Avoid Typographic Disaster – A Guide to Use Typography And Organize Presentations

 

As we all probably know now, the 2017 Academy Awards had the biggest screw-up in its 88-year history. When Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced the nominee for the wrong category of award, they were just as confused as we were. They were given the Best Actress envelope when they were supposed to announce for the Best Picture. What is the cause of this disaster? ­

Typography.

On the nominating card, very small fonts are used on the award name and large bolded fonts are used on the nominee’s name. Warren could not read the it and a typographic disaster is created.

Typography is a study in process of making typefaces. Typeface is often called “font,” but this is a common misconception. A typeface is a series of fonts that make a font family. Font is just one character style that belongs to a typeface. Within the typeface, there are fonts with various weights and styles. Understanding what typeface, you are using and how to use them can enhance the attractiveness of your presentation.

I will guide you through what I have found about using typefaces in a presentation.

 

  1. Legibility

Legibility means being clear enough to read. It is an important aspect in using typography. This is most likely the first thing that you learned when you just start to write in elementary school. All alphabets have its specific written style. If we use a typeface that has too much decorative parts in a presentation (like a script typeface), it might create reading problems for your audience. Avoiding script and decorative typefaces can make your presentation look clean and easy to read for your audience.

 

  1. Using matching typefaces

Typefaces are designed to be used in various places, like paper documents, websites and presentations, but different typefaces can also work together to make your message clear in a presentation. A serif typeface like Times New Roman is normally good for smaller text but it would not work well for a title or heading because its long serif can be distractive. San serif typefaces like Helvetica are great for large texts but would look boring for smaller text. Sometimes you can mix and match serif and san serif typeface in one slide of a presentation.

 

  1. Focusing on function rather than form

When it comes to what typeface to choose, we often try to choose more complicated typefaces with unique forms. It might be interesting for a slide but most of time it only makes your audience more confused. A better way to find what typeface to use is to understand your content. For example, if you are doing a slide related to history, serif typeface can fit to the theme very well.  Try not to use typefaces that have complicated visual effects. If you really want visual effect, take a consideration of the legibility of that typeface.

 

  1. Over emphasizing

Sometimes we tend to emphasize too much on one point of a slideshow. Instead of a short phrase, people tend to write a crowded paragraph, which reduces readability of a slide. It causes people to squint their eyes and lose focus on the speaker. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t emphasize anything. Sometimes certain content requires different level of emphasis.

 

  1. Creating hierarchy

Spending time on prioritize what is important content can help you categorize your points. Then lay out what is most important from secondary important. This also helps us to figure out how many words you will have on your slide. The goal is to eliminate unnecessary words and make the presentation cleaner.

At the end of the day, your presentation has to be simple and clear. The purpose of having a demonstrative piece is to help others to understand and organize knowledge. If a slideshow confuses people, it will defeat the purpose of having a slide show altogether. 2017 Academy Awards could be a lot more successful if the card designer of the event care about typography and organization in any form of visual communication.

How to Perfect Your Instagram Brand

How to Perfect Your Instagram Brand

Instagram is an incredibly important part of maintaining a successful and modern business. I mean, look at Starbucks and their 14 million Instagram followers– that’s the same amount as Channing Tatum! Starbucks doesn’t post selfies of their six-pack so they must be doing something else right. So what exactly is it that makes a successful Instagram page and attracts followers who are genuinely interested in the products or services you are selling?

Color

First and foremost, there are 600 million monthly active Instagram users so it is important to make yours stand out on the very first click. One way to do this is by choosing a curated color palette. Take Youtuber Rachel Aust’s Instagram, for example. She sticks to four primary colors: white, black, green and light pink. This has become her brand and it is quite successful. I automatically know that it is one of her posts the second it pops up in my feed. Businesses can use this tactic by making their logo colors the primary colors in their posts.

Another way to curate your Instagram’s color palette is by sticking to a consistent filter. I personally use an app called VSCO and stick to one or two filters. Another way to do this is to use Photoshop to edit out colors that do not work with your theme. This may seem like a lot of work but having a well-thought-out Instagram will attract customers and make your business more money—which, when put in those terms, is worth a few minutes on Photoshop.

Don’t forget to keep up with the latest trends in your field for color but also try to stand out and be unique. People will remember a unique color scheme and come back looking for more.

Quality over Quantity

Alright, now that your aesthetics are on point, quality photos are a must. Even though the iPhone 7 can take better photos than some point-and-shoots, most professional businesses will use only high quality DSLR photos for their Instagram. This can include shots of models wearing a company’s clothing line, photos of the city the business is located in, inspirational quotes on top of beautiful backgrounds and more. World Market does a great job curating their Instagram because they pair high-quality photos with a consistent color scheme.

If you are lacking content for your Instagram feed, simply go outside and take photos of the city for an hour and use this shoot throughout your feed to promote variety and also personalize your business. For example, if you are trying to sell sandals, good content would include photos of the beach–the perfect place to wear your sandals.

Give Your Brand A Voice

Yes, it is great to sound professional and get right to the point, but people relate to real-life stories and humor. Caption the photos with a voice that is unique to your brand. Don’t be afraid to be hilarious or respond to comments. But, be wary of controversial issues if you do not want to lose customers or followers. A dramatic example of personalized brand voice comes from Denny’s, who makes it a point to post hilarious photos with equally compelling captions.

Plan It Out

A strong Instagram brand has variety so say hello to color-coded spreadsheets! Create your brand using an Instagram content calendar. This is a great way to make sure that you are not forgetting to make content for key social media holidays. Um, hello! Are you even a reliable Instagram business if you forget about National Donut Day? Although content calendars are great to hit key points, there are apps for more visual thinkers. For example, SneakPeek is an app that allows one to plan their Instagram feed in advance and see what works and what needs to be updated.

The Wrap Up

Of course, the most important part of an Instagram brand is staying authentic to the business and what is being sold. You are selling to humans who are not only attracted to what’s beautiful, but also to what’s real. We hope you found this helpful! Comment and let us know if you have any other tips and tricks up your sleeve for curating the perfect Instagram feed.

 

5 Tips On How To Snap The Best Pic

In photography composition is key. Placing your subject, using certain colors, and picking the right background helps your picture look the most professional it can be. The subject of your photo is the most important part to make clear and draw the audience’s attention to. Because the subject is the reason you are taking the picture, it should clearly be in focus. Here are some tips on how to lead your audience’s eye to the subject and make your picture stand out among the rest.

Tip # 1
Leading Lines: Use lines to lead to your subject, a specific part of the frame, or a vanishing point in the background of the frame. People’s eyes naturally like to follow lines.

Tip # 2
Rule of thirds: Divide your frame into two horizontal lines and two vertical lines equally. The important elements in your picture should be placed along one of those lines instead of in the center of the picture. An off-center picture is more pleasing to the eye.

Tip # 3
Complementary colors: Every color has an opposite on the color wheel that compliments it the best and has the strongest contrast when put next to each other. Use colors that compliment each other and make the other color stand out. For example, red is the complementary color and opposite of green.

Tip # 4
Framing: When placing your subject in a photo, proper framing can really make your subject stand out. Using structures, windows, door frames, light etc. to crop around your subject work well to guide the viewer’s eye toward the subject.

Tip # 5
Rule of Odds: Always use an odd number of subjects when working with more than one subject. This gives the picture more harmony and balance visually.

Your composition can make or break your photo,so next time you are about to snap a picture keep these compositional tips in mind. Play around with these tips and watch your photography skills grow! Happy snapping!

 

Each Chainsmokers Song Sounds ‘Closer’ To The Last

Why do we love to hate The Chainsmokers, or hate to love them? It’s a constant battle between the two, but we still can’t stop listening.

The Chainsmokers are an American DJ duo consisting of Drew Taggart and Alex Pall. They formed in 2012, but Pall wasn’t in the group yet. At that time, it was Taggart and another producer named Rhett Bixler.  

The Chainsmokers may not know this, but they are successful public relations professionals. PR often entails social media and press releases; however, this DJ duo uses their music equation as their own personal form of PR.

A commonly heard complaint about these artists is that all of their songs sound the same.

Here’s the catch–they do that on purpose. Let’s dive deeper.

The Chainsmokers’ first ever live performance and popularity breakthrough was with their ever-so-trendy (and ever-so-hated-on) single, #Selfie, released in 2013. #Selfie reached top hit charts internationally. The beat is catchy and words are fun to mock, think: Friday.

From this point forward, The Chainsmokers’ hits have gotten increasingly popular. The most crowd-pleasing include: Closer, Don’t Let Me Down, Something Just Like This and Paris.

Although the most popularly used beats per minute for top hits is 120 BPM, all of these tracks are within a slower range of 80-100 BPM. The Chainsmokers chose a beat that matches our resting heart rates, making the songs easy to listen to.

We sing along with the vocals effortlessly. This is because they commonly consist of a small variation of notes that are within our mid-range, or natural speaking pitch.

The lyrics are simple and to-the-point with minimal need for imagination. We don’t need to wonder what he means when he says, “Baby pull me closer in the back seat of your Rover.” The picture is crystal clear. Our brains fully grasp what is going on in the song; we learn the lyrics quickly.

Lastly, The Chainsmokers follow something called a simple verse-chorus form. The verses and choruses use the same tempo and notes. This makes the songs satisfying and pleasing to the ear. By the time the drop comes, you’ve already heard those notes- in that order. But this time, it’s just done with a synthesizer instead of vocals. Our brains love patterns, and we can hear them time and time again in The Chainsmokers’ music.

By combining a soothing beat, simple melodies that are easy to sing and a satisfying song form, The Chainsmokers have roped us in without us even realizing.

As musicians or PR professionals, it is important to take note of the tactics The Chainsmokers use to ensure their optimum success. By using their crafted equation, they are able to keep listeners tuned in.

Are The Chainsmokers musical sellouts or simply clever public relations practitioners? That’s up to you to decide.

Do Creative Hashtags Earn More Engagement?


Imagine having the task of choosing your organization’s main hashtag to be used on all promotional materials. Sounds pretty easy, right?

An article by Sports Blog Nation ranked all of the NFL team’s new Twitter hashtags that are all-purpose, representations of each team. Twitter has deemed these the official team hashtags by adding an emoji of the appropriate team’s logo whenever their tag is used. Although the article ranks each in creativity, by using Social Mention, a media monitoring platform, we’ll really see if innovation in hashtag creation effects engagement and reach.

#RiseUp – Ranked one of the highest in SBNation’s article, the Atlanta Falcons hashtag has been the team’s slogan since 2010. It receives an immensely positive sentiment of 11:0, however only has a reach of 10 percent and strength of 7 percent. The team’s official Twitter account doesn’t consistently use the hashtag and focuses more on short term campaign hashtags. Since this is the team’s long-lasting slogan, it isn’t the most popular among social media, but is regularly used by loyal fans.

#FlyEaglesFly – Although there are outside influences that can cause these hashtags to fluctuate in popularity, the Philadelphia Eagles hashtag currently has a strength of 100 percent, meaning the team is definitely being talked about across social media. It’s sentiment is 16:1, greatly more positive than negative, and has a reach of 65 percent. It has a passion of 35 percent, meaning more people are likely to talk about it more than once. This hashtag is both creative yet identifiable as to which team is belongs to, which can make all the difference. Fans and non fans alike are likely to use the tag, giving it a much higher ranking when it comes to exposure.

#Chargers – These basic hashtags are categorized under mundane yet identifiable – boring, but straight to the point. Almost every NFL team has a hashtag like this, however, it stands as some teams’ official tag on Twitter. It’s easy-to-use when spreading news about teams instead of using their witty, fun and sometimes long slogan hashtags. The Los Angeles Chargers hashtag receives 100 percent strength, a 2:1 sentiment, 40 percent reach and 79 percent passion. This basically means that most uses of the tag are neutral and are somewhat equal when swaying positive or negative. The team’s recent relocation is definitely getting it some attention with its strong passion and strength, however even similar hashtags receive the same awareness. #Chiefs (Kansas City Chiefs) also has 100 percent strength and 124 percent reach, also likely due to the tags simple nature.

So, to answer the age-old question: Does Twitter hashtag-naming creativity effect engagement? Through this investigation, it doesn’t seem like it – the simpler, the better. Something that’s recognizable and short receives far more engagement than the slogan-like tags that seem to only be used by fans of those teams. Even if the hashtags sentiment sways closer to neutral, simpler tags greatly receive more exposure.

Social Media Audit: NBA Players


Following professional athletes on social media can be quite the experience. It provides the opportunity for fans to get a closer look at their favorite players’ personalities, day-to-day lives and even political views. There are many players in the NBA that use Twitter to connect with fans and Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard and Chandler Parsons are ones who stand out on the site.

The NBA recently released a memo cautioning official team accounts from “mocking and/or ridiculing” other players and teams in order to prevent social media feuds. This statement was released after Parsons and C.J. McCollum got into an argument on Twitter.

Will this stifle players from being active on the site or will they continue to entertain fans both on and off the court? We’ll have to wait and see, but I, for one, hope the Twitter antics never stop.

Joel Embiid (@JoelEmbiid): Philadelphia 76ers

Followers: +612K

Ask any NBA fan who they enjoy following the most on Twitter and Embiid is sure to be their top choice. The 76ers center uses his account to push the team motto to #TrustTheProcess and shows that he’s like any other sports fan when he sends out tweets during NFL and other NBA games. Give his account a look and I’m sure you’ll become a fan of “The Process” yourself.

 

Joel Embiid on Twitter

Wow I’m sorry but this is rigged…. Atlanta didn’t burn the clock down, didn’t run the ball at all. #Rigged

 

Joel Embiid on Twitter

We’ve had a fun ride ha.. This is the last day to vote so RETWEET this for the culture Joel Embiid #NBAVote

 

Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard): Portland Trail Blazers

Followers: +1.21M

Lillard has the largest following of the three with over one million people tuned into his tweets daily. This is because he’s hilarious and isn’t afraid to respond to the trolls who constantly message him. His ability to joke around makes him more personable and scrolling through his tweets is sure to provide some laughs.

 

Damian Lillard on Twitter

Did you know I’m talking about a documentary on him? https://t.co/Yo0RdlWIKc

 

Damian Lillard on Twitter

What do you stick to? https://t.co/vks4v4560A

 

Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons): Memphis Grizzlies

Followers: +297K

 

This list wouldn’t be complete without Parsons–the catalyst to the NBA’s cautionary statement. It all started when the Trail Blazers joked and tweeted out a gif of Parsons missing a 3-pointer during a game. Parsons didn’t let that one go and replied telling them “Good luck in the lottery show this year,” implying that the team’s losing record would have them trying for a high draft pick rather than a playoff spot. Both parties seemed intent on keeping the light banter but the NBA’s response shows that they’re worried about these conversations getting out of hand.

 

Parsons uses his account to answer fan questions and laugh at jokes about himself and I’m sure he’ll continue to do so.

 

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Written by Gabriella Miller

Social Media Audit: Chicago Cubs

It’s possible to have no interest in the sport of baseball and still know a little bit about the Chicago Cubs. The professional team swinging out of the Windy City continuously made headlines this season for their play on the field, but their presence on social media channels keeps their brand going strong long after the final pitch.

For a team that hasn’t won a World Series title since 1908, their fan base is incredibly visible and a big reason for that is their social media presence.

From Twitter and Instagram, to Snapchat and Facebook their impact reaches millions through their carefully crafted content. Their graphically designed game recaps, GIF reactions and perfectly timed in-game responses, allow the Cubs to stay relevant and humorous in the fast-paced world of sports social media.

Breaking It Down

Twitter: @Cubs

1.1M followers

What they do: On game days, the Cubs’ Twitter account is the best place to hit for their widest range of coverage. The two guys (Kevin and Travis) in charge of posting stay true to the Cubs long-standing brand while keeping up-to-date with the ever changing media.

In Sarah Spain’s “That’s What She Said” podcast, they talk about their strategy and goals to stay consistent and true to their voice.

The account interacts with fans, responding to tweets with witty comebacks and GIF replies relevant to the moment.

Chicago Cubs on Twitter

@TSabonis The first rule of Fight Club… https://t.co/4o9ZeL0tK3

Chicago Cubs on Twitter

@javy23baez all about that hustle. 3-0 #Cubs! #LetsGo https://t.co/hTpoj46PEt

Chicago Cubs on Twitter

@ManuclearBomb We love it when people offer us their opinions about things we don’t control. https://t.co/8AJZ8G9upk

Why it works: Twitter can be a hard place to navigate. With fans directing every emotion felt during the games at people whose job it is to respond on behalf of the team, humor is a great way to combat the more ridiculous responses sent their way.

Instagram: @Cubs

853K (and counting)

What they do: With visual content being crucial to brand building, the Cubs Instagram account is the perfect outlet to drive them home. Having an aesthetic look and theme is the goal for many companies, and the Cubs manage it by posting only the best moments. Oct. 15 brought game one of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers and their social media team was ready.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLmtHPgj4li/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLm_tJvjSYF/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLnFRQyDFe1/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLnEp-CDV8F/

 

Why it works: By highlighting Javier Baez’s steal at home and Miguel Montero’s grand slam that ensured the Cubs would #FlyTheW, they showcased everything fans want to see. Even if you didn’t watch the game, scrolling through their content would give you the best highlights of what you missed.

Snapchat: Cubs

What they do: Snapchat’s 10 second limit allows for quick updates during games, but also provides a behind-the-scenes look when there’s no baseball being played. Follow them for virtual tours of Wrigley Field and to experience a game-day atmosphere right in the palm of your hand.

Why it works: Many fans will never get the chance to see the team play in person. While Snapchat doesn’t offer two-way communication between the user and viewer in the same way Twitter does, if offers a more personal feel. Through each Snap, the excitement of the games can be felt even thousands of miles away.

The Cubs social media will have to continue producing great content through the end of October as the team made their way to the World Series for the first time since 1945. The first two postseason series provided plenty of drama, suspense and elation to practice with, and if it ends up being the Cubs’ year, everyone will be ready.

Written by Gabriella Miller, Account Executive

The “Benefit” of Social Media

It seems like everyone has some sort of social media channel today, whether it be a person, a company, a brand, or even a dog (seriously!).

Social media has allowed companies to interact with their customers in a different way. This has brought around some wins and, of course, some fails.

Overall social media has been beneficial to many industries and some have simply flourished with the growth of each channel. Perhaps one of the most successful in implementing social media into their identity is the beauty industry.

The beauty industry is a visual one. So many companies have really taken the visual aspect and worked it together beautifully with the personality of their companies. One has really set itself apart in the eyes of the beauty world and its followers: Benefit Cosmetics.

Benefit has been around since 1976, the company was started by Jean and Jane Ford and has thrived ever since. Benefit is known for their colorful and often times sassy packaging and products.

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How are they killing the game?

Benefit has effectively blended the sassy personality of their brand, the colorful charisma of their products and the behind the scenes looks at their company. Not only is their personal content on their channels amazing, but the relationships that they build with their fans and followers is something that all brands should strive for.

Benefit makes it a habit to interact with their followers. It is rare to send a tweet or tag a picture on Instagram that doesn’t garner some sort of response from this huge global brand. Benefit also makes a practice of displaying and promoting great work that their followers have created with their products. Whether it is a great wing using their innovative liner, or a set of eyebrows that is totally on “fleek” after a visit to the Brow Bar, they will let you know and sometimes even share your photo on their channels.

Twitter

Benefit “slays” the Twitterscape by bringing their bold personality into each tweet! Check out of a few of their most recent. Benefit isn’t afraid to color outside the lines when it comes to their brand and voice!

 

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Instagram:

Not only are they winning at Twitter on daily basis, Benefit’s most visual channel, Instagram, is a beautiful representation of the words aesthetically pleasing. The photos are bright, high resolution, simple and beautiful. The entirety of Benefit’s Instagram embodies the colorful charisma of their brand. Benefit embraces the different side of the beauty world, whether it is guys wearing makeup or cutting-edge products, they are not afraid to be different and encourage their followers to do the same.

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YouTube:

One of the biggest social media channels in the beauty world is YouTube. YouTube has quickly become a haven for professionals and enthusiasts in the beauty realm. There are billions of beauty related YouTube videos, and the amazing thing is most of them are not created by brands. Beauty “gurus” have quickly taken over YouTube as a channel. Benefit has done a great job of not only competing with brands that are trying to make their mark on YouTube, but they have worked to integrate these gurus (who have millions of followers) into their own channel and hold their own in the world of YouTube.

Check out Benefit’s new campaign featuring beauty gurus Dulce Candy (2,116, 131 followers) , Nyc Dragun (112, 717 followers), Nicol Concilio (193, 152 followers) , and Tess Holliday a well know plus-size model.

Introducing the Bold is Beautiful Project

Give back with the power of a brow! During the month of May, every dollar from EVERY brow wax at a Benefit boutique, Macys Benefit BrowBar or Belk Benefit Br…

Snapchat

Finally, Benefit has made the leap that many companies are making to Snapchat (BenefitBeauty), which provides an even deeper look inside the world of Benefit. Behind-the-scenes looks, chatting with beauty gurus, contests and daily office life. Their story is a must follow for all the beauty lovers and social media enthusiasts.

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While Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat seem to be the fan favorites. Benefit has completely covered their bases in the social media game and have amazing accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook and Pinterest!

Benefit is a great display of what a dynamic social media strategy looks like for not only a beauty company but all companies and industries. They have created a strong brand and compelling voice that has been successfully applied and appropriate for each for channel they utilize.

Written by Cheyenne Cameron-Pruitt, Digital Media Director

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Free Social Media Tools

Managing and maintaining consistent messaging across all of your social channels can be overwhelming. Finding shortcuts to successfully execute campaigns will not only save you time, but boost your following and engagement in ways you never thought possible. Below are five of my favorite free tools that I use to get the job done:

IFTTT logo

  1. IFTTT (Various)
    IFTTT, an acronym for If This, Then That, connects two services together so that an action from one service triggers an action at another. These connections are called “recipes” and their possibilities range far beyond social media but here are my top three:

IFTTT snapshot

crowdfire logo

  1. Crowdfire (Twitter and Instagram)
    Crowdfire makes finding and connecting with your target audience simple so you can focus on doing what you do. Here are some feature highlights:

    • Track audience growth by seeing recent followers and un-followers.
    • The Copy Followers capability lets you find who might be interested in your content through a competitor’s followers.

Crowdfire snapshot

iconosquare logo

  1. Iconosquare (Instagram)
    Iconosquare is a thorough Instagram analytics suite that helps you manage your Instagram activity, analyze your performance and engage your community. Here are some feature highlights:

    • Share snapshots of your activity with followers such as: #actionsquare and #monthiconsquare.
    • Suggestions of the best times to post and which filters to use.
    • Receive emails that summarize your main metrics.

Iconosquare snapshots

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  1. Hootsuite (Various)
    Hootsuite has become an essential tool for managing social media, tracking conversations and measuring campaign results via the web or mobile devices. It helps to collaboratively execute campaigns across multiple social networks like Facebook and Twitter from one web-based dashboard.

Hootsuite Snapshot

Grama Logo

  1. Grama (Instagram)
    Grama is a free iOS-only app that helps you find hashtags to use on your Instagram posts through a keyword search. I love this app because you can type in one hashtag that summarizes your photo and it will provide a wall of related hashtags that you can then click, copy and paste directly into Instagram.

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Whatever your social media needs are, these tools will help you successfully boost engagement across platforms.

Written by Baret Yahn, Account Executive

PR Wins of 2015

A common misconception about public relations is that it is only important when a company is in crisis. To the contrary, PR is a versatile tool that organizations can employ whenever they see fit. In no particular order we will take a look at a few notable PR wins of 2015.

  1. LACMA brings culture to Snapchat

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These photos are what happened when the Los Angeles County Museum of Art joined Snapchat. Often organizations can struggle with new social media, but LACMA seemed to be a natural from the beginning. Who knew that artist so long ago were in tune with today’s popular culture? LACMA killed it on Snapchat and should be an example for how to use social media as a tool to garner interest of a younger generation. Even BuzzFeed took notice!

2. ALS #IceBucketChallenge

USA Basketball Does ALS Ice Bucket Challenge!

For charity, USA Basketball took part in the ALS Bucket Challenge while also extending the challenge to President Obama, Oprah, and Commisioner Adam Silver!

The ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) Association started the Ice Bucket Challenge in the summer of 2015 and it quickly became one of the world’s largest social media efforts. More than 17 million people uploaded videos of them accepting the challenge on Facebook. The campaign was a call to action that created awareness and an influx of donations that supported research on the disease.

3. Volkswagen’s recovery

The Volkswagen logo is visible under coloured lights on the front of…

The Volkswagen logo is visible under coloured lights on the front of a Volkswagen Passat 2.0 turbodiesel passenger car affected by the Volkswagen diesel emissions software scandal on October 6, 2015… Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

In September of 2015, the German automakers were notified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in regards to their violations of the Clean Air Act. The plot thickened when the EPA cited Volkswagen for using software that could essentially cheat on an emissions test. Volkswagen was facing fines and their stocks took a large hit, dropping 19 percent almost immediately, and led its CEO to resign. While the fines and stock dip hurt Volkswagen, the damage its reputation took was devastating. Volkswagen won this situation for how they handled the crisis. The company answered to the media as soon as two days after the news broke. It also took in the reaction of customers that were impacted and created a plan to regain their trust. Volkswagen released a video with its then CEO promising to resolve the problem and even gave customers a “goodwill” refund of $1,000. Volkswagen presented a textbook example of how to handle a crisis and has been recovering well since the incident.

4. White Walkers in London

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Courtesy: The Daily Mirror

Imagine seeing one of these while you are out running errands! Thankfully, it was just a rather large man dressed as one of the menacing characters from the popular television series “Game of Thrones”. Several White Walkers were spotted wandering around London in June of 2015 to mark the digital release of the series.

5. NHS Blood and Transplant “Missing Type” campaign

Leading up to National Blood Week, NHS Blood and Transplant enlisted the help of several high profile British brands. NHS asked the respective companies to leave the letters A, B and O (representing blood types) out of their logos to demonstrate how important it is for people to donate blood. Many shops and venues dropped the letters for the campaign. This was a very clever campaign that even got the prime minister to remove letters from signage on the official residence. Most importantly, it started a conversation.

6. Burger King pays for the Wedding of Mr. Burger and Miss King

– YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Miss King and Mr. Burger “had it their way” when the fast food giant decided to sponsor the wedding of the Illinois couple in 2015. The couple decided to have some fun with the coincidence after their engagement and took a picture by a Burger King sign. The story went viral after they were interviewed by a reporter from a local newspaper. Burger King caught wind of the story and decided to give Joel Burger and Ashley King a pretty awesome wedding gift.

7. Chipotle’s raincheck

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Courtesy: Chipotle (retrieved via fox2now.com 2/23/16)

This campaign carried over from 2015 and saw its resolution in the early part of 2016. Chipotle had an E. coli outbreak that lead to a lot of customers shying away from the Mexican grill for some time. The company even decided to close all of its restaurants for a day to discuss what the next move should be… You may be wondering why this is considered a success. Chipotle #blessed us all with a “raincheck” when it reopened. By simply texting the number seen in the above picture, (don’t try it now, you already missed out), customers were given a free burrito. Chipotle won back the trust and patronage of its customers by taking responsibility for what happened and ensuring that the problem was resolved. The giveaway thanked those who stayed loyal and welcomed back those who had strayed away. Oh yeah, and the burritos got a LITTLE bigger.

Here’s to seeing what the PR world will generate in 2016!

Written by Darrell Chambers, Account Executive