Five things worth sharing from the last week or so, brought to you by a different member of the Browser Media team every Friday.
This week’s My Five is by Libby.
1. Caturday
Not to be confused with Japan’s Nyan Nyan Nyan Day, 8th August is recognised as International Cat Day, like it or not:
Seems us non-cat-people are in the minority, however. International Cat Day was created back in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare to “celebrate the bond between humans and cats”, which means Twitter and Instagram both used it as an excuse to post cat-related content for 24 hours.
There were a few news stories jumping on the ICD band wagon. Facebook released a study into “cat people versus dog lovers” to find, amongst other things, that:
1. Cat people are more likely to be single
2. Cat people have fewer friends (but get invited out more than dog lovers)
3. Cat people express a wider variety of emotions of Facebook
Don’t worry, International Dog Day is just ‘round the corner on 26th August.
2. Olympic Marketing Strategies
This is probably a blog post in itself, and there are stringent rules when it comes to marketing off the back of the Olympics, but it’s not surprising to find that brands are doing all they can to capitalise on this year’s games. Ambush marketing was a cause for concern during London 2012, and this year is taking a similar shape with US swimmer, Michael Phelps, failing to disguise his beats headphones.
We’re all for collaboration in marketing, and unexpected partnerships can create striking campaigns that really resonate with an audience, but campaigners are once again up in arms because the brands officially associated with Rio 2016 include not only Coca-Cola (aka the evil empire) and McDonald’s (creators of the ‘fat salad’), but Team GB is also sponsored by Kellogg’s (makers of dessert for breakfast).
When challenged, Ian Wright, the director general of the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), said:
“At a time when public health budgets are shrinking, restricting sports sponsorship from food and drink companies – whether of grassroots sport or international competitions – would result in less physical activity, not more.” – via The Guardian.
K…
3. The adventures of Wes and William
We love a Social Media Win at Browser Media, and Tesco have done it again with their response to a customer finding a little something extra when they unwrapped their cucumber:
Tesco’s customer care rep, Rob, offered condolences in the form of both poetry and song (covered extensively here) as he was unable to attend the funeral Wes held, which looked to be a no-expenses-spared affair:
It’s a great – and very funny – example of a brand turning what could easily be seen as negative press into a positive, gaining attention for all the right reasons.
Anyways, here’s Wonderworm:
“Today is gonna be the day that we’re gonna celebrate for Will,
He’s’ gone, and now we’re feeling sad, we know it’s a void we cannot fill,
I don’t believe that anybody, feels the way we do, about you Will…Back beat, the word is on the street that you’d travelled many-many miles,
I thought we’d seen it all before, but you’ve gave us memories and smiles,
I don’t believe that anybody, feels the way we do, about you now…And all the grass you’d wriggled through is inspiring,
And all the time that Wes spent trying to revive you…
There are many things that we, would like to say to you
But we cannot now…. :(Because maybe,
You’re gonna the worm that saves me,
I think we’ve learned,
You’re our wonder worm!”
4. Singapore street food stalls get Michelin star
For 30 years, Chan Hon Meng has worked 100 hours a week. For the last 8 years, he has been selling traditional Singapore chicken noodle dishes for less than $2 a portion at Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice and Noodle. This modest chicken stall made dinning history this week as it became the first street food stall in the world to win a Michelin star. With approximately 150 portions of his signature chicken rice dish sold each lunchtime, Mr Chan Hon Meng said he had no intention of putting his prices up in light of his accolade.
5. #OlympicNan
After winning the 100-metre breaststroke, Adam Peaty added the first medal to GB’s tally this week in Rio, a gold no less. Peaty set the bar high setting a new world record in his heat so expectations were high for the final. Peaty, just 21 years old, smashed his own world record he has set just the day before – the first medal swimming gold for 28 years. The lead of 1.5 seconds saw him surpass former Olympic champion Cameron van de Burgh who took silver.
His gravity-defying press-up is pretty impressive too.
But it’s Adam’s 74-year-old Nan, Mavis, who grabbed headlines following Peaty’s victory and awarded her own title of #OlympicNan. A BBC TV crew spent the early hours of Monday morning filming Mavis watching the final. Mavis had 2,000 followers on Twitter by the time the race was won and column inches to match in Monday’s press coverage.
