Sports Aren’t A Beauty Pageant

Dove, a brand known for their positive portrayal of women, is calling out media outlets for criticizing female athlete’s looks—just in time for the 2016 summer Olympics. The “My Beauty, My Say” campaign hopes to change the media’s focus from appearance to performance arguing, “When they [the media] only see an athlete’s looks, they don’t see her at all.” Dove shares real-time quotes on social media, sportscasts, and magazines by popular media entities like TMZ and Bleacher Report, and offers viewers a chance to respond to these quotes. They range from discussing a female athlete’s “frizzy hair” to saying a female athlete is “built like a fire hydrant.”

 

Some may believe critiquing athlete’s looks or attire is just part of being in the public eye, but where do we draw the line? Since April 1, 2016 there have been 86.5 million comments about female athlete’s appearance according to http://www.dovehaveyoursay.com. Instead of focusing on their athletic performance, here’s the breakdown of what’s being discussed:

• Clothes: 11%
• Body: 26%
• Age: 6%
• Beauty: 50%
• Hair: 7%

When 50% of the discussion surrounding female athletes is solely focused on their appearance, it’s time for a change. A woman’s level of attractiveness or appearance has no bearing on her abilities as an athlete. By focusing on her beauty or body, the media takes away from her hard work and abilities as a professional athlete. Dove put the ball in our court (pun intended), bringing attention to the current offensive approach to women’s athletic coverage, to drive change. It’s time to take the shot: http://www.dovehaveyoursay.com

Forget Waverly Place, She’s the Wizard of Social Media

Selena Gomez is 24 years old and a single post from this former Disney star is worth more than most people make in a year, two years, three years… A single promoted post from her is worth $550,000, which tops the list of all celebrities – including the Kardashian/Jenner clan. This value is based off D’Marie Group’s algorithm that takes into consideration 56 metrics. These include: followers, post frequency, engagement, post quality, click through and potential to create sales. So although Gomez is not guaranteed to make half a million dollars on every sponsored post, she essentially could use that as a starting point for negotiations.

You’re probably asking yourself, how can a social media post be worth so much money? (Or if you’re me, how can MY posts be worth even 1/100^th of that?) There are several factors to Selena Gomez’s monetary value. First, she has 200 million followers on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook who are actively engaging on her accounts. (Not to mention on average, 200,000 more join them every day, increasing the total number of her followers daily.) Brands will pay big bucks to have their product placed in front of that many people – especially if they’re conditioned to engage with the content that typically is pushed out from the page. According to AdWeek, users trust influencers as much as their friends, and around 40% say they have purchased something because they saw an influencer using it. These influencers are seen as real people, and their fans trust them, even if they’re being paid to promote a product. The relationship social media creates between influencers and their followers makes every suggestion feel personal, so if Selena Gomez says to buy a product, her fanbase is likely to do so.

Gomez isn’t involved in many brand partnerships. She’s (or at least her management is) selective about what brands she endorses. Right now that includes Coca-Cola, Pantene, and Kmart. Her feed isn’t diluted with promoted posts. According to D’Marie Group a post by Selena Gomez, or supermodel (and Kardashian) Kendall Jenner, will produce 12x the return on investment compared to standard digital marketing efforts.

Here are a few other top celebrity endorsers on social media:

Kendall Jenner: $125,000 – $300,000 per post

Cara Delevigne: $125,000 – $300,000 per post

Taylor Swift: $125,000 – $300,000 per post

Gigi Hadid: $125,000 – $300,000 per post

Scott Disick: $15,000 – $20,000 per post

Kim Kardashian: $20,000 per tweet

Khloe Kardashian: $13,000 per tweet

Ashley Benson: $5,200 per tweet

Did anyone else die a little inside after that? If you need me, I’ll be working on my Instagram.

Don’t Be Socially Awkward

As millennials, we’re expected to be the all-knowers of the digital world. We’re on the pulse of social media, and we’re expected to keep up with the downloads and be down with the uploads. It’s pretty crazy – no wonder those Boomers would rather us do it. As tail end millennials and Gen Z-ers are becoming old enough to enter the workforce, it’s easy to see that many of us have difficulties with social etiquette.

For starters, a lot of younger folks struggle with giving away all the information they possibly can share about themselves online. (We’ve all been guilty of it one time or another.) Being comfortable with yourself is a great quality, but it’s important to keep some personal things off the web. My simple test is: Is it something your future employers or grandparents would want to know about you? If the answer is no, don’t tweet about it. I’m glad you’re having a great time on Saturday at 3:17AM, but alerting everyone online that you’re blacked out and can’t find your shirt is not the best call. That’s a story to tell where no one can screenshot it – like in person.

It always makes me laugh when people say “I post what I want, it won’t stop me from getting a job!” I’ve talked to a plethora of employers, and every one of them goes to the fabulous tool we know and love: Google. It takes 2 seconds to type in your name and find out everything about you online. If you don’t have a personal page, odds are your Twitter or Facebook will be the first thing to come up. If it’s not protected, keep it PG-13 – use the employer/grandparents test if you’re not sure. It’s only going to get worse as tech savvy people step into positions of power. No one finds online information faster than millennials with a bone to pick; imagine one as your boss.

So the lesson learned is to be responsible, but that doesn’t mean you have to act like a robot. It’s good to add some personal flair to your social media pages and show people you are a real human. Let people see that you coach basketball in your free time and you love sharing pictures of your dog. Just don’t share everything because “Revealing too much leaves you with nothing.”

Anyone who needs to clean up your social media accounts, here’s a great link: http://www.tweetdelete.net

…you know who you are.

The Perfect Balance of Personal and Professional on Social Media

It’s hard to figure out the perfect balance between personal and professional on Social Media.  I—along with many other people—struggle with it.  You always hear those horror stories about people losing their jobs over something they posted on social media, obviously we don’t want that.  But we also don’t want to be the boring friend who posts business articles all day.  I mean come on! We go on social media for enjoyment, not for a total snooze fest!  So what is the perfect mixture between inappropriate funny friend and stuffy oldie on social media?  Here are some of my tips for keeping a balance on social media platforms:

1. Keep it personal, BUT not too personal:

Social media is your personal platform; people follow you to see who you really are!  So show off your hobbies, interests, family and friends. With that being said, people also do not need to know extremely personal information.  We don’t want to hear about your break-up, what you eat every morning for breakfast, or how you feel about your boss (major no-no).

2. Avoid Negative Comments:

Social media has no room for a negative Nancy.  It’s not a smart move to be extremely negative; being negative does not give a good impression to friends, family, or possible employers.

3. Practice what you preach:

Create personal content that makes sense for your profession.  For example, if you are a social media professional it is important to be active on social media.  Participate in Twitter chats, use hashtags, and share relevant articles. (thanks for this tip Kelly).

4. Remember it’s easier than you think:

You are already living a mix of a seasoned professional and an actual human with hobbies and interests in “real life.” So, simply mimic that behavior on your social platforms, making sure you’re real-life balance in translating onto your networks. (thanks for this tip Angela).

Always remember what you post on social media reflects who you are as a professional.  Be cautious about what you post, but still show your personality!

Have any different tips for balancing professional and personal on social media?  Comment and let me know!

-Professional Brokaw PR/Social Intern and Ohio U student Erin

Social Media vs. the World

By this point, everyone probably knows that I love using social media sites. I’m always one to Instagram a photo from an event I attended, tweet about a cool design article, or announce a new job to my family and friends via Facebook. Social media has really changed the way the world communicates, and although some choose to use it for evil instead of for good, I think that the emergence of social media has had some extremely beneficial payoffs. This post will be the other side of Dan’s social media debate:

On a personal level, social media has given me a channel through which to explore things I could never have been exposed to if I was living decades earlier. With a quick search or click of a hashtag, I can find photos, thoughts and opinions of people who live anywhere in the world. People who aren’t “famous.” People who are like me, in every culture or state of wealth. I appreciate hearing the views and seeing the lavish lives of certain celebrities, but sometimes the most meaningful thoughts can come from a ten year old working to make the lives of childhood cancer patients more fun. Sometimes I can find incredible design inspiration from a 22-year-old just like me exploring the world during a semester abroad. Social media has given me a lens through which I can explore the world and meet incredible people, even though I may not have the means to physically explore it on my own.

On a social level, social media gives me the opportunity to engage and catch up with family and friends who I don’t always get to see very much. I’m not the kind of person to accept friend requests from people I don’t know or acquaintances I talked to once or twice in high school. Dan, I’m going to fight back a little here and say that I love to see bits and pieces of my loved ones’ lives—and they love to see mine as well! These small snippets of life they capture via Facebook or Instagram spark endless conversations and catching-up when we do get to see one another, not leave nothing new to talk about at reunions or the dinner table.

On a big-picture level, social media has proven a huge change agent in topics that shape America and the rest of the world. It sparks conversation, feeds debates, and helps to educate people on all sides of arguments the world faces. For example, Apple recently announced it’s new, Spotify-like streaming music service with a free three-month trial. Apple was not going to pay artists, writers or producers during these three months, which many of them cannot afford if they are just starting out in the music industry. In an open letter to Apple via the star’s tumblr site, Taylor Swift changed all of this. Taylor tweeted the link to her letter and not long after, Eddy Cue from Apple responded positively. The singer single-handedly helped thousands of artists and music industry professions alike by giving them back the opportunity to receive the pay they are entitled to just by sharing her opinion with the world. 

Social media is a powerful tool.

Tweet wisely, friends.

Emily

Ode to America

Ye olde Fourth of July.

How did us red-blooded Americans best honor Independence day?

In the same fashion that our founding fathers celebrated:

  why Tweeting, of course.

America tweets!

Despite what some may think, communicating in 140 characters is not the end of civilization as we know it:

It is, in fact, a glimpse into the future of connecting.

At its heart, Twitter is just a communication tool. Like the Internet, the phone and the telegram before it, it’s just a tool to let one person connect with another.

Wireless communication.

In my first month here at Brokaw, I’ve learned how Twitter builds relationships with customers.

For example: take one of Brokaw’s current projects, the Fazoli’s Breadstick Tour.

We can see here how Twitter helped pay respectful honors to America and Fazoli’s all at once:

While all of us are out and about on a holiday, social media allows us to stay centrally connected in ways like never before.

Take a look at my personal highlights from Twitter this past July 4th:

And last but not least:

A shameless plug for not only myself, but for the best TV offer of all time, the Snuggie.

Until next time, keep calm and carry on.

Or this:

Breadstick revolution.