WhoSay? They Say… #CelebsUnfiltered

WhoSay

A Brief History
The name WhoSay came from a domain search, meaning “authenticity” or “coming from the mouth of the person themselves, with that direct voice.” It was founded in March 2010 by the LA-based talent and sports agency, Creative Artists Agency (CCA) along with Steve Ellis an ex-rock guitarist and entrepreneur. Ellis had just sold his music licensing company Pump Audio to Getty Images when approached by CCA.

CCA and Ellis along with Amazon.com, Comcast, Greylock Partners and High Peak Ventures raised almost $20 million in funding for the company’s launch. WhoSay is currently headquartered in Manhattan with satellite offices in Venice, CA and London and employs 35 staff members.

Jimmel Fallon, Zac Efron and Seth Rogen.

What do we do?
Our social media and online branding service was created to allow actors, musicians, athletes and celebrities “to retain ownership rights” over the content posted to their accounts and maintain control over their digital presence through “copyright branding.”  We consider ourselves a “social celebrity magazine” and offer members the ability to easily upload images and post directly to WhoSay and other social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Google+, WeChat and Tencent (China’s social networks) using the our dashboard at no charge. We liken ourselves to People magazine, who is our partner, but instead of employing writers, our content providers are our celebrity members — they post the content, not us. We aim to give fans an inside look into the lives of their favorite celebrities. In return celeb members get the truth out to the world not just on our site, but also to other popular social networks using WhoSay’s simple tools.

Anson Mount celeb feed

Our Members
Our personalities are invite-only and include over “2,000 of the world’s most captivating people—including actors, athletes, chefs, millennial influencers, and more.”

Our 4.8 million unique celebrity “super-fan” members get in-depth news first-hand from favorite “celeb personalities” they follow.

Kylie Jenner

To become a personality, you are an industry referral (usually) and must be invited. We do a simple background check and once approved,  you get free access to our services.

Our celeb-fan members can use their Twitter or Facebook account to log-in and join.

According to Quantcast.com we currently have 2.6 million uniques, 3.6 million visits, 4.8 million views with our members located mainly in the U.S. and continue to grow organically.

Kevin Bacon getting #kissedbyapit

How to Use WhoSay
Our celebrity members post pictures, videos or messages to their individual account walls and can update their other social media accounts, all from WhoSay. Members also give us behind-the-scenes information and we upload to other pages of the site.

Channing Tatum’s feed with a pic of his wife Jenna Dewan and daughter.

Fan members can follow their favorite celebrities and the “posts” are fed to the fan’s news feed much like the functionality of Facebook. They can also access additional information on the WhoSay website by surfing through our other pages listed in the top navigation.

An example of a super-fan’s feed featuring Jane Fonda.

Anyone can access WhoSay from their desktop, mobile device or through the WhoSay iPhone and Android app.

We fill the WhoSay site with additional rich content to keep our fan members engaged and information shared. Videos, top trending stories, fashion, beauty, living, #welovepets, and set the record straight are just some of the stories we share that come straight from our celebs.

From the “Set the Record Straight” page

Target Audience
People magazine is a partner to WhoSay and attracts the same target audience as those interested in celebrity news. In order to engage with this audience, we cater to predominately college educated women aged 38 and earn around $72,000 per year.

WhoSay’s target audience is the same as People magazine

WhoSay Social Media
It is easy to stay in touch with WhoSay because we are active on Twitter (79.1K followers), Facebook (267k likes), Instagram (2.7k followers), Google+ ( 261,221 followers) and Tumblr. Our feeds carry consistent content and messaging across all channels.

WhoSay Twitter

 

WhoSay Facebook

WhoSay Instagram

Our Partnerships
WhoSay makes its money through ad sales and has partnerships with companies such as Viacom, Lexus and Canon.

During the partnership with Canon, cameras were given to celebs like Kevin Bacon, Eva Longoria and Mario Batali to document their lives for the #bringit promotion. The celebs uploaded their photos to WhoSay with the #bringit caption and the content was then forwarded across platforms to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

Competitors
WhoSay’s main competitor is theAudience, financed by William Morris Endeavor. However, theAudience is not a social media platform where non-celebs can join. theAudience works behind the scenes to promote celebs, athletes and movies promoted online.

Another competitor Adly works as a conduit to connect celebrities to brand endorsements.

For more information, click here for a quick Prezi.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhoSay
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/talkingtech/2013/04/17/whosay-helps-celebrities-connect-with-fans/2089009/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/09/business/media/09whosay.html?_r=0
http://www.whosay.com
https://www.whosay.com/about
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/03/11/what-say-is-whosay/70180990/
http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/news/2014/09/09/q-a-with-whosay-celebrities-control-the-content.html
http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/marketers-bet-celebrities-churn-out-branded-content-162970
http://adage.com/article/media/whosay-turns-celebrities-content-marketers-canon/294259/
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/viacom-whosay-partnership-317887

This is Me.

Dear Ban.do, Can I pretty-please join your girl gang?

Why, you ask?
Well, because I believe glitter makes the world go around, bright colors are my friends, flamingos are an obsession, unicorns are my spirit animals and mermaids are my soul sisters.

Boo in her “best” ugly sweater and Maggie playing Santa-dog.

#kittens….
Who doesn’t love them? I rescue them. I know you do too. Truth being told, I love all animals and I haven’t met one I don’t like yet.

This little girl could be me from back in the day. (Except my cat Petey was a one-eyed, one-eared black rescue.) We patrolled the neighborhood on my red bike with a silver glitter banana seat with Petey in the basket and tassels flying in the wind.

I already feel like you are my BFF’s.
Your pastel hair, cute outfits and quick-wit grace the feed of my Instagram every day. Like you, I believe in empowering women. LIFT THEM UP! There are already too many people saying “you can’t” and I believe it’s my calling to say YES, YOU CAN! Be a dreamer, a tinkerer, a doer, a woman that can “make your own thunder” (as “my mom always said).

Who’s up for forging their own path?
That’s what I did. I grew up in a small southern town, famous for spring break and wet t-shirt contests. That’s not me, never was, never will be. I bucked tradition and left home as soon as I could, put myself through college, moved out west and never looked back. Some would say I’m the black sheep of the family for leaving, but I prefer to think I’m the silver glittery sheep. 

What’s in it for you?
I have a BA in Communication from the University of West Florida and have been a designer for over 20 years. I’m currently working on a Masters in Communication with emphasis in Social Media from the University of Florida. I hope to merge my design skills with digital strategy and be a “force to be reckoned with.” I believe in working hard and love a challenge. 

How about a karaoke date?
I know you ladies like karaoke nights after work. Here is my latest car-jam (please excuse the potty language).

Or maybe we just hang out for an 80’s movie night.
Breakfast Club, Goonies, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Sixteen Candles are some of my favorites, the girl gang likes rom coms just as much as I do.  I make a mean veggie GF pizza.

To give you a giggle.
I love your quirky sense of humor and I hope you like mine. One last little video I wanted to share — a moon-walking, singing pony. I can’t listen to this song anymore without seeing this #danceponydance!

So, Ban.do girl gang, let’s be friends. I’m not too proud to beg.
Please contact me here or check out my Pinterest to find out about all things me.

My Favorite Blogs.

What can I say? I can’t help it. I’m a sucker for design, home decor, fashion, food and travel. Oh Joy!, Gluten Free Girl & the Chef and Wit & Delight can keep me entertained for hours because of the fresh, original content. While Oh Joy! and Wit & Delight inspire my home’s decor and professional design with colorful, funky, indie finds and minimalist approach, Gluten Free Girl & Chef helps me eat safely even with a gluten intolerance.

Oh Joy!

Oh Joy!’s, “What’s in my bag” post.

Oh Joy!’s Joy Cho has been blogging for about 10 years. She started out as a graphic designer and was able to parlay her design skills into a highly successful, professional blog now run by a team with Joy as the leader and “face” of the brand.

Joy Cho

It is not only a blog, but also has e-commerce, which sells books inspiring others to create blogs and does freelance design for companies like Target, Land of Nod, Urban Outfitters and Solly Baby. (A personal confession, I became “mildly obsessed” with Oh Joy!’s designs while shopping at Anthropologie quite a few years ago.) As a designer myself, I appreciate the posts on design style, DIY projects, travel stories, career motivation and her take on enjoying life through the trials and tribulations of being a successful, full-time creative wife and mom. When you read her blog posts or watch videos, you feel like you are taking a journey with a friend because of her relate-able, conversational style. Original content (including pics and video) is uploaded every day on the blog and is promoted on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter , YouTube and of course Pinterest which make the brand easy to find and easy to share on social media.

Joy Cho and baby Coco, who is featured in many of Oh Joy!’s posts and social media.

Oh Joy! has quite a few followers — 252K on Instagram, 13.1M on Pinterest, 66K on Facebook and 77K on Twitter which are driven back to the blog with links. Conversely, the blog has social share buttons at the end of every post. When you subscribe to the Oh Joy! blog, content is pushed directly to your inbox everyday. The blog does contain endorsed or sponsored content, but it is not blatant. (There is an asterisk or “courtesy of” in the caption to indicate paid content.) If I had to change anything about the Oh Joy! blog, I would recommend posting even more video, adding podcasts to increase readership and share-ability and “sponsored or pinned for you pins” on Pinterest.

Gluten-Free-Girl

Gluten-Free-Girl blog post encouraging readers to have gluten-free potlucks with friends

Gluten Free Girl & the Chef is also a successful, professional blog about living gluten free (GF) and is run by Shauna and Danny (the Chef) Ahern. For the few of us “blessed” with Celiac or gluten intolerance, you’ve probably heard of Gluten-Free-Girl recipe books and blog. Along with links to their books, videos, in-person baking classes and e-commerce site, Shauna posts fresh content a few times a week for those living a GF lifestyle and her husband Danny (James Beard award winner), is the chef supplying yummy recipes to make you feel like you are eating regular food.

A recipe for baked halibut with asparagus, leeks and dill by Gluten-Free-Girl

Blog readers can subscribe to weekly emails and they even have an app which helps navigate GF holiday cooking. Both Shauna (199k followers) and James (7K followers) post to Twitter, Facebook (112k likes), Instagram (21.5K followers), Pinterest (3.4k followers) and there are a few how-to videos posted on Youtube. All of the posts can be shared via social media which helps drive traffic to the website and vice versa.

Ad for Freschetta gluten free pizza on the left rail.

The site does have a prominent ad under its navigation. There are also multiple sponsors of the site, each with links to individual blog posts written about the company’s food products and link back to the company’s website. In return, the individual sponsor’s website links back to the Gluten Free Girl & the Chef which increases traffic. In my opinion, the actual content is great, but it is a little hard to follow and navigate. I would re-architect the site to make site navigation easier and highlight the great photography which would lend itself to a better design. Also, I would increase the video quality on youtube. Most people are ok with lower quality video on blogs, but personally, I like higher production value.

Wit & Delight

The Wit & Delight Blog

Finally, Wit & Delight, is a very successful, professional lifestyle blog started by Kate Arends with over 2.9 million unique followers. It is a bit of a hybrid as it’s content comes from Kate and a team of bloggers predominantly from Minneapolis or Chicago. With fresh daily content about home decor, design, beauty, fashion, lifestyle (book reviews, travel) and witty random musings, Wit & Delight has something for almost everyone and even has an e-commerce site filled with their favorite products curated from blog posts.

The specially curated e-commerce site.

I personally found the blog through a “picked for you pin” on Pinterest which has 2.9M followers, but they also have other social media channels including Twitter (11.9K followers), Instagram (204k followers), Tumblr and Facebook (8k likes) which all tease content from the blog and link back for more in-depth information. Wit and Delight has also designed home goods for Target which helped them increase their blog and social media following. There are no ads on the site but there are sponsored/endorsed products for posts and they do sponsored contests with give-aways.

Sponsored Skin Care Giveaway on Wit & Delight.

I don’t think Wit & Delight lacks any content, but I would like to see a regular podcast so commuters can listen without having to go online. This would still drive traffic to the site while allowing more users to access the content. I would also like to see more behind-the-scenes video as well. To me, the sideways left side navigation is not intuitive, so I would re-architect that to top navigation.

Links:

http://ohjoy.blogs.com

https://glutenfreegirl.com/

http://witanddelight.com/

A Perfect Mix of Push & Pull

Target is a master of consumer engagement through utilizing push and pull techniques. Although Target does have multiple campaigns running simultaneously to influence specific audiences, every media channel both on and offline are cohesive in creative and when seen together fit within the over-arching brand strategy seamlessly. In-store promotions have the same brand personality as ads, direct mail, weekly deals, website, Cartwheel App, A Bullseye View blog, digital ads and etc.

Target outdoor billboards.

A Bullseye View, Target’s blog.

Cartwheel App navigation and virtual map.

Weekly mailer featuring “It’s a Plaid, Plaid World” Campaign.

Target’s offline push advertising consists of TV commercials, direct mailers, print ads, in-store signage (including floor decals, window clings, in-store displays and digital hyper-walls) all aimed at influencing the consumer to purchase. All of their traditional media pushes consumers online to the website, Cartwheel app or in-store to purchase or to retrieve special offers. They also offer in-store service pushes like the Beauty Concierge and Baby Advisor services where knowledge staff members help customers with buying decisions.

“It’s a Plaid, Plaid World” in-store display.

Target In-store digital hyperwall with product display which features sales of the week.

Weekly mailer with QR Code linking to website.

A new print push technique Target debuted uses Shazam to add augmented reality to print ads running in Vogue magazine. By scanning the page with the Shazam app, pull strategies launch on your iPad or smart phone such as behind the scenes video, photos, special click to buy deals and blog posts. This particular campaign featured Target fashion highlighting New York Fashion Week (#NYFW) and was even meshed with the “It’s a Plaid, Plaid, World” campaign. (The #NYFW and “It’s a Plaid, Plaid World campaigns were also featured on Target’s Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram accounts.)

A behind the scenes look atTarget’s “It’s a Plaid, Plaid World” and #NYFW on Vogue.com.

When you hover over the Vogue print ads with your phone or iPad, video pops up to augment the content. Here are some examples:

 

The company uses online push advertising with the Cartwheel app, e-newsletters and Target account email e-blasts and CSR pop up windows to name a few.

Pop-up customer service help

An online Push marketing custom skyline banner at top pops up on pages.

“A Bullseye View” blog email newsletter signup, as well as social media links.

Online push, Cartwheel custom email.

Cartwheel push message sent to users smart phone.

For Target’s pull marketing, they add to the consumer experience with fresh content of the A BullsEye View blog, user product reviews, Behind the Pin video DIY help guides, custom shopping lists, Blog e-newsletter, behind the scenes YouTube video, look books. Their social media channels include links as well to improve the user experience and share-ability.

Online pull content, “A Bullseye View” blog post related to #NYFW and “Vogue.”

As seen on Target’s Twitter feed. #NYFW party on Periscope again featuring #NYFW and “It’s a Plaid, Plaid World” campaigns.

Instagram post, “It’s a Plaid, Plaid World.”

Throughout Target’s website and Cartwheel mobile app are opportunities to not only follow the company’s social media channels, but also share to your own social media accounts.

Links to social media which run at footer of every page or along the sides.

In my opinion, Target does a pretty great job of utilizing many push/pull techniques in their touch points. Frankly, I’m surprised how well they do considering how many touch points and services the have. But Target’s goal of increasing the shopping experience is hard to miss. One recommendation would be for users to add images and video along with the online reviews, but that would entail extra monitoring by Target and could have potential problems. Amazon uses a similar technique in their customer review sections and has increased the online shopping experience. Another pull strategy could be to allow online groups, again like Amazon does, so you can connect to other consumers with the same hobbies and shopping likes.

In September 2015 Target launched LA25. A pilot program where they are building test stores to launch new programs, services and digital products to increase the consumers shopping experiences with the end goal to increase sales. Maybe after Target does some more in-store and digital testing we will see even more improvements for the consumer while increasing profits.

Source links:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/10/business/media/with-visual-recognition-vogue-ads-link-to-target-products.html?_r=0

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/shazam-digital-recognition-new-target-ads/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/21/business/target-q1-earnings.html?action=click&contentCollection=Media&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article

http://www.vogue.com/TargetStyleMarketing/target_desktop/index.php

https://corporate.target.com/article/2015/08/plaid-fall-look-book

http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/06/adam-lippes-is-the-latest-target-collaborator.html

http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/08/targets-fall-collaboration-is-full-of-plaid.html#

https://corporate.target.com/Carousels/2015/08/Plaid-Lookbook

https://corporate.target.com/article/2015/09/la25-announcement

My Favorite Brand

I don’t even need to tell you the name. You instantly recognize the brand identity — the red bullseye logo. Whether you call it by the proper name Target or by my favorite knick-names, “Tar-jay” or “Red Circle Boutique,” you know as soon as you enter the store where you are and what to expect from your shopping experience.

You know that you went in for toilet paper, but you will walk out with other things you didn’t know you needed. There are even popular videos and memes about the “Target phenomenon.”

Every touchpoint inside the store from uniforms, shopping carts and signage; to social media channels; to traditional print ads, TV commercials and billboards — the brand personality of Target resonates with acute clarity and synergy. Its voice is funny, a little quirky, modern, bright & cheery and always helpful —this is reflected with great ubiquity in any thing you see and hear about Target online and off. 

There are Target customer advocates from all walks of life, rich and poor, single and married, all with diverse backgrounds. A recent story became viral when Mike Melgaard, one of Target’s loyal customers was so dedicated to the company, he posed as a customer service rep on social media and responded to Target “haters” over new gender neutral areas in toy aisles. After Target discovered what was happening, they responded to the customer service troll in quick-witted Target form. Even while responding to internet comments, Target always maintains consistent message and tone with style and humor.

According to Eric Hausman, senior group manager of PR and social media at Target, the company doesn’t believe in hard-sell tactics and would rather build long lasting relationships with its customers. “Consumers want to connect with brands. They want to understand who we are and what our stories are, ” Hausman says. 

And with Target’s many social media channels, blog and mobile app, they try to engage the consumers thereby extending the consumer experience.

The newest addition to Target.com I recently found is the “Behind the Pin Series,” which features quick video and step-by-step directions on how to DIY some of your favorite pins from Pinterest without #pinterestfail-ing. They use catchy hashtags like #kaboom which help the posts go viral and are branded within the same Target style, voice and tone.

Behind the Pin Series, “pb & yay” How-to Video Click here to view.

#Kaboom How-to make fruit skewers. Click here to view.

A touchpoint which proves Target is a true brand leader is the commercial creative which runs on both TV and its YouTube.com channel. Many have gone viral over the years and some are even considered cult-classics.

One of which is my favorite commercial of all-time — still has me saying “glitter” with jazz-hands.

Here are some of the newest commercials aired online that have given Target the “rules the internet” comment on their feeds.

A popular engagement tool Target has chosen to launch is “A Bullseye View” its own online magazine. Target works with over 16 bloggers to write content for their posts. it has over 100,000 unique visitors a month.

“A Bullseye View” online magazine. Click here to view.

As well as print ads, billboards and TV,  Target has many online touchpoints which help the retailer achieve brand awareness and consumer engagement. Here are links to all of Target’s social media channels: 

Facebook 

Instagram

Pinterest

Target Pulse Blog

YouTube

A Bullseye View

Cartwheel Mobile App

Vine