For this exercise, go back to the uses and gratifications theory. Look at the proposed new gratifications consumers seek from media technology by Shyam Sundar and Anthony Limperos. Select the gratifications that most apply to social media. Next, select five different social media categories or channels (that is, social networks and media sharing or Facebook and YouTube) and list the types of gratifications each social channel or category could possibly satisfy. Finally, brainstorm and explain examples of the type of brand content that would be created for each type of gratification within each social channel or category.
1. Go back to Bill Bernbach’s quote at the beginning of this chapter. Find an example of a brand vulgarizing society with their social media. Find another brand that is helping to lift society to a higher level in social media. What are the main differences?
2. Revisit the “Wal-Marting Across America” case study. Has the Walmart brand or other public relations firms done anything like that since the crisis? Have other brands or advertising agencies done something similar in a different social media context?