Daily Scoop

Jelly Belly founder launches treasure hunt, LinkedIn connects remote employees, and Facebook to pay users to log off before the election

Also: Dunkin’ partners with a TikTok influencer, the ACLU creates GIFs to raise awareness about voting via USPS, OKCupid touts voter registration user preferences, and more.

By Beki Winchel
@bekiweki
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Hello, communicators:

Dunkin’ has teamed up with social media influencer and TikTok star Charli D’Amelio on a menu item dubbed “The Charli”—a cold brew with whole milk and three pumps of caramel swirl.

The offering is similar to McDonald’s limited-edition “Travis Scott” meal and comes with a contest that offers winners the chance to virtually connect with D’Amelio.

In a press release, Dunkin’ wrote:

Dunkin’ is also giving fans an opportunity to enjoy “The Charli” with the star herself. The Charli x Dunkin’ contest launches September 9*, inviting fans to post a photo on Instagram recreating an iconic Charli x Dunkin’ moment using #CharliXDunkinContest.

As more brands look for ways to reach and entice Gen Z consumers, expect additional partnerships with social media content creators and influencers to pop up.

Here are today’s top stories: 

Jelly Belly founder offers candy factory in treasure hunt

David Klein, creator of Jelly Belly and owner of Candyman Kitchens, launched “The Gold Ticket” challenge, which enables consumers across the United States to search for golden tickets and win $5,000—or the keys to one of his factories.

He announced the contest with business partner Stephanie Thirtyacre:

https://youtu.be/S_IVQqXf0q8

To participate, consumers must purchase a riddle, which costs roughly $50 per state. They’re then put into a private Facebook group, where the riddle is shared and participants can search for a gold necklace printed with “The Gold Ticket.” Winners in each state will win $5,000. The winner of the “ultimate treasure hunt” will win one of Klein’s Candyman Kitchens, located in Florida. Each hunt is limited to 1,000 participants.

Though the prizes are large, the website and video production are simple and straightforward as seen in this live stream, where Klein and Thirtyacre announced California’s riddles were sold out.

Why it’s important: As people continue to stay at home and socially distance during COVID-19, contests and interactive activities can help build excitement and enagement. Adding a monetary prize makes the effort sweeter. You can follow Klein’s lead without busting your budget by offering interactive polls and activities as well as exclusive recipes and do-it-yourself project ideas.

SOCIAL BUZZ  

Facebook is offering its users up to $120 to not use the social media platform or Instagram ahead of the November presidential election. The deactivation could last one to six weeks, during which users will be asked questions by independent research partners.

The survey is part of an effort by Facebook to better understand how it can better respond to political posts and comments on both its platform and on Instagram.

In a blog post, Facebook wrote:

Facebook constantly works to improve the way its services foster democratic participation–for example, this month we launched a new Voting Information Center as part of the biggest ever voter information campaign in the US, with the goal of registering 4 million voters. But it doesn’t mean – given how young this technology is – that we have fully researched all its effects yet. The US elections in 2016 exposed the risk of social media being abused to interfere in elections, and misinformation and political polarization clearly play out on social media platforms too.

Facebook said it expects up to 400,000 people to participate.

[RELATED: Prepare for the year ahead at the Future-Proof Your Internal Communications for 2025 webinar on December 5.]

MEASURED THOUGHTS

OKCupid recently published a report titled, “Voters Make Better Lovers,” in which half of its users said being registered to vote is an important consideration in a potential match. The dating platform also revealed that 63% its users who are registered to vote are also more likely to get a match, and 85% more likely to get a message.

Image courtesy of OKCupid.

Along with being registered to vote, 76% of OKCupid users said the political leanings of their potential match is very important:

Image courtesy of OKCupid.

OKCupid gathered this data through user questions alongside its first-ever Voter 2020 profile badge. The company has been tweeting the findings and made its report interactive, with the ability to click on each state to get a quick breakdown of how users feel about prison reform, climate change and other issues.

You can read the entire report here and here.

CRISIS LEADERSHIP NETWORK

Looking for more insight on how to address the current global crisis and lead your organization into a strong recovery?

via GIPHY

Join Ragan’s Crisis Leadership Network to network and brainstorm with peers, get the latest intelligence and research and start to strategize for the future of your organization.

Learn more about this exclusive membership here.

LinkedIn expands pages with ‘My Company’ tool  

The social media platform is offering the “My Company” tab on organizations’ LinkedIn pages, which enables you to “bring your workforce closer together by helping you celebrate key accomplishments, increase engagement within your employee community and connect colleagues with a single click.” It includes features such as employee milestones to celebrate new hires, promotions and anniversaries as well as trending content from colleagues.

LinkedIn also announced an “Events” tab, which can help your organization promote its virtual events on LinkedIn. The offering helps brand managers further promote those events to page followers and other LinkedIn users:

Image courtesy of LinkedIn.

Why it’s important: Whether using LinkedIn or another tool, consider ways you can better connect your remote and dispersed workforce throughout COVID-19 and beyond. As the future of the workplace becomes more increasingly virtual as well as a hybrid of in-office and remote employees, the efforts you create now can set you up for future success and help strengthen your company culture.

TAKE OUR POP QUIZ

Embracing inclusive language is at the heart of effective diversity and inclusion efforts, but do you have blind spots when it comes to which words and phrases you should or shouldn’t include?

Test your inclusive language knowledge in Ragan’s D&I Pop Quiz. Sponsored by Yammer and Workplace from Facebook, your answers to this quick five-question test might surprise you.

As thanks for taking it, you’ll get $100 off registration to The Communicator’s Role in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion virtual conference, Sept. 17-18. Results will be shared at the event, and your answers will be confidential and anonymized.

Take the pop quiz here.

SOCIAL BUZZ

The American Civil Liberties Union created a collection of GIFs on Giphy encouraging people to support the United States Postal Service and vote through the mail.

The GIFs range from simple messages to voting instructions:

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

via GIPHY

The effort is a great example of making bite-size content designed to be easily shared across social media platforms and embedded within blog posts. Consider ways that you can make your messages more shareable and accessible.

WHAT YOU SAID 

We recently asked you to share your Labor Day weekend plans with us through GIFs:

OKCupid’s global communications and PR manager, Michael Kaye, enjoyed a picnic with his partner, while communicator Christina Krenek also basked in the holiday sunshine:

https://twitter.com/ChristinaKrenek/status/1301924267429429248

PR student Dorothy Corbett spent the time applying for internships while Keya Boyles prepared to start on her master’s degree in public relations and advertising:

Comms pros at Hot Paper Lantern and The James Agency simply enjoyed the long weekend, which included copious amounts of food:

Is there a question you’d like us to ask in an upcoming poll? Let us know!

SOUNDING BOARD

Does your workplace have a wellness program or offerings for employees?

Share your insights and efforts below and under the #DailyScoop hashtag.

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