Umpf / Blog / Friday Social: Instagram for parents, M&S’ biggest ever social campaign and Leeds is All In

Friday Social: Instagram for parents, M&S’ biggest ever social campaign and Leeds is All In

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Our #FridaySocial is a weekly round-up of the key social media news stories from the previous seven days.  Let us know your thoughts in the comments or via Twitter – @Umpf

(Header image credit: Hello! Online)

INSTAGRAM INTRODUCES PARENT’S GUIDE

Instagram has followed the lead of sister company Facebook with a move to clue parents in to the goings on of the social networking site by launching a new resource. The tool helps parents understand what their children are doing on the platform, and how they can manage their time spent online.

The Parent’s Guide includes a range of tools for parents and guardians including notes on managing privacy, how to block comments, a glossary of Instagram terms, and a list of questions that parents can ask their children to gain more of an insight into their Instagram usage.

As the fastest growing social platform, Instagram says that it know how parents and guardians feel about their children’s safety when online, and that it feels a responsibility to make sure it is a positive place for them to connect and share.

The site has been directly linked to depression and anxiety in the media recently, so this shift is timely, appropriate, and we predict will be very well received by parents.

Nice one, Insta. Proudda you.

M&S LAUNCHES BIGGEST EVER SOCIAL CAMPAIGN

In campaign news, M&S Food has launched ‘What’s New at M&S’ which comes in the form of what will be a year-long video series featuring four well-known TV stars. Amanda Holden, Rochelle Humes, Paddy McGuinness, and Emma Willis come together in short video episodes to taste test the new products from new food ranges each month.

It is the first time that the brand has used dedicated social video content in its food marketing and has been described as ‘game changing’ by the company’s food marketing director.

As well as sharing the content across IGTV, YouTube, and Facebook, M&S will look to leverage the TV stars’ own social media reach by giving them specific videos to share on their own channels.

The campaign will be supported in true M&S style, with a point of sale in store promoting the celebrities’ favourite dishes, building on the existing ‘My M&S Favourite’ campaign launched earlier this year, which saw staff sporting personalised badges revealing their favourite products to customers.

Episodes are around 10 minutes long and will be available monthly, showing the same four celebrities trialling dishes from different ranges and declaring their favourite option.

TWITTER LAUNCHES AUDIO-ONLY BROADCASTING FEATURE FOR iOS AND PERISCOPE

‘In a world where visual content is dominating, why would Twitter launch an audio-only broadcasting feature?’ I hear you ask.

Well… it seems that the new feature is for those times when you want to be heard but not seen, allowing people to share live news of an audio-only nature, record mini-podcasts, or in essence post a tweet to their followers that takes over 280 characters to explain.

The feature is available from the same place where you would normally launch a live video using a button that you can tap to choose the audio-only option, and much like video broadcasts, this option will reveal stats including number of live viewers, replay viewers and time watched.

Right now, this is only available for iOS and Periscope but all users across the app will be able to see the recordings and play them back.

Fair play, we’ll see how it goes.

TOYOTA BRINGS SNAPCHAT AND SPOTIFY ON BOARD TO LAUNCH NEW AYGO CAMPAIGN

Toyota has launched its new campaign, bringing in the help of Snapchat and Spotify in a bid to appeal to a younger audience.

The Snapchat campaign comes in the form of a racing video game. Aygo Kart uses Snapchat’s augmented reality lenses to create a game that responds to players’ touch, head movements, and facial expressions as they race against opponents in a personalised Aygo car.

As well as the game, there’s also a Snapchat Lens (of course there is). In the interactive lens, the user moves their head left and right to make “Snap” decisions about text messages he receives through the car’s Apple CarPlay tech, requiring him to choose between football with friends and dinner with his girlfriend.

Over on Spotify, this strand of the campaign is designed to celebrate and encourage variety in music, with bespoke ads targeted to listeners based on their style of listening. The ads then link to an Aygo-branded hub that presents the user with a bespoke music playlist chosen for them.

ALL IN LEEDS

You may have spotted a few social media posts using the #AllInLeeds over the last few days. That’s because a group of Leeds PR, media, digital and creative agencies – including Umpf – are working together to drive our sector and our beloved city forward to become the new home of Channel 4 outside London.

We sent Channel 4 a love letter to say thanks for the revolution they’ve started and for bringing the Leeds agency sector together to work towards something spectacular.

Read our love letter and find out more about the movement here.