YOUZUS
THE
THE TOP BRANDS
DOMINATING
50
SHADES OF GREY
FEBRUARY 2015 - EPISODE 19
REP ORT
MISSY
ELLIOTT
MAKES A SUPER (BOWL) COMEBACK
YOUZUS PICKS:
3 NOTEWORTHY KICKSTARTERS
#DOINGITRIGHT:
SPEED DATING WITH FORD MUSTANG
FACEBOOK: RELEVANCE SCORE
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TOP BRANDS
DOMINATING 50 SHADES OF GREY MUSIC & MEDIA
MISSY ELLIOTT’S SUPER(BOWL) COMEBACK #DOINGITRIGHT
SPEED DATING WITH FORD MUSTANG YOUZUS PICKS
3 NOTEWORTHY KICKSTARTERS SOCIAL
TWITTER INFLUENCERS & EVENTS NEW IN SOCIAL MEDIA
FACEBOOK RELEVANCE SCORE COMMUNITY
QUESTION OF THE DAY SOCIAL MEDIA
HOROSCOPES
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CREATIVE DRIVER Oh February… What an incredible month you were! We not only signed a joint venture (with an amazing company by the name of Blueband Digital), but trained two marketing teams on digital marketing out in Vancouver, and… Youzus turned 3! A very happy birthday to us indeed. As for my team, I can’t say enough. They not only motivate me to be a better boss, but they inspire me when I’m least expected. I know I talk a lot about my team, but when you’re as proud as I am, you would too. Now if only I could clone them and make ten more, I’d be set. As for my personal life? Well I got officially (officially) engaged according to Indian standards, entered myself into a fitness competition (it’s been a bucket list item for far too long) and got back into traditional dancing after a 8 year hiatus (I missed it). And my motto recently (if you haven’t already guessed)... If Not Now, Then When? I really hope you enjoy this month’s edition of The Youzus Report It’s back in digital form and here to stay :) @SonyaGillHost
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TOP BRANDS DOMINATING
50 SHADES OF GREY BY: @ALEXANDRAVIES
I
f you haven’t heard about 50 Shades of Grey, you are likely reading this from under a rock. February 2015 was completely dedicated to promoting the newest, and most scandalous novel-turned-movie to hit the silver screen. Perfectly planned to open their doors to its devoted fans Valentine’s Day weekend, the film grossed at $81.7 million on the first weekend with a less than disappointing drop to only $23.3 million on its second week. Since then, the film has reached well passed $400 million. Needless to say, the fans of the BDSM novel were more than a little excited to see their favorite steamy characters live-time in the film adaptation starring actor/ Calvin Klein model, Jamie Dornan, and actress Dakota Johnson.
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The book itself is one of the best selling trilogies of our time with well over 100 million copies sold worldwide. Once the world got wind that a film was in the works, top brands decided this wasn’t an opportunity to miss and cultivated ideas to benefit from the massive hype around the erotic-romance film. Check out which brands are dominating the 50 Shades of Grey trend:
BEAUTY
CONTRACEPTIVES
Since the launch, make up brands have released 50 Shades of Grey-inspired beauty lines. Make Up Forever launched a limited-edition feature set which included provocatively named products such as a smudge-proof lip gloss trio called “Tease Me,” available in colours, Passionate and Innocent. The set also includes a blush trio called “Desire Me,” packaged in a velvet bag with a rope tie and key, along with a keepsake box with a hidden compartment that contains eyeshadow, lipstick and eyeliner. The line emphasizes novel fans to unleash their “inner Anastasia Steele.” Leading nail polish brand OPI has also hopped on the bandwagon and created 50 (actually only 5) Shades of Grey (one is red) nail polish to pair with the film release as well.
Of course condom brands hopped on this opportunity, especially because Valentine’s Day and National Condom Day lands on the same day (coincidence? I think not). Heavy-hitters such as Durex and Trojan used the erotic fiction to promote sales before and after the release. Durex gained traction with a microsite called “#50GamesToPlay” where couples can scroll through for inspiration to heat things up in the bedroom. To hype it further, Durex released a video that plays up on people’s lack of creativity in bed, ultimately urging couples to put down the book and make things a reality. This video alone has over 10 million views on Youtube. VIDEO: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=wpiL4_ugBys
AUTOMOTIVE
Trojan also brought out its A-game when it came to reaping the benefits from the film with a 50 Shades parody called 50 Shades of Pleasure. The hilarious video follows a man and woman in couples therapy expressing how difficult it really is to recreate the novel’s spiciest scenes. https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=h-BFLlqY598
Though there wasn’t a car released to promote 50 Shades of Grey, one brand in particular benefited from the release of the film. Audi is protagonist Christian Grey’s car of choice. He gives his submissive girlfriends Audi A3’s while he drives an Audi R8 Spyder. The book alone increased Audi sales back in 2012, but now the car is calling the shots with its own video parody of 50 Shade of Grey. Starring Saturday Night Live actress Vanessa Bayer, a hilarious branded video shows Bayer awkwardly hitting on strangers in an elevator (a reference to the notorious scene in the film) in hopes of getting her own Audi A3, which received huge applause from fans online. VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utP3ROiT_DM
These brands are among the many who have used 50 Shades of Grey to leverage their products. With 50 Shades of Grey branded wine, ties, and of course “adult products”, the film has certainly shined a great light over brands that wouldn’t necessarily be noticed by that certain target market. As for the next two films expected to complete the trilogy, we would bet our bottom dollar that more brands will hop on the 50 Shades bandwagon.
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MISSY ELLIOTT MAKES A SUPER (BOWL) COMEBACK BY: @ALEXANDRAVIES
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M
ove aside, Left Shark, Missy Elliott took centre stage at the Super Bowl XLIX this past month with a performance that lead to one of hip hop’s biggest comebacks, and to what could be (hopefully) a new album by the rap queen herself. If you didn’t catch the half-time show, Katy Perry rocked the house with adorably pathetic-looking dancing beachball and shark mascots to accompany a medley of her poppy tunes. No one was expecting what was about to happen next when Missy Elliott came out of a sea of fog blaring her hottest song from 2001, “Get Ur Freak On.” The crowd went wild, but not nearly as wild as the Twittersphere- for multiple reasons. For some, fans of the 43-year-old, Grammy-Award winning female rapper were in hysterical nostalgia from this blast from the past. For the other, much younger crowd, Missy Elliott was merely a “new artist” founded by Katy Perry, about to make it big for the first time in her career. Twitter seemed to be in a constant confusion over this “new” artist, much like what we saw with Paul McCartney being mistaken as a breakout artist after being featured in a Kanye West song. Truly a soul-crushing time for fans of music up until the early 2000’s. While Missy Elliott and her devoted followers jokingly shake their heads at today’s youth, her comeback has sparked a less-than-shocking spike in her iTunes album sales. Her top three songs, “Lose Control,” “Work It,” and “Get Ur Freak On” were among the top 20 singles list by the following Monday with an overall 2,500% sales surge on her albums and singles. To accompany her online sales, her past music video of “Work It” regained traction, which features a much younger version of actress/dancer, Alyson Stoner. After the positive response from the Super Bowl, Stoner made a tribute dance video for her former co-star, Missy Elliott, reaping in over 12 million views. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEOo311_yts) Since her last album, The Cookbook, released in 2005, Missy Elliott has been on hiatus, rarely performing and certainly not making any music of her own, but will that change? The world is now left with merely the hope Missy will return to the limelight with a brand new album. With her recent sales spike and her old and new fans waiting on what’s next, we would bet that current artists are looking for a potential collaboration in the near future. But until then, we will relive the legend of hip hop’s favourite female by attempting (and failing) to dance like her. Would you be excited for a new Missy Elliott album for 2015? Join the conversation and tweet us at @youzus_inc. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEOo311_yts#t=144
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SPEED DATING WITH FORD MUSTANG
#DOINGITRIGHT BY: @VIVIANAMY
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We live in an age where our social dynamics are affected by online media. The vast amount of content that is shared alone on social media allows brands to pick up social trends amongst users. This month, the automotive company Ford has made our #DoingItRight with their “Speed Dating Prank” campaign featuring their 2015 Ford Mustang vehicle. The video showcases The Mustang, a beautiful professional stunt driver, and a bunch of unsuspecting guys asked to meet her on a blind date. It starts off with the female (stunt driver) character meeting the blind dates at a coffee shop, getting to know one another, and eventually leading to her giving them a ride in the Mustang. At first, the stunt driver pretends to miss key gear shifts, while her dates chivalrously offer to take over the wheel. Seconds later, she has them gripping onto their seats in utter shock as she takes them for a spin- literally. Ford strategically launched the campaign on their YouTube channel in the first week of February as a lead up to Valentine’s Day when most people are in a lovey dovey mood. The timeliness of the blind date theme made it relevant to the love holiday and skyrocketed the views to almost 10 million YouTube views in the first week. Smart move on Ford’s end.
Taking in current social trends, Ford incorporated multiple user fads into this campaign which also made the video blend seamlessly into our social media newsfeeds without looking like an advertising commercial. What were the social trends highlighted here? Let’s break it down: • Blind Dating - You must admit that we are all nosey people by nature, hence, watching blind dates peaked user interest in this case • Pranks - The user trend of watching online videos of people performing the best pranks • Social Experiments - The campaign took form of a “social experiment” as it showed various male reaction to the prank
WHY DID THIS WORK? BECAUSE FORD PULLED THOUSANDS OF VIEWERS TO EFFORTLESSLY WATCH THE VIDEO THAT SUBTLY AND EVIDENTLY HIGHLIGHT ITS VEHICLE CAPABILITIES. CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF! HTTP://YOUTU.BE/3NYR1AO7IZA 9
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YOUZUS PICKS BY: @VIVIANAMY
At Youzus, we’re all for new technology and the next upcoming Big Thing. This month, we’ve decided to cover our top 3 favourite Kickstarter campaigns in the Technology category. What’s is Kickstarter? It’s a platform for creators to propose ideas/inventions and supporters to selectively fund creative projects. Everything from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology - There are various cool projects you’ll want to check out!
TOP 3 YOUZUS PICKS
1.
SILVAN AUDIO WORKSHOP A combination of tech, music, and art – Silvan Audio Workshop brings a unique twist to modern day turntables. They specialize in custom handmade turntables crafted by a father and son duo team. With the combination of new technology and the aspect of natural hardwood exterior – the turntable is suppose to peak interest equally when it is turned on, and when it is off. The rustic aesthetic of the piece would make an awesome centrepiece for any entertainment set up.
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2.
FOGO
Your basic survival toolkit packed into one. FOGO claims to be the “Ultimate Adventure Gadget” with its multiple functions that work as a flashlight, GPS, Bluetooth, backup battery, and a digital walkie-talkie. Whether you’re biking or hiking, fishing or hunting, navigating or camping, this all-in-one gadget keeps you safe and lightens your load. The FOGO can work as a basic household essential or an amazing side-kick tool for the extreme adventurer.
KITSENTRY
3.
Ever bought something super expensive and fear you’ll lose it? Worrywarts away – your problem may be solved with KitSentry. What is it? The new gadget claims to be “The Next Generation Smart Bag” that manages, tracks, and protects your gear. It’s a 3-part system that includes a field device (the mother detector), ID tags (stick-on to your expensive gear), and a sentry app (allows you to view and track your tagged items). The KitSentry is created for the many photographers and filmmakers that carry expensive equipment. In our opinion, it’s a great additional investment to keep your hefty priced items in check.
WOULD YOU SUPPORT THESE KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGNS? WHO’S YOUR FAVOURITE? TWEET US @YOUZUS_INC! 11
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Top Influencers
on Twitter @SMARTCARUSA @OREO @CURALATE @JIMMYFALLON @SAPNATORONTO @SOCIALMEDIA2DAY @CHARMIN @SOCIALSAVVYGEEK @BLUEBANDDIGITAL @ANGELAAIELLO 12
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EVENTS
MARCH 2015
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Licensed Custom Brokers Transported Management 3rd Party Logistics
WWW.BILSI.COM 14 The Youzus Report
6345 120TH STREET DELTA, BRITISH COLUMBIA (604) 592-0585 WWW.EUPHORICDAYSPA.COM 15 The Youzus Report
RELEVANCE SCORE BY: @NANCILYNSELVA
T
he new Facebook Relevance Score for advertisements displayed on facebook functions as a tool to show the right ads to the right people. The feature shows a score in metrics that allows advertisers know their average score, positive/negative feedback, and also gives helpful tips on how to create relevant ads to their target audience. The score is purely based on the feedback received for the advertisement, whether positive or negative. The score is calculated based on the feedback from the ad’s target audience and is ranked from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest). So how does Facebook calculate the relevance of the feedback? According to the metrics, the more interaction received for the type of ad indicates positive feedback, versus when the ad is hidden or reported, to be negative feedback. This tool does not relate to paid ads, so the number you get is solely for interaction with the ad itself.
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Can’t find the relevance score tool? Here’s how to find it (I need to be on a Facebook account with ADs to screenshot and list the steps) Go to Ads Manager So what’s the relevance behind the relevance score you say? As an advertiser, you can understand how your target audience feels towards your ads; in this way, you can spend less for campaigning and paid ads. The relevance score can help you see how to advertise in a more efficient way to reach the right people. Another benefit of this tool is that advertisers can make test ads to weigh out which options will get them the highest relevance score. Adding on, Facebook’s relevance score can also be of use when trying to see if an existing campaign is making any sort of progress through the judgment of the score given - if the score is low, then maybe the ad isn’t targeting the right audience or needs to a change on the creative side. Facebook wants you to use the relevance score to reach your audience at lower costs and test out your ads to see if it’s (for a lack of better word) relevant. To know more about Facebook’s Relevance Score - check out their blog post(s): https://www.facebook.com/business/news/relevance-score https://www.facebook.com/business/a/ads-relevance-score
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rethink property
management
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YOUR FITNESS JOURNEY STARTS HERE. WWW.NADINEDUMASLIVEFIT.COM COMING SOON
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QUESTION OF THE DAY BY: @NANCILYNSELVA We asked a few entrepreneurs and small business companies “what’s your favourite #socialmedia management tool and why? #QuestionofTheDay #TheYouzusReport” Here’s what they had to say:
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CAMERON HO @CameronHo
”“
Buffer is a must have for managing Twitter posts, my social media world would be in shambles without it!
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NANCY ESSEBAG @nanceEss
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@Hootsuite! It’s a great (Canadian) tool to manage all your #socialmedia pages from one place & schedule posts!
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EXPAND YOUR BRAND @ThinkEYB
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We’re pretty big fans of @SproutSocial! :D
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BOBBY UMAR
@raehanbobby
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I like Storify, a quick and easy way to capture Twitter content
CURALATE
”
@Curalate
Great question. We’re a little biased but we’d have to say we love using the Curalate dashboard because it enables us and the brands we work with to tap into the visual conversations happening on social. For non-visual monitoring & engagement, we work with a couple different third-party tools. And finally, we have to give a shoutout to @VSCO and @ Snapseed, for being our go-to’s when editing any visual social posts
LAURA E. PENCE @SocialSavvyGeek
“ ”
BLUEBAND DIGITAL @bluebanddigital
”
#sproutsocial is pretty badass!
Hootsuite for ease of use and including the Google + API.
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JSBINSURANCE AGENCY LTD.
You deserve a personalized tailored approach when insuring your valuables. At JSB Insurance our experts offer one on one advice and care for your home, business, and family. Our service isn't limited to your policy purchase as we go above and beyond to ensure you have the best coverage based on your evolving needs.
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CMYK / .ai
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CMYK / .ai
7320 King George Blvd, Unit 110, Surrey BC, V3W 5A5 | T 604-592-5454 | E Jaspal_Brar@Cooperators.ca 25
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SOCIAL MEDIA HOROSCOPES
See what the stars have to say about your social-ness! You may feel romantic tension this month. People who you haven’t talked to in awhile will arise conversation again, your posts on Instagram and Twitter have been #flawless and your life is going in the right direction, be careful of people who might take you off track.
Things are looking up and it’s time for opportunity! New openings for you to shine will begin through your presence on Twitter and LinkedIn. Tweet to your hearts content, use hashtags and don’t be afraid to show off what you’ve been up to at work, new projects, successes and your interests. Connect with people on LinkedIn, fix up your resume and apply for new jobs, someone out there is waiting to discover your talents. Your family is slowly all owning Facebook accounts, maybe now is the time to clean up your profile. Potential partners in work may also be visiting your platforms to get to know your online persona, keep things fun but professional. Refrain from anything too crazy and keep those for personal moments for snapchat. Put up your contact, website and work email. It’s time to take your online presence to the next level far away from those facebook statuses and pictures from 2005!
It’s time for a new display picture! Get a cute #BackToSchool group picture with your friends. Tag them and make sure they all like it!
Someone may be disloyal to you, or try to claim something of yours at their own. Be wary of Twitter joke-stealers, or those who might quote you without attribution. Make sure your followers on all platforms are people you know and trust with all the available information, delete spam accounts or anyone you may not know.
Tweet your school and see if there are any upcoming volunteer opportunities. It will build your resume and get you ready for what is next in life!
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Don’t read old conversations, they can be very misleading. You’re starting to notice how much things have changed overtime and over analyzing the situation. Don’t live in the past, keep moving forward, freshen up your social media platforms and start new conversations. If there is someone you miss don’t be afraid to favorite their tweets from time to time or like their pictures on Instagram instead of avoiding them awkwardly.
This month will be an eye opener. News which had previously been kept from you, be it a Twitter friendship or behind chat conversations may make you displeased. Near this time you will want to reach out widely for advice and comfort, perhaps conversing with contacts outside of your immediate top 5. Be careful, don’t overreact, people only show what they want to be seen on social media, there’s always another half of the story. Don’t jump to conclusions this month. Keep an open mind, talk to your loved ones and let negative people do them, and you continue doing.
You are likely to experience sudden changes with a friend and/or social network to which you belong; one possibility is that someone (or something) you relied upon in your internet life will no longer be available to you. Learn to embrace the change and go along with it, it could be with a new cover photo, profile picture or even getting in touch with new peers in your social network.
You will come across a friend’s tweet or Instagram photo you find particularly shocking. You may be tempted to send links of this event and share it with close friends but be careful not to vent as they may not find it as shocking. You will receive extensive support from a close friend on this issue, and will realize some people may be catfishing on social media and may not be who they portray themselves to be.
Your creativity is something that sets you apart, don’t fall behind on your Tumblr and Instagram posts. Create a platform that’s completely unique from your friends and family and gain followers who admire your style. Don’t be afraid to go personal on Tumblr, write about your day and share pictures of places you want to go in the future. Tumblr followers connect on a heart-to-heart level whereas Instagram followers are visually captivated. Impress them all and stay consistent.
People are noticing you, you’re doing great things and moving ahead. Jealousy in the eye of others may be your worst enemy this month. You may find yourself heavily trolled: Do not engage. This is the time to use the “block” button to abandon negativity. Your judgment will be swift but clear that you only want supportive people in your social life and there’s no room for people who try to bring you down.
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CONTRIBUTORS: Content Writers Sonya Gill @SonyaGillHost @ alexandravies
y @vivianam @priyaamm
@nancilynselva
Graphic Designers @priyaamm
@nancilynselva
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