Tag Archives: entertainment

by | Thursday, March 16, 2023 · 7:19 am

Tik Tok Interns

Do you use TikTok? If so, you are a part of a community of 1.5 billion monthly users around the world!

TikTok was launched in 2016 by Chinese tech company Bytedance.  In 2017 TikTok went global and has since grown to become one of the most popular social media apps in the world. Downloaded more than 3.5 billion times since launch, the app regularly garners 500 million additional downloads each quarter, and was the most downloaded app of 2022!

TikTok may have started with a young audience of teens, but it is far from being just a teen app.  In the U.S., the age range of 25-34 year-olds accounts for nearly 25% of its users, an important demographic for brands and advertisers. And, 18% of all Internet users use TikTok. TikTok is available in 154 countries and 90% of its users access the app daily.

TikTok is so valuable to brands that many companies are now hiring TikTok ‘interns’ to help them reach users. Job sites have listings for “TikTok content creators.” These creators are being asked to both make and appear in videos promoting various products and retailers. Companies hiring this expertise include Claire’s, Whole Foods, Travel Pro, and even Rosedale Mall located in Roseville, Minn. Brands are hiring college students and other young people to help them successfully navigate TikTok, and create an impactful campaign.

What will you create?  

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Show TikTok in class: https://www.tiktok.com/
  2. You could also show a specific company/brand. (Ex: Fenty Beauty: https://www.tiktok.com/@fentybeauty )
  3. Poll students: How do they use it? When? How long? How influential is it on their behavior?
  4. Have students uploaded their own videos? If so, show several of their videos in class.
  5. Divide students into teams. Have each team select a brand/company and analyze the company’s TikTok campaigns.
  6. Make sure students first identify the target market including demographics, psychographics, behaviors, values, etc.
  7. [Additional assignment: Have each team create an original TikTok video for a product or company they would like to work at.]
  8. Show TikTok’s career site: https://careers.tiktok.com/campus/project/internships

Source:  Maheshwari, S. (14 February 2023). Wanted: Interns who can make TikTok hits. New York Times.

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by | Monday, February 20, 2023 · 9:25 pm

2023: Super Bowl LVII

Winter may be cold, but the Super Bowl game always pumps up the heat! The Super Bowl has become one of the premier venues for marketers. The thrills, the chills, the excitement and surprises – and that’s just the advertisements!

At a cost of a $7 million (same as last year) for 30 seconds of air time, the Super Bowl is also the most expensive advertising placement of any event or show. Add to the air time the costs of designing and producing ads, plus the integration into other marketing tactics, and a company can easily spend upwards of $8 million on a single day.

Love them or hate them, Super Bowl advertisements have become a talking point before, during, and after the game. More than 50 brands took out ads designed to help them stand out to consumers, some with high-profile athletes and celebrities such as Serena Williams, Bradley Cooper, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Silverstone, Melissa McCarthy, and more.

This year an audience of 113 million adults in the U.S. tuned in to watch the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles in a 38-35 win in the last few minutes. Even more viewers tuned in to Rihanna’s half-time performance which drew roughly 118.7 million viewers across TV and digital platforms, making Rihanna the second-most watched Super Bowl halftime performance  since Katy Perry in 2015.

This year’s game was also the most-streamed Super Bowl in history with 7 million streams (up 18% from last year). An additional 882,000 viewers watched the Spanish broadcast on FOX as well. On average, more than 77% of U.S. households tuned in for the big game.

Commercials were all over the place with top ads being The Farmer’s Dog, NFL Run with it (featuring Diana Flores), Amazon’s Saving Sawyer,  and Dunkin’ Drive Thru.

Which ad is your favorite this year?  

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Show one of the Web sites that have all the Super Bowl ads: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/Ad-Meter/2023/02/13/best-2023-super-bowl-commercials-voted-usa-today-ad-meter/11247208002/
  2. Divide students into teams. Have each team select a Super Bowl ad to analyze and present in class.
  3. What is the target market, key message, and offer from the ad?
  4. How does the ad integrate with a company’s other promotions?
  5. Are the messages integrated with a company’s Web site and social media?
  6. As a class, after each commercial have students assign one to five stars for the advertisements. Which advertisement won the class vote?

Source:  Ad Week; Fox Sports; New York Times; Nielsen Research; Wall Street Journal; other news sources

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by | Tuesday, January 3, 2023 · 7:34 am

The Major Leagues get a new Sport – Pickleball  

By now we’re all familiar with pickleball. We’ve heard about it from friends, relatives, and neighbors. After all, it is the fastest-growing recreational sport with roughly five million players.

But somehow, it lacks the status of other sports. You know, the ones with big name players, top athletes, and big leagues. Like the NBA, MLB, MLS, NFL, and more. But now, there is a new entrant to the big leagues – MLP (also known as major league pickleball)!

Even basketball king LeBron James is in on the action, having recently purchased a MLP team. The MLP will expand to 24 teams next year. Each team has co-ed players, two men and two women, who play singles and doubles events.

In MLP play, there are no home teams. Similar to the three-on-three basketball league Big3, all teams arrive in the tournament city for play. This year there were three tournaments and next year will have six tournaments. Prize money in 2023 will be $2.4 million (compared to $1 million this year).

The popularity of pickleball has grown rapidly. Community organizations, tennis clubs, and athletic gear companies have all gotten in on the new sport. Pickleball-only clubs are also being developed. One such club is Lucky Shot in Minneapolis where players match up in a 40,000-square-foot space. Other entertainment locations such as breweries are also installing pickleball courts.

It may have a crazy name, but it’s caught on and entered the big leagues!

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Poll students: What are favorite sports? Which sports do the students play?
  2. Who has played pickleball? Describe their experiences.
  3. Show the MLP site: https://www.majorleaguepickleball.net/
  4. Show Lucky Shots site: https://luckyshotspickleball.com/
  5. Show Smash Park site: https://smashpark.com/
  6. Divide students into teams.
  7. Have each team put together a marketing campaign to gain followers for a pickleball team.
  8. What are the key elements?

Source:  Berkman, S. (14 June 2022). Developers embrace passion for pickleball. New York Times.; Mather, V. (3 October 2022). Move over… everything? Here comes major league pickleball. New York Times.

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