PR Strategy Brief: RYSE UP App
I recently came across this really cool app via Lyndsey Scott, who is a coder and a former Victoria Secret model! I won't talk so much about her in this post, although she is absolutely amazing and you should check her out! So, I know that we talk a lot about crisis communications in this blog, but I want to add a new series called the PR Strategy Brief. This serious is exactly what it sounds like! It will be a brief going over some public relations ideas for brands and/or organizations. So, this week I was really inspired by the RYSE UP app.
I very rarely dabble in tech, but I was really interested in his app because I see a lot of great potential. According to their website, "RYSE UP is a discovery and video messaging app that pairs emerging artists with major talent through opportunities to work together," and Lyndsey was the iOS engineer for the app.
The Process
After understanding what the product is, my process usually starts off by looking at reviews and if it's a business, I look at employee reviews too. I do this to access what kind of problem, if any, am I working with. A lot of people for the RYSE UP app see the same potential I see, but there are a few negative reviews, which holds a lot of weight for me. The reason why reviews matter so much to me is because public relations is bridging the gap between the product and the consumer. It's not like marketing, which is sales-driven. Public relations is an awareness-driven process, that may sometimes have aspects of marketing sprinkled around. So, when looking at reviews, I see some good constructive criticism. I think this is a good sign!
Then, I am going to look for press information. Who is talking about the product and how much awareness is happening here? I'm not seeing a lot on the front page. What I do see is that there was a launch party in June 2017, located on the 2nd-page results for me. Then, I see a couple of articles on the 3rd-page. However, those date to 2017 as well. Therefore, it seems that a lot of talk has died down since their official launch. This is definitely a problem we can solve.
The Goal
Now, if we were doing a strategic communication plan, we would be doing extensive market and industry research, setting goals and SMART objectives, and working on detailed strategies & tactics as well as measurement. However, this is called a PR Strategy Brief! So, we won't do any of that. We will set a goal and I will give my recommendations.
Goal: To generate awareness that the RYSE UP app is the hottest music discovery and collaborating platform right now.
My Recommendations
What I am first seeing is a user issue and a press issue, which really can affect each other. There is not enough press to reach users who will use and come to the app. However, there aren't enough users to really generate a word-of-mouth campaign to influence press coverage. Therefore, this would be the first thing I would tackle. I would say this app is very complimentary to the Smule Sing App. Some type of collaboration with that app would be a good idea.
Furthermore, there needs to be more social media campaigns. I would suggest YouTube. Do you know how many people sing and do covers on that platform? It's a great place to start to not only reach users but emerging talents. Esmee Denters is a good example. She took off around the same time as Justin Beiber but subsequently had to leave her label. However, she still posts videos to YouTube. There's Kenzie Nimmo, Sam Tsui, Alex Aiono, YouTubers who dabble in music like Trevor Moran and Gabbie Hanna. Even if the RYSE UP app didn't collaborate with YouTubers, just putting in social media advertising dollars to extend their reach would do a lot for them.
For me, I want to have a reason for a story. For the RYSE UP app, I would really listen to what the users want and try to meet those things. It's important to diversify the content on the app, but it is also necessary to diversify the controls on the app. Some want chat messaging features, some want to easily upload music, and some want more profile customization. The app really needs to listen to their consumers and their potential consumers. So, in making changes, in generating more emerging talent and more users, this creates a good story.
A good way to position this app to media outlets would be to position it as the must-have app for music discovery and collaboration. It's not like Smule Sing, it is its own unique product because it's for users who are really serious about making music. There's no other app like this app where you can work with up and coming artists. This is essentially the story to pitch to media outlets.
Potential Problems
One potential problem that I can see becoming an issue are fans who just want to talk to emerging artists and not actually create music and collaborations. One way to counteract this is to have categories or different profile settings. For example, the app will first ask you if you are an artist or a fan, which will then keep users together but separate in their functionality. Perhaps those who have fan accounts won't have access to make collaborations with the artists but they could have the ability to message them.
Summary
So, the RYSE UP app has so much potential to really make a splash. In using emerging artists from platforms like Smule Sing, YouTube, in addition to some social media campaigns, I think the RYSE UP app can definitely diversify its content and its users, which just further promotes more press and generates more awareness.
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