The secret potential of email, endangered emoji, feminist Lisa Frank, and all the other news you need to catch up on before the weekend starts. It’s the Friday Don’t Miss List!
1. Endangered Emoji
Emoji are replacing internet slang, infiltrating fashion, and are being integrated into social platforms. Now, more brands are creating emoji-centric marketing campaigns in order to appeal to Millennials and teens. Don’t miss another emoji-focused effort that asks consumers to send icons for a good cause. WWF’s #EndangeredEmoji campaign highlights 17 emoji that represent endangered species. Participants can send out a tweet with all 17 to sign up, and the organization will tally their Endangered Emoji use over time to suggest an amount to donate to the organization.
2. The Secret Power of Email
We know that new ways to engage Millennials and teens are constantly popping up, and this week we told you about three more emerging spaces that you shouldn’t forget if you’re marketing to young consumers. You shouldn’t miss another tip on their marketing preferences: the secret power of email. A recent study found that when it comes to having one-on-one contact with companies, Millennials “overwhelmingly chose email” over in-person, paper mail, social media, phone calls, online chat, or text message.
3. Don’t Forget About Dad
In our round up of marketing that’s totally on trend, we left out one big marketing movement: shining a spotlight on dads. Just a few days after Mother’s Day, several brands have already launched their Father’s Day campaigns to celebrate dad. Energizer’s spot sends a #DadsAreAwesome message, and Whirlpool is honoring the 2.6 million households in America headed by single fathers. We’ve asked Millennial parents how they feel about ads that include dad, and the brands that forget them. There is clearly a demand for more brands to recognize mom is not carrying the childcare load solo, and more and more brands are recognizing the new ideals and creating marketing that shows that dads play an active role in taking care of kids.
4. Break Me Off A Piece Of That…YouTube?
The online video competition is heating up, and we’re in the midst of a new digital content boom. In this environment, YouTube is intensifying their creative and marketing efforts online and off. The site has partnered with Nestlé for a campaign that rebrands KitKat’s into “YouTube break” bars on 600,000 packages in the UK. KitKat will sponsor the top trending videos on YouTube as part of the promotion, and consumers can search for “YouTube my break” to see the top performing clips of the day.
5. Links We’re Passing
Some of our recent mentions of Millennial creatives included an illustrator who’s using feminist humor to take on stereotypes. Don’t miss another feminist project getting some attention. Feminist Lisa Frank is a Tumblr that takes the neon, fantasy images that many ‘90s girls sported on binders, folders, and pencils, and pairs them with quotes from modern feminist figures like Gloria Steinem and Shonda Rhimes. The blog aims to “Dismantle the patriarchy one rainbow kitten at a time.”
