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Ellen's Battle with the Groundswell: Social Media Marketing Project Part Two

 

Ellen's Battle with the Groundswell: Social Media Marketing Project Part Two

Previously, we looked at the impact on The Ellen Degeneres Show from its recent summer scandal alleging a toxic workplace environment plagued with mistreatment and abuse, including staffers and Ellen herself. We’ll now analyze Ellen’s ratings and analytics some weeks after her post scandal season premiere, and determine if she has won back the viewership of her once large and devoted audience. We can also see if her social media outreach and presence has at all changed in response to her lack of ratings. Is her team doing anything new to bring back or grow her audience? Is Ellen using her huge platform in a constructive way right now given the current divisive political climate? Maybe Ellen’s light-hearted, pop culture content is not working and she needs to shake it up a bit. Taking a stronger stand in the upcoming election might help her, especially as Trump stands for the exact opposite of which Ellen’s show is based, namely kindness and empathy.  

Analytics and Analysis:

Ellen began the current season (season 18) with a decrease in ratings. With most Americans currently working from home or spending their days attending lectures on Zoom, you would think that TV ratings would be somewhat higher than usual as more people are home during the day. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for the Ellen Show, as her current Season 18 ratings have plummeted in comparison to recent past seasons. In addition, Ellen’s popularity on google trends has been steadily decreasing since the summer, proving how people might be moving on from her and that the scandal negatively affected her brand.  

Even in the past few weeks, The Ellen Degeneres Show’s ratings have been declining steadily. Currently, the show is pulling 37% fewer viewers than last October, while other shows such as Live with Kelly and Ryan, have received a significant increase in ratings. Similarly, The Kelly Clarkson Show is doing much better in ratings than the Ellen Show, and many even predict that Kelly will soon dethrone the “be kind to everyone" queen of daytime TV. So, it seems as if quarantine has helped TV engagement, but not Ellen’s.

Despite Ellen’s ratings decline, she is still somewhat more popular than her daytime competitors online. Ellen’s strength and prevalence on social media is at 5%, which is stronger than all other talk shows. Commentary surrounding Ellen and her show is primarily neutral. Based on the Social Mention analysis and comparison to another similar show (Live with Kelly and Ryan), you would not think that Ellen’s ratings have taken such a hit. However, it seems that people are still discussing Ellen online, whether it by a funny meme surrounding the controversy or highlighting her apparent hypocrisy. This could be why her strength is higher than that of her competitors, despite the fact they haven't received much of a drop in ratings.

In addition, celebrity anecdotes and negative experiences with the star continue. Ryan Phillipe is the most recent celebrity to make a dig at Ellen on his Instagram, as he posed alongside a billboard for the show while pointing out the hypocrisy in its message of promoting kindness. Posts like this as well as stories recounted by celebrities can’t be helpful to Ellen and her brand as they try to move on from the summer.  

Ellen’s activity on social media has not changed at all the past few weeks, despite the drop in ratings. Ellen is still being her usual self, trying to keep her brand relevant by attaching her name to many celebrities and trends. In terms of people discussing her on social media, I haven’t seen a major shift in how she is commonly portrayed online, most of the time it’s in meme format or someone making light of the situation, so it seems as if people still think it’s a funny situation. 

When speculating why ratings are still not improving, it seems fair to say that Ellen has lost a significant amount of supporters. As someone who preached kindness and compassion, Ellen may now seem somewhat ingenuous, in that everything in which she advocated is not a sincere part of her professional life. Despite Ellen’s attempt to distance herself from the terrible press and accusations she has faced, she is still ridiculed online and does not seem to have changed many minds. 

Goals for Success:

Interact more with the Groundswell and her fans

Ellen could personalize her social media platforms in order to create more of an authentic connection with fans. Most people can tell when a celebrity/brand account is run by a team, and it seems that is the case with Ellen’s platforms. To prove that she actually reads and appreciates people's messages and words, Ellen would be smart to directly interact with the groundswell by replying back to comments and answering questions. Brands that are interactive with their customers or fans provide a more direct line of communication that seems to care more about consumers' opinions and responses. By occasionally responding to fans directly, Ellen would appear more genuine, which could greatly help her after the scandal. Ellen desperately needs people to believe that she is everything she portrays herself to be: a kind, genuine and authentic person that deeply cares about others. This might be easier to accomplish if she made her social media presence less generic and more personable to her fans. People would likely be more willing to comment on her posts, or tag her in tweets for example if they knew she would actually see it and respond. Despite the fact that people in the groundswell are interacting with one another through discussion of Ellen’s show or in her comments, Ellen herself, or even people from her team, are missing from that conversation. A business hoping to regain people’s trust and admiration would be smart to directly convey their feelings and be sure to let people know what they stand for. 

Ellen acknowledging, responding and taking input from her fans would highlight the importance of word of mouth advertising, as she understands that what people are saying to and about her is essential to the success of her brand. Not only would customers and fans feel a deeper personal connection to Degeneres, but it would also be a smart brand move as input from consumers is so valuable. 

Take a more active role in social justice and politics

Though The Ellen Degeneres Show occasionally posts politiical content on their social media accounts, the brand could definitely take a more active role. With such a critical and crucial election in just a few days, all brands and celebrities should be utilizing their platforms to explain how important voting is and how this election is the most important thing going on in the country right now. Ellen does however make some tweets and or instagram posts saying GO VOTE, but why doesn’t she have a link on her site that leads directly to voting registration? During this chaotic time in our country, those with such large platforms need to be advocating for social justice and change, and right now that advocacy is voting. Instead of her usual, lighthearted and rather apolitical content, perhaps it would help Ellen to be posting more political content to keep her fans informed. For example, she could make videos and instagram reels depicting the importance of fighting for climate change, and the impact this election will have on the future of our planet. She could do an instagram live with an activist or a congress person to relay the importance of voting and discuss the Black Lives Matter Movement. Also, since Ellen wants to get back her “kind” persona that she was so famously known, she should be advocatinig against the guy who is everything but kind. Ellen has posted support in the past for Biden, so if she really cares about Biden defeating Trump, she should be all in with her show and social media because that is what she believes.

As Ellen has such a wide target audience consisting of practically all age groups, she should be doing this political and justice outreach on all of her platforms. On facebook, she’ll get the attention of the older generations and tik tok/instagram will catch Gen Z’s focus. With a broad and extensive target audience, Ellen has the ability to make an impact on a wide range of people. One could argue that right now we could use more comedy and light heartedness, but at the same time, it could really benefit Ellen to find a way to use her platform to not only entertain, but also to inform and educate.  

Ariana Grande Album leak: Original Post

Leaked Music in the age of the Groundswell

If you're a fan of Ariana Grande like me, you have probably heard about the release of her upcoming new album.

On Friday, Ariana Grande is scheduled to release her sixth album, Positions. Ariana announced the album release date (October 30th) to fans just a few days back and shortly after, she dropped the debut single from the album, Positions. However, it seems as if the album was leaked just days before the release date, putting Ariana stans in a scurry.

This concept of albums “leaking” prior to their release data is not singular to Ariana. Many artists have had this happen to them in the past, such as Beyonce with her album 4. Beyonce is quoted to have said “While this is not how I wanted to present my new songs, I appreciate the positive response”. Other artists whose records have been leaked include Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift and Drake. Leaking music is wrong and without given permission from the owner, it is regarded as a crime as the leaker has directly stolen from the artist. Madonna has even described album leaking as “a form of artistic terrorism.”

This concept of leaking music portrays the ugly and dangerous side of the internet and social media. Once one person has the URL, esentially anyone in the world can have it. The artist loses power over their product, as it is now solely in the hands of the groundswell. Listeners are already dissecting it and posting their thoughts all over social media, stripping the artist of any control. In these situatitons, it seems as if we aren’t really considering the hard work and integrity of the artist, as this is not what they wanted nor deserved. With the power of social media and the groundswell, people are able to share the “leaked album” all across the world, potentially hurting album sales for the artist. Artists lose control over their music when it leaks. Music fans can empathize with an artist when their hard work is put out on the public domain without their permission, as it strips them of ownership and power of their music.

It’s common to see fans of an artist whose work has been leaked relay to fellow fans or the general public to not listen to the leaked album, as it doesn’t profit the artist and can even ruin possible album success, especially for those who are lesser known. People in the music industry have described how album leaks are most detrimental to artists who are on the rise, but rarely hurt album sales of well-established artists. It seems as if the big fans of artists don’t listen or stream the leaks because they don’t want to take away from album sales when the album is released. 

Luckily for artists with a huge following, the leaking of albums doesn’t cause much harm, such as the case with Taylor Swift’s album 1989. Despite this, Taylor has openly discussed how leaks freak her out and she doesn’t like to talk about them or she will have a meltdown. Also, album leaks hurt many workers involved with album production more than it hurts the artist. The artist will still end up earning money regardless of the way their music is released to the public, but leaking strips them of any control. It also takes away from the excitement of an album or song release, which is important to many artists and their fanbases.

The Ups and Downs of the Groundswell: Reading Reflection Post #3

The Ups and Downs of The Groundswell

Interacting and engaging with the groundswell is an essential component for a successful company or business today, yet achieving it is often not as easy as it sounds. In this week's chapters 13 and 14 readings, Bernoff and Li explain how managing and utilizing various social media accounts can cause stress, difficulty and confusion for an organization. However, despite this challenge, they highlight multiple corporations, such as Home Depot and USAA, that have been able to thrive after getting past some initial social media growing pains.

            In order to reach social maturity, companies must fully immerse themselves in the current climate of the groundswell, no matter what audience your company caters to or the products you sell. There are common stages that all companies go through in order to succeed and fully utilize the groundswell to their strongest ability. These stages include: dormant, coordinating, testing, scaling, optimizing and empowering (pg. 257). Fundamental in the advancement towards social maturity is both the customer and corporation utilizating the same social platforms, that allow for discourse and communication between the two. Wide exposure and presence on social media is great for your brand, but at the same time, it allows your brand to be thoroughly examined, ridiculed, scrutinized, and discussed to a tee, while leaving the business in a powerless and vulnerable position.

When reading of the backlash and harsh criticism in which brands make themselves vulnerable by engaging with the groundswell, I was reminded of a Dove ad from a few years ago that was surrounded in controversy and media attention. The body wash ad featured a black woman taking off a brown shirt and magically transforming herself into a white woman. Most felt that the ad (which Dove quickly deleted after seeing the outrage) was racist and offensive. One user on facebook expressed that by advertising body wash in this way, Dove is implying that it has the ability to make you clean/remove dirt, making the racism in the ad clearly blatant. Dove was quick to respond and express how they “missed the mark in thoughtfully representing women of color” and how they regretted their choice.

The Dove ad highlights the risk of exposure companies face when having a presence on social media. By posting this ad on their pages, they were quickly bombarded with angry, outraged customers  discussing the blatant racism on facebook, twittter and instagram. Dove has an active presence across all social media platforms, and has now reached the fourth stage in Bernoff and Li’s social maturity stages: optimization. Dove possesses a strong PR presence and its activity and content on all popular platforms is kept up to date. The company also involves itself in advocating for social change. However, the company still has some ways to go before fully reaching the empowerment stage, as its social media presence doesn’t actively involve full participation and input from the groundswell.  

Even a company that is well established in its social maturity is susceptible to criticism at the hands of the groundswell. When a company receives severe backlash and starts negative discussions in the groundswell, consumers and users of social media are still actively talking about the company and their products, keeping their name relevant. In addition, a company like Dove is able to show us (the groundswell) how much they value our opinion by posting on their social media and quickly addressing any controversy or backlash. Also, with an active social media presence, a company that makes an error similar to Dove has the ability to address a large audience and express regret and avow that moving forward they are dedicated to ensuring that their company values and serves to eliminate racism in our society (as Dove did). Dove stood by that sentiment a few months ago when they announced their initiative in ending systemic racism, which includes expanding particular black coalitions and promoting legislative advocacy and societal change.

If a company like Dove was not active on social media and fully taking advantage of the groundswell, they would not be able to get their message of apology and intention to change out as effectively to the public. According to Bernoff and Li : “A company that doesn’t engage in this sort of activity will look dated”. Customers do not want to spend their money on a brand that doesn’t care enough to interact and have an active presence online. 

Original Post #3: The NBA, covid-19 and activism

 

Original Post #3: The NBA, covid-19 and activism

If you're socially aware and concerned about the world right now, you'd be hard pressed not to like the NBA this season.

On Sunday night, the NBA completed its delayed season as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Miami Heat in six games to win the Championship. During its three month abbreviated season in the Orlando Disney bubble, the NBA served as a model in preventing Covid-19 infections, made great strides in support of Black Lives Matter, and also advocated for the importance of voting and voting rights.

Coronavirus handling: The NBA was the first professional sports league to suspend its season back in March due to the pandemic. With the hope of playing games while keeping the virus at bay, the NBA announced that they would be starting their season up again in July with serious rules and restrictions, forcing all players and workers to work in a contained environment, or as it became known, the ‘bubble’. The NBA ended up Covid free since they restarted their season in July proving how, with careful adherence, a healthy playing environment is possible. 

Lebron James highlighted this fact proudly after the season ended, lauding how the NBA did everything right. People were sharing their thoughts on twitter and facebook regarding the NBA’s stellar job in handling the unique ever-evolving situation, with many comparing it to the way in which the rest of the US has handled the pandemic, especially in the hands of the Trump administration. 

The NBA is also being applauded for their political activism. The NBA and its players have established a social-justice coalition that strives for meaningful police and criminal justice reform. It’s not just the players who are advocating for this change, but the coaches and owners as well. It’s inspiring to see an organization use its platform to initiate change and social justice. Other organizations just post a picture on social media and think that’s enough for their activism, which in reality does nothing to help the cause. 

BLM is very important to many NBA players, and this season will be remembered most for how the league and its players used their voices to fight for social justice.  Initially, many players didn’t want to participate in the “bubble” season, as they did not want to take focus away from the BLM movement, but they agreed to play as long as they could use their platforms to advocate for change and equality. All teams wore jersey’s that were covered in social justice messages that reminded fans of their personal motto as well as their league wide support of BLM by painting Black Lives Matter on the court. During media interviews and on their personal social media pages, players and coaches have been exposing police brutality and racism in the hope of influencing others to inact change. 

In addition to the BLM movement, the NBA has taken initiative on voting, spearheaded by Lebron James and Michelle Obama. They are hoping to create excitement about voting in the upcoming election. This “More Than A Vote” campaign provides people with information about music, transportation and personal protective equipment at early voting sites throughout the country. Furthermore, many NBA arenas will be turned into voting locations for the 2020 election to allow for safe in-person voting for communities that are especially vulnerable to Covid-19.