You’ve royally messed up.

Now what?

Well, remember when Volkswagen lied, saying their diesel cars were low emission (and they…weren’t)? Today you’ll find out the 4 steps they took to resurrect their brand.

In today's newsletter:

• How VW rose from the ashes (after flat-out lying about their cars)

• The power of seeing through your customers’ eyes (find out how Vision Australia used empathy to connect with their audience)

• Trend plug - Jingle BBLs, Jingle BBLs, Drizzy all the way (and how to use it!)

• Do you guys do paid ads? (and why they aren’t always what they’re cracked up to be)

- Charlotte, Editor ♡

Imagine getting caught lying to all your customers…awkward. After the infamous diesel-gate scandal in 2015, Volkswagen was on a mission to redeem themselves.

There's no shortage of VWs on our roads 9 years later, so how exactly were their sins forgiven?

To save themselves from this PR nightmare, VW followed these 4 R’s: Replace, Restructure, Redevelop and Rebrand. This process helped the company turn around from the turmoil they had found themselves in.

What did the 4 R’s look like for them?

Replace. VW replaced their leadership not once but TWICE. Their former CEO, Winterkorn admitted to the manipulation of 11 million diesel vehicles and resigned in the early months of the scandal. So at the end of 2015, the company replaced him with Matthias Müller.

[Keep reading]

-Visha, Intern

The Power of Seeing Through Your Customers’ Eyes

What does it mean to see the world through someone else’s eyes?

And what if those eyes were vision impaired?

In a world that seems to be devoid of empathy, the ability to understand what others are going through appears to be a lost art.

Vision Australia challenges that with their new campaign; The Pupil Project. The campaign includes a series of videos showing what life is like for Australians living with low vision.

Why was this campaign so important?

It follows research conducted by the company, that revealed 2 in 3 Australians don’t know how to help someone with low vision. Those people also struggle to even identify a person with vision impairment.

Vision Australia’s national brand marketing manager, Kirsty Richards, said people with low vision commonly face misconceptions. This is often because their condition may not be visible.

So how did Vision Australia bring empathy into the equation?

The Pupil Project’s 5-part video series shows 5 real-life scenarios that people in the low vision community often find themselves facing. These range from finding use-by dates to ordering from a menu and even missing social cues.

[Keep reading]

-Sophie, Pop Culture Queen

Trend Plug - Jingle BBLs, Jingle BBLs, Drizzy all the way

Well, the rappers are still exchanging disses (what else is new?)

And Drake and Metro Boomin are in what some are calling the biggest rap beef ever.

Drake dissed producer Metro Boomin in his feud track. Then Metro clapped back with a diss song referencing plastic surgery and a social media challenge using the beat.

And now we're seeing everyone on social media jump on the bandwagon. Right now, creators are using Metro Boomin's viral beat titled "BBL Drizzy" to get in on the, um, fun.

Some people are reacting to beat, while others are dancing to it and even attempting the rap challenge.

So how can you get in on this trend?

• React to the sound by giving your two cents about the beat and the whole beef in general (like this)

• Dance to the viral hit (like this)

• If you’re instrumentally talented, create your own cover of the song (like this)

-Abdel, Social media coordinator

Tune in to the YAP Podcast

Got FOMO?

Listen to our YAP Podcast Tuesday - Saturday, where Stan & Jony break down the videos that are blowing up on social media. Not only will you learn why they work, but we’ll tell you how to capitalise on these trends before they disappear.

Watch the full podcast here and subscribe to the YouTube Channel so you don’t miss an episode.

Ask the Editor

Q - Do you guys just do organic content or do you use paid ads, too? -Olivia

Hey Olivia,

TAS has always primarily focused on organic content, and there are a few reasons for this. One is that our biggest goal is to grow our audience, so being on social media is not just about generating leads.

Another reason is that organic content doesn't run for a short time and then get taken down. It stays there forever. So as we gain more followers, they can go back and look at all our old content. And it will continue to help us reach more people and build our brand.

More recently, we have experimented with running ads, especially for the newsletter. But our strategy will always primarily focus on organic content.

- Charlotte, Editor ♡