OHMYGOSSIP — Condé Nast is now tapping into Watson, IBM’s super computer, to help build and strategize social influencer campaigns for brands. Through a new partnership announced today with IBM and the influencer platform Influential, brands advertising with the media company’s properties—publications such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker—will be able to use big data to better know which social media celebrities might make for a good match for any given campaign.
Using software built by IBM and Influential, Condé Nast’s clients will be able to know which influencer’s demographics, personality traits and more best align with a marketer and the audience it’s targeting.
“Within the dating sense of the word, we are matching people based on different data points,” said Influential CEO Ryan Detert. “We’re a matchmaker—just with multiple points of vetting.”
For example, if a brand wants to find somebody who’s adventurous, Watson—which can analyze the last 20,000 words and emojis an influencer has published—helps weed out those that are more prone to doing vlogs from their couch. If a brand wants to pitch an action film, they might input key words like “action” and “explosion” to see which influencers have used them the most. Once the data analysis is complete, Watson then picks out five, 10 or a few dozen candidates for humans to choose from. (A competitive analysis by Watson also looks at whether an influencer is already pitching products for related brands or if a person has ever been arrested.)
It all comes down to better understanding the consumer experience, said Stephen Gold, vp of IBM Watson. Every reader has countless options for where to consume content. Watson considers 52 unique attributes for each person: Are they open-minded? Are they dutiful? Are they outgoing? The more Watson knows about an individual, the more it can help brands know what will resonate.
Until recently, computers were unable to reason deductively like humans by inferring truths based on a series of other facts, Gold said. While computers like Watson have made large strides in deductive and inductive reasoning, Watson can now begin to add abductive reasoning by making suggestions for an answer based on already available facts.
“The way I think about it, and maybe this is too simplistic, but you used to only have so many levers you could pull,” Gold said. “Some of those are foundational, others about style, and the techniques that are employed, but you quickly run out of things that you can change. This starts to open up some new levers that people can pull and say ‘Oh, we can take the personalization of content based on the reader, aligned to the influencers.’ It’s creating markets of one.”
OHMYGOSSIP — The NFL regular season starts this week, and Sports Illustrated wants to load up your podcast apps with football commentary all fall. SI is launching three new weekly podcasts with DGital Media today, audio extensions of its Monday Morning Quarterback (MMQB) website that covers football. MMQB editor Peter King will host one of the shows—The MMQB Podcast with Peter King—featuring interviews with the likes of John Elway, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett and Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians.
In addition to King’s show, there are two other football-themed podcasts: one with MMQB.com reporter Albert Breer and another one called The Ten Things MMQB Podcast.
Sports Illustrated is backing up its investment in audio with stats. Streams for its existing shows, including the SI Media podcast hosted by Richard Deitsch and the basketball-themed SI’s Open Floor, have increased 200 percent in the past year with downloads up 150 percent.
“As time goes along, we’ll introduce some non-MMQB podcasts, but with football starting this week, this represents the best opportunity to fill the richest conversation from the start,” said Chris Stone, group editorial director at Sports Illustrated. “Even anecdotally, we sense that [this] is beyond the football space.”
He added, “We saw this summer in particular basketball around the NBA finals—we saw massive spikes in people who were engaging and downloading our podcast.”
At launch, King’s show will be sponsored by Blue Apron, FanDuel, SeatGeek and Harry’s with preroll and midroll ads.
Unlike other podcasts that prerecord ads with a separate voice, all of Sports Illustrated’s ads will be read by the hosts.
“It allows a premium influencer like a Peter King to talk through what that sponsorship is, whether it’s a 60-second or 30-second midroll or preroll spot,” said Chris Corcoran, chief content officer at DGital Media.
OHMYGOSSIP — Procter and Gamble is on the lookout for a new Mr. Clean. After 60 years with the same mascot, the brand is shaking things up—over the next month, it will look at audition reels and host two casting sessions in New York and Los Angeles as part of a contest to find a new face for the squeaky-clean brand.
To introduce the contest, the brand has a new 60-second spot with actor Kellan Lutz spoofing an audition reel for the Mr. Clean role. It is part of a new push from Leo Burnett to “revitalize the brand” by bringing back what made it resonate with consumers in the first place—its iconic jingle and mascot.
“This is the second in our series of efforts to go back to our roots,” said Kevin Wenzel, associate brand director for Procter and Gamble North America. “The first was the new modern version of our jingle television spot, which we launched July 1. It was a well-known jingle that was used to launch the brand. We used it for decades, and it was brought into a more modern context.”
Wenzel added, “The jingle ad gives us the perfect time to reintroduce the man because it’s bringing up great memories of the brand itself, and he is inextricably tied with the brand.”
Though there will be a new face in the fold, Mr. Clean the iconic character is not going away, according to Wenzel.
“We will still have our iconic Mr. Clean, but this will be a chance to let a consumer have a little bit of fun and let us have a little bit of fun as well,” Wenzel said. “That next Mr. Clean will be helping us generate content, including appearing in a calendar which we’ll be showing online.”
Mr. Clean will announce the contest winner in mid-October.
OHMYGOSSIP — Creative design agency ModOp has a client roster full of well-known and hip brands like Sony Pictures, PlayStation, Fender and Belvedere Vodka. And the agency (it has locations in New York, Los Angeles, Portland, Ore., and Panama City, Panama) has offices that are just as cool as the companies it serves.
Recently its Los Angeles outpost relocated to new quarters, and president and co-CEO Jeff Suhy saw the move as the perfect opportunity to display his numerous collections. The former record label exec used mementos like fan mail, folk art and radio show props to personalize every corner of his new space. “I’ve been lucky enough to have had several careers from music, architectural design and technology and now advertising,” he said. “I’m a collector and I wanted to share some of my artifacts with our clients and employees.”
OHMYGOSSIP — Prince Harry is reportedly eyeing up a £3.6 million mansion. The 31-year-old royal is said to have set his sights on Water Hall in Norfolk, a seven-bedroom luxurious abode complete with a pool. A resident told The Sun newspaper: “It’s away from any neighbours, so would be the perfect party pad.”
The 5.5 acre site comes complete with a tennis court and games room as well as luxurious grounds, perfect for holding summer parties in.
Describing the property on their website, Savills estate agents said: “Water Hall is an exceptional family home, enjoying a wonderfully private and peaceful setting within the Stiffkey Valley, with the River Stiffkey meandering along the western boundary and with fine views across the water meadows and the delightful 5.5 acres (est) of gardens and grounds.
“The extensive property, set at the end of a long drive, includes a detached cottage, annexe, garage block with games room and studio above and a traditional Norfolk barn with planning consent for conversion to a five bedroom dwelling.
“Over the past 15 years the property has been the subject of a thorough and sympathetic programme of restoration, renovation and extension alongside landscaping of the gardens, the creation of an impressive walled garden housing the swimming pool and pool house, and the substantial garaging adjoining the house … All bedrooms enjoy fantastic views of the gardens and water meadows beyond.”
Featured image: Ohmygossip.com
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OHMYGOSSIP — Prince Harry has made a “personal donation” to a campaign to help purchase Rio 2016 Paralympics tickets for local Brazilian kids. The flame-haired royal has dug deep in his own pockets to give the #filltheseats initiative some money to enable youngsters in Rio de Janeiro the chance to watch some of the Paralympics unfold in their city.
A post on the Kensington Palace Twitter read: “Prince Harry has made a personal donation to #filltheseats so Rio kids can see Invictus & Paralympic competitors in action. Enjoy the games!”
At the time of writing, the campaign has raised more than $53,000, 18 per cent of its $300,000 target.
It’s not known how much Harry has donated to the cause. A promotional video on the campaign’s fundraising page urges people to donate to turn empty seats into roaring crowds.
It then asks: “And what if those invited were the kids of Rio?
“Come on world. Donate. #filltheseats”
In August, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee got behind the campaign, which aimed to make up to 10,000 tickets available for kids in Rio to attend the Paralympics.
Coldplay have also endorsed the initiative.
The #filltheseats campaign originally aimed to raise $15,000 to send 500 children to the Games, but after raising more than $20,000 in one week the IPC and Rio 2016 asked the initiative to remain open so more tickets could be donated to local Brazilians from the world.
Featured image: Prince Harry (Ohmygossip.com /Helena-Reet Ennet)
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OHMYGOSSIP — Prince Harry has wished the 11 Invictus Games competitors aiming to win a medal at the Rio 2016 Paralympics good luck. The 31-year-old royal – who is patron of the Invictus Games Foundation – told the paralympians, who are representing five nations, to “have fun” and thanked them for “inspiring millions” in their bid for glory.
He said: “To those Invictus Games competitors representing your five nations, all I have to say to you is what an incredible achievement – well done for your selection. You have trained harder than ever, but the fight to the finish line won’t be easy.
“You all know this better than anyone. Cherish this moment as you get to serve your country again. Absorb the applause and atmosphere for inspiring millions, but most importantly – have fun!”
Harry also admitted he is “incredible proud” of what the paralympians have achieved so far.
He added: “I remember watching these competitors at the 2014 and 2016 Invictus Games. And now they’ve been selected for the Rio Paralympic Games. I can’t think of a better example of showing how important sport can be for recovery.
“I know they’ll compete with the same Invictus spirit that we saw in London and Orlando – motivated not just by winning, but by pushing their bodies and minds to the absolute limit to prove to the world there is life beyond injury.
“They will lift everyone around them and whether you’re watching in Rio or on TV around the world, they will inspire you. I’m incredibly proud of what they’ve achieved and will be cheering on every single competitor during the Games.”
The 11 going for gold in Rio are made up of Team GB’s Dave Henson, Micky Yule, Joe Townsend, Mikey Hall and Nick Beighton. Australia’s Curtis McGrath, Canada’s Christine Gauthier and Italy’s Monica Contraffatto will also take part in the Games, as will Americans Elizabeth Marks, Jennifer Schuble and Shawn Cheshire.
Featured image: Britain’s Prince Harry (Ohmygossip.com /Helena-Reet Ennet)
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OHMYGOSSIP – Let’s talk blogging etiquette. While we like to say there are no “rules” to blogging, as each person’s blog is unique to their life and voice, there are some unspoken guidelines all bloggers should take into consideration. Most of these seem like common sense, but you’d be surprised how often we see these etiquette guidelines broken!
1. Don’t steal photos.
Simple enough right? Don’t take photos from another bloggers blog, Facebook page or instagram and say they are your own! You shouldn’t take photos from Pinterest and edit them to look like they aren’t from Pinterest. It’s just plain wrong to take another bloggers photos!
2. Don’t steal content.
Often times you will see similar ideas for posts on different blogs. This happens, especially with things like holiday post, recipes and craft ideas – hey there are only so many ideas out there, right? But, to blatantly copy-paste from another blogger’s post? That is just a huge no-no!
3. Post your disclosures.
If you received product or monetary compensation, you must disclose this information in your post. This is more than just etiquette, it is actually an FTC guideline. Be sure to disclose that you received free product or compensation in exchange for your post and use the hashtag #ad when you post about said products on social media. Remember, these are not blogger “perks,” they are considered payment for your services as a writer.
4. Give credit when credit is due.
If you do use someone’s photo, with permission of course, be sure to give credit to that person! The same goes for content ideas- it’s courteous to say you were inspired by so-and-so’s post or recipe or even to link over to them if you are using one of their ideas in your post!
5. Act professional.
If you are making money as a blogger, you are a professional. Even if you aren’t making money you are building a brand around yourself! How do you want others to see you and your brand? Be proud of your work and demand to be treated as a professional by acting like it!
What are you tips for blogging etiquette? We’d love to hear your thoughts! Source: northeastbloggers.com
OHMYGOSSIP – All bloggers sooner or later will experience a drop in visitors numbers. And at some point in you blog life browsing the internet envying ‘more successful’ blogs can demotivate you enormously. You keep wondering what you are doing wrong and how to get more visitors and keep them on you blog. Maybe even subscribe to your blog by email so you know they are more likely to return. First of all: Do not doubt yourself!
If you planned your blog carefully, it is probably just a dip because of the holidays or something like that. But check yourself carefully: did you make any changes? Do you blog on a different subject, a different time maybe or share your blog post in a different way. Are you still following trends? Being your informative self? Following the plan you mapped out for you and your blog? How about your style? Are you blogging about yourself a lot lately? Do you still mix your blog posts and subjects enough or are your blogs just a long bore of self promoting writings?
To write about personal experiences and personal life is a great blog subject. People want to get to know you, but be careful not to make yourself into the main subject of your blog. Make sure there is diversity. Share what you’ve learned from a first-hand perspective,but also share how readers may use it to their own benefits. Your blog should always be a well balanced mix of resource and personal posts.
Here are 20 ideas on how to get more traffic to your blog:
Visit other people’s blogs and leave comments
Tell stories
Write more and shorter posts
Blog regularly
Add sharing buttons
Be the answer to peoples needs
Use h2 and h3 to subhead your posts
Use tags and categories
Promote your blog on social media, and interact with other people on social media
Write less
Contact sites that will help others and exchange links or blog posts
Ask friends and family to share your posts on social media
Embrace the art of paragraphing
Write with a sense of humor
Write about emotions
Print blog business cards and promote your blog on live business events, do some serious networking
Write powerful headlines
Optimise your site for search engines
Make sure your website is mobile friendly
Be yourself!
It happens to all of us: one day you hit the ceiling and you need a breakthrough to go to the next level. We all become afraid that we have lost the magic one day or another. It may cause a lack of inspiration or motivation and you may enter a continues circle of self doubt over this. If so: get this book and write smashing blog posts.
OHMYGOSSIP – Most bloggers know it: the blunt comments often very short-sighted and sometimes even verbally violent that enter your mailbox through the comment section, that stand out in the comments on Facebook and YouTube or that fill up you twitter timeline after posting something and totally ignorant of doing so, stepping on someones toes. Or not even that, it also can come from that one visitor that has an opinion about you, the way you look, write, the topic you write about or anything else that triggers them to be their true friendly self.
This blog is written not only for the Blogger dealing with it, but also for those who feel triggered to write a comment. The commenter needs to find his or her own personal red button before writing a comment that bursts with criticism, and you reader of the post, feeling what you feel, need to find yours.
Lets take a deeper look into the art of feeling triggered Writing this I’m speaking for my own audience as well. If there is something I’m not good at it is handling criticism. For me it all comes down to self-esteem. Lots of people see me as a self-confident woman ready to travel the world. But I know the little scared and wounded girl deep inside me sitting next to my exclusive red button, hand raised to push it any inconvenient time, when she hears something that triggers her.
In my childhood the message that came across was me being dumb, stupid and bothersome. And i believed them since nobody took time or care to tell me otherwise. I’m working my way out of this for some time now. But still there is this red button .
Do you know the feeling of getting flushed from head to toe your skin prickling?
I do, and I know where it comes from. Very cliché to say: from my childhood, but in my case it does. I call my trigger point ‘the Red Button’ It took me a few years to discover but once I got grip on the how and why, it was a battle convincing the little girl inside me not to push that button immediately and send me into a corner to sulk, but to hand the matter to me, the adult, and cope with it.
Today I will share my coping strategies with you. When you are a blogger you will get negative feedback occasionally and you will need a thicker skin to cope with that. I got an email a few days back from someone telling me I was completely out of my mind because of what I’m about to do. I was totally ignorant to the world around me. It caught me at a bad moment and triggered me from a sunshine day right into self-reflection. I really needed to put that email into perspective.
1. Who is the other person? Separating bullshit from facts. Most people commenting on your writings, acting and person, don’t know you. That is a fact.
They interpret your writings within their own perspective and that might not be a wide, world-friendly frame build on lots of experiences and common sense. That’s another thing: what common sense is to you might be completely out of sense to someone else. There is no such thing as common sense no matter how hard we live to believe it.
People are likely to identify with you, specially those who do return to your blog, they bond, and they get the feeling they have the right to interfere and give their opinion, without any background information. To you as a blogger the art of separating the bullshit from the facts.
Someone judging you while being a complete stranger to you? Just ignore it. Do not excuse yourself or try to explain yourself, you will end up in a meaningless discussion, that can take nasty turns, take it from a pro. No matter how hard your red button is pushed, just say something neutral like: thank you for commenting, stop by again any time you like.
Do take a closer look at your writing, why is it this person is interpreting it the way he does? Do you need to change anything?
I once received a comment on a blog about trying to loose weight, it a blunt reply that I should be careful, before I know I could not wipe my own butt anymore. Being shocked by the comment at first,and not knowing how to reply, I did look back on my last few blogs and they were all about going out for drinks, having fingerfood….I probably created the impression my life was all about wining and dining. A point of improvement.
Preventive: when I’m tired, sad, in a bad mood, easy irritated, if I do not feel strong and self-confident I will not read the comments or handle email from strangers.
Practice: I do not receive any email notifications on comment on the website, I just check in every other day to see if there is anything that needs my attention. Just to make sure it does not hits me in a bad time, when facing a deadline or on my way to an important meeting or something. Same thing for social media.
2. transform criticism into a positive attribution
There are comments that are only posted to hurt, there is no positivity in those. Try to ignore them by handling them the way I describe before. But there is criticism that can add value to your live. Like the one about being to fat to wipe my own butt. I looked at my writings and saw there was no balance, my writing was all about eating and drinking. And by doing so I created an image that was not correct. I see it in travel blogs also: they are always about sunshine, fun, beach and flip-flops. I sometimes feel the urge myself to push someones button by asking if there are never any rainy days.
I do receive a lot of mails on my spelling. Since English is not my first language and being dyslexic as well, it is difficult for me to write error free content. The first two emails on that topic, I felt so ashamed, I even turned up the urge to perfectionism beyond normal (is there normal perfectionism?) I was so scared to publish my next post, what would people think of me? I learned to laugh about it, like the blog post I used ‘ass’ instead of ‘as’ and only reader number 200-something took the politeness to email me. We made fun about it. I’m glad when people correct me on that, I have accepted I’m not perfect.
Can you separate the bullshit from facts and than turn critique into something positive?
If you can’t, it is posted by idiots that can’t fight their way out of a paper bag. Vinegar pissing visitors just passing by with nothing meaningful to do in their pity little lives. So, there you go!
3. Find yourself a world-famous role model
Everybody famous out there gets criticized, rejected and bombed with negativity, so you can take it as a compliment when you have lots of annoying, negative comments and email. Living a mediocre live it not the live of a blogger. Mediocrity is safe, shielded from the outside world and fits in almost everything. You as a blogger chose to stand out in the crowd, with your product, opinion and stories. There is nothing mediocre about you and that is why people feel they can put you down. Or that is why people can act jealous.
I received an email from a person that stated that: I was discouraging other people to start a blog because I was afraid there would not be enough money out there for me and since I had such high income already…blablabla……well did she get it all wrong.
She definitely needed a pair of reading glasses and some English lessons.
I immediately though of Mary Robinson, the firs female Irish President, now that’s a woman with a thick skin, an independent politician giving women in Ireland a voice, fighting for rights of those oppressed. She is a strong woman and my role model when it comes to perseverance.
I was elected by the women of Ireland, who instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system – M. Robinson
You as a blogger can rock the World Wide Web. Let nobody or nothing stand in your way
create blog titles5. Find your own red button
In order to rock the World Wide Web by writing authentic, world-changing content, and to persevere under criticism, you have to find your own red button. What triggers you when you read criticism? What makes you sulk over ‘all your wrong doings’ and what gives you the idea ‘all your works sucks’ and that you are ‘no good at all’?
