By: Bailey Kitchell, Graphic Designer

It’s been a week since Facebook revealed their much-anticipated secret. But what most expected to be a Facebook phone was nothing more than “Facebook Home,” essentially an operating system that takes over your mobile device. Users had better be really into Facebook, because it appears that is all it does.

1. If you want Facebook Home for your iPhone, you’re out of luck. It works exclusively on Android phones (only four currently). They really want you to buy the HTC First, a $99 smartphone with Facebook Home pre-loaded. Facebook didn’t create this phone, but they certainly control it.

2. Facebook notifications are all that you see. On the “HTC First”, all notifications come through Facebook Home, so any competing notifications, like Twitter, are likely to get buried. The notification system stays on your screen via floating heads of friends who want to chat and photos waiting to be liked. As Mashable puts it, this may get your attention, but it’s basically just a “really nice screensaver.”

3. Facebook Home is trying to target the YAYA (Youth and Young Adult) market. Facebook is losing the teen demographic more rapidly, so naturally, its trying to gain those users back. But for a demo that changes its mind more frequently than its clothes, this may not be the best plan of action for Facebook. When they tire of the system quickly, the phone becomes virtually useless.

After just a week, 44% of users gave it a measly one star out of five. It may be safe to say that unless you’re one of those people who can’t seem to tear themselves away from social media, you’re better off sticking with your iPhone and basic Facebook app. But we’ll let you decide that.

By: Ashten Travis, Audience Development

Human Rights Campaign turned Facebook into the loudest voice in the fight for gay marriage. Recently, millions of people on social media, mostly Facebook, changed their profile pictures to the image of a red equal sign, indicating their support for same-sex marriage.

Facebook predicted an extra 2.7 million U.S. Facebook users changed their profile pictures Tuesday, March 26^th due to the campaign. That would be a 120% increase compared to an average day. The HRC kicked off the campaign Monday, March 25^th in anticipation of the upcoming gay marriage cases currently being reviewed by the Supreme Court.

Social media campaigns can fail, but why did this one work? This campaign brought a tremendous amount of visible support at such a crucial time. Facebook made a difference by doing what it does best: connecting people. An individual simply knowing a gay person can be the one of the most vital factors in developing support for gay marriage. Out of the average user’s 190 friends, one of them is bound to have a personal stake in the issue. Facebook plays a big role in connecting many older generations to the views of generation Y, that they wouldn’t have otherwise come across.

The YAYA (Youth And Young Adult) market, ages 18-24-years-old, can be attributed to a lot of the campaign success. The huge lift in support of gay marriage can be linked these young people. According to Pew Research, 70% of people born after 1980 believed gays and lesbians should have the legal right to marry.  With this age group being pro-gay rights supporters and also heavy social media users, it’s no wonder they were a driving force in this campaign.

Did you see this picture swap among your Facebook friends? How can you leverage your brand’s Facebook profile picture to send a message?

Photo 1

By: KT Heins, Copy Writer/Editor
Facebook can most commonly be compared to a toaster because like the toaster, it doesn’t really need to be new and improved to fulfill its one basic job. In Facebook’s case, it keeps people connected. Since the beginning of 2013, Facebook has rolled out consistent, radical changes, turning the toaster into a toaster oven.

On March 12, Facebook announced that it would be changing the design of its newsfeed so that it will read like a ‘personalized newspaper.’ The newsfeed will have visuals that are 50% larger, enriched images and video capabilities, be divided by section (friends feed, music feed, photo feed). All of this is going mobile, which is promised to look cleaner and more vibrant via smartphone and tablet.

After the toll the Graph Search capabilities had on Facebook’s privacy issues in January, the introduction of a new newsfeed has majority of users hesitant and bemoaning. However, Zuckerberg and his team might be on to something here, with millennials and marketers alike.

In Control

Think about it. Millennials (“The Facebook Generation“) love to have more control over what they watch and how they engage. They like to interact with media and advertising (voting on commercials, chip flavors, etc), but only media that they’re interested in. They’re not annoyed by advertisements. In fact, 33% of milliennials favor brands that have Facebook pages and mobile websites. They just only want to engage with the brands they like.

With Facebook’s new newsfeed, if they want to exclusively interact with half of their friends on Facebook, seeing only their status updates on their feeds, they can. If they want to listen what their  friends listen to, they can. Millennials will also be able to control what advertisements they will see based off the feed they subscribe to. Once they have subscribed to a feed, they get advertisements based off feed content and what their friends sharing in the feed like.

If millennials use a newsfeed that is more tailored to what they like, they’ll ‘like’ more on Facebook, which ultimately is good for advertisers, marketers and Facebook. With more specifics comes more engagement. With more engagement comes more ‘likes.’ With more ‘like’s comes more marketers, which keeps Facebook up and running in the first place. Marketers will also be able to advertise to friends of friends who like their brands, creating brand loyalists and engaging with the Facebook user more.

On the Go

The number of Facebook users accessing the site via mobile reached about 60% by 2013 with more promoted advertisements in the newsfeed being selected by these users, because advertisements on the right hand side were not being selected. Advertisers were missing the mobile mark, barely appearing on the application and costing them and Facebook valuable dollars. And since 59% of millennials are on their smartphones on the daily, it’s obvious which audience is lost to marketers on Facebook’s mobile application.

It’s still a mystery how these advertisements from the right side of the Facebook newsfeed will now be incorporated into the new feed, but with the promise that the feed is ‘mobile inspired’ and both introduced to assist advertisers, it’s likely that these advertisements will now be incorporated into the feed. Considering 69% of millennials have already spent money on an activity via mobile and that most of these millennials access Facebook to socialize, it makes sense that advertisers would want to engage consumers via Facebook mobile.

With the new and improved newsfeed, the real advantage that marketers will now have is that the newspaper aesthetic looks incredible on mobile. The new newsfeed is able to take advertisements on the old newsfeed and make them look just as large and bright as the photos from last night’s party, which is more desirable to a millennial. If an ad looks sleek, it warrants a high click through rate in the newsfeed.

Marketers are ready for the innovative newsfeed, wanting to break through the ‘clutter’ that Facebook’s wait list page promises to eliminate while millennials, resistant to change, are signing up on the wait list, unable to help themselves.

Photo Credits:

Photo 1
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By Katie Martins, PR/Newsletter Editor

Featured in a previous post, the Harlem Shake had its viral claim to fame for the month of February, but a new, not so skillful video has hit the Internet. A prank called “Gallon Smashing” was shared over Facebook as “the thing that beats Harlem Shake.” The video on Facebook has accumulated about 103,000 likes and almost 140,000 shares. The YouTube version is close to breaking 1,000,000 views.

According to an article on NY Daily News, three brothers are responsible for going into grocery stores and smashing one or two gallons of milk or juice as if it was an accident. Then customers react to fallen pranksters when the boys dramatically struggle to get up. A YouTube search for “gallon smash prank” already delivers 842 results after a week. Could the re-creation of this new prank become dangerous and costly for supermarkets? One copycat video, GALLON SMASHING Public Prank Part 2 (Full Video) has just over 27,000 views and at 30 seconds a Wal-Mart worker says it was the second prank performed that day.

Millennials have all the tools they need to assemble simple, online videos with little to no cost. Mashable says, “With the proliferation of camera phones, many videos are being shot by amateurs on these devices.” The only costs that aren’t always considered are the legal actions that could be taken against viral video creators. Causing damages and being a public nuisance don’t necessarily look good on college or job applications. Although videos like this can be humorous and are featured on popular shows like Comedy Central’s Tosh.0 and MTV’s Ridiculousness, there are reasons the warnings ‘do not to attempt to recreate’ are included.

From a marketer’s point of view, do you think 15 minutes (often less) of Internet fame are worth the consequences that can come from over sharing? Is there a way advertisers can manipulate these videos to use to their advantage?
Sources:
“Harlem Shake Goes Viral, What it Means to Your Brand (Previous Post)

“Gallon Smashing (The thing that beats Harlem Shake)” — (YouTube Video)

“VIDEO: Gallon Smashing hits the Web – but is it the next Gangnam Style or Harlem Shake?”
NY Daily News

“GALLON SMASHING Public Prank Part 2 (Full Video)” – (YouTube Video)

“Viral Video” – (Mashable Website)

“Online Home of Tosh.0’s Funny Viral Videos hosted by Daniel Tosh “ – (Website Homepage)

“Ridiculousness”  – (Website Homepage)

Photo Credit 

http://business.time.com/2011/10/03/entering-the-world-of-an-extreme-couponer/slide/milk/

By: Megan Owara, Audience Development
Many Baby Boomers and Gen X believe that millennials no longer care about online privacy.  This is a major misperception.
The vast majority of millennials are very conscious of what is being shared on their Facebook profiles and other social media accounts.  The impact of neglecting your social media presence can be dangerous and cost potential employees jobs.  For this reason, millennials recognize the importance of social media reputation management.

There are many steps millennials are taking to monitor and protect their private lives.  These range from main privacy settings to deleting users and untagging pictures/posts. A few statistics of YAYAs’ involvement in active protection of their reputations online are:

 

• 59% of 18-29 year-olds have their Facebook settings to private only
• 71% have deleted users in their network
• 56% have deleted comments on their profile
• 49% have untagged photos from their profile

What is significant is that the amount of millennials managing their privacy is higher than any other age group. So, where does this reputation about being reckless online come from?

Many millennials do believe in receiving the most relevant advertising and don’t mind if it keeps their favorite social sites from charging for their services.  The perception is, if Google wants to know my searching habits or Facebook targets my interest, let them. If the purpose is intended to benefit an individual’s online experience then is it really an invasion of privacy?

What this comes down to is a definition of Internet privacy.  If this consists of social media reputation management, then millennials are all over it.  What defines Internet privacy to you?

Sources:
Launch PDF file.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/mattmiller/2012/11/08/privacy-isnt-dead-with-millennials-its-thriving/

By Kelly Walsh, Copy Editor

Valentine’s Day is, for many, a controversial holiday. Some spend their day with a loved one, some are single and with friends, and some focus on the one that got away. Regardless of current relationship statuses, the face of traditional dating has changed drastically with the implementation of social media, especially Facebook.

Youth and Young Adults (YAYAs) are at the center of this dating revolution. According to a study completed by Oxygen Media on millennials (ages 18-34), 50% of women believe it is just fine to date people they’ve only met on Facebook, compared to 65% of men. There is plenty of room for non-commitment on Facebook as well, with 20% of men using Facebook to “hook” up while only 6% of women do the same.

Trust is usually cited as the foundation of a relationship, but if that is the case, millennials have a weird way of showing it. The survey also stated that 49% of women believe it is fine to keep tabs on a boyfriend by having access to his account.

Fellas, before you decide your girlfriend is crazy, remember that 42% of men also agreed.

Ending a relationship is always tough, especially when it is now in a very public forum. 9% of women have broken up their relationships via Facebook, as compared to 24% of men. However, the majorities, 91% of women, don’t believe that breaking up via Facebook is okay. For those who want a face-to-face breakup, it is not totally out of the question. Let’s not bring up texting or Skype for that matter.

The challenge to marketers on Valentine’s Day is targeting the right people with what they want to see on the side bar ads. Whether YAYAs are listed on Facebook as single, in a relationship, engaged, or married, marketers have the ability to strategically target it’s audience based on just that criteria. Facebook also has the “liking” capability that tracks its members’ interests.

Sources:

www.furturity.org

http://mashable.com/2010/07/07/oxygen-facebook-study/

By Matt Pickerel

AMC’s The Walking Dead premiered on October 14^th to a record number of viewers. About 10.9 million viewers tuned in to see Rick Grimes and the gang slay zombies, which is a 50% increase from the season 2 premiere. On the night, 15.2 million viewers saw the episode, with numbers due to increase when DVR viewers are tallied.

But, how did the show become the most watched basic cable drama in history? By not ignoring milliennials on social media! They actually tailored the Walking Dead experience to them specifically. Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead creator and Executive Producer, credits the entire social media experience for the success. The Walking Dead Facebook page recently gained 10 million likes on Facebook and has almost eclipsed the 300,000-follower mark on Twitter.

The social media experience is not just limited to tweets and likes. There is now a Walking Dead Facebook game in which members can play a Farmville-like game with characters from the show. Unlike Farmville, however, this game has a bit more zombie killing. There is a zombie infection promotion on Facebook and Foursquare where members can “infect” and “defend” friends on the platforms.

The shows success also owes credits to the talk show and social experience Talking Dead. The host, Chris Hardwick, has guests and celebrities on the show to gab about the latest episode. Viewers can call in, tweet, and email the show questions.

The shows social media tactics are so strong that marketers want a piece of the action. Hyundai partnered with The Walking Dead to help them target millennials. Robert Kirkman even designed a Hyundai Elantra Coupe Zombie Survival Machine. The car was unveiled at Comic-Con International in San Diego.

So, it seems The Walking Dead has figured out how to infect social media. They’ve boosted The Walking Dead viewership and experience and millennials, as well as marketers are aching for more. The bar for television experiences seems to have been raised. Is this format here to stay?

 

By Sarah Frueh

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg’s recent comments that she leaves work at 5:30 p.m. to spend time with her family. With lengthier work days becoming the norm for today’s workforce, especially in the tech industry, many have criticized Sandberg for not working the 10-12 hour days associated with her high-powered COO position.

According to a Time article, these longer hours have started to become standard in part because of technological advancements and the rise of the Internet coupled with a struggling economy. Many have taken the fact that we

can now be reached at all times via smartphones and email as a reason to keep working well past 5 p.m., which used to be the standard end of the workday. Others feel the need to stay late in order to stand out in the wake of recent cutbacks.

I’m not sure why some people feel the need to criticize a mother for leaving at the end of the workday to spend time with her children, especially when she says she usually continues to work from home at night. However, I can almost guarantee that the critics are not Millennials. Why am I so sure of this, you might ask? Here’s why:

1. Flexible work hours and a healthy work-life balance are very important to Millennials: according to a Wall Street Journal article, more than 60 percent of the YAYA Generation surveyed said flexible work hours were important to them. A few other articles have theorized that Gen Y members feel this way because they watched their Baby Boomer parents obsess over work for most of their young lives.
2.  So far, Millennials are attentive parents with strong family values: according to an article on millennialmarketing.com, Gen-Y is likely to put their kids ahead of their careers. However, since many Millennials and their spouses both have jobs, they must have options that allow them to be a part of their children’s and spouse’s lives.
3. They are open to nontraditional behaviors related to marriage and parenting: according to the Pew Research report, “Millennials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change,” Millennials are used to the idea of both parents in a family having jobs. Because of the dual-income household norm, Millennial parents must make use of solutions like daycare, flexible work hours and the option to work from home.

Additionally, Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO of Mashable and, as luck would have it, a Millennial, wrote this article in support of Sandberg’s healthy work-life balance. I, for one, am glad to have notables like Sandberg and Cashmore out there defending my right to a personal life as I enter the workforce.

So, the key takeaway here for companies who employ or are looking to hire members of the YAYA demographic is to keep all of the above things in mind. We, Millennials, can bring a lot to the table. We are hardworking, tech savvy, enthusiastic and hungry to learn. We will work incredibly hard to get places in life, but when it comes to when and where we do our work, we like to have a say in the matter. Most Millennials are also willing to use their technology to continue working from home in the evenings as Sandberg does.

Companies employ Gen Y members, what are your thoughts on this subject? Millennials, how much importance do you place on schedule flexibility in pursuing jobs? Please share your ideas below!

By Matt Kamp
For many of the YAYA Generation (ages 18-24), Facebook has become a way of life.  It is how we share our experiences with our friends.  With the new Facebook Timeline layout, this has become easier and more fun than ever.

Up to this point, businesses hadn’t been able to get in on the biggest change to Facebook since they added the newsfeed. The wait is over.

Facebook has recently opened up the Timeline page design to brands and companies on the social network.  In fact, Facebook automatically changed every business page to this new layout on March 30.

If a business uses this powerful new tool correctly, this is a game-changer in connecting with the YAYA demographic.

Here are three tips how to use the new Facebook to positively engage your YAYA fans in your brand:

1. Be Visual

The new Timeline allows your page to be much more visually attractive.  Change the cover image to something eye-catching that also captures the essence of your brand.  “Highlight” stories in your timeline (it makes them bigger) that are more important to your brand and are worthy of emphasis.  Consider “pinning” one of your most important updates to the top of your timeline for a week.  Use all of these new features to express who you are in a visual way.

2. Be Personal

Administrators in charge of a business’s Facebook page can now “use Facebook as” their brand.  Brands may send personal messages to fans.  Do this to show you’re human and connect with Millennials on a personal level.  We also respect company transparency.

3. Be Active

You don’t have to be on Facebook every second of the day, but try to post a few times a week.  The number of users on the site and the precision with which a business can target them make for an incredible opportunity to establish your niche in the YAYA demographic.  Create casual discussions among this group and contribute. Informing and educating us on topics that your business can speak to is cool.  Constantly shouting advertisements at us is not.

Hosting interactive contests also appeals to Gen Y, and the Timeline is great for showing off user-generated content.  Keep in mind YAYA-friendly Facebook Offers as well, a more involved deals and rewards feature for businesses.

With the new Timeline for companies, Facebook has done a great job of leveling the playing field for businesses of any size.  It allows any business to reach out and make an immediate impact.  The opportunity is there, now you just have to take action.

*Image taken from socialmediaexaminer.com

 

By: Kaitlyn Roberts

My love for social media all started when I signed into my first Facebook account. Then, Facebook was at it purest form; it was a place where my friends and I could share and communicate on the Internet.

Now, social media has changed and transformed how we do everything. Although older generations, businesses and organizations are starting to catch on, they still haven’t fully grasped the concept of social media much like our generation, the YAYA life stage, consisting of 18-24 year olds.

Nonetheless, social media has a great power to pull people together and it did just that for the global Social Media Week conference I attended this past September.

Social Media Week Los Angeles was more than just informational sessions on social media, it also brought together some of the greatest minds and CEOs in everything from entertainment, fashion, advertising, technology and even cooking!

While attending the events, I had many conversations with entrepreneurs, successful businessmen, students and actors with bright eyes, hoping that social media would be their ticket to stardom and success. Overall, it was an amazing experience to see so many generations bonding together on one universal topic. Mostly, it was businesses wanting to know one simple thing: the key to being successful and engaging on social media networks.

At all of these events, I couldn’t help but notice a reoccurring theme that I’ve recognized throughout my experiences as an employee of a social media and PR agency, but most importantly through my perspective as a member of the YAYA life stage. Companies and older generations outside the Millennial age group jump into social media with one desire – success – without fully understanding why we love it and how we use it. I’ve heard it a million times by people outside the YAYA life stage stating, “I’m all about the ‘Twitters’ and the ‘Facebooks’ because that’s how I will attract young adults.”

Great, you finally recognize that social media is a great platform, but we won’t automatically give you a pat on the back for this. Quite honestly, if you do a terrible job of maintaining a constant stream of content, and if you don’t try to be engaging with promotions or humorous postings, for example, we’ll never pay attention to your account. If we do, we might just draw attention to you for not so positive reasons.

As I stood in the beautiful offices of Ogilvy and Mather during Social Media Week, a man pulled me aside and said something so brilliant, yet so obvious.

He began by telling me, “Amazingly, I’ve heard some of the most successful and intelligent people tell me all of the great possibilities of social media and I’ve heard their success stories.” While all of these people could tell him how great it is, he thought they still couldn’t see the bigger picture.

Then the “Aha!” moment came. “This is where you come in. Your generation owns this and I know that you really hold the key to not only being successful with social media but, almost more importantly, I’m smart enough to know that [18-24 year olds] know it so well that you can see weaknesses better than anyone else.”

Everyone knows that Millennials love social media, but millions of businesses fail to recognize that they can really capitalize on having a passionate Millennial to manage and offer advice on their social media plans. The fresh early-adopting Millennial can keep a business on top of trends, while also effectively engaging your audience by maintaining relevant content.

3 Quick Emerging Trends and Tips

1. Using copywriters for witty and engaging posts – for example, the film industry has used this tactic to promote new and upcoming movies by developing interest in certain characters through social media. Other companies are now using this stratagem and it’s making several of them very successful.
2. Some of the best product ideas come from simply asking consumers for their ideas. Not only is the audience often happy to help, but they can sometimes offer fresher ideas than the stale collective mind of a marketing team. A product developer for Starbucks figured this out when he tried this tactic and the best product ideas came from the responses on Facebook.
3. The better or more intriguing your profile or Twitter profile picture is, the more likely someone will click on your page and potentially “like” or “follow” you.

Want to know more? Please email us with any questions or comments.