Lesson #1: Your war room needs adults over the age of 25, too.
What happens when you give a room full of recent college grads the keys to a live social media event? Usually, really fun commentary. But without proper planning, they can also eff up royally. TotalBeauty.com found out the hard way last night when the social media manager tweeted a shout out to Oprah. Only problem, it was Whoopi Goldberg. They immediately posted an apology once the backlash made them aware of the mistake (the right thing to do) and went dark for the rest of the night (also the right thing to do). Easily avoidable by placing some people in the room actually familiar with celebrities over the age of 30. The beauty site is now in the thick of a PR nightmare. #SadFaceEmoji
Lesson #2: Live doesn’t equal interesting.
Kohl’s live Oscar viewing party via Periscope was akin to watching the last 3 people leaving a bar at 2am. Some mumbling and fumbling, and a whole lot of nothing. Yes, platforms like Periscope make broadcasting easy to launch, but the reality is it’s not easy to pull off. If you’re going this route, have a loose script in place to make sure interesting things are happening — constantly. Because nobody really wants to be a fly on the wall at your lame party. #YawnFaceEmoji
Lesson #3: Red carpet images don’t make you relevant.
We get it. There’s a red carpet in your post. But that doesn’t make your brand relevant to the Oscars conversation. Neither does painting things gold like an Oscar statue. Or a fake acceptance speech. If you want to be relevant, talk about what’s happening during the Oscars, or something that rounds out the Oscars event. Otherwise, you’re that annoying guy at the pool party in knock-off Ray Ban sunnies talking about “that one time at spring break” from a thousand years ago. Just don’t. #AnnoyedFaceEmoji
Lesson #4: If you’re only funny to yourself, you’re probably not funny.
Oscars is clearly a huge opportunity for brands that nail it. But most don’t. Sorry, Juicy Fruit. I just didn’t get what you were trying to do. #ConfusedFaceEmoji
And my #Oscars winners are…
Airbnb, for making it possible for people to stay in houses used in movie locations — perfect tie in and adding in the ability to nominate a friend to take got people talking.
Ford, for their Extras on Extras clips — totally relevant the conversation and I learned a few fun facts about movie extras that were part of road trip scenes during the commercial breaks.
