S03 E06: Navigating a Sensitive Social Media Climate with Melanie Trottier and Leah Sookoo

03/10/21 • 97 min

In the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in May 2020, protests against police brutality and racial injustice broke out across the US. In response, many of the world’s biggest brands issued statements of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and, while the sentiment was all good and well, many people have called these companies out for making generic statements that ring hollow. Today’s guests are Melanie Trottier and Leah Sookoo, resident Social Media Lead and Creative Copywriter respectively at Arcade Studios. This episode will hopefully serve as a guide for brands and companies to show their support for Black and marginalized communities in real, actionable ways, rather than putting out statements of support that ring hollow. Tuning in, you’ll hear about the importance of the language that you use from Leah, and how she saw brands either detract from or contribute to the discourse around racial injustice in 2020. She also talks about the dangers of virtue signalling, gaslighting, and staying silent, and shares her advice for starting from a place of humility, being well versed in the issues you’re addressing, and never being afraid to vocalize your values. Melanie shares her perspective as a brand manager and talks about the importance of being specific about the issues that affect your customers. She also emphasizes why racial equality should be part of every company’s brand pillars, vision, and mission, highlights the importance of being available for queries on social media, and advises brands to include more diverse voices in their social media marketing and hire a professional to manage it. All this and so much more in today’s important episode, so make sure not to miss it!

Key Points From This Episode:

Melanie shares who she is and what her role at Arcade as social media lead entails.
Learn more about Leah’s background and her role as the resident copywriter at Arcade.
Why a lot of marketing ultimately comes down to communication and language.
Leah talks about her side hustle: writing about fashion and sustainability, writing poetry.
How the work Melanie does outside of her nine-to-five revolves around social media too.
Melanie shares her perspective as a brand manager on how brands responded to the killing of George Floyd.
How Leah saw people detract from or contribute to discourse in the digital response to BLM.
How both virtue signalling and silence are problematic; what are you actually doing?
Your audience is observant and they remember what you promised to do as a brand.
Having the opportunity as an agency to be a leader and demand action from brands before helping them with their messaging.
The importance of being specific about how an issue affects your customers.
While many of Melanie’s clients wanted to be told what to do, there is no magic answer.
Though it was not an easy or comfortable process, Leah believes it was a productive one.
Why racial equality should be part of every company’s brand pillars, vision, and mission.
Looking back and learning from how brands responded in 2020 as a freelancer or marketer.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Melani

Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).

For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/
Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.

Key Points From This Episode:

Melanie shares who she is and what her role at Arcade as social media lead entails.
Learn more about Leah’s background and her role as the resident copywriter at Arcade.
Why a lot of marketing ultimately comes down to communication and language.
Leah talks about her side hustle: writing about fashion and sustainability, writing poetry.
How the work Melanie does outside of her nine-to-five revolves around social media too.
Melanie shares her perspective as a brand manager on how brands responded to the killing of George Floyd.
How Leah saw people detract from or contribute to discourse in the digital response to BLM.
How both virtue signalling and silence are problematic; what are you actually doing?
Your audience is observant and they remember what you promised to do as a brand.
Having the opportunity as an agency to be a leader and demand action from brands before helping them with their messaging.
The importance of being specific about how an issue affects your customers.
While many of Melanie’s clients wanted to be told what to do, there is no magic answer.
Though it was not an easy or comfortable process, Leah believes it was a productive one.
Why racial equality should be part of every company’s brand pillars, vision, and mission.
Looking back and learning from how brands responded in 2020 as a freelancer or marketer.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Melani

Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).

For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/
Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.

Previous Episode

S03 E05: Establishing Your Fundamental Beliefs as a Brand with Ryan Mack of Made In Network

Your brand is a whole lot more than the products or services you sell. Your brand is what you stand for, and establishing your core beliefs can help you stand apart from the rest, attract like-minded clients, and better serve your community. Today’s guest is Ryan Mack, Chief Commercial Officer at Made In Network. As CCO, his job is a mix of marketing, entertainment, business development, and corporate strategy. Prior to this role, Ryan was the President of Virtue, which is the creative agency of Vice, where he led efforts globally with a specific focus on the Americas. This sums up what he has been doing most recently, but Ryan has a wealth of experience and a diverse body of work, which you’ll hear more about in this episode; where it all started, what drew him to content marketing, and what his philosophy looks like today. One of the things that stands out about this interview is Ryan’s perspective that the death of social media is bureaucracy. Once there are too many decision-makers on something as simple a tweet, he believes that it stifles creativity and outcomes. Tuning in, you’ll hear about his experience with this and how he sought to make social media intentional again by moving to a smaller agency. He speaks about the importance of establishing your core beliefs as a brand and how it can help you become more agile, but don’t overthink it! The best brands don’t. Ryan offers advice for those just starting out in content creation, emphasizes the power of collaboration, and shares his predictions for the future of digital content. Tune in today to find out more.

Key Points From This Episode:

Find out how Ryan first got started in marketing, sparked by his fascination with the internet.
How risk and constant experimentation have served him in his career.
Ryan explains how he takes risks based on what is demonstrating traction in the market.
What got him interested in creating content: the question, ‘What are we going to say?’
Establish your core values as a brand, but don't create bureaucracy around daily mechanics!
The opportunities Ryan saw in the rise of social media and how he positioned himself to capitalize on them.
Balancing quantifiable results and creative content that aligns with the brand.
Ryan talks about some of the most exciting projects he worked on during his time at Carrot.
Hear about Ryan’s transition from Carrot to Virtue at Vice; competing as a creative agency.
From Virtue to Made In Network; he talks about his passion for making “small things medium.”
The momentum and traction in episodic, intentional scheduled programming from an entity.
Ryan explains why a creator would want to compete with traditional media outlets.
What brands can learn about building brand equity from this perspective of creating a media house around original content.
Learn more about what Ryan calls the “mad science of content algorithms.”
The power of collaboration; how to leverage connections between channels.
Ryan’s predictions for the future, including live programming becoming more polished.
How 2020 has impacted Ryan personally by changing the rhythm of his daily life.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).

For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/
Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.

Next Episode

S03 E07: Behind the Scenes of Some Good News — Mitzi and Mike Payne Join Linda Hoang on Don't Call Me a Guru to Unpack SGN

This episode is something a little different, in that your hosts, Mitzi and Mike Payne, are actually today’s guests. Linda Hoang on the Don’t Call Me a Guru Podcast, where they talked about the social media management they did for the global brand, Some Good News (SGN), a 2020 web series created as a way to spread positivity during the pandemic, hosted by American actor and filmmaker, John Krasinski. They share their approach and the lessons they learned while working on SGN’s social media, plus their advice for those doing similar work for organizations that might not be quite as fun as working for John Krasinski! You’ll also hear more about Mike and Mitzi’s backgrounds and some of Arcade’s portfolio highlights, as well as how they came to work with SGN, how they measured success for what was already a viral brand, and how they kept the audience engaged, even in-between seasons. Most importantly, they share their tips for rewarding engagement, dealing with the microscope of public opinion, and working under pressure when things change quickly, so make sure to tune in today!

Key Points From This Episode:

Learn more about Arcade and how they came to manage social media for SGN.
What they did for SGN and what their approach was to creating a brand for the show.
Measuring success for what was already a viral brand; making people happy and having a charitable impact as well.
How big Arcade is in terms of staff and how many hands were on deck for this project.
Some of the other creative teams that Arcade worked with on SGN, like Senior Post.
The importance of bringing in support; you don’t have to be an expert in everything!
Mike reflects on dealing with negativity or trolls on a project about positivity.
The crowdsourcing structure Arcade used to identify micro influencer-esque talent, or what they called SGN Global Correspondents.
How Mike and Mitzi kept SGN’s audience engaged, even in-between seasons.
Maintaining momentum by providing value for your followers that isn’t part of the campaign.
Mitzi shares some challenges, lessons, and personal highlights from this project.
One of the biggest challenges for Mike was learning to adapt when things change quickly.
How marketers are often looked at as money machines rather than difference-makers.
Tips for working on accounts that aren’t as fun as SGN: do what is creative, not trendy, and focus on leadership, not obligation.
To close, Mitzi encourages collaboration and connection for other social media managers.
Why Mike believes it’s an evolution, not a revolution that helps us get where we need to go.

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Some Good News (SGN) on Instagram

Some Good News (SGN) on YouTube

Don’t Call Me a Guru Podcast

Mike Payne on Twitter

Mike Payne on LinkedIn

Mitzi Payne on Twitter

Mitzi Payne on

Big Things with Mitzi (@mmmitzi) and Mike (@mmmiiike).

For more from Arcade, follow us on Instagram and TikTok @helloarcade. https://www.arcadearcade.ca/
Production by Morgan Berna, editing by Oliver Banyard.