This week in our Industry News Round Up, we take a quick look at how politicians and entertainers are making headlines in social media:
Presidential Candidate Announces Run for Presidency via Social Media
Unlike candidates before her, Hillary Clinton opted to take a less traditional route when it came to announcing her bid for the Democratic presidential candidacy. On Sunday, the former Secretary of State used her Twitter account to inform the public that she will be hitting the campaign trail in a bid to become the first woman President of the United States. Clinton also released a 140-second video announcing her campaign on YouTube. This is an exciting social media first for the presidential candidacy, and we can’t wait to watch how social media continues to play a role in the election.
Image: Twitter
Game of Thrones Social Campaign Excites and Engages Fans for Season 5 Premiere
A few of us at The Motherhood are die-hard Game of Thrones fans, and every year HBO and digital agency 360i deliver a creative social media campaign to tease fans for the premiere. Last year, the #RoastJoffrey campaign garnered more than 60,000 roasts, one million social engagements and 850 million impressions. This year, the team rolled out a dragon hunt on social media to find Drogon. The #CatchDrogon campaign asked fans to create photos, posts and custom GIFs to lure the dragon to their social media feeds. If Drogon landed on a fan’s feed, they were asked to retweet that post or use #CatchDrogon in the Facebook or Instagram comments sections to be rewarded with GoT prizes.
Celebrities and brands even took part in the #CatchDrogon hunt.
Image: Twitter
HBO Digital and Social Media Director Jim Marsh explains the success behind this campaign model: “What makes a concept like this work is simplicity and flexibility. We are offering fans a creative platform to have fun, but what’s common about all our social campaigns is that the title, #CatchDrogon, explains exactly what the expectation is. The rule is, if you can’t explain what the campaign is in a hashtag, it’s probably the wrong campaign.”
