I never really knew the correct terminology for increased activity on any social media site the night of a big event. The term “trendjacking” describes the act of capitalizing an existing news trend in order to boost one’s brand in the marketplace. This idea can help your brand or be used to diminish a particular brand. The outcome ultimately depends on how the message is conveyed to the intended audience. With trendjacking you get free publicity. It could be good publicity or it could be bad publicity. It is all up to the audience and how they perceive it. It can even reinforce or define an existing brand identity. Nowadays, you expect more from advertising, with brands so accessible to people through social media, audiences think it is their right to respond to brands. A key element to “trendjacking” is playing with culture. You must know the culture that you are reaching.
One key thing to remember is that, if something is trending and it is relevant to your product or service, by all means jump on the bandwagon. But at what point do you draw the line?
During the FIFA World Cup, SuperBowl, any big Award Show, trendjacking is at its peak. Next time you are on social media during a time that something major is happening,I would advise you to observe what people say, or observe what is trending at the moment. You will quickly find out what everyone is talking about. I know there is a section on Twitter where you can see all the Hashtags that are trending for the day. This is a quick way to see what is “hot’ and what is “not”. Whether you want to be in the “know” or just want to help your business, be more aware of what is going on. You never know, one day you could be trending.
Lauren said:
Great post! I was unfamiliar with the term trendjacking, and your post really helped to clarify. I also notice trendjacking during some of my favorite shows (and are trending topics/hashtags). If I can’t watch that evening, I always try to stay off all social media so other viewers don’t give anything away!
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Dr. Watkins said:
That’s interesting – I do the same thing. If I can’t watch something in real time, I completely avoid social media so I don’t see something about the show. It’s funny how much these two things are intertwined.
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weskline said:
I also was unaware of the term trendjacking, but I think it is an important part of our connected, millennial culture. We don’t want to just watch the Super Bowl commercials, we want to tweet our reactions to the power going out after Beyonce performed and see what everyone else is saying about this year’s Budweiser commercial.
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