Your favorite holiday that you never knew existed! #NationalCookieDay

Friends, get excited.

Not only is it Friday (yay!) but it is a very special Friday, indeed.Today is #NationalCookieDay!

I swear, every year, Twitter brings to light more and more national "holidays" that I never knew existed, but that I now love!

National Cookie Day is one of those days!

You'll see lots of people tweeting about this and some cute pictures and recipe ideas, but let's get serious.  I want some actual cookies on National Cookie Day!  Assuming you do too, I found these three places you can get deals or FREE treats to celebrate!

WHOLE FOODSWhole Foods is offering all its delicious cookies for only 25 cents this week!  No joke, I'd get there fast if I was you!

INSOMNIA COOKIESIs offering a free chocolate chunk cookie with any purchase.  I've tried these in NYC and they are so good!  Sadly, we Angelenos don't have any Insomnia Cookie stores here, but the offer is also available for delivery online!

ROCKEFELLER CENTERGosh, what is up with NY being so much more cookie-friendly!?  Healthy LA strikes again.  But if you happen to be in downtown NY, stop by the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree for some free cookies from DoubleTree by Hilton!  Smart branding.  You always get a couple warm cookies when you check in.  A nice touch every day — not just #nationalcookieday.

Now, go eat up!  And share a pic of you and your favorite cookie for #NationalCookieDay!

#RedCups and Secret Emojis

Move over, Halloween.  If Starbucks has a say, we are officially in Holiday Season!

This weekend launched the Starbucks Holiday Cups, lovingly now called "Red Cups", and the internet's going crazy.

Starbucks'  #RedCups hashtag has been trending on Twitter since the cups launched on Sunday, and the company created a Twitter-specific emoji just for the launch! Here's how it works, because you can't just go searching for the secret emoji.  Twitter users simply type the hashtag #RedCups within their tweet, and the special emoji will pop up next to it!  I love this idea and think it is a fun and interesting way to promote a hashtaginto trending zone!

Even though we have at least another month before winter starts, I am always in favor of a little festivity, and some great marketing techniques!

What is your vote?  Too early for the #RedCups, or just in time?

Death By Twitter: Twitter Edition

Quick, what's the worst way you can think of to have someone break up with you?

If you are an ex-Sex-And-The-City fanatic, my guess is you immediately thought of the episode where Big broke up with Carrie on a post-it note. 

It'd be tough to get less personal or emotive than that. 

Yet, today, we have news about the professional equivalent of bring broken up with on a post-it note.  Being fired, over Twitter.

The downsizing company just happens to be Twitter itself, making this digital version of a pink slip a bit more understandable.

Twitter recently announced that its interim CEO, Jack Dorsey would be elevated to permanent CEO.  Now, one of Dorsey's first orders of business is laying off 336 employees, almost 10% of Twitter's workforce.  This morning, he confirmed the move with a tweet. 

I guess there is no GREAT way to find out you are being fired, but I certainly wouldn't want to find out when I log into my Twitter feed.  I imagine the office went crazy when everyone read that!  It couldn't have been good for morale.  Still, here at Casey & Sayre, we are huge proponents of promoting your company's core expertise.  And in that sense, at least the announcement stayed "on brand".  

What do you think of Dorsey's Twitter announcement? Was it branding brilliance or just incredibly insensitive?  

VMA Craziness Heats Up Twitter

The VMAs have been a hotbed for controversy the past few years.  Typically, this controversy plays out louder and longer on social media.  Even today, a few days after the VMAs, Miley, Kanye and a host of other VMA topics are still trending worldwide.  And it is no wonder, the awards show has gotten crazier and crazier every year.  Plus, MTV has been focused heavily on increasing social media engagement.  For example, this year MTV created its own unique emoji for the show.  The neon-colored Moonman emoji is inspired by the Moonman-shaped award that is given to VMA winners.  All tweets that used the hashtags #VMA or #VMAs were tagged with this exclusive emoji. 

And, this tactic worked, blowing up engagement on social media.  In the US, 2.2 million people send 21.4 million tweets around the VMAs, up almost 70% from last year.  The hashtag prompted 4.19 million uses, almost threefold the 1.44 million hashtagged tweets from last year.  And, notably, the VMAs were the most-tweeted non-sports program since October 2011.  

What were the most tweeted about moments?  Get ready for a countdown!  And, you might want to hold on to your seats, these crazy moments make for one bumpy ride!

5. Taylor Swift and Kanye (27,162 tweets)

Taylor and Kanye have had an awkward relationship since he famously interrupted her acceptance speech in 2009.  This year, she introduced him at the VMAs!

4. Nicki vs. Miley (27,441 tweets)

Miley Cyrus and Nicki Minaj went head to head with snarky criticism that was sparked earlier this year when Cyrus bashed Minaj in the New York Times.  

3. Justin Bieber's breakdown (80,136 tweets)

Justin Bieber knows how to blow up social media.  His tearful breakdown after his performance of "What Do You Mean" prompted an outcry of its own.

2. Miley's malfunction (147,285 tweets)

Common, did you really think you'd make it through an awards show without a wardrobe malfunction?

1. Kanye's speech (551,466 tweets)

He can't really be running for president, can he?  I wouldn't put anything past Kanye West, and the rapper's 10 minute long acceptance speech ranked as the top-tweeted moment of the VMAs!

What was your favorite moment of the VMAs?  

Nicki vs. Taylor in the Twitter-storm of the Year

Last night, a music industry Twitter-storm erupted and things have only slightly settled down.

It all started yesterday when the MTV Video Music Award Nominations were released.  Of course, Twitter had a lot to say about these, with #VMA leading as a trending topic.  But soon joining in the trending topics were more specific artists.... namely  #TaylorSwift and #NickiMinaj.

Nicki Minaj vented on Twitter after her biggest hit "Anaconda" wasn't nominated for Video Of The Year.  The video, which received 19.6 million clicks in its first 24 hours, set a music video record at the time.  So, Minaj had a point when she thought she was snubbed.  She tweeted:

Well, apparently Taylor Swift thought that Nicki was dogging on her specifically, because she replied, 

Nicki replied with a confused "Huh?" and a back and forth ensued between the two.  Well, I guess rather than "between the two", I should say "with all of Twitter" as it seemed like every reader had an opinion on this conversation which erupted into a sprawling conversation about race and gender. 

What do you think of the debate?  Are you #TeamNicki or #TeamTaylor?

 

Twitter Test

Quick test.

What do you think of when you think of Twitter?

Now, try to describe Twitter in a single sentence.

No matter how much of a Twitter-expert you are (or are not!), your sentence probably had something to do with the concept of 140 characters.  The short messages are what Twitter is KNOWN for.  And at Casey & Sayre, we know the importance of building a brand to be recognizable and known for something!

But Twitter has announced a first step outside that brand identity.  Next month, you'll be able to send messages longer than 140 characters in Twitter!  Now, before you freak out, this change is limited only to direct messages.  Regular tweets will still have the 140 character cap.  But the announced change took many in social media by surprise.  Some have even speculated that it could be signalling a change in the entire strategy of Twitter.  Could all tweets soon have no limitations on length?  And how would that change all that Twitter has become?

What do you think?  Would your Twitter usage change if there was no 140-character limit?

What Better Friday Happy Hour Than Celebrating #NationalDonutDay!

It's National DONUT Day!  Yes, friends, that is a thing!  And there are few things in life that make as many people happy as the humble donut.  That's probably why it has its own "national day"!  In fact, that's probably why #NationalDonutDay has been a trending Twitter topic ALL WEEK!  Well, the day is finally here, and there's still time to check out these top 5 places to get FREE donuts in LA!

5) Supdnuts Donuts

Spudnuts are made with potato flour, making them super light and fluffy.  At any participating Spudnuts, you can get a FREE donut with any purchase!

4) Dunkin' Donuts

Dunkin' Donuts seems to be just as popular for its coffee nowadays!  Today, you get a free donut with a purchase of a beverage.

3) Jiffy Lube

This one is hilarious!  Yes, Jiffy Lube is offering free donuts all day, along with free tire checks to make sure you don't end up with a "donut tire" if one goes flat! Way to be creative in the marketing, Jiffy Lube!

2) Entenmann's 

It might not have as many of its own locations, but that's not stopping Entenmann's from giving away donuts!  Check out their Facebook Sweepstakes to win free donuts for a YEAR!

1) Krispy Kreme

I saved Krispy Kreme for last.  Not because I have dreams about them (but maybe I do!) but because you don't even have to buy ANYTHING here for your free donut!  Now that's reason to celebrate!

Where did you get your #NationalDonutDay treat?  Let us know your fave spot int he comments!

Why Obama stole from Robert Downey Jr.

It's not often that you would see Barack Obama and Robert Downey Jr. competing for the same award.  

But this week, President Obama ousted Downey Jr. for a world record!

According to Guinness World Records, Obama - who signed up for his own Twitter handle (@POTUS) on Monday - is officially the fastest account to reach 1 million followers.  The presidential account managed to rack up these numbers in under 5 hours, blowing away Robert Downey Jr.'s time of 24 hours set in April 2014.  

If you are anything like me, you might be thinking, "Wait a minute, I thought Obama was already ON Twitter!?"  Well, according to the White House, all other Twitter handles that he has used in the past (@WhiteHouse and @BarackObama) are managed by staffers.  This new account will have tweets exclusively from Mr. President himself.  

From a branding perspective, it seems to make more sense for his PERSONAL account (@BarackObama) to make the exclusively authentic tweets.  But, who am I to argue with the Leader of the Free World!?  That is, of course, unless he is in the market for a new Social Media Adviser! (Call me, Barack!)

Since @POTUS has joined Twitter, he's posted almost every day.  My favorite entry is below, with reply to a tongue-in-cheek question from Bill Clinton.  I personally find the exchange hilarious and hope for more of these conversations!

Are you following any of these presidential handles?  Do you think the new account is necessary or just more government redundancy!?

Why Lindsay Shouldn't Post In Arabic!

Oh, L.Lo.  What are we going to do with you!

I just see the name Lindsay Lohan in a headline now, and I assume it is going to be about something ridiculous.

Well, this week is no different.

Monday, Lindsay posted an inspirational quote to her Instagram followers (she has over 3 million followers!).  The picture, in English, said "You're beautiful" and then had an Arabic translation beneath.  Very nice.  Except, the translation was wrong.  Oops.  The Arabic portion actually translates into "You are a donkey" or "You are an ass".  

How does this even happen? Where did she get the pic!? Does she know Arabic?  This should be a general rule for posting languages: If you can't translate it yourself, don't post it!

Of course, Lindsay has taken down the blooper of a post, but not before setting off the social media world. If you notice #YouAreADonkey trending, now you know why!

The Day The Music Died..... #OneDirection

Today's biggest social media story has a sad, sad tune.

It broke online earlier today, with a post on Facebook from mega-star band One Direction, announcing that member Zayn Malik was leaving the group.

Immediately, the hearts of a million girls worldwide tore apart, and social media went crazy.

Usually, if a story is SUPER popular it will take up one spot on Twitter's "Trending Topics".  It is a big deal to be a Twitter trending topic, as there are only 10 at any given moment.  Well, right now, Zayn's departure is the story on 4  trending topics in Los Angeles, and 2 of them WORLDWIDE.   The most popular sentiments include #AlwaysInOurHeartsZaynMalik and #ZaynWillAlwaysBeAPartOf1D.

These cries are reaching far beyond Twitter, though.  Of course, the original post on Facebook is blowing up, with over a half a MILLION likes and comments.  But it goes even deeper than that.  YouTube has been flooded with videos of fans crying and in hysterics, begging Zayn not to leave.  

He's still alive, people!! Zayn claimed that he wants to be able to "relax and have some private time out of the spotlight." Right, just like any other normal 22-year old guy.  Except with a hoard of devastated fans in his wake.  

Think Zayn's dreams of normalcy will ever happen?  What are your thoughts on Zayn's departure?

Social Media's Hottest Dress of the Season!

Since it is the end of awards season, you would think it is the end of dresses being the top hit on Twitter. 

But last night, Twitter was overtaken with a new dress that caused a huge controversy.

Dubbed #TheDress, this color optical illusion basically divided the internet into two camps, #TeamBlackAndBlue and #TeamWhiteAndGold.

To explain a bit, depending on your brain's perception of color, viewers can see an image of the same dress as either black and blue striped, or gold and white striped.  The concept is fascinating, but since this isn't a brain function blog, I'll let you read about the science elsewhere.  If interested, I think WIRED's recap of it is the best.

Another fascinating aspect, though, is just how quickly this sensation swamped our newsfeeds!  #TheDress was first posted to Tumblr on Wednesday.  Apparently, as Washington Post reported, the dress was intended to be worn in a wedding.  And when the mother of the bride snapped a picture of it to send to members of the wedding party, they all saw the dress as different colors!  To settle the debate, they posed the question to social media and BAM.  

Tens of millions of tweets siding on either end of the debate led to trending hashtags #TheDress, #whiteandgold, #blackandblue.  Even celebrities from Taylor Swift to Mindy Kaling to Julianne Moore chimed in about #TheDress.

When I first saw it, I thought people were pranking me!  It was clearly white and gold.  But now, a few images that I've seen actually do look blue and black!  We are clearly going mad!

What colors do you see?  

Classy Lady Gaga Broke Twitter!

People usually have a lot of thoughts when you bring up Lady Gaga.  Not the least of which are flying costumes, dresses made of meat and weird gigantic head gear.

But the words that aren't usually top of mind are PURE CLASS.  At last night's Oscar's awards, though, that is exactly what she was.

Lady Gaga looked GORGEOUS and sounded even better during her "Sound Of Music" tribute performance.  And basically, the performance all but broke Twitter.  In a night of awards and great speeches, Lady Gaga's performance beat every other moment during the broadcast as far as number of tweets.

I have to admit, the whole time I was watching I couldn't keep my jaw off the floor.  She was so, so amazing.  It's no wonder she beat all the other Twitter numbers, she was the highlight of the night! 

There were, of course, other topics at play during the evening.  You know, like the nominees and awards.  Time Magazine put out a pretty cool timelapse chart to show which Oscar nominated movies were trending in real time during the show.  Of course, the Best Picture winner ended up on top by the end of the night.  Go, Birdman!

What was your favorite moment of the show?  And were you just thinking OMG the entire time Lady Gaga was on!?

How Kanye Actually Won The Grammys

Kanye West didn't win an actual Grammy Award last night, but he definitely won on social media.

If you didn't see the big show last night, then you missed Kanye's fake out stage crash. Reminiscent of his 2009 crash of Taylor Swift's award speech (gosh, that video still makes me cringe), Kanye headed up to the stage after the Album of The Year Award was presented to Beck.  The whole audience seemed to hold their breath until Kanye stopped, smirked and sat back down.  Whether he was joking all along, or just decided not to actually crash another speech, who knows.  But I am glad he sat down!  

The Twittersphere was not pleased with Kanye's antics.  The awkward interaction ranked as the most tweeted moment of the Grammys in terms of tweets per minute, and landed Kanye as the most tweeted about celeb at The Grammys.

What did you think of Kanye rushing the stage?  'So funny' or 'So rude'?

It Was A Super Social Super Bowl!

The Patriots might have been named champions last night, but the Super Bowl itself also won a prize.  Namely, the "most tweeted Superbowl ever".  

With 28.4 million tweets, almost 20% more than last year's game, Super Bowl XLIX was a huge social media success.  

The game's three most tweeted moments were stacked toward the second half: 

3) The end of Katy Perry's halftime show (284,000 tweets per minute)

2) The moment the Patriots finally won the game (379,000 tweets per minute)

1) Malcolm Butler's interception, 20 seconds before the game ended (395 tweets per minute)

But, as we know, the Twittersphere doesn't end at the game itself.  Super Bowl commercials are a huge deal in the social media world.  In fact, almost half of the 66 TV advertisements that aired during the game incorporated a specific hashtag for viewers to tweet promoting the spot or the brand.  Facebook and Snapchat took home a piece of that action too, both being mentioned in commercials including the "Pitch Perfect 2" movie spot, which was Snapchat's Super Bowl debut.  

How do you think the brands did?  What was your favorite Super Bowl commercial?

The New Wave of Celeb Hackers

"And the hackers gonna hack hack hack hack hack"

Yeah, I couldn't help but get Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" song stuck in my head again today!

Poor Taylor was hacked on Instagram and Twitter yesterday
!  Of course, the social media accounts of stars being hacked is nothing new.  But Taylor just happens to be one of the most-followed celebs in the social media world, so you can bet her fans noticed when something was fishy about her account!

And that leads me to what might be the most interesting point about this celeb-hacking: its purpose.  Many times, hackers have done so to post a lewd photograph or start a juicy rumor or something similar.  But not this time.  No, this hacker seemed to mainly be after one thing: followers. Yeah, followers!!

The hacker posted a tweet as though it was from Taylor telling her fans to follow his actual Twitter account.  And later, he asked them to do the same for a supposed friend.  What a crazy thing to do to gain some social media followers!!  And while most of Taylor's followers recognized the hacker and told him to take a hike, a few had a different plan.  They messaged Taylor's account (while the hacker was on it) and asked him to follow them from Taylor's account!  

This "follow-for-a-follow" type of world is crazy and the things people do to elicit social media followers are just as nuts.  What's the craziest thing you've heard of someone doing to get social media followers?

Fashion and Technology Collide at CES

Technology and Fashion.

These two words don't typically go together.  But at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, there has been a large focus on incorporating technology into fashion.

Wearables have been a trend now for awhile, everything from Google Glasses to Fitbit.  But to make things even more fashionable, dresses, vests and fabric itself are now being made tech-friendly.

Nick Verreos, of Project Runway fame, hosted FashionWare at this week's CES, a runway show complete with vests that display your latest tweets, dresses that change color with LED lighting and belts that doubled as phone chargers!  

In theory, this is all very cool.  But the looks are still a bit avant garde for my taste.  And while more practical applications like the belt/phone charger do seem like they would be pretty handy, others are kind of silly.  Do I really need my dress to show my latest tweet like I am some kind of walking billboard?   #IDontThinkSo

What do you think of these tech fashion looks?

Real-time Social Media Marketing At Its Best!

What does the movie Home Alone have in common with Allstate Insurance?

Well, if you watched any college football last night, you know!  #MayhemSale

Allstate pulled an amazing social media marketing campaign during the college football playoffs, which they called "The Mayhem Sale".  Similar to the plot of the classic "Home Alone" movie, where burglars break into the home while the family is on vacation, Allstate's campaign showed the "Mayhem" character as a burglar, having broken into a fictitious home after its "owners" overshared about their location on social media.  Following this so far?  Then the character proceeds to say he is going to sell all the couple's things and thats where the fiction ends!  Allstate held an actual, real-time auction of regular household goods.  Selling things like a 60-inch television for $60 and a car for $200!!  

Each of the items sold were published on Twitter first (making #MayhemSale a trending topic worldwide for much of the night), with many of the best having their own commercial during the games.  Allstate then suggested viewers go to the MayhemSale.com website, and it worked!  In fact the site received so many visitors that halfway through the Sugar Bowl game, it crashed!  Luckily, the site was only down for a few moments so eager bargain-hunters didn't have to hold their breaths too long!

This Allstate campaign was definitely one of the more successful online-meets-offline campaigns I have seen for awhile.  And while the the selling of these items was a bit silly, the underlying message was more serious.  It was a warning to viewers about using social media posts while on vacation, as that is a way burglars actually use to find victims.  

What did you think of the idea?  

A More Serious Side of Social Media

In Public Relations, social media is often highlighted on the softer side of a brand or cause.  Large social media campaigns are often used to increase brand awareness, positioning or help influence thought leaders in an industry.

But the recent explosion of the Bill Cosby accusations have highlighted the more serious side of social media and its effects on public opinion and mass media news. 

Longstanding accusations against Cosby for rape were highlighted in social media last week due to an onstage "joke" that went viral about Cosby's rumored actions.  In a perfect storm of happenstance, Bill Cosby had just put out a challenge to those who followed him in the digital world to meme pictures of him. Little did he know he was adding fuel to the fire, and most who participated "memed" him with allusions of Cosby drugging and raping women. Probably not what he had in mind when putting that challenge out there!

These two actions, the onstage joke and the memes, both went viral, bringing a long dormant accusation to light and blowing up the mass media everywhere.  Essentially, shredding Cosby's reputation and leaving many asking why this didn't get more attention earlier.

The answer is because social media is now bringing issues to light.  There is far less space to hide anymore- and some argue that there is nowhere to hide!  It will be interesting to see if this sad revelation brings more issues in Hollywood to light.  And for Cosby and his accusers, this trial by Twitter seems to have just heated up.

Renee Zellweger Edition

Plastic surgery and celebrities go together sort of like peanut butter and jelly these days.  It’s not a big shock anymore when someone gets a nose job or lip injections or a nip or tuck here or there.  Yawn, old news.

But not so much this week with Renee Zellweger.  Social media went CRAZY after Renee made a rare red carpet appearance on Monday at the Elle Women in Hollywood party, and debuted her new look. I don’t even want to speculate about what surgeries were used to get the new look (though I kinda just think it’s an eye lift!?),  but let’s just be honest, she definitely looks different.  

This change has led to quite a few conversations on Twitter, blogs and Facebook.  Of course, "do we like it or not", but those who don’t like the new look have been very vocal about their opinions, spurring Renee’s defenders to start hashtags like #StopBullying and accusing nay-sayers of cyber bullying.

What do you think of Renee’s new look?

Emmy Awards Edition: Can you really PLAN a Social Media/TV Moment?

There are some live TV/ Social Media moments that are just pure gold.  Think of Ellen's famous selfie during the last Oscars that went viral, or the Oreo ad from the Superbowl power outage in 2013.  But last night's Emmy Awards makes me wonder if those moments just can't always be planned.  

This year's Emmys were advertised as being the "Most Social Media Friendly Event Ever", with brands from Twitter to Facebook to Pinterest getting in on the action.  Pinterest pages being updated in real time with fashion content.  Twitter debuted a zip-line camera feed.  Even video vignette mogul Vine joined the party with a "360-station" to record videos on the red carpet.

But.... looking back on the event.... what really STUCK?

You know the phrase, "If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority"?  I think of that about last night's Emmys social media presence.  There was just too many things all trying to happen.  No one event could capture enough attention to really make it monumental.

Sure there were many tweet-worthy moments.  The Robin Williams tribute was beautiful, Sofia Vergara's spotlight on the spinning pedestal, the audience "Q&A", but I'd be surprised if we were referencing any of these as social media "hits" a year from now.

What did you think of the Emmys?  Any awesome moments I'm just not seeing?