The Weekly Wrap: Apple poaches Nike’s Social Media Director and Baby jams out to Katy Perry

In a week with little Social Media advances we have seen Apple take a bigger step to enter the arena with the poaching of former Digital Marketing Director of Nike and Burberry. The viral video shows how a Katy Perry song can instantly change the mood of a crying baby. Twitter finally allows embedded tweets on Twitter.com after the feature had already been available on iOS and Android. And finally the power of hashtags has reunited two lovebirds that meet on a plane but were not fast enough to exchange details.

As big and powerful as Apple might seem, they have never taken full advantage of Social Media especially compared to their competitors and other global brands. But news just in this week it seems that Apple is set to change their ways with the poaching of Musa Tariq, former Social Media director of both Nike and Burberry. Tariq is known for boosting online engagement for both global brands with famous campaigns like Burberry’s “Tweetwalk” and Nike’s “#Magista”.

Apple does not even have a dedicated Facebook or Twitter account for the company itself, aside from iTunes and App Store pages. With such a lack of Social Media presence, Tariq has a lot of flexibility to launch something spectacular – time will tell whether it is a success or not.

This week’s Viral Video is rather simple but has already garnered over 8 million views in 3 days. At only 38 seconds in length, it shows a not so happy baby who upon hearing Katy Perry’s single Dark Horse instantly changes her mood and jams out to the sweet beats.

Why was it popular?

The Cute Factor: Whether it is dogs, cats or even babies; audiences love watching something that makes them go “naaaaww.” 

Short: Less than one minute long, it’s quick for anyone to view on the go. The short duration also means more people are likely to press play. 

Home-video-chic: Similar to original viral videos like ‘Charlie bit my finger;’ audiences love watching real life moments caught on video.

Since June Twitter has allowed iOS and Android users to embed Tweets but it has only just now been made available to Twitter.com. Previously embedded tweets would only appear as links, now it appears as a miniature tweet under the original one. There are however some limitations, the embedded Tweet must be placed at the end of the new Tweet, not at the start or middle. The company looks set to continue testing first on mobile as opposed to Twitter.com as promised in a blog last year.

The power of social media and hashtags has proved itself with one Irishman’s campaign to find a Canadian woman he sat next to on a plane. A modern day When Harry Meet Sally; the pair were separated at customs before Jamie (The Irishman) could get Katie’s (the Canadian’s) details. Inventing the hashtag #LoveAtFirstFlight and #FindKatie the Twitter campaign crossed The Atlantic, eventually reaching Canadian shore where a relative of Katie saw the hashtag and contacted Katie immediately. Apparently the pair have since been in contact over Facebook.

Keep an eye out for next week’s Weekly Wrap and stay updated with all the latest Social Media news!