Developing Media

Roman Hidalgo| CSULA| Business Marketing Major|

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A New Movement

Creating a buzz in today’s era doesn’t seem difficult to accomplish. A buzz and creating WOM is what can really make a huge impact in one’s brand/company. There are various brands that have done this, but more specifically I’m going to be referencing brands in the world of basketball. Social media is an impactful outlet that lets content go viral, and this is a strong factor in a successful brand.

For example, Lavar Ball owner of BBB (Big Baller Brand) used the names of Hall of Fame basketball athletes as triggers for his own name. This stuck for a while and whenever you heard Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, or anyone else’s name in the NBA, Lavar Ball would come up in the discussion. This created a huge buzz for his name and whenever he is mentioned so is his brand, BBB. Disregarding his foolish remarks, he would often reference his oldest son, Lonzo Ball as the next big thing coming to the NBA. I don’t know if Lavar Ball knew this, but he technically used everyone in the NBA as a triggers for his brand, and whether it was good or bad every media outlet covered every bit of news regarding BBB, Lavar Ball, and his family.

Creating a huge buzz like this reinforces the idea that you don’t need to have a big marketing team behind you in order to establish something new. This now leads us to using Berger’s 6 STEPPS, and there is a new movement of young kids creating self-buzz for themselves. Now there are various terms used in basketball that the normal person watching wouldn’t understand. For example, cookies, cheese, wet, and brick are among the lingo that basketball players use throughout pickup games or when watching Dwight Howard shoot bricks (miss) at the free throw line.

When you think of jelly, you typically associate it with peanut butter. Now these kids from New York have associated it with their movement known as Jelly Fam. They use jelly as a trigger for their movement, but more importantly it is used as a term for their signature move when playing basketball. Their movement consists of making a buzz for themselves and it is done in hopes that it surpasses their basketball career and until they retire and create a personal brand for themselves. Their use of social media has done a lot for them, and it allowed them to start this movement. Creating viral videos on Instagram, such as having their basketball mixtape that consists of their best moves is what allures its followers to be engaged.

The story behind this movement is valuable for many reasons. For one, Jelly Fam is made up of some of the greatest youth basketball players in New York City, and in the country. Who wouldn’t want to support them, and root for them? Their story individually makes up the bigger picture, and many of their followers are middle school and high school kids that support them on an enormous level. Their supporters are also elite basketball players and hip hop artists that give them creditability and allow them to have a much larger reach on social media.

Their signature move known as the Jelly layup, is what made them a trend and it is what gave them social currency. This move made everyone go crazy, and in return it made others want to give it a try. A lot of social media posts were created, and most of them were attempts at recreating this signature move. Their supporters would also show up to their basketball games and flood the seats just to capture a piece of the game. It was a buzz like no other and there were all present to capture the moment that a Jelly Layup was made, and in return it would be all over social media within minutes.

The various posts that were made gave certain members of the team popularity and made them get noticed by certain college programs. Creating this movement is the best thing that anyone in the sports industry should try and follow. This gives them an edge when competing with others for scholarships, because we all know that the NCAA likes to restrict its athletes from making money. Starting any movement similar to this is what the future can look like, and athletes would not have to depend so much on agents to negotiate contracts when their following on social media can do the talking.  

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A Sweet Experience

Triggers are considered as whatever comes off the tip of the tongue, and complimenting it with part of your brand. Triggers can be difficult to come up with and execute, but google has done an exceptional job creating triggers for its various android version names. Google started naming its operating system updates in 2009 and has come a long way with its various unusual names that often create a buzz. When a new update would drop, I remember asking my brother if he had downloaded the new android update “Lollipop,” and his response would be “what is that?” Imagine the buzz google was able to create and the WOM that it created amongst its consumers. Google makes up a theme for every new android update name, and it is done in alphabetical order. They have an extensive list of names ranging from any sweet delicacy you can think of.

When you hear the word cupcake, what comes to your mind? A delicious snack, dessert, something made with delicacy and perfectly fitted into a cup shape. To some that might be the ideal description, but on the other hand, Johnny Earle decided to use a cupcake as a trigger for his clothing brand. Johnny was able to put a twist on what the word cupcake meant, and it worked out perfectly and he now runs a successful clothing line. Most clothing lines now a days expect to sell their merchandise if they put it out without creating a story for it, but Johnny has shown us another method that works. That is to use triggers for your brand.

Johnny Earle’s company named Johnny Cupcakes uses the shape of a cupcake as part of the logo, but the majority of its content is based on a cupcake idea. Now you may think, well how many variations of the cupcake can you possibly make? Well you can actually make a lot more than anyone could think if you are Johnny. He decided that the cupcake would be a good fit for a food themed clothing brand, and often replacing well known references with cupcakes. “One particular logo, the one most identifiable with Johnny Cupcakes today is a cupcake with crossbones. Guys thought it was funny and girls thought it was cute. The design caused curiosity and conversation amongst strangers.”

Now you may think well it is just a t shirt, what else can be created with this cupcake idea. Well Johnny wanted to create an experience, something memorable, something that would get people talking about it and he came up with a t-shirt bakery. Johnny was getting flooded with orders that the next logical move was to create a retail location, and he wanted to make sure he stood out from his competition. He gave everyone that would walk in an experience of being in a bakery, referencing his theme of cupcakes. He displayed t-shirts in vintage industrial refrigerators and on baking racks. Having an old fashioned bakery is the theme for his retail locations.

Besides having a retail location that is based on a bakery, you can’t forget about the packaging. Packaging is what gives the consumer an idea of how much you want to provide an experience. Johnny Cupcakes delivers their merchandise in their signature pastry box.

Johnny has had success with his unique idea for a clothing brand, and he has now collaborated with big name companies in the entertainment industry, musicians, and music festivals. He has also influenced many individuals that they in return have Johnny Cupcake themed tattoos. That just proves that his customers have brand loyalty. Triggers have the power to help a business grow and stay successful. 

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Physical to Digital

Complex started off as a bi-weekly magazine, and later switched to digital media. This was by far the best decision they could have made. Although their content was good, it was only available to those who purchased an actual magazine. The Complex team decided to make their content digital and leave the physical magazine in the past. This helped them stand apart from the rest of the companies that are still publishing content.

Complex reports on trends and focus on streetwear, sneaker culture, hip-hop, and graphic art. Normally you would see a magazine focus on one subject, but Complex was able to bring all these together throughout their media platforms. Complex had to work intensely hard to achieve a following in all of their platforms to finally decide to switch their magazine to online content. By switching to online content, Complex was able to branch out tremendously through various subjects ranging from hip-hop, sports, and eventually hosting their own convention. This gives their consumers a chance to meet with celebrities, watch amazing music performances, and purchase some exclusive clothes from various brands and designers.

All of this would only be possible with the amount of buzz they created online through their social media platforms. They capitalized on certain trends that were occurring in the social media world and gained followers because of the reactions they caused. Complex was able to make their content have practical value, and most importantly complex told a story in everything they posted.

Complex was able to create a buzz for themselves around playoff times for every sport. They were often known to create memes during the NBA Finals. Tony Mui, is a YouTube personality (actor before YouTube) and got a job as a content creator for complex, and was among the few individuals at complex to create memes wherever the situation fit. For example, the constant battle between LeBron James and Stephen Curry during the NBA finals lead to various memes floating in the internet and Tony Mui was among the various people creating them for Complex. This allowed them to get reposted throughout various accounts, and it created exposure for them.

A post shared by Tony Mui (@mrtonymui) on Jun 2, 2016 at 8:20pm PDT

Complex is known to report on various news on a day to day basis. They have over 2 million subscribers on their YouTube channel and they provide their subscribers with content at least five times a day solely on their Complex News page. Providing this consistency is what keeps them above other news outlets. They use this outlet extremely well and they found to report on various topics such as best horror movies in 2017, news on artists, technology information, and ultimately news on sneakers. They keep their news segments under 3 minutes, this might not be a coincidence as they have access to analytics and know how long is the attention span of their viewers.

Complex has curated content for its viewers, and they now create valuable content. One of their biggest sub channels First We Feast is close to surpass their main channel which is incredible. First We Feast is a culinary channel and its one of the successful series has put out. Hot Ones is one of their segments on that channel and it features celebrities eating hot wings with a dab of the world’s hottest sauces based on the Richter scale. Throughout the segment celebrities eat hot wings and answer questions, and if they get through the whole line up of wings they get to plug whatever they want at the end of the show. People tend to like this segment as one of its episodes is about to hit 6 MILLION views in a span of 3 weeks.

Complex created a new series called the Blueprint which gives insightful information to creative individuals or to entrepreneurs. Creating this type of content that is valuable, is something that is typically written as a Q&A, but Complex has turned it into a video series which is better because you can put a face to the guest.

Complex is literally a week away from today from having its second Complex Con which is action packed with celebrities. Without curating content for its viewers, or converting their magazine to an online content company, Complex Con would not be possible. Although, it does help to have big names in the music industry headline in your convention. Other magazine companies should follow Complex’s blueprint, and I feel that magazines are going to start curating online content for its consumers. Companies can have so much more creative freedom to create online content, rather than writing about it.

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The Battle for Cleaner Content

Upon taking this class I have been looking at companies completely different, and I immediately try to rate the content they provide on their platforms. This week I stumbled upon a YouTube video by Reshoevn8r that showed a shoe restoration. The video made me realize that there was a shoe cleaner market, and I wanted to know how well they market themselves and how they go about it. I also wanted to know if they provided any valuable content. The shoe cleaning industry has started to grow within the few years and it has reached a level I never thought a simple cleaner would. This made me think back about how Kraft would create compelling content based on their products. I can see some of these companies follow a similar marketing strategy similar to Kraft’s. Kraft gives their consumers recipe ideas on their websites, and these shoe cleaners display the power that their products have in their YouTube channels.

Jason Markk

Jason Markk was one of the first shoe cleaners that disrupted the market by providing a physical shoe cleaning location in Little Tokyo. Having a flagship store is what initially separated them, and providing a whole new experience just for shoe cleaning set a bar for this industry. They want the customer to feel as if they were walking in a luxurious place and their product packaging looks clean and slick meant ready for business.

 Although their website looks clean I see where it lacks amongst its competition, and that is some form of blog where it talks about the product and others using it besides them. Maybe this is their strategy, because they don’t rely on having ambassadors but on having collaborations with other big brands. Their YouTube also lacks variety in content, and that’s where it should be the strongest as it is a platform to show the uniqueness of the product. Most of their video content is repetitive and stepping out of the box for one video can help out to show the range their cleaning product can go. Their Instagram content is great, but it gets repetitive as well and there is too much product placement within their photos. I believe some of their photos would look good without the product placement.   

Crep Protect

Crep Protect differentiated themselves by grabbing the “icons” in the sneaker community. Their ambassadors range from YouTube personalities, sneaker collectors, and BMX freestylers. This gave them creditability when brand ambassadors would promote their long range of products throughout their videos or personal items.

Their website on the other hand is decent, but it lacks personality when explaining the science behind their products. The overuse of vector images discredits their information, and I believe if they get rid of using vectors as images and using real images would make the information a lot more impactful. Their Instagram on the other hand is one of the best ones out there (compared to other sneaker cleaners.) Reposting images from their consumers makes their Instagram profile strong. It separates the content well and blends in together when mixing the important information with the fun. It also gives me a bit of motivation to go out and shoot images throughout the city. Their video content is great, and they have found ways to make videos go viral by pushing their products through extreme tests that you can only think of. For example, putting a $30K shoe in a bucket full of melted M&M’s and bringing them back to life is something worth watching and 2 million other people thought so to. Creating viral content like that brings content awareness and may cause word of mouth between consumers and non-consumers. 

Reshoevn8r

Reshoevn8r is another shoe cleaning product and it is considered as the world’s ultimate sneaker cleaner claimed by the company itself. I would consider them number one as far as content goes. They have developed a blog that covers news within the sneaker community and they also update you on what sneakers are going to be released. This is something that set them apart from the other two shoe cleaners and by having this blog it helps with having traffic within their website and if done right it can convert into sales. 

Their Instagram tends to become repetitive as I have seen with the other brands, and I can understand why as it is their way of constantly reminding their followers about their products. They also include before and after pictures of dirty to clean shoes, and this helps when making a decision on which sneaker cleaner to buy. Their YouTube channel is by far their best media outlet out of all. They not only provide a video on the shoe cleaner but it goes far beyond that by restoring completely worn down shoes and I would consider it as valuable content. Their series Restorations with Vick is where they showcase all of their products and how powerful it is, hence the title of the series restorations. Although I prefer to use other shoe cleaner, watching this series might make me try some sort of restoration myself to see how good the product really is.

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The IT Vision

As it gets closer to Halloween you start thinking about scary movies, and what comes to your mind? Typically, the movie Scream comes to my mind, but it’s not a scary movie and more of a funny dramatic one. Still to this day you will most likely see that famous Scream mask at least once throughout Halloween. The kids that wear that mask probably haven’t seen the movie, but their older relatives might tell them that the Scream costume is the best one out of all the other options.  I don’t think the producers of the movie thought that 20 years later it will still be relevant, but this helped keep the name of it fresh. Creating something physical is what keeps the name relevant, and it draws a tie between the real world and the fictional world. For example, the different variations of the Scream mask help keep the movie relevant and can still have potential to sell more physical DVD’s or get streamed somewhere on the web.

This leads me to my second point where still to this day we still remember the classic IT movie, and now in 2017 a remake was made. The way the film was marketed was extremely well and they implemented new ideas that haven’t been done (at least not as much.) They made part of the film come to reality by providing an experience, which was the house. Creating the IT Experience got numerous people talking and it created a lot of value towards the movie.

I did not hear about this being a thing until one of my coworkers told me he was there the previous day, and it made him more likely to watch the movie because he would be able to relate to a specific scene in the movie. This is where the movie was able to reach a wider audience than what normal marketing could do. By creating the IT Experience, the marketing team was able to create a buzz, and word of mouth was heavily spread. I’m sure tourists were able to go into the IT Experience, and it would definitely create a memory which would lead them to talk about it amongst their friends’ back home. Therefore, this would create a buzz not only in the states, but also internationally.

This is something that is rarely created, but I feel that big budget films only do this kind of thing. For example, The Purge also created this type of experience by having a role in Universal Studios Horror Nights. Although it is only seasonal, I feel if they created some type of experience outside of Universal Studios they would be able to provide their audience with more than just a movie, but an experience. Creating something physical with a movie could potentially lead to more box office sales and more DVD’s sold if marketers can somehow create an experience more than just offering billboards around the city.

Also, not only did they bring an experience to Hollywood, they were able to create a trigger for the movie. Whenever you see a red balloon, it can make you think about their poster ad, and it is a great one!! There was also various mannequins in Toronto, and it was also heavily talked about throughout social media. This was content that was shared numerous times, and Instagram personalities also took time to create movie sketches about the movie IT. All around the marketing for IT was a huge success and it had numerous people talking about it. 

This can be the start of something new, combining content marketing and normal marketing. The end goal is to create compelling and valuable content, and providing an experience for anything is much more powerful than blasting 2D advertisements. Lego has been doing this for a while, and companies can implement various of their ideas and create something modern. I can compare the IT Experience as LEGOLAND in Florida, they took a place in a movie and brought it to real life. This helped them differentiate from any competitor that is making a horror film, and they were able to create a connection with the real world with the fictional world in the film.

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Originators Only Content

Saucony is an athletic shoe brand and has been around more than 100 years. Although their lifestyle series is not as popular as before, they have made a push to bring it back to the new generation. Saucony collaborated with sneaker bloggers and influencers to spread awareness of their brand while simultaneously giving them the opportunity to create their own version of any existing Saucony model.

These collaborators came from all over the states ranging from California to Florida. Saucony invited these 10 individuals to their headquarters, and it wasn’t until the Fall of 2016 where the Originators Only Campaign started. The process took about a year, and just last month in August the whole collection dropped and sold out!

At this point you are thinking well what is so special about this company. They used content marketing with their collaborators and implemented it well!  This is something that I loved about the campaign, and I believe if Saucony used content to bring awareness to their brand they will start rejuvenating their lifestyle line of sneakers. Saucony is widely known for their athletic shoes and their lifestyle seems to suffer when you compare them side by side. This was a good start for Saucony and was something new they tried, but that’s all it has been and they need to start creating more content.

What is the best way to market a sneaker? Well having a meaningful story behind what you created will help the consumer relate and understand why you chose certain materials, colors, and model is all part of storytelling. Saucony had a successful launch and sold out all 10 different collaborations. Having a story behind each shoe made it feel like it was one of your friends telling you about their own shoe. This was a different strategy by Saucony, and if they release more of their products by storytelling they can have an advantage over other companies. 

For example, an originator Anthony Bartoloni shared his story about his shoe. Team Saucony posted: “The Green Monster. It says everything about me and everything about the city of Boston. I'll never forget the first Red Sox game I went to with my dad. The things that are important in life are the experiences you have with the people you love the most. I want to take my love for baseball, my love for the city of Boston and the love for the memories that I have had in Fenway Park and bring that to life on this sneaker.” @YoAnty 

YoAnty also created an in-depth video about his sneaker collab. 

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The Future of Content

Coca Cola is great at content marketing, and they developed a plan that would help outperform their competition. Coca Cola created Content 2020, and it contains a step by step strategy to help and grow a company’s content strategy. It has made such a huge impact that every company implements parts of this strategy into their own business plan.

The first thing they mentioned is the conversation model, and it all begins with creating brand stories and creating a buzz from them. Moving from one-way storytelling to dynamic storytelling is what makes a huge impact, and it separates you from ordinary and boring. Also, the way you invest in your content is crucial to your company and Coca-Cola mentioned the 70/20/10 rule. Starting off with 70 percent of your content should be low risk, 20 percent is where you create content to engage with the audience, and finally the last 10 percent is used for high risk content whether it fails or succeeds. Coca-Cola’s strategy is to create liquid ideas that are effective in today’s new digital world.

I think Coca-Cola should have waited a little longer to release Content 2020. I believe if they waited about a year or two they would be way ahead of the competition, but then again it did not make a difference as they are among the top of content creators. In the end, this was a good decision by Coca-Cola because they could see what their competitors could create and at the same time draw ideas from the competition. Having a friendly competition is what makes things interesting, and it makes everyone work harder while simultaneously improving on current ideas.

 One of Coca-Cola’s famous campaigns is the Share a Coke campaign that implemented the content 2020 strategy very well. They removed their famous “Coca-Cola” logo on their products, and replaced it with the famous phrase “Share a Coke with.” 

By doing this it created a world buzz and definitely increased consumption of Coca-Cola products. Not only were you able to buy a beverage that contained your name on the bottle, but you were also given the option to share a virtual can with your Facebook friends. 

Coca-Cola made sure they included every country possible in order to reach a broader audience. This was definitely one of their dynamic storytelling campaigns and it payed off tremendously reaching people from all over the world. Their campaign enforced that by sharing a coke with a friend can result in having a good time and getting together as a group to share a coke will make everyone happy. This may seem like an ordinary campaign to some individuals, but in reality it was one of the riskiest ones, and in the video linked it talks about how much it really took for this campaign to happen. This campaign is among one of Coca-Cola’s most successful and it all began with having a strong story behind it, creating something new that has not been implemented, and taking a risk whether it would fail or succeed.

I can definitely see other industries learning from Coca-Cola’s Content 2020 strategy, for example the alcohol industry. All typical promotion for alcohol contains a short story that does not go past a commercial. Alcohol companies should implement the 70/20/10 rule, and start creating some risky content. If any of them would try it would disrupt the current model they have, and it can potentially be the start of something new… or not.

For example, Anheuser-Busch created a good super bowl commercial that had a great story behind it, but in the end that’s all it is a super bowl commercial and nothing more. They could have made a whole campaign about the opportunities America can offer, or simply how great the company is. I believe this campaign had more potential and it could have definitely made an impact within the alcohol industry.  

The fast food industry can also implement some of Content 2020’s strategies. The basic content they implement is straightforward and talks solely about their products or bashing on their competitors and how they are much better than them. Creating a compelling story and talking about how this new “healthy” burger that can help your life way beyond your life is a start. Linking your eating habits with your lifestyle is something that I can see them implementing, and it can potentially reach a broader audience than your typical fast food consumers. The fast food industry seems to be stuck on the 70 percent side of creating low risk content, but once in a while they should take a risk and see where it could potentially land them.

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Soul Cycle

Another company that does Content Marketing well is soul cycle, they have a twist on how you can achieve the perfect version of yourself. They focus on really finding yourself and getting in tune with your soul. Word of mouth really helped this company grow, and having great content on their social media outlets and website is what helped keep their consumers hooked. Their website also varies within its content and it is not specifically all workout related. They focus on making a better YOU, and they provide inspiring articles that make you want to change your life. Their website curates content to everyone, for example if you have very little knowledge on nutrition they provide you with ideas that are Instagram worthy while being nutritious at the same time. They also provide you with recipes, and what trainers would eat. The content they provide varies a lot, and you may find an article that ranges from finding the most stylish backpack to finding the best travel beauty essentials. The content they create appeals to anyone that is looking to change and transform their life. Their YouTube channel is very good, and it is worthy to make someone find motivation with the mini-movies they provide. The format of their videos are fast paced that would want to make you find their nearest location and join. Their series is called FIND IT!, and it gives you various reasons to help you find your true self, but most importantly to help find your soul.

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Content Marketing

Marketing is a very broad term, and it is often looked at as one concept. Today is the perfect day to learn the different types of marketing and the impact it can make. Content marketing is defined as a process for creating and distributing valuable and compelling content. On the other hand, traditional marketing can be defined as any type of promotion, advertising, or campaign that has been in use by companies for years, and has proven success rates.

Content Marketing is the new wave in 2017, and it is the future of marketing. Creating content is what attracts the newer generation and within seconds we determine if we want to invest our time and money with a certain company. Companies are slowly realizing this, and as a result lot of new job opportunities have been created. This allows various individuals like myself to learn and improve basic videography, photography, and social media skills.

Various companies have started making content, but making content that is valuable and compelling to the consumer is what really matters. One good example I found is YETI, which makes outdoor lifestyle products such as, ice chests, soft coolers, drinkware and more. YETI was founded in 2006, and has had tremendous success among its competitors. They found a way to appeal to their customers through their social media outlets and display themselves as outgoing, adventurous, and fearless. For example, their Instagram captures moments in the wilderness, and their products make a subtle appearance. As oppose to their competitors where it’s all about their products and no story behind it. They also have mini YouTube series where they make a story about a person, and it evokes emotions throughout the story.

When you think of Equinox, you think gym, high class, and expensive. Although that may be true to an average joe as myself, Equinox is much more than that now. They expanded their marketing strategy, and I believe other gyms should do the same if they wish to become successful. They started a digital magazine that takes it further than your average workouts and supplement suggestions, they incorporated science, style, and travel ideas. With this strategy it expands their digital magazine Furthermore by Equinox, while simultaneously growing their main company. Giving your customers out of the box ideas as to how workout using a skateboard is something I never thought of. Who knew that Equinox would be providing style ideas for those that have little or no knowledge of fashion, with this platform it allows them to expand past their ideal consumer. Have you ever wondered what 48 hours in Byron Bay, Australia is? Well I have good news, Furthermore has that answer and it provides you with helpful tips if you were to travel there. The website itself gives great and useful information, and it is a great example of what content marketing should be.