LEAP 2 — Media Influencers
Social media is filled with advertisements from various media sources, but also advertisements from the influencers and freelancers that use the platforms. This leads to consumers having a difficult time determining which advertisements from influencers are actually authentic, and which are just partnerships that pay their bills. The most successful partnerships between companies and influences are the ones that help to humanize the product in an authentic way. An example of this type of partnership is the partnership between Dunkin and Charli D’Amelio, which is nothing but authentic, aiding in its success.
When Ana reached out to me about being partners, I was nothing but ecstatic since I hate procrastinating, and I had found a partner that enjoys getting their work done before the day its due! After determining that we would work together on this project, we decided to call each other to discuss a topic that would be of both our interests. While bouncing through ideas, and examining the glossary of the textbook, Ana recalled a podcast titled Charli D’Amelio is selling out… (of Cold Brew), which discusses the success of Dunkin and their partnership with Charli through beverages and merchandise. We decided that this was a topic we could build upon. Not only their partnership, but to dive into the way companies use influencers to help sell their product and boost sales.
Once we had a topic selected, we divided-and-conquered the work, ensuring that we used our strengths to our advantage and split the work evenly. Since I have little experience with iMovie and the creative process that goes into creating a movie, and Ana enjoyed that process, we decided that she would create the film while I focused on research and the script. Research and writing is truly where I excel and that made this process enjoyable for me! I loved learning about how Dunkin is using Charli D’Amelio to help boost their sales, but also how they use their employees to help create content for their social media.
Once I had began to work on the script and we discussed some of our ideas for the film, Ana got to filming while I researched media influencers and the partnership between Charli and Dunkin. When Ana had created a first draft, she sent it to me to allow me to critique it and make sure that it flowed well. Additionally, she examined my drafts of the script to ensure the length fit well with the film. Once the final draft was complete, we both went through it to make sure that the script lined up well with the images and to ensure we had hit all of the necessary points. Our collaboration, and “the Power of Two”, made this project much easier since we were able to divide the work well.
One difficulty we faced through this project was being in separate locations, and being expected to collaborate on the creation of a video. Luckily, our strengths complimented each other well during this project, and our work ethic enabled us to complete the project a week before the due date. However, if Ana had not reached out to me at the start of this project, it would have also been difficult to find a partner since I do not know anyone in the class.
Not only did I learn more about the relationship between companies and influencers during this project, but I was able to better understand how the “Power of Two” can be really beneficial when the strengths of the individuals are used to their advantage.
