Once upon a time (actually, three years ago) we here at Brandsplat thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we gathered up a weekly sampling of five of the ‘net’s best online video creation, social media marketing news and digital engagement headlines and put them in one easy-to-read column?” And thus the Five Things You Might Have Missed was born! So stay a while and enjoy this week’s offerings, why don’t you?
1.) Fun Ways to Market: Topping our list this week is the viral smash hit ‘Dumb Ways to Die.’ Created for Melbourne’s Metro transportation board to warn riders of train safety, the video checks all of the boxes. Catchy song? Check! Cute animation? Check! Kind of gory and macabre? Check! The video, since its release at the beginning of the month, has become a global sensation, with more than 32 million views on YouTube. The cute jellybean creatures who die in the most ridiculous ways are proof that awesome public service announcements can aspire to go viral.
2.) Human Pinterest: For inspiring ways to use Pinterest, this article from GOOD is a must-read. The piece outlines how Sony’s “Love to Give” campaign is using everybody’s favorite wedding tablescape and deep-fried cupcake website Pinterest to make a difference. “Pin it to Give it” asked Pinterest users to re-pin posts from Sony’s special board. For each re-pin, Sony gave a dollar to charitable organizations. GOOD also includes some genius fundraising ideas using Pinterest marketing.
3.) Turning Junk Into Genius: Talk about recycling. In case you missed it last week, David Meerman Scott hunted down the perfect example of brilliant blog marketing when he profiled the online marketing efforts of 1-800-Got-Junk. Not Another Junky Blog is a hilarious, smartly-written and informative blog about, well, junk. Incorporating the day’s headlines with organization ideas and the company’s services, Not Another Junky Blog elevates its topic and even makes it fun to read about.
4.) Manage the Manager: From the #ImGladI’mNotThatDude files, we humbly present ‘How Not to Tweet’ courtesy of Justin Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun. Braun made headlines for all of the wrong reasons last week when he had a meltdown on Twitter. Braun was far from happy that his client Bieber came up empty handed in the Grammy nomination department. Rambling about how “the kid deserved it” and “Grammy board u blew it on this one,” Braun proved two things we already knew: a.) Don’t hire a manager named Scooter, and b.) For the love of all that is holy, keep them off of Twitter!
5.) Bye George: George Takei, as we all know, can pretty much do no wrong when it comes to social media. He’s loved by millions on Twitter and followed by millions more on Facebook and has used social media to turn himself into a bigger icon than he already was. Yet not everybody loved his “Cheermageddon” commercial for Old Navy. The spot features Takei warbling “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Deal,” a parody of Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing.” Old Navy employees populated the video’s comments section calling it “torture” and saying about hearing the song in the workplace, “When you work at Old Navy, you want to hang yourself.” Old Navy workers were saved as the ad was pulled at the beginning of December. But don’t cry for George just yet. Despite the creaky vocals and cheesy lyrics, nearly 4 million folks have watched it on YouTube.
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