Sharpie goes Gangnam Style, an interview with Susan Wassel and the Sharpie Community Managers!
We recently launched a report with Shorty Industry partner Unmetric, on the top brands that went Gangnam Style. Here’s coverage from Brian Hernandez on Mashable. Susan Wassel (Director of Sharpie’s Social Media & PR), Whitney Kelly and Caitlin Peterson, Sharpie’s Community Managers, were one of the brands featured in our report. We interviewed Susan, Whitney, and Caitlin about Gangnam Sharpie Style!
Shorty Industry Awards: What’s your role at Sharpie? How is the social media team organized?
Susan Wassel: I lead social media for Sharpie. Along with a team of two community managers, we create and share inspiring Sharpie content across multiple social platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr.
SIA: When did you recognize Gangnam Style was taking off? It just became the most viewed YouTube video ever, are you surprised?
Caitlin Peterson: Like the rest of the world, PSY and Gangnam Style first grabbed our attention during this year’s MTV VMAs. Our teams were huddled around our TVs and computer screens, waiting for Sharpie’s first-ever music video TV ad to premier, when PSY took the stage and blew everybody away. His signature dance moves were so unlike anything anyone had ever seen that within seconds, he was trending worldwide on Twitter. Sharpie’s tagline is “uncap what’s inside” encouraging self-expression, and PSY was clearly an embodiment of that idea, taking creativity and self-expression to a whole new level. No surprise that he’s getting so much attention, including the most viewed You Tube video. He’s become a cultural phenomenon – it’s impossible to resist imitating that pony-up dance move and one-of-a-kind Gangnam Style!
SIA: When did you decide to launch Gangnam Sharpie/Sanford Style? How did it come about? Why was it so successful on Facebook?
Whitney Kelly: Sharpie’s content style and online voice requires us to stay current with trends & pop culture. Even before the Gangnam Style music video became the most watched video on YouTube, we were seeing PSY everywhere -showing up in our personal newsfeeds, in news articles, blog posts, even friends’ Halloween costumes. Within the Sharpie community, PSY-like drawings and doodles created by our fans were being shared across social networks and when we saw their excitement and creativity around the song, we felt it would spark some new excitement on our Page as well. The ‘Gangnam Style outlet’ created by a fan was the perfect moment for Sharpie to join in on the fun and quickly became one of our most popular posts.
All of the fan-generated art inspired us to come up with something for our Instagram profile which consists of all in-house created Sharpie art. Having fun with a play on words, the ‘Psyclone’ image was born – depicting PSY swirling inside a bright pink Sharpie hurricane — my take on the force-of-nature that PSY and the Gangman Style music video have become. This image is now ranked in Sharpie’s Top 5 most liked photos on Instagram.
SIA: Anything else?
We Tweeted PSY (@psy_oppa), offering him personalized PSY Sharpie markers for life. Standing by…
-JY
blog comments powered by Disqus