Social Media: Katie Couric is Cool, at Least Online
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Written By Noah Mallin | August 20, 2008 | Share This
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Yes, I know, Katie Couric hasn’t exactly set the world on fire as anchor of the CBS Evening News. One of the main reasons for the tepid response has been her desire to present the news in a serious newscaster-y way that has essentially neutered whatever personality had been on display previously.
Enter comedian Harry Shearer, the man responsible for a plethora of voices on the Simpsons, played bass in Spinal Tap, and delights millions of listeners on NPR. On his dedicated section of humor website MyDamnChannel, Shearer has been posting “Found Objects” — surreptitiously obtained satellite feeds of news personalities prepping off-air but with the cameras rolling. Once posted they invariably make their way through the Internet, reposted and linked to by bloggers, and on MySpace and YouTube.
One of his first breakout posts was footage of Dan Rather during his anchor days, standing on a windswept chilly roof and obsessing over his jacket. Shortly after that footage appeared of Couric, America’s news sweetheart, smirking about Rather’s jacket and the viral video. While many commenters on and off Shearer’s channel thought that the footage made Couric look mean-spirited or fluffy, a significant portion of commenters and viewers actually felt that it humanized her and made her seem more interesting.
Shearer followed up with another post of Couric footage and the same split was evident in the reaction of commenters. It seemed that seeing Katie goof around and make mistakes and act human allowed an audience to connect with her in a way they hadn’t been doing. Still the general perception was that Shearer had caught Couric in an embarrassing moment – twice.
You have to hand it to canny Katie and her CBS handlers – they’ve figured out how to turn potential lemons into strawberry lemonade with social media. Rather than ignoring Shearer’s videos or decrying them Couric has focused on the group of people who thought that she showed an appealingly unguarded side of herself. Following the maxim of “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em…” Katie has been posting “Behind the Scenes” clips to her dedicated YouTube channel.
For marketers this is a lesson in brand management and response. Rather than being aloof, team Couric keyed in to what people liked about her and amplified it by joining the conversation online, on their own terms. The “candid” seemingly off-the-cuff video clips of Katie on the shuttle plane, prepping for an appearance with Bette Midler, and announcing convention coverage while setting up for her “regular” news duties feels more real than her television broadcasts.
The bad news is that there is still a disconnect between the Katie we see online and the Katie we see on the tube. The brand messages aren’t synched up from one platform to the other and as a result there have been no appreciable effect on the flagging ratings of Couric’s show. To be fair, television news is a broadcast medium seeking to attract millions of viewers every night compared to Katie’s most viewed vid on YouTube which has racked up a little more than 182,000 viewers in total over a few months. Still it would be interesting to see some of the looser presentation style derived from social media make its way onto the show. Hey, when you’re mired in third place where’s the harm in trying something new?
Learn more about Reprise Media’s Social Media Marketing.
Topics: Blogging, Media Convergence, MySpace, Online Video, Social Media, YouTube |
You’re seem to be forgetting that when Couric joined CBS, the first few months of her broadcast were tailored to her personality- lighter, longer, more in-depth and interview oriented pieces, as opposed to the traditionally stale formate that she has since reverted to. She’s tried “something new,” and was criticized and deemed too fluffy for a nightly newscast. What more can she do? Remember, it took Tom Brokaw 14 years to become number one. The quality of her newcast has increased tremendously, which is evident in her winning the Edward R. Murrow award for Best Newscast.
I hate to take credit away from Couric, but I did adopt her and coach her to be so beloved online. Proof?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTRBWqcupPs