Market Magic

The days last longer, the sun shines brighter and the allergens are in full swing; it must be spring.

Spring in Chico is a fun, energy filled time of year that would not be complete without the Thursday night market. Downtown, the streets are lined with vendors, students, families and drifters alike. Between the food trucks, fresh produce stands and entertainment, the market has something for everyone. The variety of local musicians and performers add to the liveliness of the night.

Check out the fun for yourself. Thanks Magisto for helping me create this video.

Winter is Coming: Good Thing @GameOfThrones is Heating Up

Ned Stark was beheaded. Robb Stark was stabbed. King Joffrey was poisoned.

And HBO’s brilliant social media campaigns have added to the heart pounding, jaw dropping, can’t get enough experience.

Boasting 2.39 million followers, @GameOfThrones manages to interact, engage and connect with their fans on a whole new level. HBO’s Vice President of Digital and Social Media, Sabrina Caluori and Digital and Social Media Director Jim Marsh are two of the creative minds that work behind the social scene.

HBO capitalizes on the trend of social TV and gears their original content to the fans.

Through the Game of Thrones official Twitter profile, fans are encouraged to become a part of the conversation and share their reactions.

The shows popularity, combined with HBO’s effective social media strategy, garners audience attention on all their posts.

Their social campaigns are clean, simple, fun and leave room for fan interaction.

Before each season premiere, a new campaign is launched to fuel the already large hype. Past social media teases include: #RoastJoffrey, the first ever internet roast, Beautiful Death, a 30-day countdown featuring 30 illustrations and #TakeTheThrone, where fan tweets were turned into a digital throne.

HBO, a leader of social TV, continues to use their interactive strategies to captivate fans.

Before the anticipated season five premiere, which aired April 12^th, #CatchDrogon spread like dragon fire. Drogon, Daenerys Targaryen’s beloved dragon is currently missing, but HBO wants the help of fans to find him.

In order to catch him, fans need to bait the Drogon and use the hashtag. If Drogon is spotted, the post must be retweeted quickly before he gets away. The lucky hunters who catch him in time will receive a prize, digital or physical. Don’t worry, Drogon will leave something behind even if you miss him.

This is HBO’s current social media campaign but the season has just begun. HBO consistently creates a social environment that encourages creativity, engagement and passion for the show.

Can it be Sunday already?

What do you think the new season has in store? Comment below.

From DIY Action Sports to Box Office Hits

Visual elements of any motion picture are essential. Hollywood has embraced the GoPro as a key tool to capture dynamic visual content. Uses for the camera are rapidly expanding from the original sport enthusiast demographic.

GoPro is known to be the best point of view camera on the market. By creating a brand instead of a product, the company is able to focus their brand value by being able to provide an individual “aspirational emotion of feeling like a “pro”.

As a company, GoPro uses a unique advertising strategy. GoPro advertises its product by showing consumer generated content centered around action activities. These self-made videos are posted to YouTube where they are then shared all over the Internet, or made into commercials to target consumers through television.

These videos show potential customers the high quality, high clarity, and high performance features that a GoPro has to offer.  GoPro also uses other forms of social media to promote their product.  Websites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Vine help promote GoPro videos allowing them to gain more viewers. The GoPro is being used to promote itself. The viral has become a powerful form of advertising and is an instant way of building brand recognition.

The film industry has begun to utilize GoPro cameras because they are light, small and can fit virtually anywhere. The size and weight allows directors to stray from traditional camera systems to create new and exciting shots and videos.

The cameras have also become widely used in reality TV shows, close quarter photography and in close-ups such as explosions. Cameron Glendenning explains below how he uses a GoPro Hero while filming Deadliest Catch.

Analysis Chris Chute explains that, “When Hollywood blows up a set, they buy more GoPro cameras.” Some productions have used over 20 cameras for a set.

The widely valued GoPro CineForm in video post-production, is known as the as the industry’s highest quality compression format. Hollywood feature films like, Slumdog Millionaire, Need for Speed, The Hobbit, Captain Phillips and Furious 7, have utilized GoPro cameras during filming to capture unique angles never seen before.

The camera offers new perspectives for stunt work, action photography, and scenes involving water. GoPro uses are limitless and remain essential to capture great footage for the big screen.

Screenshot Credit: Tara Holliday

“Scandal” is Trendy and #Trending

What do white hats, oversized glasses of red wine and Thursdays nights have in common?

Olivia Pope.

Olivia is confident and smart, with a killer wardrobe. Olivia, played by Kerry Washington on ABC’s “Scandal”, is the main character of the addicting storyline. Of course, the show would not be possible without the brilliant Shondra Rhimes and the writers who have created a dynamic and complex role for the shows female lead.

In season one, Rhimes, sent a spy into the white house, narrowly avoided a ballot rigging nightmare, killed off innocent characters, and crafted a compelling love story. Consequently, “Scandal” is rated the best drama on network television. Olivia Pope follows her own rules, doesn’t take orders from anyone (even the president) and ALWAYS wins.

The show has gained a mass following of fans or ‘Gladiators’. Each Thursday night ‘Galdiators’ take to Twitter and keep Scandal trending for days to follow. Tonight is no exception.

Through hashtag discussions on Twitter, ‘Gladiators’ are able to unite using the clever hashtags created to streamline the conversations.

The show has created an environment where conversations are encouraged. The cast will live tweet with the fans and broadcast customized advertisements detailing the Twitter party.

A repeatedly trending show on Twitter has resulted in favorable ratings week after week. Through Scandal’s social media campaigns, more than 2,200 tweets a minute have been generated. The Hollywood Reporter adds that they have on average five worldwide trending topics, with 8.9 million viewers tuning in every Thursday.

What are you waiting for? Go watch Scandal. If not because of Olivia, then do it for Fitz. Or Jake. Or for any other of the cast members who make the show so great. You will not regret it, but make sure you have a few hours to spare; because once you start, you’ll be hooked.

Screenshot credit: Tara Holliday

Give Goodfilms a Try

It’s Saturday night; all your friends are sitting on the couch yet, no one can agree on a movie to watch. There must be an easier way to pick a movie. Enter Goodfilms.

Goodfilms is a movie recommendation engine for rating and reviewing movies. This Australian startup’s mission is to provide users with the film they should watch next. Because traditional rating criteria don’t always equate to the best movies, Goodfilms has introduced a two-way rating system. A critical rating and a ‘re-watchability’ rating are the two ratings are associated with each film. If you are the film critic, stars represent the quality and happy faces represent the ‘re-watchablity’ aspect.

The film ratings also appear on an interactive graph that compares the film quality with the likelihood that reviews would re-watch it. On the x-axis, the quality is represented, while the y-axis represents the films that are the most re-watchable. The user engagement takes the movie picking process to a whole new level. Guilty pleasures and award winning classics hold the same weight with this graphing system. The different movies are represented by a dot and the dot size indicates the amount of ratings it has. Movies with similar ratings are also clustered together, so you can click on the movies shown below the graph to view its movie page, rate it or add it to your queue.

Regardless of what you’re in the mood for, Goodfilms makes all films easy to find. Additionally, the social aspect is hard to miss. Because films are inherently social, users can share reviews with their friends, add interesting films to their queue and find legal streaming sites the watch the film online. Goodfilms finds the best content of the movie selected on a specific site, like Netflix, iTunes and Hulu

.

Because Goodfilms is a social network, word-of-mouth is important for the sites growth. Through this system, reviews are more reliable.

Next Saturday night do the following: invite friends over, go to Goodfil.ms, easily select a movie based on the rating system, sit back, watch, and enjoy.

Screenshot credit: Goodfil.ms

Appearances or Accomplishments

Who are you wearing? Who are you wearing? Who are you wearing?

The ever famous question, posed by Joan Rivers, transformed the red carpet interview forever. However, the now traditional and expected question may not be so prevalent in the future. This past Sunday the 87th Academy Awards aired, signaling the end of the award season. The season may be over but one hashtag has fueled a conversation that goes beyond the glitz and glamour of award season.

The Representation Project created the powerful #AskHerMore hashtag which encourages viewers to single out red carpet reporters to tell them that women are more than the dress they are wearing. The goal of the hashtag is to raise awareness to the double standard in how men and women are treated in the media.

Women are still underrepresented in mainstream media. Last year the Women’s Media Center reported that women represented 28.8% of speaking characters in the top-grossing films in 2012. Instead of focusing on the designer of a women’s dress, they should be asked about their accomplishments, just like men are.

Amy Poehler, the host of this years Golden Globes, partnered with #AskHerMore and sent out a series of question suggestions on Twitter.

Poehler continued her support of the hashtag during the Oscars.

Reese Witherspoon was one of the biggest celebrities to back the #AskHerMore campaign. Witherspoon, who was nominated for best actress, announced that she would not name her dress designer. Instead, Witherspoon promoted the #AskHerMore campaign during the Oscars to encourage reporters to ask questions about the person rather then the garments. The now traditional question  “What are you wearing” devalues women’s real accomplishments in the entertainment industry.

Other celebrities in support of the hashtag and its associated message turned to Twitter to spread the word.

Powerful hashtags have the ability to reach global audiences which helps bring attention and raise awareness to important topics. In one night, #AskHerMore was trending on both Facebook and Twitter, creating more than 25 million impressions. The conversation continues.

Add your thoughts below.

Screenshot credit: Tara Holliday

The New Media is Mobile

As the digital world expands, real world industries are shifting towards appification, or the process of providing applications (apps) to do the things that would otherwise be done manually. The increasing popularity of smartphones allows users to have everything they need at the touch of a button.

Before the creation of smart phones and apps you were required to watch movies in theaters, or TV shows on a TV set. Now however, there’s an app for that. Companies like Netflix, Hulu Plus and HBO all have mobile apps that allow users to watch content directly on their phones.

These apps create an interactive television experience which is propelling the mobile entertainment industry. They provide a new and fresh experience that is also expanding the mobile entertainment audience base.

Marketers use to believe that people spent more time watching TV than engaging in any other activity, but that is not the case anymore. Joshua Brustein, a journalist for Bloomberg, believes that time spent on mobile devices has surpassed the time spent staring at the TV. In the beginning, TV shows involving a talent competition like American Idol incorporated text messages sent by views to determine the contestants on the show. As technology and apps have evolved, users can log on to their mobile apps and have access to exclusive clips, sneak previews, and extended footage.

An article from Business Insider by Emily Adler suggests that mobile apps are very useful for the industry because they increase consumer interaction. These extras provide an interactive element that fans enjoy. Additionally, a higher connection or relationship can be built between the fans and entertainers. The fan experience is taken to a higher level through the important information shared across the mobile app.The growth of mobile TV apps is increasing the amount of time users view content on their smart phones. The entertainment industry is not only increasing fans bases and consumption rates but they are also understanding the cost effective benefits of  mobile apps.

Do you prefer to watch television shows on a physical TV or would you rather watch a show on a mobile app? Feel free to comment below!

Screenshot Credit: Tara Holliday

Every Book Tells a Story

Located in downtown Chico, Lyons Books is an independent bookstore that is family owned and operated. Since opening in 2003, they have attracted many local authors, artists, and poets.

Scott Raby, manager of Lyon Books, is promoting George Keithley’s new novel “Ring of Fire”. Lyon Books is hosting Keithley on Feb. 19, 2015 where he will be reading from and signing his book.

Scott Raby is proud work in a store that promotes local works of art. Raby especially likes the opportunities to meet the authors, artists and poets in person.

On a typical day, Raby enjoys the chance to talk to customers and help them find the perfect book.

Did You Write This?

The popularity of social media sites like Twitter has increasingly transformed the entertainment industry into a social experience. Many TV shows and major award shows have created an episode or event specific hashtag that garner an onslaught of tweets. Studios have begun promoting their hashtag in hopes that an audience engages and starts a conversation. While Twitter is helping the entertainment industry engage and connect with their consumers, there are a few ethical issues that arise when using Twitter as a celebrity.

Disclosure of information and transparency are those issues. Public relations professionals understand the importance of Twitter because it allows the public to have direct contact with their once unreachable favorite celebrities.

However, in many cases publicists control and run their client’s Twitter profile. An article in the The New York Times by Noah Cohen explains that celebrities such as 50 Cent, Britney Spears, and even Kayne West have admitted to having other people run their Twitter accounts.

This is an ethical issue because it can leave other users unsure if the tweets and information posted is directly from the celebrity or an unknown party. Most of the time, publicists take control because they know the best way  to communicate with the star’s fan base. Additionally, many celebrities want to avoid bad press or simply don’t have the time. However, this is ghost writing and it poses two questions.

Who takes responsibility for the tweets?

Should the real authors of the tweets be mentioned?

This leads to the ethical issue of transparency. When transparency is increased it is easier to build a relationship based on trust. If celebrity Twitter accounts are being run by ghost writers, then the celebrity is not being honest or employing open communication.

Katy Perry, Amanda Bynes and Ellen DeGeneres agree that it is important be to the authentic voice behind their accounts to establish genuine relationships with their fans. Other industry professionals like Joseph Nejman, a former consultant to celebrities, believe that tweeting for a celebrity is acceptable because the celebrity is essentially a brand.

Do you think celebrities should be open and honest about using ghost writers? Post your thoughts in the comment section below.

Screenshot credit: Tara Holliday

Entertainment Aficionado

My first memories involve a bed time story. From the time before I could read, I was hooked on the stories my parents would read to me before I fell asleep. At age three, my favorite and only, piece of clothing I would wear was a large t-shirt with Mickey Mouse holding a large stack of books saying, “Reading: its an Adventure!”

As I grew, my reading interests changed from “Where the Wild Things Are”, to the Harry Potter series, to anything written by Jodi Picoult.  At the same time I was developing my reading habits, I became memorized with the big screen. My childhood stories and characters were being brought to life and from an early age I was captivated.

My desire to read, watch and learn never wavered and instead has only increased my passion to work in Public Relations or Marketing in the fast past entertainment industry; a world I find so fascinating. I believe PR depends on understanding culture, human behavior and the ways in which we each connect to a larger global community.  The entertainment industry has a powerful effect on the world through the experience its produces (comedy, horror, drama). The messages created through books, film, and TV have the power to leave lasting and influential impressions. As I start my professional career, I aspire to help create, promote, and spread the positive messages in the entertainment industry through PR or Marketing. I would love to work on the creative side.

Three companies that I admire in this industry are Miramax, Pixar and Home Box Office or HBO. Miramax which was founded by Bob and Harvey Weinstein produce independent and foreign films. I believe their company is important because the stories they produce would not otherwise be told. Growing up, my favorite animated characters were Woody, Sulley, and Dory. Pixar is the leader in their industry and create the very best animated films. Their movies and characters promote important values and life lessons. Then there is HBO which has become increasingly successful. They have focused on producing quality shows through training and developing great talent. Both companies would be a dream to work for as I begin my career. After living in London for five months and falling in love with the city, I am open and willing to relocate if necessary. Living abroad, outside of my comfort zone, has expanded my view of the world. Therefore, I would gladly accept any chance to  work in the fields of public relations or marketing and explore new places.

As I continue to develop my personal brand, I am looking forward to further exploring my blog, newly developed Twitter and LinkedIn. Understanding social media is vital to a successful start in my chosen career fields. I am excited to see where I go from here!

Thank you for reading! Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @HollidayTara