Ty Jones is senior director of talent management for WhoSay, a celebrity content marketing firm that was co-founded in 2010 by entrepreneur Steve Ellis and Creative Artists Agency. WhoSay now advises more than 2,000 celebrities, including athletes and entertainers, as well as brands on social media strategy.
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Those click-throughs and engagement on banner ads — which is the traditional digital business on the media side — that is just not working as it used to, so that is why brands are starting to turn to this creative storytelling.”
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Photo by: HENRY JOSE / WHOSAY
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Viewing content differently: Brands are now seeing that organic content from influencers is getting much more engagement, click-throughs, likes and shares. And that’s what brands want. We work with brands. Brands come to us because they want premium content, premium celebrities and high engagement. What we have seen with brands is now they are getting into that frame of mind where the content is the ad, which is storytelling.
An example of branded storytelling: We just did a deal with McDonald’s and [Pittsburgh Steelers running back] DeAngelo Williams. It’s a very collaborative piece with him. ... He wanted to make it an authentic process so it wasn’t so sales-y. It was on McDonald’s breakfast, so he talks about how he eats pancakes in his own funky way, so fans feel like they are having breakfast with DeAngelo. So it is not as much in-your-face as normal banner ads.
Wanting more video: The hottest thing in social media right now would be the content that is being delivered to the fan base is video. I think you are seeing an uptick with celebrities and athletes — anyone of influence — using video to connect with fans on all the different outlets. Facebook is catering much more these days to videos being sent; they are actually rewarding it more. So you are going to see more and more people on Facebook Live, Periscope … all of these apps that are popping up that cater to either live video or in-the-moment personal video from these influencers. Look at Snapchat: They have a huge video presence. And everyone is on their mobile phones, so they are viewing these videos in a mobile space.
About Snapchat: It’s the hottest new platform because it does cater to the more personal, organic content. It’s right there. It’s live. It’s unedited. And you are telling your story in a quick way for your fans.
Athletes vs. other celebrities: They are both trying to connect with their fans. The way that athletes differ from other celebrities in social media use is that athletes become more active with their fans without having a team around them. I think [non-athlete] celebrities have more of a built-up team for their message and for their brand.
