In a world where everyone has an accessible personality, few manage to cultivate a community around nothing but themselves and their sphere of influence. BAZAAR examined a few of the finer and more inspired uses of social media to further personal brands and causes, leveraged on personalities and frantic fandom following.
Taylor Swift’s Swiftmas (2014)
Swiftmas, Taylor Swift’s gift-giving extravaganza in which she and her team spent hours getting to know 32 of her fans, and then even more time buying gifts and surprising them with personal Christmas presents on their doorsteps. Most multimillion-dollar brands spend lots of money and precious time to analyse their customers.
However, they do it in a very broad way. Spreadsheets, surveys, focus groups, social media engagement – Taylor Swift, on the contrary, studied her fans deeply. Taylor and her team already knew that her fans spend a lot of time learning everything they can about her. With Swiftmas, Taylor returned the favour.
Not only did Swift’s team leverage social media and digital analytics, but they got to know her fans on a personal level, in what became known as “tay-lurking.” They focused on each individual person — what she likes, what she does with her friends, and the gifts she might want. The details that Taylor mentions in her video and in the handwritten notes are personal and emotional. They show that she actually cares about her fans as people, not just consumers.
Ivanka Trump #WomenWhoWork (2014)
Ivanka Trump is not one thing. She is the executive vice president of development and acquisitions for the Trump organization, and the founder of the Ivanka Trump fashion brand. She is a wife, mother of two, aspiring runner, and improving golfer. And she’s tired of seeing professional women depicted in just one way.
This locked in her drive and determination to launch the now, iconic initiative #WomenWhoWork, a video campaign to “celebrate the many different ways in which women work and live” She has given a voice and platform for females across the world who have conceptualised and executed a myriad of entrepreneurial start up businesses.
https://youtu.be/Rg5B7vfhSeg
Seth Rogen & James Franco Live Tweet “The Interview” (2014)
The 2014 release of “The Interview” starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, was a re-imagining of marketing and selling a movie in the social media age. “The Interview” made lemons out of lemonade with it’s promotion hackers, allegedly from North Korea, interrupted the release of the film and the workings of Sony pictures.
One of the highlights of the impromptu social media campaign was a live tweet of the movie from it’s director and stars. The unexpected social media aspect of the movie created some very interesting precedents in the use of social media and the internet with new release movies.
Emma Watson’s #HeforShe (2015)
On it’s own, HeForShe is an exemplary organization, creating participation and openness towards men in the feminist movement. The organization is working to show men that feminism is about equality among genders, not about furthering women’s causes at the diminishment of men’s. Partnering with Emma Watson, star of the Harry Potter films and “Perks of Being a Wallflower” proved to be huge for their brand, as well as Watson’s.
More on #BAZAARGoesSocial Digital Series
