Worksheet #2: Reflection on Case Studies.

Social media has helped create many successful media campaigns for various companies and brands and during this case study, our authors evaluated four different campaigns with specific criteria that are vital for media success. These criteria consist of how and how well the campaign uses storytelling components to engage with its target audience. It’s also very important for authors to focus on the campaign’s engagement numbers not just online but offline to track how often the content is being shared.

Among the four cases discussed in this article, my personal favorite is Melbourne Metro’s System “Dumb Ways to Die” campaign because I remember personally when it surfaced back in 2012-2013 as a IOS video game experience. The game consisted of characters often falling from tragedy where players must save them by avoiding the games malicious yet idiotic attempts of annihilation, hence the name “Dumb Ways to Die”. It was paired with a catchy song with a melody that quickly consumed everyone’s minds. Even as a preteen, this campaign at the time was most popular for various reasons and did a remarkable job of reaching audiences of all ages in various ways of content to spread their word.

One case that I personally would have been honored to take apart of was the “You can still dunk in the dark” Oreo campaign from the 2013 Superbowl blackout. I believe the campaign’s last-minute strategy was well thought out and very innovative! Though if I personally was a part of Oreo’s 2013 Superbowl commercial campaign team, I’d boost the tweet further by proposing a soft launch of a newly branded Oreo cookie-case that glows in the dark. I believe this would be a fun and creative way to continue the tweet and their celebration of 100 years of Oreo.  

The Social media Campaign Cycle is a process used by journalists for the creation and production of informative content for most user engagement. At the core of every social media campaign, the digital storytelling and entertainment element that helps bring in a desired target audience.

Earlier this February, one of the biggest apps in innovative language learning Duolingo announced that their mascot The Duolingo Owl, is dead. The campaign was launched as a social media investigation revolving the cause of the Owl’s death. The apps in house social team found this tactic as a success as the app’s home-screen icon is regularly refreshed, this time with “X” marks over the bird’s eyes indicating its passing. The hoax caused an hilarious uproar to the media as users and other brand mascots chimed in to give their condolences, allowing more viewer engagement to the app’s content. Overall, I believe this campaign properly showcased PARC principles for the best social media strategy.