this year. Depending on how much user engagement it gets, we can also plan to see Thanksgiving, Winter Holidays (Hanukkah, Christmas, etc.), and New Years Eve themed features as well. Fleetwood Mac x Ocean Spray We know TikTok is one of the most engaging social media platforms available right now, and because of this many brands are starting to implement the app into their advertising campaigns. While many are planned, Ocean Spray is one of the lucky brands that had an organic product placement at the right place at the right time.TikTok influencer Nathan Apodaca posted a video of him drinking Ocean Spray cranberry juice while riding on a skateboard listening to Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’, which now has over 34 million views. This video led to the #FleetwoodMacChallenge going viral, with users posting their own version of Apodaca’s video. The hashtag now has 7.5 million views on TikTok. Other celebrities, such as Dr. Phil and even Mick Fleetwood joined in on the challenge. Combined, these two have accumulated over 18 million views on their videos. Ocean Spray was quick to jump on this trend and gifted Apodaca with a truck filled with their products. Campaigns Moleskine Foundation “Where is South” Campaign The Moleskine Foundation is presenting a virtual exhibit on their Instagram, @moleskinefoundation, for the month of October. The exhibit, titled “Where is South,” is the idea that “no matter where we are, there is always a South. Therefore, we hold the power to define its meaning: South begins with us,” according to Atwork Advisor Simon Njami. The foundation gave Moleskine notebooks to over 90 young artists from around the world, and the artists then use the notebooks as the center of their work. According to the Moleskine Foundation website, they hope to redefine “the word “South” for a new generation.” The exhibition is live on their page now, we highly recommend checking it out! Influencers David Dobrik Sets Record-Breaking Voter Registration Push As voter registration begins to close for the upcoming election in November, influencers and brands are going full force in promoting voter registration. Last week, the popular content creator David Dobrik teamed up with HeadCount, a nonprofit organization that encourages simple voter registration. Geared to the Gen Z demographic, HeadCount partners with major celebrities to increase political knowledge and young voter traffic. Dobrik teamed up with the organization to give away five Teslas, widely known as his favorite car. The post currently sits at over 3.5 million likes and has broken HeadCount’s voter registration record. According to Forbes, this campaign is likely the largest U.S. voter registration drive yet. As of now, HeadCount has reported 400,000 people have registered since the campaign with Dobrik. Motorola & Micro-Influencers Motorola is another one of many brands hopping on the TikTok train with their recent release of The Motorola Razr 2. Using a variety of micro-influencers on the app such as Drew Baker, the Mian twins, and Mikey Tua, Motorola challenged them to show off their fall fashion and how they incorporate the Razr 2 into their look using the hashtag #razrfit. With over 1.8 billion views, the campaign also involves a giveaway for TikTok users in which using the hashtag gives you a chance to win a new Razr. This is a big step for Motorola, as their previous release of the Razr last year did not live up to expectations. Tayler Holder creates “Triller Compound” Tayler Holder, a TikTok star with 15.7 million followers, has left the famous TikTok Hype House. He now joins other influencers, such as the D’Amelio sisters and Daisy Keech, in leaving one of the first TikTok content houses. However, Holder is taking a different approach in his leaving, deciding to create a house specifically for TikTok’s rival app, Triller. Holder announced on Instagram on Monday that he is creating the “Triller Compound.” This is the first content house we’ve seen that is focusing on Triller, and we’re excited to see more of what’s to come out of this content house.

The pandemic has transformed the way nearly every business operates and has shown the strength of the digital world. Social distancing measures and quarantine protocols have made it very difficult for teams to meet inside the office, putting a strain on initiatives that thrive or can only really exist with face-to-face communication. This communication and the ability to produce and execute opportunities on a completely virtual basis has become a necessity, and it’s an area Talent Resources has continued to thrive within. Campaigns are and have always been, an essential aspect of Talent Resources. They are a representation of the relationships that we have formed with our clients and display the results that come from hard work, persistence, and creativity. Whether our clients are gearing up for the launch of their new products, having influencers amplify their campaigns through social media content, participating in photoshoots or satellite media tours, we have continued to successfully establish and maintain these client programs throughout the pandemic by pivoting and adapting to the realities of the “new normal.” In the beginning stages of the pandemic, campaigns were forced to pivot from experiential activations and appearances to being entirely virtual. Experiential marketing activations have been postponed indefinitely and brands that had planned elaborate or extensive in-person programs have had to completely alter their marketing strategy. This sweeping change across the board also includes nearly all campaigns having to acknowledge the current climate, not just as it pertains to Covid-19, but with the recent surge in civil rights activism across the country. The most important thing to take into account when discussing ways in which brands can continue to successfully produce these partnerships and deals is their ability to adapt. You must be able to take what you have done successfully in the past and apply those practices in a new way when changes such as the ones that are occurring around us are simply out of anyone’s control. During the pandemic, we have successfully launched campaigns with Got Milk, Dunkin’, and CooperVision. 1. Got Milk Celebrities including Matt Bomer, Jaimie Camil, Alejandra Espinoza and Kyle Kuzma partnered with Got Milk for the #FoodForThought campaign to support children and families who have struggled to get food due to school closures during the pandemic. The campaign partnered with Feeding America to provide one million meals and servings of milk to feeding programs across California. This campaign was able to tie in digital and traditional efforts while continuing to adhere to Covid-19 guidelines during the shoot and visit to the LA Regional Food Bank. 2. Dunkin’ Dunkin’ partnered with celebrities Stephen “tWitch” Boss and Allison Holker as well as Tabitha Brown to shed light on some of their newest deals and initiatives. Allison Holker and tWitch joined together to remind fans of Free Coffee Mondays, as well as to announce the re-launch of Free Donut Fridays while Tabitha Brown helped Dunkin’ spread the word that Oat Milk will be available nationwide, with an in-feed post as well as an IGTV. These Dunkin’ aficionados displayed that it is possible, and effective to get creative with the digital content they produce. Talent Resources worked to bring on talent with high energy for the campaign, engaging a large audience through social media. 3. CooperVision Sarah Michelle Gellar partnered with CooperVision for her first campaign shoot since the pandemic began. The actress engaged with the brand to promote their new one a day contact lenses, the first contact lenses that slow Myopia (nearsightedness) in children. Talent Resources used their vast network to secure talent with an authentic relationship with the product, as Sarah, her husband, and son all suffer from Myopia. This program showed that celebrities are slowly starting to return to working on campaigns again and that it is possible to safely make things happen.

Social media has always been an ever-evolving industry, but over the course of this year, it has been pushed to make huge leaps in order to bring people together like never before. The combination of a global pandemic and social unrest has turned these sites into information highways. From informing Americans on how to register to vote in the upcoming presidential election to Tinder attempting to solve catfishing, social media continues to expand as a place for trending topics. Celebrity & Entertainment People’s Choice Awards announced, Jennifer Lopez, to be honored as ‘People’s Icon of 2020’ On Thursday, nominations for the E! People’s Choice Awards were finally revealed to the public. Justin Bieber and Megan Thee Stallion lead with six nominations each, however, the spotlight is on the multi-talented star Jennifer Lopez. J.Lo will be honored with the People’s Icon Award on November 15th, highlighting her long history of achievements in the entertainment industry. Jen Neal, General Manager of E! News, Live Events & Lifestyle Digital says, “Jennifer Lopez has an unmatched global appeal and for more than two decades, has given us some of the most iconic, unforgettable performances of all time. For paving the way for artists around the world and single-handedly increasing Latinx representation in music, film, television, and fashion, we're honoring Jennifer Lopez with The People's Icon of 2020.” After the announcement, there was an overwhelming outpour of support for Lopez, as fans came together on social media to congratulate her. Shawn Mendes teases new single coming out October 2nd and album Dec 4th via Instagram On Wednesday, September 30th Shawn Mendes announced via Instagram that his new single, titled ‘Wonder’, is being released on October 2nd. This will be followed by a full album release of the same name on December 4th. To increase excitement and engagement for the single, Mendes created a website with the URL “whatiswonder.com.” The website features an intimate 360 tour of an apartment, which fans believe contains easter eggs hinting to aspects of the new album. At 12am ET on October 2 the full song and video for Wonder premiered and were met with rave reviews by fans and musicians alike. Justin Bieber commented fire emojis on Mendes’ Instagram post and the music video quickly rose to #3 on the YouTube trending charts. Brands & Industry Neiman Marcus Sustainable Approach Online shopping has transformed into more of an experience in this digital age, which brands like the Neiman Marcus Group have begun to capitalize on. NMG announced they are switching their focus to the customer experience by building a seamless encounter online and in stores. In order to achieve this, NMG is strengthening the omnichannel customer journey, growing customer lifetime value, and focusing on full-price selling by streamlining the Last Call. NMG is also reinvesting in its supply chain by initiating the sale process of two Texas distribution centers. These tactics all come together to achieve NMG’s main goal of sustainable longevity. It will be interesting to track what brands, luxury or not, follow in the footsteps of NMG. Social Media & The Election As the Presidential election quickly approaches, social media platforms are increasingly promoting and integrating voting registration into their apps. Aligning with National Voter Registration Day, Instagram and Snapchat implemented voting tools for users to easily access in-app. Instagram has instituted pop-ups and ads that are linked to resources for more information on the voting process. The app also partnered with TurboVote to make registration as simple as possible, as well as adding stickers to Instagram stories that link back to verified resources, such as VotingInfoProject.org. Snapchat has also taken strides to increase voter registration traffic. According to TechCrunch, the app introduced voter-focused programming. The programming features celebrities such as Snoop Dogg, Barack Obama, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with launching new Snap Originals focusing on the election. Snapchat has reported that the app alone has helped 750,000 users register to vote. David Dobrik teamed up with Headcount for a Tesla giveaway. So far, the giveaway has resulted in nearly 100,00 new voter registrations. Influencers are also stepping up to the challenge of encouraging their followers to vote. The non-profit organization HeadCount was one of the first companies to bridge the gap between politics and entertainment. Teaming up with artists like Ariana Grande, John Mayer, and Billie Eilish, HeadCount has sought partnerships with social media influencers to prepare for the election in November. On Tuesday, Youtuber David Dobrik announced his partnership with HeadCount on Instagram by hosting a giveaway of five free Teslas. The contest requires users to share the post on Instagram stories, tag a friend in the comments, and check up on your voter registration via the HeadCount website. The post currently has over 3 million likes, and HeadCount reports 200,000 users have looked into their voter registration as well as 100,000 new voter registrations on their site. As it is just the beginning of October, we can only expect to see HeadCount expand on their partnerships allowing for a larger and younger generation to become aware of the importance of voting. Pinterest Ad Slots With the holiday season quickly approaching, social media platforms are developing and constructing new ideas to integrate businesses onto their sites. One particular app that is forgoing new ways to increase holiday promotions and sales is Pinterest. The new features include more ad slots to help increase product visibility. According to SocialMediaToday, advertisers will be able to place ads in Pinterest Lens matches, the 'Shop' tab within Pinterest search, and even shopping matches on Pins. Along with these features, Pinterest is also implementing more detailed insights on specific pin performance. This allows for verified merchants to see in-depth metrics on the performance of organic and promoted pins. These new updates will allow for businesses to expand their markets and maximize product exposure. Influencers Bryce Hall’s new podcast about finance ‘Capital University’ Head of the TikTok creator collective, Sway LA, Bryce Hall is branching out in order to grow his entrepreneurial side. To kick off this transition, Hall launched a podcast titled ‘Capital University,’ to educate himself and his fans on the importance of money management. Co-hosted by professional investor Anthony ‘Pomp’ Pompliano, the two will provide advice on investing, financial security, and share their stories of generating wealth and financial mismanagement. It’s not uncommon for influencers to transition to new platforms such as podcasts, however tackling the subject of finances has yet to be done by a lifestyle influencer. Starting off ‘Capital University’ with a bang, Hall and Pompliano will feature an interview with ‘Shark Tank’ entrepreneur and TV personality Mark Cuban. With Hall’s total follower count at 25 million and the success of Pomp’s own podcast, we believe Capital University is paving the way to something new in the podcast game. #TinderPartners with TikTok Influencers Since Tinder is the most popular dating app in the United States, with 7.86 million US users according to Statista, the popular dating app has set the tone for creating innovative ways to generate user engagement and growth. Though apps like Tinder have changed the game when it comes to dating, they also come with many privacy and safety stemming from meeting strangers in real life. The misuse of fraudulent profiles, or ‘catfishing’, is an issue that happens to users daily. To add more security to dating profiles, Tinder launched photo verification which allows people to take a selfie mimicking the photos of yourself on your account. Once submitted, accounts will be under review and soon return with proper verification, symbolized as a checkmark. To spread the word about this new feature, Tinder has partnered with a mass amount of influencers on TikTok including Zane Hijazi, Bretman Rock, and Lele Pons. The partnership features the influencer posting a video about the app and use the hashtag #TinderPartner. Some #TinderPartners TikToks include simple instructions on how to get verified. Other videos take a comedic approach - like @thehousenobodyaskedfor ‘s TikTok on how Anthony, the “robot” got verified on Tinder and it has made him more human. So far, this campaign has accumulated over 19.7 million views on TikTok.

Talent Resources is officially going global with our first satellite office in London! At our core, we partner with companies to find the right influencers for their brand. Our methods are based on facts and a comprehensive understanding of what makes up each brand’s DNA. By basing our strategy on analytics, we track engagement and reach through social media leading to the best results. While we have built our vast network of brands and influencers for over a decade in the United States, it is time to start expanding to a truly global operation. We have chosen London as the perfect gateway for Talent Resources to expand into the European market. We believe that close proximity, even in a socially distant world, is essential. Having a team on the ground in London helps us see first hand how our brands are being received by their respective audiences and give us the opportunity to connect and share our strategies to a larger network. This expansion also allows us to have a greater presence for our European clients. The ability to partner with global brands and influencers ultimately results in worldwide engagement from a wide variety of different audiences. This approach gives our clients the opportunity to cross over from being recognized locally or nationally to globally. Regardless of location, forming meaningful relationships, and having purposeful conversations with our clients is our top priority no matter where we expand. We will continue to utilize our network and relationships to give the utmost support to the influencer and digital marketing industries. Letter from our founder; “On the heels of a global pandemic, one thing became very clear to our team at TR. We not only needed to shift our offerings to address new needs, but we needed to expand. For years we have been servicing clients from all over the globe and now we are happy to say that we have a dedicated team based in London who are on the ground and ready to make things happen. Many people think of us as a NY-based team, but this expansion adds our 4th official office including Boston and Los Angeles. I’m here for an extended period of time and ready to connect with as many of you as possible. Please reach out and let us show you firsthand how Talent Resources can be your go-to source for celebrity, influencer programming, and digital marketing!” - Michael Heller

This week started with a bang, the 72nd Emmy Awards aired almost fully virtually on Sunday, September 20th. In this new age of digital events, The Emmys and host Jimmy Kimmel did a great job of keeping viewers engaged through the hybrid live and streamed show. On Monday, Ellen DeGeneres kicked-off the 18th season of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which drew mixed reviews following backlash regarding a variety of allegations from employees of the show. In the celebrity sphere, new influencer partnerships and collaborations are on the rise, and Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik welcomed their first baby together. Celebrity & Entertainment 2020 Emmy Awards: TV fans across the country tuned in on Sunday to see how the awards show would handle its first virtual event, and also cheer on their favorite shows and actors. Two major highlights from the Emmys: Schitt’s Creek swept the comedy category for the first time ever and Zendaya won the award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Rue in HBO’s Euphoria. There was large support on social media for each of these wins, with praise coming everywhere from fans to Rotten Tomatoes. Schitt’s Creek took home nine Emmys total, including three of the biggest categories; Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Zendaya’s win marked the youngest person, and the second black woman, to ever win the category. Her acceptance speech hit a nerve with many of her young fans, "I know that our TV show doesn’t always feel like a great example [...] but there is hope in the young people,” she said. Ellen DeGeneres: Ellen DeGeneres returned for the 18th season of her show on Monday, September 21st with an apology after multiple allegations of a toxic work environment were brought up earlier this summer. Viewers seemed to be unimpressed with the episode and did not hold back their comments on the YouTube clip. With over 70K dislikes and a multitude of negative comments focused on the insincerity of her apology, we’re interested to see how the rest of the season plays out. Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik: Gigi Hadid and Zayn Malik welcomed their baby girl over the weekend, Malik announced the birth on September 24th on Instagram and Hadid shared a similar post not long after. Hadid officially announced her pregnancy on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in late April and had been recently sharing some photos of her bump on social media ahead of her due date. After Zayn’s Instagram post, fans and fellow celebs instantly began congratulating the couple. As of writing, Zayn’s post has accumulated over 11 million likes. Brands and Industry iOS 14: This week Apple launched iOS 14 to users, allowing more home screen personalization and quicker navigation. This launch is seen as one of the biggest software updates in years, as it fully changes the layout that Apple users have become accustomed to. Brands and influencers alike quickly jumped on the trend of showing off the new layout of their phone, #iOS14 currently has 2.6 billion views on TikTok. Travis Scott x McDonald’s: In the realm of celebrity brand partnerships, McDonald’s has taken the spotlight this month with its new Travis Scott collaboration. Scott’s partnership announcement Instagram post on September 8th, which is a video featuring an action figure of Scott running through his order, currently has over 9 million views. The “Travis Scott Burger” has also sparked a new TikTok trend where people pull up to a McDonald’s drive-through, say “you know why I’m here,” then start blasting Scott’s song, “Sicko Mode” to order his meal. This partnership is big for the fast-food giant, as they haven’t put a celebrity’s name on the McDonald’s menu since Michael Jordan in 1992, according to the company. Influencers Charli D’Amelio x Morphe: Partnering with up-and-coming social media influencers has been on the rise as more established brands recognize the reach social platforms have, particularly in younger demographics. TikTok megastar Charli D’Amelio has been expanding her personal brand by partnering and collaborating with companies such as Sabra Hummus, Dunkin’ Donuts, Hollister, and Morphe. This past month, Charli D’Amelio got her signature Dunkin’ order added to their menu, appropriately named “The Charli.” This partnership triggered a daily 57% increase in Dunkin’ Donuts app downloads according to TubeFilter.com. The popular makeup company Morphe has also taken strides to incorporate influencers like D’Amelio, and her sister Dixie, into their promotional strategy. The duo has recently released their own line of beauty products through Morphe, called Morphe 2, with the second phase of the partnership launching this week. James Charles Merch Launch: In addition to these brand and influencer collaborations, James Charles took it upon himself to promote his new merchandise with a TikTok star-studded photo shoot. The YouTuber gathered some of the most popular stars to be included in the promotional photos for his new clothing pieces. The photos feature Charli D’Amelio, Noah Beck, Avani, Blake Gray, Larray, and more. Because Charles is friends with these stars in real life, the photos feel natural and organic in his feed. Charles’ Instagram post has accumulated over 2 million likes, which can be partly attributed to the use of his friends.

As the popularity and influence of social media continues to rapidly grow, it is becoming more common to see notable brands transform their marketing strategies. From restaurant chains to jewelry companies, brands are becoming more aware of the engagement that comes from social media platforms. Taking advantage of the promotional tools on platforms like Instagram and TikTok to advertise products can leverage fan bases, resulting in increased sales. Restaurant chains were quick to hop on this trend that has shown promising results. Chipotle was the first restaurant to partner with TikTok, in which their Vice President of Brand Marketing, Stephanie Purdue, reported that the company is up 99% in digital sales, representing 18% of sales in total. Chipotle debuted their presence on TikTok with a dance challenge, later partnering with YouTube star David Dobrik for a contest where users create a video explaining why they deserve to be sponsored by Chipotle. Users were instructed to use the hashtag #ChipotleSponsorMe on TikTok and the campaign immediately blew up. The hashtag accumulated over 2 billion views and raised the bar for companies' social marketing game. Engagement stories have become a positive aspect of the new socially distant lifestyle, an event that can remain between two people yet shared digitally with many. As most of these engagements have taken to social media, companies like The Clear Cut have started selling their rings via Instagram. The Clear Cut is now reporting that they are producing 80% of their business through Instagram, plus their TikTok is helping to further streamline sales. These platforms give users easy access to viewing a large variety of products, then direct access to buying the item easily over Instagram. Cutting out the middleman has allowed businesses like the Clear Cut, to thrive over the past few months, since getting engaged has been on someone’s mind, buying the ring for the special occasion has become so much simpler. Retail companies like Boohoo and Zaful have also taken advantage of selling their products through Instagram. These companies have set up their mobile websites to model their Instagram pages. By designing their websites this way, consumers can easily look at what they want on Instagram, click a link and see the same outfit, and buy the product. Other brands, like Fashion Nova, have taken a slightly different approach. While their website is compatible with mobile devices, they have taken advantage of many new influencers, including cast members from Netflix’s multiple new reality dating series. The Too Hot to Handle cast is almost all partnered with Fashion Nova. Since the cast posts very frequently, and they often wear and promote Fashion Nova, it can be expected that these partnerships are increasing revenue for the company. Social media's popularity over the past six months has soared, and some of the most popular brands and businesses are using this to their advantage. While businesses have always known how important social media can be for advertising, it is now also a tool to help expedite sales while optimizing a consumer-friendly experience.