OSP: Zendaya- Audience & Industry

Audience

Smart Water brand case study

Read this Smart Water case study from Influencer Intelligence and answer the following questions:

1) What is the charity link to her Smart Water brand ambassador role and how does this link to the celebrity persona she has created?

The charity link to her Smart Water brand ambassador role is that she will work with the Global Water Challenge which is a charity that helps to achieve universal access to clean drinking water, the Global Water Challenge invites local organisations to apply for funding to GWC's women for water action platform. This links to the celebrity persona Zendaya has created as she is a feminist therefore she's participating in an ambassador role that as links to what she believes in.   

2) Read the analysis of Zendaya’s social media profile. What statistics support why she is described as ‘a high-ranking celebrity influencer’?

Zendaya’s audience is 67% female on Instagram and 73% female on Twitter. Zendaya has 190m social reach and over £1m social media value.

3) What details are provided about Zendaya’s audience?

-Mainly female

-Aged 20-24

-Based mainly in the United States, Brazil and the UK. 

-Work in retail, broadcasting, publishing, entertainment, modelling, design or makeup. 

-Interested in music, mystery TV, reality TV, social networks, fantasy books, basketball, fashion, coffee, radio, boxing, makeup, skateboarding and American football reign supreme. 

-Enjoy MTV, Vogue, E! News, ESPN, National Geographic, The Times, HBO, Rolling Stone and Playboy. 

4) What psychographic groups would fit the profile for Zendaya’s audience in this case study?

Mainstreamers, Aspirers, Explorers. 

5) Why does the case study suggest Zendaya is a good fit for the Smart Water brand? 

“A global icon and cultural force, Zendaya isn’t afraid to be true to herself, and that’s what makes her the perfect addition to the smartwater family.”

Social media data analysis

Look at this analysis website for Zendaya’s Instagram account. Complete the following tasks:

1) Pick out three notable statistics from the site.

-3.49% engagement rate

-$556,409-$1,298,289 average cost per post.

-185,469,820 followers.

2) Scroll down through the data available. Who are Zendaya’s top mentions and what does this suggest about how she uses the account? 

-Louis Vuitton 

-Nicolasghesquiere

-Lancomeofficial 

-Abdmstudio

This suggests that Zendaya uses her account to either promote brand partnerships, her fashion and appearance rather than focusing on social, political issues. 

3) How does Zendaya’s Instagram engagement rate of 3%+ compare with the average engagement rate for accounts with more than 100,000 followers? 

The average engagement rate for accounts with more than 100,000 followers is 1.7% therefore Zendaya having an engagement rate of 3%+ suggests that she has a much more active audience and appeals to audiences by the way she interacts with them. 

Zendaya: audience questions and theories

1) Is Zendaya’s website and social media constructed to appeal to a particular gender or audience?

Zendaya's website uses a very basic colour scheme of beige and creme colours which could connote that she is aiming to target both genders due to the neutral colour scheme of her website and is more specifically focusing on her acting aspect of her career. However, her social media is created to target possibly a more female audience who is interested in makeup and fashion as she mainly posts about fashion, her look and style on social media was stereotypically is associated with what females enjoy viewing. 

2) What opportunities are there for audience interaction in Zendaya’s online presence and how controlled are these? 

Zendaya states herself that she is the only one that manages her Instagram account and has full control over it therefore audiences may build a personal relationship with her through what she posts on her stories and Instagram feed as audiences will think that it's more authentic knowing it's Zendaya who is posting. In addition, audiences can use this information to their advantage and comment on Zendaya's posts or DM her with a chance that she might actually respond however the chance is unlikely. In addition, we can also see that possibly Zendaya is not in full control of her Instagram and she does have someone managing her account as she barely posts anything to do with her audience, most likely she will post her brand deals, sponsorships or any fashion looks when she attends an event. 

3) How does Zendaya’s social media presence reflect Clay Shirky’s ‘End of Audience’ theories? 

Clay Shirky argued that the way audiences consume media has changed from the traditional model of reading a newspaper or watching TV since social media has allowed audiences to become much more active and to be able to engage with the content creators/influencers. Although, Zendaya uses her social media platform to communicate with her audience, we can also see how majority of her posts are her partnerships with luxury brands and promotional posts for her acting career which may portray the fact that media conglomerates can still showcase their power through social media. 

4) What effects might Zendaya’s online presence have on audiences? Is it designed to influence the audience’s views on social or political issues or is this largely a vehicle to promote Zendaya’s work? 

Zendaya's online presence may be designed to influence the audience's views on social and political issues as Zendaya is seen as an inspiring and empowering women in the media, and many of her collaborators/partners may recognize her view of social media being seen as a positive force for change. However, looking at Zendaya's posts and the way she uses her social media we can also suggest that her online presence is largely just a vehicle to promote her work and showcase her brand deals/partnerships. 

5) Applying Hall’s Reception theory, what might be a preferred and oppositional reading of Zendaya’s online presence? 

A preferred reading of Zendaya's online presence is that her audience will feel inspired by her, whether that's by her fashion sense, her products that she promotes, or the way she engages and supports political and social issues which causes her audience to feel empowered by her. However, an oppositional reading of Zendaya's online presence is that it can appear unrealistic to some audiences and many of her young followers may feel the pressure to compare their own appearance and lifestyle to Zendaya. 

Industries

How social media companies make money

Read this analysis of how social media companies make money and answer the following questions:

1) How many users do the major social media sites boast?

Meta has over 2.96 billion active users, Twitter on the last count had over 330 million users in 2019 and LinkedIn had over 900 million monthly active users. 

2) What is the main way social media sites make money? 

The main way social media sites make money is through advertising. 

3) What does ARPU stand for and why is it important for social media companies? 

ARPU stands for Average Revenue Per User. This is important for social media companies as they can estimate a total revenue approximation and even possibly research what type of users they have to target to know which ones to engage more as they are the ones making them the most money. 

4) Why has Meta spent huge money acquiring other brands like Instagram and WhatsApp? 

Meta spent huge money acquiring other brands like Instagram and WhatsApp as it provided something to attract advertisers. 

5) What other methods do social media sites have to generate income e.g. Twitter Blue? 

For example, Twitter changed the site's blue "verified" checkmark system into users being able to have checkmarks after they have subscribed to X Premium where for $8 per month subscribers recieved benefits such as editable posts, fewer ads, longer posts and more robust security measures. 

Regulation of social media

Read this BBC News article on a report recommending social media regulation. Answer the following questions:

1) What suggestions does the report make? Pick out three you think are particularly interesting. 

-Social networks should be required to release details of their algorithms and core functions to trusted researchers. 

-Adding 'friction' to online sharing, to prevent the rampant spread of disinformation. 

-One of the core recommendations is the creation of a "statutory building code", which describes mandatory safety and quality requirements for digital platforms.

2) Who is Christopher Wylie? 

Christopher Wylie is a Canadian data consultant. 

3) What does Wylie say about the debate between media regulation and free speech? 

In an interview with BBC News, Mr Wylie said the report's recommendations had been designed to protect individuals' free expression.

4) What is ‘disinformation’ and do you agree that there are things that are objectively true or false? 

Disinformation is false information which is intended to mislead, especially propaganda issued by a government organization to a rival power or the media. I do agree that things are objectively true or false in the media. 

5) Why does Wylie compare Facebook to an oil company? 

An oil company would say: "We do not profit from pollution." Pollution is a by-product - and a harmful by-product. Regardless of whether Facebook profits from hate or not, it is a harmful by-product of the current design and there are social harms that come from this business model.

6) What does it suggest a consequence of regulating the big social networks might be? 

"The way Facebook approaches these problems is: we'll wait and see and figure out a problem when it emerges. Every other industry has to have minimum safety standards and consider the risks that could be posed to people, through risk mitigation and prevention."

7) What has Instagram been criticised for?

This is a product of a platform that is making recommendations to you. These algorithms work by picking up what you engage with and then they show you more and more of that. In the report, we talk about a "cooling-off period". You could require algorithms to have a trigger that results in a cooling-off period for a certain type of content. If it has just spent the past week showing you body-building ads, it could then hold off for the next two weeks. If you want to promote body building, you can. But from the user's perspective, they should not be constantly bombarded with a singular theme.

8) Can we apply any of these criticisms or suggestions to Zendaya? For example, should Zendaya have to explicitly make clear when she is being paid to promote a company or cause? 

In my opinion, Zendaya should make it clear when she is being paid to promote a company even though it's already clear that she utilizes her Instagram account mainly to promote her products and her brand endorsements which her audience can recognise however she should still make it clear as it may mislead her audience as she wouldn't appear as authentic and 'real' if her audience knew she was being paid to promote certain products or speak about certain topics that she wasn't the brand ambassador for.