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Pollo Tropical and Social Media Marketing

Pollo Tropical is a food chain restaurant store started in Miami, Florida. Pollo Tropical began as a family business in 1988, and it was founded by Jewish brothers Stuart and Larry Harris (not what most people expect). Because of its name, people mistakenly assume they serve Mexican Food. The franchise is built upon the cuisines from the Caribbean. The main dishes include marinated and grilled chicken plus other meals like pork, shrimp, black beans and rice. The business has over 140 locations in the United States of America, and its corporate office is in Miami, Florida. The firm was acquired from Carroll Restaurant Group in 2012, and it is now a subsidiary of Fiesta Restaurant Group.

Social media marketing is essential to the restaurant industry because the industry relies heavily on word-of-mouth advertising. Most social media platforms are places where people share their opinions about likes and dislikes. The most common platform for restaurant advertising in 2018 was social media and is utilized by 63% of restaurateurs (Tetreault & Beltis, 2018). When done correctly, social media marketing can increase sales through building relationships online with present and future customers. With authentic interactions with customers, social media marketing can also create brand advocacy and show company transparency to their customers. In today’s world, customers prefer and expect social interaction from businesses. A company should have a social media marketing strategy to achieve success in social media marketing. Profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube are norms for platforms on social media. The use of social media in the restaurant industry is essential, and companies can increase their return on investment (ROI) if they follow a well-constructed social media marketing strategy.

Pollo Tropical on Social Media Platforms

The Pollo Tropical has extensive social media exposure. This assertion is hinged on the fact that the market is not only on Facebook but also Twitter, YouTube and Instagram. Additionally, the company has its own platform Pollo Tropical Television (PTTV) that relies upon the YouTube video generator to run customized advertisements on the various products on their platform. On YouTube, the company has over 2500 subscribers and 39 posted videos whereas, on Facebook, the official company page has around 181,746 likes with over 177,000. Additionally, on Twitter, the company has 6,749 followers with over 35,800 tweets. Similarly, the business has a following on Instagram with 7,917 followers.

The company is most dependent on Facebook for their social media marketing. This claim stems from the fact that despite the high number of likes, Facebook offers a means for evaluating the quality of service being rendered by the business. Additionally, the effectiveness of this platform remains evident from the almost 582 recommendations. Moreover, the company boasts over 7,000 real opinions posted on its page. Furthermore, it remains imperative to indicate that the company relies mostly on Facebook as it also offers an automatic messaging service; this ensures that clients receive a real-time response (Müllern, 2011).

The comparison between the social commerce on Facebook and Twitter reveals the massive disparity in the social media platforms. Additionally, whereas Twitter remains stringently controlled and regulated, Facebook offers a slightly interactive experience for the business. The social commerce features in Facebook remains more impressive compared to those of Twitter. The boosting of an account is possible on Facebook at affordable rates (Leung, Bai & Stahura, 2015).

Social Commerce Strategy

Pollo Tropical is utilizing several platforms in their social commerce strategy. They have a company website that has good search engine optimization (SEO) as well as good on-site indicators. The company has a mobile app on iOS and Android. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Pollo Tropical TV are the social media platforms that Pollo Tropical prefers to use. The strategies Pollo Tropical utilizes to encourage social commerce sharing to help facilitate sales are share tools, recommendation indicators, reviews and ratings, reward system, and testimonials.

Some of the ways Pollo Tropical encourages and facilitates influence and impressions are by posting coupon codes.

Pollo Tropical engages people to enter contests.

They engage and encourage sales by celebrating national holidays.

Pollo Tropical posts on social media platforms and raises money for charities through sales such as breast cancer.

Pollo Tropical also supports several charities to help schools, local organizations, police, and firefighters.

Monetizing traffic flow from a business website or social media page highlights an effective social e-commerce campaign Around 50% of each day’s sales are directly impacted by social media marketing (Khan, 2014). Pollo Tropical has created a legit and credible following online that not only posts the right content but creates engagement with the right audience. The company’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts are utilized for engagement and influence to create a relationship with its target market. YouTube has many user review videos that are positive as well as negative. The Pollo TV channel shows videos of new products, “limited-time” product promotions, and sales promotions. They provide the videos in English and Spanish languages. While Pollo Tropical utilizes all these platforms, Facebook and Twitter see the most action by the company and customers.

Content and Sentiment Analysis

Online ratings and reviews, as well as content and sentiment analysis, can uncover valuable information about a brand and how well the business is connecting and engaging with the market. Companies can learn how people think or feel about their company and its products. The video is an example of an online rating and review using the YouTube platform.

Pollo Tropical started re-branding in October 2017 and has been working to revamp their social media marketing strategy. A content analysis was conducted using a program called Keyword Density Checker which analyzed the keyword density of Pollo Tropical’s website. Overall, the content analysis is good with 68 keywords and a website load time of .33 seconds. Below is the content analysis of Pollo Tropical.

Facebook Sentiment Analysis

Pollo Tropical is most dependent on Facebook to do social media marketing. The company relies mostly on Facebook as it also offers an automatic messaging service; this ensures that clients receive a real-time response (Mullern, 2014). Sentiment analysis was conducted using a program called Likealyzer. Some areas could use improvement. Below is the sentiment analysis for Pollo Tropical’s Facebook account.

Twitter Sentiment Analysis

Twitter is a very useful tool in giving the Pollo Tropical brand a voice and a personality. Twitter says 1.6 billion unique visitors per month see tweets on third-party properties, which corresponds to 500 million tweets per day and around 200 billion tweets per year (Lake, 2018). A well- managed Twitter account is crucial. Sentiment analysis was conducted using a program called NCSU (North Carolina State University) Tweet Sentiment Visualization App. Below is the sentiment analysis for Pollo Tropical’s Twitter account for the past seven days.

In this sentiment analysis, each tweet is shown as a circle positioned by sentiment, an estimate of the emotion contained in the tweet’s text. Unpleasant tweets are drawn as blue circles on the left, and pleasant tweets as green circles on the right. Sedate tweets are drawn as darker circles on the bottom, and active tweets as brighter circles on the top. In this chart, Pollo Tropical has a favorable sentiment.

In the tag cloud analysis, common words from the emotional regions Upset, Happy, Relaxed, and Unhappy are shown. Words that are more frequent are larger.

In the timeline analysis, tweets are drawn in a bar chart to show the number of tweets posted at different times. Pleasant tweets are shown in green on the top of the chart, and unpleasant tweets are shown in blue on the bottom.

Instagram Sentiment Analysis

Instagram is a global platform that allows brands to humanize their content, recruit new talent, showcase products, and inspire their audience. Instagram users provide a wealth of potential material for Pollo Tropical. Sentiment analysis for Pollo Tropical was conducted, and the company was compared to its top competitor Moe’s Southwest Grill. The program used is called Socialbakers. Below is the sentiment analysis for its Instagram account.

Assessment and Recommendation

The primary goals of a social media campaign should include creating brand awareness, improving the quality of service, and creating walk-in person sales. When the analysis was conducted on Pollo Tropical’s Facebook page, it is evident that there are improvements to be made. The Facebook profile scored 58% on the criteria field “Activity” and 44% on the criteria field “Response.” It evident that Pollo Tropical should increase the number of posts per day to increase user engagement. They should” like” more pages to encourage cross domain interest which would boost overall engagement. Pollo Tropical scored low in response rate and response time. The business should increase response rate as this is indicative of a responsive brand. The company should improve on response time to user posts. Facebook allows for real-time interaction, and users demand fast responses. The Pollo Tropical Facebook platform should be re-strategized to enhance the performance of communication with users. The Twitter account seems to be well maintained and running smoothly. I would suggest keeping on top of response time and user interactions. As for the Instagram account, the analysis compares the activity of Pollo Tropical competitor Moe’s Southwest Grill. It is unfortunate that Pollo Tropical is categorized as a Sleeper. It is evident that this platform needs attention and a social media marketing plan. Incorporating sponsored ads, partnering with influencers for a broader reach, collect user-submitted photos, create interactive branded hashtags, and posting at the right time are few ideas to help build awareness on Instagram. Most importantly, it is essential to use a metric tool to measure the results of each platform as Pollo Tropical implements its new strategy.

The basis of a strong social media campaign should be the creation of a stable consumer base and more sales. Nudging the consumer to complete the purchase cycle remains an important step in monetizing social media marketing (Garner, 2017). Advertisements are programmed to trigger a client’s need or want for a service or good. Upon seeing the ads, clients start to consider buying from the page. Therefore, the primary objective of Pollo Tropical should be monetization of the likes and comments. The success of a social media campaign directly correlates to the number of units purchased; nonetheless, it remains imperative to note that social media platforms provide a community for buyers to engage (Wordstream, 2018). In conclusion, it is suggested that Pollo Tropical revise the social media marketing plan for Facebook and Instagram for optimal brand awareness, quality customer service, improving the quality of service, and creating walk-in person sales.

Reference

Garner, L. (2017, November 23). Three steps in implementing a social commerce strategy - We Are Social USA. Retrieved from https://wearesocial.com/us/blog/2017/11/three-steps-in-implementing-a-social-commerce-strategy

Khan, J. (2014, August 15). 6 Key Components of an Effective Social Commerce Strategy. Retrieved from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/6-key-components-effective-social-commerce-strategy

Lake, L. (2018, October 10). Twitter: A Valuable Marketing Tool? Retrieved November 24, 2018,from https://www.thebalancesmb.com/

Leung, X. Y., Bai, B., & Stahura, K. A. (2015). The marketing effectiveness of social media in the hotel industry: A comparison of Facebook and Twitter. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 39(2), 147-169.

Müllern, T. (2011). Facebook as a marketing channel. A study of ecommerce retailers’ Facebook page ambitious (Doctoral dissertation, Master Thesis. InternationellaHandelshögskolan, Jönköping, Sweden).

Tetreault, A., & Beltis, A. (2018, October 10). 60 Restaurant Industry Statistics for Restaurant Owners in 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2018, from https://pos.toasttab.com/

Wordstream. (2018). Social Media Marketing for Businesses | WordStream. Retrieved from https://www.wordstream.com/social-media-marketing

owenlloyd27

I think you did a really good job on your analysis of the PolloTropical social media marketing stratergies. You provided the social media platforms that they are using to promote thier business and the reasons why that is neccessary in the resturant industry. You really went indepht on the numbers that they are getting on all the social platforms and we can see why they are successful as a company since 1988. You also showcased many of the different social media campaigns that they are invovled in to increase traffic on thier social media sites and in thier restaurants. Nice Work!

#necsocialfinal @necsocialmedia

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Make-A-Wish-Foundation

For my Social Media Final I chose the Make-A-Wish Foundation to showcase how effectively they are using social media.. The Make- A-Wish Foundation is a non-profit organization that fulfills little boys and girls dreams that are sick and suffering from terminal illnesses. Tens of thousands of volunteers, donors and supporters advance the Make-A-Wish vision to grant the wish of every child diagnosed with a critical illness. In the United States and its territories, on average, a wish is granted every 34 minutes. They believe a wish experience can be a game changer creating confidence and hope. This one belief guides the foundation and inspires Make-A-Wish to grant wishes that change the lives of the kids everyday. (Makeawish) Make-A-Wish is in the fundraising industry which is very dependant on the generosity of others.

Make-A-Wish is using many platforms to get in touch with the public, they are currently on Twitter, Facebook, Limkedin, Snapchat, YoTube, Instagram, Pinterest And Google+ . They are currently engaging on all of the social media websites. Social media is very critical to what they do, the foundation uses social media to get the word out about the illness they are focusing on at the time and spread awareness. In 2017 the foundation decided to advance their social media presence in order to raise more funds as wishes were becoming more expensive. Make-A-Wish stepped up its digital and marketing efforts and decided to participate in digital crowdsourcing to fundraise. They created a project on crowdrise called Wishmaker, they showcase the wishes that they are trying to grant for the children and the doner can choose which child to donate to. It was a more personal way to encourage more donations, even if in smaller amounts to allow Make-A-Wish to keep granting wishes.(Adage)

Their social commerce strategy is very clear, they have an easily identifiable online persona and they are always building on the mission of the foundation. The foundation is constantly posting on thier social media site to encourage future donations to the fund and to inspire others to consider donating to help the children realize thier dreams. They want to keep the followers engaged, they do this by posting the stories of children who have gotten thier wish or children that are looking forward to having thier wish granted. They know that more followers mean more contributions.

The use of social media platforms allowed thousands of followers inside and outside of the United States to contribute. Several opportunities allowed even those who couldn’t physically attend the event to participate by live streaming. They also used social media to reach out to other companies, celebrities or organizations to utilize their resources to help make the wish come true. Branding is a big part of the Make-A-Wish Foundation because brand recognition is important to them. They want people to know exactly who the are and what they stand for so they have rules about how they want thier supporters to market local fundraisers physical or online. They do allow co-branding for events that are sponsored but again with rules on how the Make-A-Wish logo should appear.

Make-A-Wish is a non- profit organization/charity useing Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, Linkedin, Snapchat and Twitter to raise awareness across the world. They use all of those applications but two that stick out as an essential marketing process is Facebook and Twitter. They use Facebook to spread the word about the different campaigns they are running and to see if anyone is interested in helping out. In other cases they are using twitter to reach out to certain people that are the main part of the child's wish to entice them to participate. One of the strategies that they are using is enlisting national and local Make-A-Wish organizations so that they can reach more people. The more followers that they have on any social platform increases thier ability to effectively fundraise. Presently on Twitter they have 219.8K Followers who are constantly exposed to the children and their wishes.

Make a Wish also has its own YouTube channel where you can watch all of the videos that they have posted with their campaigns and the wishes that they have granted for children. Thier objective in managing this channel is to increase exposure, develop loyal fans and increase website traffic because it translates to more donations.

The overview on this is a key factor in identifying weaknesses. It indicates that response time is bad and if Make-A-Wish is striving for engagement then they need to improve on that.

It is also indicated that the length of the posts are too long to be engaging to the user. They should shorten the posts to inspire more engagement.

This Twitter analysis shows the load time for the Twitter page and the total amount of keywords.

The Make-A-Wish Foundations strategy is to mainly spread awareness of the many children that are suffering from terminal illnesses in the world and to reach out to people that would be interested in possibly donating to make that child's dream come true. They have a marketing strategy in place in which they are targeting select demographics such as higher income middle aged people who are more able to donate to the foundation. They are also building thier promotional strategies by continually posting and tweeting thier personal interest stories. When you look at thier overall marketing strategy it seems like they could use an improvement on the responsibility factor, i.e. who is posting and how often as there seems to be a lag on some of the social media sites. Since it is “increasingly common for organizations to include a heavy dose of social media in thier marketing plan” (Tuten&Solomon108) it becomes even more important to ensure that all the time put into social media marketing is producing results.

The Make-A-Wish foundation has made good use integrating all of the channels to create thier own social media mix, it shows that they are paying attention to the target audiences that they want to reach. The older digital immigrants are more apt to use Facebook while the digital natives are more apt to use Snapchat or Twitter, so they are using all of the social media platforms to try to reach the most people, some to donate, some to volunteer and some to pass the message on.

References

How it works. (2018). Retrieved November 23, 2018, from https://www.makeawish.org.au/wishes/how-it-works

Slefo., G. P., & Slefo, G. P. (2016, August 30). As Price of Granting Wishes Goes Up, Make-A-Wish Goes Digital. Retrieved November 23, 2018, from https://adage.com/article/digital/make-a-granting-wishes-expensive/305618/

Tuten, T. L., & Solomon, M. R. (2018). Social media marketing. Los Angeles: Sage.

#NECSOCIALFINAL @necsocialmedia

2016 Election and Fake News

I think social media platforms played a very big part in the presidential election. It is reported that that a study conducted by Ohio State University found that 4% of President Obama supporters were swayed away from voting for Hillary Clinton due to fake news reports. I think that it is pretty clear that there were a lot of fake news reports circulating on social media before and during the election. Mark Zuckerberg denied that Facebook was part of the problem initially but later conceded that they could have done more to stop the spread of fake news on Facebook.

From the 5 Key Takeaways article I think that number two played a large part in driving the increase in digital advertising on social media sites, and some of the advertising may have actually been tied to fake news sites. Its largely increased the amount of political ads that were run on social media sites. So it became a trend to gather information about the elections from the social media sites, it also made it easier for the suppliers of the fake news to target audiences and influence the outcome of the election. That being said I feel as tho number five podcasting could have had an affect on targeted audiences also, because they are opinion based and may have been relying on fake news.

The fake news that was out out on social media sought to help Trump win and to spread rumors about Hillary Clinton. Facebook drove people to the fake news sites and encouraged people to engage in a commentary on the fake news. Part of the problem was that once fake news was out on the social media site it was shared and traveled fast before it could be determined that it was fake news. I do believe that fake news played a large role in the presidential election of 2016, I hope that going forward there will be less fake news affecting how Americans make decisions on elections #NECFakeNews

https://www.newsweek.com/americans-russians-fake-news-2016-election-1152568

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37896753

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/15/state-of-the-news-media-2016-key-takeaways/

Chris Cuomo as a journalist on social media appeals to me as a digital native because he is using social media to share information and as a digital native I am used to getting my news from social media. I don’t have to go to his Facebook page and learn how to use it, or twitter, as a digital native I am used to seeing news presented this way on social media. I am used to finding the news that I want without any delay and having it quickly accessible. Chris Cuomo is quick to comment or post opinion pieces on breaking news keeping me updated and is a good source.

His Twitter account has 1.2 Million followers. I believe Chris Cuomo is an influencer because he has a lot of followers on twitter and other social media sites. I think that he is Savvy on social media because he has a good presence, he lets his followers know where he stands on the issues. It also looks like he has lots of connections and comments on his posts so that shows that people are paying attention and getting involved in his conversation. I think that he is a strong voice and you can see that with his video posts when he is addressing an issue. He makes a point to make it seem like he is talking directly to you.

Chris Cuomo is definitely marketing his news organization online, it appears on all of the videos that he posts from the show and on other posts too. He is showing that he is part of CNN at all times by posting links that lead back to other CNN news thereby increasing traffic on other sites. He is marketing CNN on a regular basis on all of his social media sites.

dabigdogle-blog

#Movember

#Movember2018 is a charity to helping men find a way to fight prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. This was a chance to put on and/or take off mustaches and do what you love already and support prevention. In 2003, two friends came up with growing a Mo. Inspired by a friend’s mother who was fundraising for breast cancer. They decided to make the campaign about men’s health and prostate cancer. They came up with the Movember rule and agreed to charge $10 to grow a Mo. They found 30 men who were willing to take the challenge and the emails started and the campaign begun. In 2004, the first 30 Mo Bro grew their moustaches and get participants to grow for a cause. Movember was registered as a company and a website was made. Research was conducted, and men’s health issues and prostate cancer was at the center of their cause. Ever since, year after year the campaign has ran and donations has poured in and it is still in play presently. From Melbourne, Australia, Travis Garone and Luke Slattery were the two bro who started this campaign in Gypsy Bar in Fitzroy over a quiet beer. Among them were Josh Armistead, John Bath, Mathew Campbell, C, Alex Denman, Anthony Devine, Jason Evans, Adam Garone, Stuart Geddes, Andrew Gibbins, Bill Gibbins, Greg Gibbins, James Gibbins, Mathew Gibbins, Oscar Gibbins, Josh Gurrie, Mark Kayler-Thomson, Craig Leonarde, Derek Lick, Travis Neilson, JOC, Anthony Power, N. Rodriguez, Jim Slattery, Simon Williams, Adam Majcher, The Unknow Guy 1 and The Unknown Guy 2.

Men unlike women do not consider health as much as women because they are men and they must be strong and hard for the world. Men like to set an example of being the winner, supporter, and head of their household and sickness is not supposed to happen. Men and young boys are our backbones of the next generation, the world need them to protect families, continue to provide, build and be role models for the new generations that come after them. To be “A Man of Many words” came about for men who had problems that they were facing but would not verbally express themselves to other. Every minute, a day, a man dies by suicide. 75% of suicides in the United States are men, so what can be done to curb these incidents: Talk, Ask, Listen, Encourage Action and Check In. Taking a stand and getting help does not make men appear weak it shows strength to know that they need and want help for something that is going on that they can not express. Talking about how you fell and what is going on can help find answers to questions you need to ask. When you sit down someone will listen and they can then encourage actions that can save lives and give men back to the world.

Men die an average six years younger than women across the world, for reasons that are preventable. Prostate cancer when some of the cells in the prostate reproduce far more rapidly than normal, resulting in tumors. Only men have prostate gland and they are the size and shape of a walnut and grow bigger over the years. Its main job is to help make semen. Some prostate cancers grow slow but sometimes prostate cancer is more likely to spread. If untreated prostate cancer cells can spread and invade other body parts such as the lymph nodes and bones producing secondary tumors known as metastasis. There are five things that men need to know and do to live healthier, happier and longer lives. (1) Make men time: staying connected to friends and family is important, check in regularly and make time to be around others. (2) Having open conversations: being there for someone and listening to them can be life-saving. Giving your time means more than giving any amount of money. (3) Know the number: at the age of 50, men need to have a talk with their doctor about prostate cancer and get tested and if you are about age 45 and know anyone such as a father or brother with prostate cancer a conversation need to be had. (4) know thy nuts: knowing what normal testicles are and checking them regularly and going to the doctor when something does not feel right. And lastly, (5) Move, more: being active and adding more activities to your day can help you live a healthier life. Take a walking, park further from work, get off the bus a few stops ahead, take the stairs and/or cycle to work instead of driving can make you feel good. Prostate cancer and go undetected until a doctor visit of if there is a problem with going to the bathroom or sexual functions change. So, what do men need to look for to determine that they may have prostate cancer? Signs and symptoms may vary. (1) A need to urinate frequently, (2) difficulty starting urination or holding back urine, (3) weak or interrupted flow of urine, (4) Painful or burning urination, (5) painful ejaculation, (6) Blood in urine or semen and (7) Frequent pain or stiffness in the lower back, hips, or upper thighs. Treatment option may vary. Active surveillance, prostatectomy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and/or Hormone therapy.

Men livers matter and are needed in todays world. Take a stand and talk to someone about men health and support each other in the fight to save lives from Cancer and Suicides. Theses are preventable issues that can change the face of the new and next generation of young men. Educate out youth so the words of past men can move forward. Talk to someone, Ask questions, Listen and get tested. Live a healthier, happier and longer life. If you know someone who may be having trouble refer them to the nearest doctor office, call (310) 450-3399, and/or visit https://us.movember.com/?home to find all this information and more about Men’s Health. If you are anyone you know are experiencing life threatening issue, please seek immediate help by calling 911.

https://us.movember.com/?home

https://twitter.com/UberHodge/status/1057994581583818754

https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/digital/movember_father_and_son

owenlloyd27

Hey there Lamont,

You chose an interesting challenge because not only is it on social media but it also requires that you grow a Mo and make a donation to do it! This challange is different in that it is directed at men to support Men’s health issues, which probably a lot of men don’t pay attention to regularly so that makes it even better! The social Media aspect is great because it also shows men how many other men’s are experiencing these types of issues and talking about them. This was a good choice and I enjoyed reading your blog.

Best, Owen

•18+ Adults Only

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Viral Post-The 22 a Day Challenge

As society evolves every day, new technologies have been crucial in groundbreaking awareness especially in the field of science-related illnesses and diseases. The motivational force for scientists comes from the public’s appreciation and understanding of their research. Therefore, through this financial dependency on the general public, scientists rely on the media to cover their findings. As a result, online challenges, especially on Twitter, have been on the rise since 2014. These challenges mostly raise awareness on various issues, especially diseases and illnesses in society. The solution of social media emanates from the fact that scientists are frequently unsuccessful when directly communicating their findings with the public on critical issues. Although scientists continually prove their success through many seemingly unsolvable problems (discovering the importance and application of stem cells, Fermat Last Theorem, genome sequencing among different species, landing on the moon, unraveling the complexities of different cancers, among others), there is a massive disconnect between their communities and the general population.

Due to the increased popularity of social-network-based communications, scientist have started utilizing these networks in informing people about the significance and value of some achievements while raising awareness of existing challenges. Whatever one may think about social media crazes, there is no denying about how powerful they are, especially with the Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook mediums. With the numerous causes that deserve awareness, funds, and attention, once in a while, some particular ones get the public’s attention. For instance, during the year 2016, one may have wondered why their social media feeds looked like a CrossFit box, with numerous people doing pushups. This article analyzes the 22 Pushups a Day Challenge (#22adaychallenge) under the same roadmap as the Ice Bucket Challenge (#Icebucketchallenge).

Origin

The #22adaychallenge gained the same sort of traction as the Ice Bucket Challenge did in the year 2014. Similarly, it was not a vanity project promoted by fitness buffs but instead had a powerful message that stirred activism among regular folk, military organizations, and a smattering of celebrities. Its original campaign originated from a veteran called Andrew K. Nguyen through the Honor Courage Commitment, Inc., a veteran non-profit organization. He is an OEF Veteran and founder of some veteran organizations-HCC, 22KILL, veteran.Me, and White Star Families of America. Although it had first started in 2011 as the “Pushup Challenge,” the campaign had not garnered the current global popularity. However, the challenge continued its evolution while maintaining its foundation of honoring the military veterans and their service to the United States.

At the beginning of 2013, the Veteran Association released a startling statistic that twenty-two veterans commit suicide on a daily basis on average. The thought that one veteran committed suicide on an average of every hour of the day garnered some limited media attention. On October 2013, the official social campaign began. It involved doing twenty pushups to advance awareness for veteran suicide prevention as well as honoring military service personnel and veterans. With the formation of the 22KILL Honor Ring, Nguyen made it his mission of creating a universal and unique symbol that subtly displayed a recognizable honor symbol. Its objective was making a connection among veteran and non-veteran advocates by sharing their perception on the sacrifices and honorable service of the military, which often goes unrecognized. By engaging in doing 22 pushups every day for 22 days, in honor of the US Military and veterans, one can earn this Honor Ring.

Elements of the Campaign

The founders strategically made a challenge revolving around the pushup aspect. Therefore, it organically grew by proving the value of the campaign’s mission whereby the public setting in which the pushups did make people curious. With that ongoing strategy, it joined its influencing with social media and maximized exposure which finally led to mainstream embrace. On August 2016, it finally became a viral awareness campaign when it garnered Hollywood celebrity support. News feeds in social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram started inundated video posts of celebrities, politicians, and pro athletes doing the 22 pushups and challenging colleagues through tagging to take up the challenge. Many influential celebrities like Scott Eastwood, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Chris Pratt, John Krasinski, David Beckham, among others took up the challenge and posted their participation by doing 22 pushups. The unique aspect about the #22adaychallenge is that it did not base its agenda on requesting donations. Therefore, it alleviated the financial obligation pressures in the participation. In turn, the campaign aspects gradually evolved and millions of participants, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, committed to the pushups.

Raising Awareness about Veteran Suicides

As previously stated, the importance of such viral posts lies on the awareness and challenge. The #22adaychallenge sparked a conversation that most people had not taken seriously. Although the United States Military had traditionally experienced lower suicide rates compared to the general population, the numbers increased in the last decade. Consequently, risk factors have increased among veterans committing suicide in recent years. The sad truth is that such statistics are only limited to a mere thirty-five percent who access healthcare of all veterans. On the wake of the #22adaychallenge, there have been systematic reviews of preventing military suicide. Researchers realized the methodological limitations in epidemiological literature and had made attempts of linking multiple federal databases to address worries of military personnel and veterans struggling with PTSD before it is too late. For example, statistics before the campaign neither distinguished the ages nor era of military service for the 22 veterans that died of suicide each day. Similarly, between 2001 and 2009, the number of recorded veteran suicide was less than one per day.

The average age of veterans at the time of death is between 54 and 60 years. White males have the highest likelihood of committing suicide, and middle-aged demographic men are further at risk. With these sobering statistics, the #22adaychallenge sent a fundamental message: Public appreciation and support aids veterans tackle the mind-boggling challenges they face after leaving military service.

Conclusion

Social Networks, especially Twitter, have demonstrated how compelling they are in changing social movements, marketing, political equations, business, and suffuse almost every aspect of everyday routines. Since 2013, the level of public awareness achieved, and the amount of money raised by this campaign was more than the founders expected. The public now knows the extent of veteran suicide thanks to the #22adaychallenge. Such viral posts bring virtual conversations on important issues.

Based on someone’s interests, they usually get reflected in individual posts, feeds, and connections. Therefore, deriving from the six degrees of separation rule, someone’s tweet can be read by one user (billions for Twitter) in less than six re-tweets. It gives a beautiful possibility to present essential issues like the #22adaychallenge.

External Examples

https://twitter.com/WerepantherG/status/1058426484308754433

https://www.instagram.com/davidbeckham/?utm_source=ig_embed

https://web.facebook.com/markormrodmotivationalspeaker/videos/1178844715509719/?t=0

https://www.instagram.com/therock/?utm_source=ig_embed

https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/150326111815-cnn-crisis-hotline-veterans-press-1-03-31-15-00001903-medium-plus-169.jpg

owenlloyd27

Khristina,

You did a great job informing us about the 22day challenge. Its surprising that there are not more services for veterans suffering from PTSD already. You provided us with a lot of information on why there is not, due to the numbers not being accurately reported. It’s time that more people take notice of what these service people experience. I like how you point out that even scientist are now paying attention to social media and realizing how far reaching it can be to help those people that are suffering. Great Job!

Owen

A Look at the Lemon Face Challenge

The Lemon Face Challenge began with a little Girl named Aubreigh Nicholas who was diagnosed with DIPG a disease that is largely unknown by most people. “Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) Diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPG) are highly aggressive and difficult to treat brain tumors found at the base of the brain. They are glial tumors, meaning they arise from the brain's glial tissue—tissue made up of cells that help support and protect the brain's neurons”.(Dana-Farber Cancer Center). It is a terminal form of cancer in the brain stem usually affecting children 5-9 years old. Aubreigh Nicolas was diagnosed with this disease and her family created a Facebook page of Aubreigh’s Army with 30, 000 followers. On her 11th birthday Aubreigh sent out a lemon face challenge to some of her friends and the coach of the University of Alabama Nick Saban who then accepted the challenge and posted a video. The challenge then went viral and was shared by school organizations and sports teams, teachers , students in Mobile Alabama and across the country to other places to support awareness of DIPG. The lemon face challenge was not a new concept and Aubreigh chose it on her birthday to raise awareness and funding for DIPG.

Since Facebook is a social media application it was a good place for Aubreigh to start her campaign on raising social awareness of her disease which is not well known. By challenging the coach of the University of Alabama Football team, Nick Saban, who already has his own huge following and then him posting his video to Aubreigh on Facebook gave an immediate jump to her challenge helping it to go viral. See his video here: https://youtu.be/8VEG8xB0LuY

Facebook is a means of communication that can reach a large group of users and your friends can share the post with their friends passing it along at a quick rate of speed. It allows people with a shared interest to communicate, in this case Aubreigh’s Army page with its large following of 30,000 and Coach Saban followers which is 304,979 at present is a big audience. Although the Lemon Face Challenge was not a big on all the social networking sites it gained a lot of notoriety and raised money for research.

The Dodger’s accepted the challenge and after doing it the Dodger’s issued a challenge to the Arizona Diamondbacks so this helps the challenge to go viral and to gain popularity.

This was a great marketing strategy to spread the challenge.

There are all types of factors that affect how or if something will go viral and marketers try to harness those factors to promote their brands but it is not always so clear cut. There are many different challenges and videos and memes on social networking sites and some seem to take off and others don't. The Lemon Ice Challenge was interactive and for a good cause inspiring others to join in on something that was not that difficult to do. Another factor is that there was no cost involved all you needed to have was a lemon to participate, of course you could donate to the cause but either way you could participate with very little effort which may cause people to just join in to support Aubreigh.

https://youtu.be/H2r0-y9okj4

Although I identified the Lemon Face Challenge as the one put out by Aubreigh there have been and continue to be more lemon challenges’ such as “The CDCN Lemon Challenge” https://www.cdcn.org/lemonchallenge and “Lemon’s for Luekemia” https://www.healthline.com/health-news/how-sucking-on-a-lemon-can-help-fight-leukemia

Again like the ice bucket challenge many different groups can adopt these challenges in order to inspire awareness. When Aubreigh made the challenge to her friends and coach Saban she had no way to know how far the social challenge would go but with the vast reach of the social media and the fact that people are virtually plugged into their social media sites it was not surprising that it went viral.

SEO and SMO

The Henniker Brewing Company used SEO by including many references to brewing and beer. They used words that would drive customers to their site, like “ale, hops”and other references that would identify exactly what they are selling. As far as SMO I don’t see that they are using any of the social media sites to build their brand. I don’t see any cross promotion on the lead page and it doesn’t look like they are linking to any industry driven sites. If the Henniker Brewing company wanted to drive business to their site they should hookup to social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. They could add a hashtag to the page where customers could give reviews on the different types of ale that they are selling. The site is only providing the basic information, they could include links to “how to brew ale” and other industry driven links which could server as fillers for their ladder. If they had some compounding posts it could serve to broaden the traffic that comes to their website. They could try to add some sponsors content from area businesses to pick up additional visitors to the site. They could optimize the SEO by adding keywords like “places to visit in Henniker”. Which again could increase traffic which may increase sales.

Breaking Bad

Nike has been using social media to build their brand for some time. They have many different twitter handles mostly broken up by sport. I would think that that are past the transition stage, not to say that they still can’t make mistakes but they wouldn’t make the one that British Airways did. In my example I Show first show Nike’s campaign and I also show their support page where you can get fairly quick responses. I had a problem with Nike Cleats and I tweeted at them and they responded in under an hour, and it was around 9:30 pm. First I received an automated reply that they would look up my order and then I received a tweet with return information. So that being said, they were not Social Media zombies. British Airways jumped into social media but they were not prepared to respond 24/7 as social media users would want them to, they did not have their strategic plan fully laid out and they suffered for it. Nike’s brand is using all different types of social media for their campaign “Just do it!” and now they are using “follow your dreams”. Twitter is very effective for them as they have 7.6 million followers. They target the athletes and use famous athletes to attract followers. If British Airways had laid out their strategic plan before they joined social media they might not have had this problem while building their brand.

https://owenlloyd27.tumblr.com/post/179538431789/nike-on-twitter

https://owenlloyd27.tumblr.com/post/179538410224/nike-on-twitter

https://owenlloyd27.tumblr.com/post/179538387514/nike-on-twitter

https://owenlloyd27.tumblr.com/post/179538457374/nike-support-nikesupport-twitter

Nike Support (@NikeSupport) | Twitter

Nike on Twitter

The latest Tweets from Nike Support (@NikeSupport). Athletes helping athletes, 7 days a week. Languages supported: English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian, & German. Beaverton, Oregon

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“Yesterday, 2:01:39 seemed crazy. Today, it’s the marathon world record. #justdoit”

“Just a small-town kid with big-city dreams. #justdoit @KingJames https://t.co/okTQBM8hLI”

“Don’t ask if your dreams are crazy. Ask if they’re crazy enough. #justdoit https://t.co/Wd5L42egV8”

owenlloyd27

Soccer is my passion and I love watching a great goal. Soccer players around the world can enjoy the best shots

owenlloyd27

I was drawn to this post because its a fun pastime to watch great goals.

Soccer is my passion and I love watching a great goal. Soccer players around the world can enjoy the best shots

#necsocialmedia

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