It’s a short workweek and most people tapped out before the week even started. You might have been preparing all week for today for a fun-filled 4th of July, but we wanted to make sure we covered any major PR news you might have missed.
1. Surge in marketers empowering women through ad campaigns.
Whether it is for cosmetic or telecommunication companies, women are being told to empower themselves through ads. A few have gone viral recently and are getting positive press as well.
This week’s most popular ad was for Always feminine care. It targeted the expression “like a girl” and how this needs to be changed from a derogatory term to one meaning doing something as well as you can.
An important lesson for marketing and PR to take from this is how to make ads for the common good, as well as beneficial for the brand. Many people discredit advertising because of its negative impact on girls and women but it is clear that this is not always the case. It is also an added bonus for the brand that #LikeAGirl was hugely popular and the ad received 10.5 million YouTube views. Read more on these types of campaigns via Mashable.
2. Users found out Facebook conducted a secret mood study in 2012.
It came out this week that in 2012 Facebook surveyed 700,000 users and put more positive or negative content on feeds to see if it changed their moods. Researchers analyzed users’ statuses to determine if the manipulated feeds affected their disposition.
The researched proved Facebook feeds do have an affect on mood, but it was the news of this survey itself that made many angry this week. The British Information Commissioner’s Office is investigating if the social media conglomerate violated data-protection laws. There has also been a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission here in the U.S.
Sheryl Sandberg was chosen as the spokesperson for this crisis and while she feels that the study was not effectively communicated to the public, she is confident that they did nothing illegal and she did not apologize for it.
Read more about this incident in the New York Times.
3. World Cup match beat record number of Tweets per minute.
It’s no secret that The World Cup has been fantastic for Twitter. People around the globe have been constantly tweeting about various matches, outcomes and players and #WorldCup is often a trending topic.
This week, Brazil defeated Chile in an intense penalty shootout and secured their place in the quarterfinals. While the Super Bowl had a larger total number of tweets, this match is being called “the biggest moment in Twitter history” because it was the highest number of tweets per minute: 388,985.
Twitter is being used to connect the World Cup to users around the world and because FIFA is using Twitter for promotion through ads, it seems as though they have a mutually beneficial relationship. Read the full report from Reuters here.
4. New Audi sedan will keep you connected to social media while driving.
Many have gotten used to technology that enables you to make and answer calls while driving, but what about being able to keep up with social media while on the road? Audi is making it happen in their 2015 A3 Sedan.
This car will read aloud Tweets, Facebook posts and news as well as provide Google Earth navigation and over 7,000 internet radio stations. This will be offered through collaboration with AT&T and the car will have the first ever 4G LTE data connection.
It is evident that Audi is marketing to millennials and trying to secure themselves as the car for cutting edge technology.
Many would argue that they do not need to be connected to social while driving; it could be distracting and having time to disconnect and refresh is not a bad thing. We will have to wait and see how all generations take to these new features and see if it, like voice control, will become the norm.
The New York Times has more information on the car and its features.
5. Target was added to list of stores that have banned guns.
The banning of guns in specific stores has made headlines and gotten a lot of attention on social media, most of which has been positive.
In fact, #ontarget went viral after the announcement and Target is getting a lot of positive attention for this from one of their most valued demographics, moms. One of the reasons why guns were banned in stores was because of a petition (signed by over 400,000 people) asking that guns be banned in Target. Sharon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America said:
“Like Chipotle, Starbucks, Facebook, Jack in the Box, Sonic and Chili’s, Target recognized that moms are a powerful customer base and political force — and you can respect the 2nd Amendment and the safety of customers at the same time.”
Read more about the issue in USA Today’s article.
Was there any piece of PR news you read this week?