And the winner is… the ‘filmie’

It was a straightforward ceremony last night at the Oscars… until Ellen DeGeneres got her phone out to take a selfie with a group of Hollywood stars – which crashed Twitter.

*That* picture – featuring Lupita Nyong’o; Meryl Streep; Jared Leto; Brad Pitt; Jennifer Lawrence and many more – was retweeted more than 1.7 million times in less than an hour. Needless to say it’s a social media record. Not even the President can win this race, following his re-election tweet in November 2012.

So, with all the coverage pick up Samsung has secured – including in The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph and Sky News – how will it use the stunt to its advantage?

This is a marketing opportunity that doesn’t fall in brands’ laps very often so it has to go in hard. If it doesn’t then its PR team will also win a title: Oscar-winning idiots.

I’m surprised that the @samsungUK or @samsungUSA Twitter accounts haven’t directly tweeted about the photo to further promote the fact that it was taken on one of its handsets. Glancing through their accounts and searching through the social media site, they’ve not even tried to effectively lay claim on this global achievement. Don’t get me wrong, lots is being said but it’s the fans that are doing the hard work. If I was in charge, I’d be maximising brand presence by encouraging those late to the party to retweet.

What I’d like to see is Samsung use the image, in some form, across a reactive campaign that implies that the Galaxy Note 3 model ‘fits all your friends in’ or ‘never misses a prize moment’ – to allow new customers to really interact with the brand.

Going one step further, Samsung could attempt to coin a new phrase. Selfies may have been the Oxford Dictionary’s ‘word of the year’ in 2013, but perhaps the mobile and tablet division could use the term ‘filmie‘ for the first time – an image packed with famous film stars.

What do you think? Is it a trend that will catch on?

7 year old tells off Lego boss for making toys for boys

I wouldn’t say I’m a feminist but I do have strong opinions. Even tonight my Mum told me to calm down and not get so fired up by other people’s choices.

It was only over the weekend that I was discussing with a PR friend that Kinder Surprise‘s move to package its chocolate in blue and pink is a bit ridiculous. When I was young it wasn’t about the type of toy you got, whether it was a car or a doll, it was the experience I had when I was enjoying the chocolate and the toy – I knew I was winning.

Which is why I don’t think girls should be backed into a corner to opt for stereotypical pink accessories. That’s right – I’m with Charlotte Benjamin.

Who’s Charlotte I hear you ask? She’s a seven-year old with a kick-ass attitude to gender ideals. She makes me wish my mum and dad were handing me pieces of paper and a biro to jot down my thoughts at that age because I’m sure I had them.

She’s written a letter to Lego to point out that on a recent shopping trip she noticed the following things:

1) Where are the girls?
There were fewer Lego girls to choose from compared to Lego boys.

2) The girls stayed at home
While the Lego boys were able to have adventures and play the hero, the Lego girls were at home, at the beach or just pampering themselves.

This letter has now gone viral and been covered by national newspapers such as Metro, Daily Mail and The Independent. And Lego’s social media manager has been working around the clock to engage with its 113,000 Twitter followers to explain that it does listen to its customers’ views and, with over 450 products available each year, it’s hoping there’s something for everyone.

But, for once, I actually have more respect for this iconic brand (for now). There’s a golden PR opportunity to respond to Charlotte’s letter and address the theme of gender roles. And, if I was the boss, I’d use its upcoming Ghostbusters Lego launch to do just this and run a witty, tongue in cheek across Twitter, Facebook and Vine.

It may be too late to turnaround a reactive campaign, to complement its Lego Movie in cinemas on Friday, which is why Ghostbusters is one of the next best hooks.

This way, it can find a way to publicly acknowledge the letter, apologise for the inconvenience and promise to do better – the perfect formula to transform this viral storm into a positive PR stunt.

What do you think?