Embrace Disruption Public Relations » Vine

Film Friday: Nash Grier Gone In 6 Seconds

Embrace Disruption PR — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 13:23:53 +0000

Social media has introduced the world to a new kind of fame. Online celebrities such as the cast of EpicMealTime, Cameron Dallas, and Brittany Furlan have captured the attention of millions of fans and some of the most renowned brands. While most social media stars try to avoid any kind of controversy, one young star recently found himself in trouble after a particular Vine video made its way back online.

(Source)

Nash Grier is a 16 year-old Vine superstar. The North Carolina native is the most followed person on Vine with 8.7 million loyal fans. This past week, Grier received backlash about a video that was posted (and promptly taken down) back in April. The video, which was reposted by YouTube sensation Tyler Oakley, features a clip from a commercial for the HIV oral-swab test, OraQuick, followed by a homophobic slur from Grier himself. Oakley tweeted “Call me and people like me, ‘fag’ all you want, but spreading false information about deadly diseases is next level.” Oakley continued, “Promoting a false stereotype that HIV only affects gays to his millions of teen fans is extremely dangerous.”

(Source)

The teen, who has previously been criticized for sexist remarks, has since apologized via Twitter, claiming he was “young, ignorant, stupid and in a bad place.” when he posted the video 3 months ago.

As PR professionals, we love taking the opportunity to look at a case like Grier’s and evaluate the loss and if there are any possible benefits. In this case it is safe to say there is absolutely no way to benefit from the unwanted publicity, these actions are unforgivable. It can only be assumed that any endorsement contracts with major labels will be lost, and the rumoured upcoming movie with AwesomenessTV will be most likely put on hold or cancelled altogether. We don’t think this young star should be cut any slack and, we hope that if his Vine account continues he realizes the consequences of his actions and that being in the spotlight comes with responsibility.

Our takeaway: you can spend forever building your reputation, but remember, it takes exactly 6 seconds to ruin it.

The Top 10 Embrace Disruption PR Posts of 2013

Natasha Radlovic — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 15:03:30 +0000

From Beyonce to Vine, we certainly had a lot to say in 2013. As an ode to the year gone by, we wanted to share some of our top articles. Check out the top 10 below:

1. Just Ask Beyonce: Why Traditional Publicity Is On The Way Out

2. How Mayor Rob Ford Could Have Saved Face During “Crack-Gate”

3. Our Top 10 Halloween Costume Predictions For 2013

4. 10 Steps To Eliminating That Pesky Writer’s Block

5. A Vine Love Story: Curtis Lepore and Jessi Smiles

6. How To Pick The Best PR Agency For Your Business

7. Making An Impact: How A Charity Or Non-Profit Can Benefit From Public Relations

8. The Benefits Of Hiring A Boutique PR Firm Or Agency

9. How Diverse Is Your PR Language? Check Out The Most Overused Words

10. 9 Quick Tips For Aspiring PR Pros

5 Tips To Get The Most Out Of Vine

Natasha Radlovic — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 13:47:36 +0000

(Img Source)

Vine, a popular app and social media network where you film 6-second clips, has created many mini-celebrities, such as Jerome Jarre. The French Vine star is known for awkwardly and hilariously incorporating strangers and passers-by in his videos. Before he was becoming a Vine sensation with his videos, Jarre also co-founded the web based, event management software company, Atendy. Jarre is a perfect example of how you can use your Vine stardom to build your brand.

Launched just this past January, Vine challenges its users to create meaningful and memorable content in just 6-seconds. With attention spans seemingly becoming shorter, it’s no wonder that Vine has become so popular in such a short period of time. You might be wondering how Vine or Instagram videos are different from YouTube, and the biggest difference is that the two apps are strictly designed for use on a mobile device. Since Instagram released its video feature in June, the life of Vine was in jeopardy. However, with pages devoted to sharing funny vines, such as the Best Vines page on Facebook, we can see that the lifeline of Vine continues to be healthy and stable.

Instagram videos offer users a much longer shooting time (15 seconds vs. Vine’s 6 seconds) along with 13 filters and the ability to delete the previously shot scene. Vine is much simpler in that you simply tap to record and post. There is no option to add filters, although they recently updated the app so you can go back to delete and move around scenes before you publish it. While there has been much debate over which app is, for lack of another term, ‘better’, we find that Vine caters to a tighter community but demands creativity because of its short time-frame and simplified editing tools.

If you’re not yet a Vine sensation, you can still make your voice heard and vine-ify your brand. Here are some helpful tips on how to master the popular app:

1. Use stop-motion for effects: The reason why stop-motion videos are so popular (the good ones, at least) is due to the amount of work and thought put into them. One mistake could ruin the whole clip, meaning users have to go back and record the Vine all over again. Here’s a quick tutorial. Take a look at Target’s use of stop-motion filming for their most recent Halloween-themed Vine:

2. Create a #contest: Just like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media networks, you can use hashtags in your Vine posts to make them more accessible and visible to a wider audience. Boost your brand’s campaign by creating a contest that gets your consumers involved in the action. For example, Urban Outfitters paired with Converse to hold a contest called #yourkicks, where customers created Vines that showed off their converse kicks. The best Vines were entered into a contest with a chance to win a number of awesome goodies.

3. Sneak peeks & behind the scenes: Consumers love being in-the-know about future products and what’s going on behind the scenes. Excite them by making a quick vine showing off specific features of a new product or a day in the office. Include a hashtag that’s both general but also fitting for your Vine, such as #sneakpeek or #sneakpreview. If you make the hashtag too specific, it actually becomes more difficult for users to find your content. Check out Kate Spade’s behind the scenes Vine:

4. Tips & How-to: A great way to engage consumers without blatantly over-selling your own product is to give helpful tips. Two good examples are Intel’s “Sticky note” tip for cleaning the space between keys on your keyboard. The Vine is brilliant because it gives the consumer everyday tips and incorporates the product without being too pushy like typical ads. By focusing the attention away from selling, the ad literally sells itself. Consumers suddenly want to watch brand videos produced by a company (aka a subtle, helpful advertisement).

5. Be creative: This is arguably the most important aspect of Vine. A post needs to be creative and, overall, interesting enough to catch the consumer’s eye and be shared. A good example of this is Gap’s Vine for their #BeBright campaign for their line of 1969 denim.

For more amazing examples, be sure to visit BrandsOnVine.com to get inspired by some of the world’s leading brands and their Vines.

Film Friday: Justin Bieber First Celeb To Instavine

Embrace Disruption PR — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 21:05:07 +0000

The title really says it all. After Facebook’s big announcement (which we’re not going to repeat because it seems like it’s EVERYWHERE!), Justin took to Instagram to share this message with his followers – and the rest of the world.

Will you be using Instagram’s video option, or will you stick to services like Keek or Vine?

Vine Gets Jason Derulo-fied In New Single Promotion

Embrace Disruption PR — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:06:48 +0000

Now that Vine has the world obsessed with creating 6 second video masterpieces, it’s only natural that someone identifies a way to use it as a powerful marketing tool! The best example we’ve come across? In the music industry, of course!

One tech-savvy musician that’s using Vine to promote his new single is Jason Derulo. Known for tagging all his singles with his name, the R&B singer was one of the early adopters of Vine and now he wants to use the app to promote his new single, “The Other Side” which dropped last week. Essentially, he had the song broken up into 6 second increments that can be chosen to ‘score’ your Vine video as you post it. The singer is asking fans to tag the Vines with ‘#TheOtherSide’, then Derulo and his team are going to choose a bunch of them to edit together to create a full-length ‘fan video’ to be posted on YouTube.

Ayal Kleinman, Warner Bros Records VP of Marketing says Vine is “the emerging social media platform” for artists. Also commenting, “The high-energy feel of the song really lent itself well to the platform, and so all the elements came together to create this really engaging promotion.”

Vine seems like the perfect opportunity to not only allow singers/bands to put their music out to a wider audience, but also to have a more personal relationship with their fans by ‘Vine’-ing backstage or sharing behind-the-scenes clips!