Our Obsession with 20-Somethings

Everywhere you look on social media, there are articles about the 20-somethings. From Thought Catalog to Elite Daily, there are lists of fun activities to do in your twenties and others filled with thought-provoking lists of goals to never give up on during your twenties. I, along with every other 20-something, retweets, prints and highlights these articles. My question is why?

Your twenties is the decade where you do the most soul-searching. Typically, you’re just starting your career, haven’t found that special someone yet and certainly do not have kids. The responsibility of adulthoood is overwhelming and you’re barely breathing some days. How could you ever be responsible for another life?! But that’s how I see my twenties; it doesn’t mean the rest of the world does or should view it like me.

The millennial generation, myself included, is obsessed with defining the 20-something. We read, post and beg for a definition, a plan for each of us to follow. I don’t know if it’s insecurity or uncertainty but there is something there. For me, I am unsure of the future, what exactly I want and how it’s all going to play out. I read these articles across every social media forum searching for the exact answer on how to proceed confidently into the future.

Well guess what? No one, no article or Twitter account can provide me with the right way to take my journey. Sure, reading them is harmless enough as long as you don’t define your life by them. It is perfectly fine to be 30, single with a kick-ass career. In the same breath, it’s great to be 24, married and wanting nothing more than to raise babies. Bottom line: It’s your life, own it and make choices based on your happiness, no one else’s.

The 20-somethings are an interesting group whose perspectives are constantly evolving. We have a lot to say about the world and our place in it. So if you’re a 20-something, own your twenties in whichever way you want. If you’re not, have a conversation with one and share your knowledge with them. They will appreciate it!

Keep Calm & Cherry On

Last night in a brutally cold, downtown Manhattan, I attend “The Temple Idea – The Making of a Movement” that discussed Temple University’s Temple Made and Cherry On marketing campaigns. The panel discussion featured Director of Marketing Angela Polec as well as my former Strategic Communication (StratComm) professor Gregg Feistman and the PRowl Public Relations firm director Kaitlyn Sutton. As both a StratComm and PRowl alumnus, I was very excited to hear about these viral marketing campaigns.

In the fall of 2012, the Temple Made campaign was launched with a kick-off event at the university. The

Just the basic details were given for the Temple Made launch event

only details given were the date and time of the event. From there, Temple Made commercials had spots during the Temple versus Notre Dame football game and billboards were displayed through the region. This was Temple’s first centralized marketing campaign that gave a voice to the pride that already existed with current students and alumni. When anyone saw a Temple Made commercial, they immediately saw what the Temple type is. Temple Made is a mindset, a different breed of people who hustle harder and are self-made. Through this campaign, it became easier for anyone to see that the Temple Made type was different.

The next step was to create a marketing campaign that was like special handshake for Temple insiders. The Cherry On campaign was born through the collaboration between PRowl Public Relations and the office of Strategic Marketing and Communication. It started by telling Temple students to wear their cherry every Friday. The phrase “Cherry On” developed from those Fridays when athletic prep rallies were held to support different teams. The campaign was organic, for the students, from the students. PRowl worked with Temple Student Government to create the Cherry On video that recently launched. My favorite part of the video: “This is not a fashion statement, it is family.” That one phrase created such an emotional connection to Temple for me. The Cherry On hashtag trended on Twitter during several athletic events, admissions has seen a rise in applicants and website traffic has increased.

So now what? After two successful marketing campaigns that reached prospective students, current students and alumni, how is Temple going to continue this momentum? The panelists explained that a lot of research needs to be conducted including benchmarking success, engaging other audiences, focus groups and surveys.  As a PRowl alumnus, I wish I would have heard about Cherry On from them rather than at a football game this past Homecoming. There is an entire alumni network out there, who can help spread this campaign. While I understand Cherry On was targeted at students, it’s now time to engage alumni and other audiences.

Last night’s event was the first step in engaging alumni to continue this Cherry On momentum. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing how the campaigns started, grew and what the plan is for the future. The campaigns were brilliant and exploded on social media. Both the Temple Made and Cherry On hashtags are seen everywhere including fliers, billboards and online. More than anything, it created a community and mindset that resonates with all of us who are Temple Made. Since we are Temple Made, we can Cherry On through any situation. It is a connection, an experience, a bond we have for life.

Are you Temple Made? Did you know about these marketing campaigns? Check out the video below then share your thoughts with me!

Doritos #BoldStage: A Dream Come True

From March 8-17, the South by Southwest Festival is taking place in Austin, Texas. The conference covers a multitude of topics ranging from emerging technology to original films. Attendees are sure to have a wide variety of interests but I’d assume most would utilize social media to share their experiences. Apparently, Doritos thought so too.

In honor of this year’s festival, Doritos created the #BoldStage that allows attendees to control different aspects of the show. The 6’2 venting machine-styled stage displays people’s tweets when they use the #BoldStage. What’s even more awesome is that by using the same hashtag, attendees can choose an opening act, their playlist and the special effects to be featured during the performance. The Mass Relevance Platform built into the stages reports how many tweets occur per minute based on the hashtag and other keywords. People’s pictures from Twitter or Instagram can be sent to the jumbo stage by using #BoldStage too. As an avid concert goer and social media user, this is a dream come true!

Doritos #BoldStage combines all positive aspects of social media. The tweets are shown in real-time and could potentially be responded to. Doritos and SXSW could gain up-to-date feedback about the performers and the show, among other things. Since people’s tweets are shown on the mega-stage, others can see the handles of attendees who might have similar tastes in music. Online connections could then be made. Most importantly, it benefits the customer (aka people attending the Festival). It engages people, excites them and has them energized about the show and the Festival. It is an original idea that embodies the purpose of social media: to engage users.

Another genius part of this idea is that Doritos is launching its new global campaign “For the Bold” on the stage. Not only do the stage name and campaign name match (yay branding!) but people will more than likely remember the ad because it was featured on an awesome, interactive stage.

Check out the infographic below to fully understand Doritos #BoldStage powered by tweets!

Image courtesy of Mashable.com 

Motivation Mondays: One Billion Rising

One in three women will be raped or beaten in her lifetime. 

About three weeks ago on Valentine’s Day, One Billion Rising overtook cities around the world to deliver an important message. They staged flash mobs, held dance parties and brought an important issue to the forefront. One Billion Rising is a mission, an uprising if you will that raises awareness of violence against women around the world. On Valentine’s Day, also known as V-Day, this organization took to Twitter, Facebook and every other social media site to call men and women everywhere to participate in a revolution. They tweeted and posted instructions about meet-ups around the world. They invited people to dance, to raise awareness and to challenge the norm. It is not acceptable for the violence women and girls face each day. It was time for a revolution, a time for change.

Celebrities like Kerry Washington and Eve took to Twitter as well to support the cause. Updates were constantly coming from Brazil, Poland, New York City and so many other places around the world. Videos of millions of people dancing and holding signs with shocking statistics were uploaded instantly to the One Billion Rising website. Their online presence was strong, their message was clear and their goal was inspiring. Think about the statistic above: 1 in 3 women will be raped or beaten. 1 in 3 women. That’s your mother, your aunt, your best friend. It is not acceptable. It cannot be tolerated anymore. We all, men and women alike, stop this violence and use our voices. No means no. We will not be disrespected. We will be one billion rising.

Check out one of their videos below

The Dangers of Social Media

Social media can be an effective tool for most people. In the field of public relations, social media has become wildly popular with full job positions dedicated to planning and executing a social media strategy. While most of the known world has jumped on the social media bandwagon, if not used properly, it can ruin a person or brand.

Depending on the level of fame, celebrities can run their own Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. accounts. On one hand, it makes their communications more personal; people feel connected with the individual, not just their Twitter feed. Cory Booker runs a successful, personal Twitter account and really converses with people. To find out more about how he does this, check out my post here.

In some situations, celebrities running their own social media accounts becomes a PR nightmare. By the way, I define celebrity on Twitter by having the blue check mark next to your name. Take Manti Te’o for example. Here is a young man with a world of possibilities ahead of him. Yet, because of an alleged phantom girlfriend and her fake presence on Twitter, his reputation is tarnished. His assumed girlfriend’s Twitter name changed several times and it appeared that most of their communications were through social media. What a very public forum for a very private part of someone’s life. It’s true, all parties involved should have known better than to publicize personal details on social media. But, if everyone wasn’t so obsessed with this medium, would any of this have happened? It is almost required for college and professional athletes to have a Twitter or Facebook account. That pressure from fans could cloud someone’s judgement.

Twitter blew up yesterday during the inauguration. There were specific accounts filled with inauguration information and live feeds of coverage. One account even tweeted the majority of President Obama’s speech in case someone missed it. Yet, with all of the positive information streaming live yesterday, a reporter made a comment that President Obama was tweeting during church. A tweet was sent from his personal account @BarackObama while the first family was attending church. Now this is where people need to use some common sense. Do we all really think the President runs his own account?! I’m sure he approves the content and might send a tweet or two. But in reality, he’s paying some lucky individual to manage his account. So his Blackberry was absolutely not out during church yesterday. Michelle would have known of that.

Social media comes with a certain level of gray area. No one can be 100 percent certain where tweets are coming from or who is actually tweeting. For PR professionals, it is essential that client social media accounts be monitored diligently. Regardless of who is managing the account, the PR team or the person, everyone should proceed with caution. One wrong tweet, post or picture could damage a reputation forever.

Be Educated!

The first presidential debate of 2012 aired last night and I was excited to see what each candidate had to say. Despite snuggling under a pink, fuzzy blanket and dipping my Oreos in milk, I felt like an adult, educating myself in order to make an informed decision come November. I wish I could say the same about others.

I find it astonishing that young people could be so uneducated about the upcoming election. I am not saying watch every debate or every speech. But regardless of who you’re voting for, you should know and understand their views on certain issues like healthcare and abortion. With technology at our fingertips, it is super simply to find information about the candidates and their positions on these issues. Consider this post my public service announcement saying, do your homework! If you just cast a vote without knowing your candidate of choice, then you shouldn’t have an opinion when you see something you don’t like later.

After reading my Twitter timeline during the debate last night, I can see why millennials get a bad rap.  Millennials are  individuals around my age, who can also be referred to as Generation Me or the Entitled Generation. This generation of people is usually categorized as being lazy and wanted everything handed to them. Reading tweets from these characters last night just proved the definition true. The vast majority either made ignorant comments or were completely oblivious to the debate. Either way, it was ridiculous.

It’s hard at times to be grouped into the millennials category when I don’t possess those characteristics. There are some of us out there who do work hard, can carry on a conversation in person and know who the Republican candidate is. My generation is the most entitled but not all of us fall into that stereotype.

I understand if politics isn’t your thing. It’s not my biggest passion, but I refuse to be uneducated about the upcoming election. The decisions made now with absolutely impact my future and probably yours too. I’m asking everyone to be educated and research the candidates. It won’t take too much time out of your life and will be worth it in the long run.

#StateofPhillyPR

Today, State of Philly PR occurred at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Different public relations professionals spoke about various topics including brand reputation and corporate philanthropy.  Keynote speaker Judy Smith, who inspired ABC’s hit show Scandal, spoke about her crisis communication experience and stole the show. It sounds like I really enjoyed my day there, right? In fact, I was nowhere near the Convention Center today.

Instead, I followed throughout the day on Twitter. The hashtag #StateofPhillyPR was used to create a conversation about the event and breakout sessions. Even though I wasn’t there, I still received public relations advice from some of the most talented PR professionals in Philadelphia. Their tips were helpful and are ideas I will keep in mind for the future.  Check out my Twitter feed for my favorite quotes from the day.

Having a good hashtag is such an important part of events today. It allows people everywhere to participate in a discussion about the event while also helping to monitor who is saying what about the event and its speakers.  Based on my hashtag experience, they cannot be too long or too vague. Using part of the event title makes the hashtag unique and easy to find. Twitter handles were given in the program this morning so attendees were able to find speakers on Twitter and knew the hashtag from the start. I think that was a great way to promote live-tweeting during the event.

I am very grateful many people decided to live-tweet and use the designated hashtag. I learned a lot today and am glad I could follow along. Hopefully next year, I will be able to attend.

Great job to PPRA, PRSA Philly and Philly BPRS, who hosted the event today.