Newsjacking big events are a popular social media strategy. With the right tactics, you can craft a campaign that leverages this fanfare to increase your reach and brand awareness.
This strategy is more prominent today than it has ever been with hashtags on social media categorizing all significant world events for brands to jump on board.
#1. Big societal changes
Society is always adapting and changing based on the preferences of a generation. This ever-changing nature results in milestone moments which define a country, an organization, or the world as a whole.
Whether it’s a landmark decision by the UN or a localized change of law, brands can use big societal changes to align with specific demographic profiles. An example of this is when the US supreme court legalized same-sex marriage in all states. Several big brands immediately showed their support for this decision, including American Airlines with this creative Tweet:
#2. Newsjacking Internet Crazes, Fads, and Trends
Social media has changed the way we communicate and interact with each other. The speed at which a new craze or fad can spread is unprecedented. This change in human-to-human communication is why brands choose to newsjack events – they crave fast and immediate growth in awareness.
I’ll always remember the YoYo phase that took primary schools in my city by storm when I was a child. There were all sorts of different types of YoYos, everyone had one, and everyone wanted the new style. That was, of course, before social media and the internet.
These days, instead of YoYos, crazes are going digital. Whether it’s video challenges such as the #IceBucketChallenge, optical illusions like #TheDress, or trending games such as Pokemon Go, internet fads are fast and furious, and brands want a piece of the action.
Dunkin’ Donuts rode #TheDress wave with a creative icing design and some smart copy on Twitter:
In a unique approach to the #IceBucketChallenge, Samsung poured ice over the Galaxy S5 and then called out their competitors. This video came with mixed reactions from YouTubers though, some suggesting Samsung was unempathetic to the cause this video challenge was supporting. An example of needing to be careful with sensitive events and causes.
#3. Sporting Events
Every year there are big sporting events that form the pinnacle of marketing campaigns for brands. The Super Bowl is a great example. However, there are also less frequent sporting events, such as the Olympics or a sporting world cup, that only happen every other year.
France hosted the FIFA Women’s World Cup Soccer in 2019. A range of big brands, such as Adidas, Coca-Cola, and Visa, partnered with the event as sponsors. Along with these sponsorships, each brand structured a targeted marketing campaign before, during, and after the event. These campaigns used newsjacking aimed to leverage the goodwill and referral awareness of the event.
#4. Politics
Politics can be a tricky ecosystem for brands. If you lean too far one way, you risk isolating customers. Yet, if you sit on the fence, it can have the same effect!
Prominent political events such as #Brexit, Trump’s impeachment, and Harry and Meghan moving to Canada, are hot topics around the world and all over social media. Depending on your target audience, commenting on these political events may be instrumental in building trust with your prospects.
HSBC, for example, created a campaign titled “We Are Not An Island” in response to #Brexit and its threat to multi-culturalism in the UK. This campaign was considered by some to be controversial, but it drove home HSBC’s values and aligned them with a distinct customer group.
#5. Newsjacking Hollywood
On a somewhat lighter note than the minefields of a global political landscape, Hollywood events provide regular opportunities for newsjacking. Whether it’s the launch of a new movie, the breakup of a Hollywood couple, or an event such as the Oscars, there will be a hashtag you can highjack.
Norwegian airlines famously listed a newspaper ad promoting flights to Los Angeles after Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie split. The headline was “Brad is single”: