A lot has been happening over the past month in the news and it’s certainly given us a lot to talk about amongst the team for DGT Loves. We always discuss what we’ve been loving (or hating!) or what has caught our eye, and we were hardly struggling for examples! If you’ve been watching the news or been on social media, you will have seen some recent events that have got us all talking, but most importantly for us, events that have given marketing teams across the world some great content to work with.
For this month’s DGT Loves, we’re showcasing our favourite examples of “newsjacking”, a term coined by David Meerman Scott. What is newsjacking you ask? Well, Scott defines it as “the process of adding your thoughts and opinions into breaking news stories. It’s piggybacking on trending news topics to get yourself noticed.”. If done correctly, it can be a great way of taking your brand viral, or at the very least, getting an uptick in engagement.
So, without further ado, here are our favourite of the month.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you will have heard the recent news that Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has bought Twitter for a cool $44bn. It’s been a huge talking point for sure, with Musk making his views on the platform very clear. The process took 21 days of proposals before Twitter finally accepted the small sum of money from the Tesla and Space X CEO, with the purchase to be fully completed by the end of the year.
Twitter currently has approximately 290.5m users, and the company employs over 7000 people, and let us tell you, everyone seems to have an opinion on this. Twitter users took to the platform in their thousands to air their concerns over Elon Musk’s buying out the social media giants. Musk views the platform as being an online “Town hall” for people to share their opinions and should be a place where “free speech” is practised. It’s this idea of free speech which has people worried – to what extent does he mean? But we digress.
It’s the amount for which Elon Musk has bought the company which has been keeping us entertained. Queue the memes – what could Elon have done with that amount of money? Well, let’s find out:
Elon Musk could’ve bought 65,217,391,304 pairs of £69 glasses. And got another 65,217,391,304 pairs free.
— Specsavers (@Specsavers) April 25, 2022
without us Twitter would only be worth 43 billion 💅
— Aldi Stores UK (@AldiUK) April 26, 2022
Why do we love this? These posts are funny, current, and also making light of a situation that could spell a huge change for Twitter as we know it (though it’s not clear whether that change will be good thing or not). Social listening is a hugely beneficial practice, as marketers, or social media teams specifically, we should be listening to what is being said on social platforms, not just about our own brands but about others too and if we can use it for content – bonus!
Have you been keeping up with the Johnny Depp Vs. Amber Heard defamation trial? If not, let us bring you up to speed.
Johnny Depp is suing his ex-wife Amber Heard for defamation of character following an oped she wrote for The Washington Post in 2018 claiming she was a victim of domestic abuse. Whilst in the article she didn’t name Mr Depp specifically, it insinuated that the abuse happened during their marriage and as a result Johnny Depp’s career suffered greatly when he was removed from the Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise and also the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, films.
Phew. Now we’re all up to date, let’s talk about what’s been happening during the trial. If you’ve been on TikTok at all over the last 4 weeks you would have seen a lot of videos surrounding the case, from Heard’s lawyer objecting to his own question to accusations of Depp pouring himself a “mega pint” of wine, a court case setting itself up nicely for a future Netflix documentary.
TikTok users in their millions have been gripped over the trial, but for us, as marketers, there is one video that stands out. After Heard claimed to use a Milani colour correcting palette to cover up her alleged bruises from Depp, the make-up brand was very quick to debunk the claims in a now-viral TikTok with 5.4m views and 1.1m likes. Whilst the alleged abuse took place from 2014-16, Milani didn’t actually release the palette in question until December 2017.
Watch the video that has been causing a storm here:
@milanicosmetics You asked us… let the record show that our Correcting Kit launched in 2017!👀 #milanicosmetics ♬ International Super Spy – dylan
Why do we love this? This is marketing at it’s finest. Milani saw an opportunity and took it. They were able to hop on a case that has gripped the world whilst also putting themselves in a favourable light with the millions of Depp supporters, propelling their brand into the spotlight and no doubt increasing their sales along the way. Not only this but a fan sourced out Depp’s lawyer in court before emailing the evidence over in a bid to help the trial! A wild week for Milani we’re sure and we would love to know the full impact of this short video. Never be afraid to hop on breaking news or trends if they are relevant to your business or brand, you never know what may come of it!
Social Media is not only a useful tool for spreading brand awareness, but it’s a great way to connect and engage with potential customers. And, whilst social media might seem simple, there is a knack to it and to be done correctly it needs time and attention.
If you need help with accelerating your social media platforms, get in touch with the Demand Generation Team today and together, we can create something amazing.
Posted by Xena Graham on Monday 9th May 2022
