- Our latest blog post, by our Tokyo-based team lead Mayuko Homma, uses social insight to examine the failure of the government-led initiative ‘Premium Fridays’ in Japan. Rolled out to improve the work/life balance, the scheme has struggled to take hold in the country, where the workaholic culture is so prevalent there is even a term for death from overwork (‘karoshi‘). Don’t forget to comment, like and share! ?
- Channel 4’s scoop about Cambridge Analytica’s harvesting of Facebook users’ private data for commercial and political use has been on everyone’s lips this week. Involving ‘sleaze, psychological manipulation and data misuse‘, the scandal has raised concerns about personal data protection, and the legitimacy of Trump’s presidential win. Here’s a round-up of the messy situation.
- We’re approaching the end of Q1 2018 and plenty has happened on the social media scene during the first three months of the year. From Facebook news feed changes to the powerful growth of dark social, this guest-authored article explores how these events are likely to affect social media marketing strategies.
- It’s been a tough week for Snapchat. The platform’s stocks took a significant hit, $750 billion to be precise, after singer Rihanna encouraged her 61 million Instagram followers to “throw away” the app. The singer condemned Snapchat for running an ad that made light of domestic violence. Despite removing the ad and offering a public apology, it appeared to be a case of too little, too late for Snapchat as screengrabs of the ad had begun circulating the web. Less than a month after Kylie Jenner’s criticism of the photo sharing app’s redesign saw its value plummet by $1.3 billion, it seems Snapchat is facing an uphill battle to regain users’ trust.
- Remember Channel 4’s dystopian Synthetic Persona campaign for TV drama Humans back in 2015? In a similar vein, the broadcaster has produced another marketing stunt that peers into the murky fog of the future in the promotion of their live-action thriller Kiss Me First, set to air on television and Netflix later this year. Featuring computer-generated sequences, the ad introduced the made-up VR gaming device, Azanaband, which gets latched around the user’s throat to turn games into “real world experiences”. Expect us to be glued to the screen!
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With a background in PR, communication and journalism, Moa heads up Convosphere’s content marketing, blog and social media channels.
Before joining Convosphere, Moa worked as a PR and brand consultant for agencies including The Future Laboratory, LS:N Global, Canvas8 and Stylus, with a focus on packaging, retail and technology trends in the UK and Scandinavia.
