Social Media

Sherwin-Willians seems to have missed out on a primary opportunity to not only utilize clever content, but promote employee creativity. The 154-year-old paint company surprised many consumers, not to mention Tik Tok users, when it fired a college senior after he garnered a large social media audience with paint-mixing videos. 

‘Tis the season to break out of the COVID-19 doldrums and deck the halls. The holidays seem to be arriving even sooner, as many look to find joy via decorating, music and fixating (or trying to) on the spirit of the season, rather than 2020’s awful news. Queue the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree, which arrived a bit worse for the wear. So, do you ignore its raggedy appearance or lean in and have fun?

Unless you’ve been living on Mars with no access to a livestream of Earth, there’s no denying that American’s emotions run the gamut right now. Many citizens’ stress levels, due to an elongated presidential election, have hit their peak. However, when things get tough in the U.S., some of our best and brightest creative coping mechanisms come through. Laughter is the best medicine for tense times, and social media is providing some of the most hilarious election memes, tweets and videos for comfort. 

Having an extensive social media strategy is a key part of crisis readiness. In addition, it can help a company take advantage of a breaking situation that falls short of crisis. A healthy social media plan

Yet another thing PR pros need to be aware of: Zombie accounts on social media. These accounts can influence campaigns and even engage with your followers. How should communicators handle such monsters? We offer some tips.

Social media followers punished the Girl Scouts on Oct. 28, after the 108-year-old organization posted politically-sensitive material on Twitter. Some found the post inappropriate, celebrating Amy Coney Barrett as the fifth woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court since 1789.

Many companies struggle with if and when to respond to things that happen in the news or on social. For ExxonMobil, a confusing presidential monologue late yesterday prompted a response. Abandoning corporate niceties and jargon, the company stated plainly that a conversation between its CEO and the president never happened. It was a savings of $25 million. Hypothetically.

Sometimes, when a company fails to take full stock of its actions—particularly around internal operations—activist employees take to social media to call out their organization. When an employee’s post goes viral, PR pros are expected to pick up the pieces. So, what is the best course of action when an employee puts a company on the stand regarding DEI, the election or another hot-button topic? Experts weigh in.

On Oct. 6, Ocean Spray CEO Tom Hayes posted his version of the latest viral video craze to hit TikTok, which has since racked up more than 1.3 million views. His video is a spin on a Sept. 25 video posted by TikTok user 420DoggFace208, the handle of Idaho warehouse worker Nathan Apodaca, 37. Squeezing some extra earned media juice, Hayes’ company donated a red pickup truck filled with bottles of Ocean Spray to Apodaca. The surprise gift video has seen more than a million views on Instagram, exhibiting cross-channel appeal.

Sephora has a competitive program for influencers that includes mentoring, education and other opportunities. We look at several other trends that emerged from our annual social media conference, The Social Shake-Up, which was held virtually Sept. 28 through Oct. 1.