On August 12, 2020, Democrat Presidential candidate Joe Biden announced California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. The internet exploded after this historic announcement. Causing a spike for Biden on BrandGraph, IZEA’s social intelligence platform. Many were happily surprised to see Biden follow through on his promise to have a Black woman VP. Harris is also the first Indian-American woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket. Like almost all Presidential Races, this one has been a rollercoaster. Especially with the COVID-19 pandemic and social justice movements taking center stage.
Brands like Suicide Squad and InStyle also trended this past week on BrandGraph. These brands and many others trended because of an increase in social media content and engagement, which BrandGraph tracks. See what got these brands trending by taking a closer look at the Top Trending Brands for this week:
Trending Brands for the Week of August 10, 2020
- Joe Biden (@joebiden)
- Suicide Squad (@thesuicidesquad)
- InStyle (@instylemagazine)
- Tencent (@TencentGlobal)
- Columbus Blue Jackets (@bluejacketsnhl)
After Biden announced Senator Harris as his running mate, hundreds of thousands of people took to social media to express their excitement. Tweets and posts are still being shared in support of the duo. Many were surprised by the announcement especially after the two went head to head last year at the Democratic Presidential debate. The announcement is receiving negative feedback as well. People are frustrated with how both Biden and Harris supported policies that harmed communities of color. A lot of this frustration is related to Harris’s criminal justice record, from when she served as San Fransisco’s District Attorney and California’s Attorney General.
Rocksteady Studios announced they are developing a Suicide Squad game, titled— Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League. DC Comics fans are extremely excited at the chance to play as their favorite villains and anti-heroes. There are some concerns with the game especially since the 2016 “Suicide Squad” movie was considered such a disappointment by fans and moviegoers in general. Rocksteady Studios developed the Batman: Arkham trilogy games, which are highly acclaimed. The success of Rocksteady’s Batman games gives gamers faith that they will do the Suicide Squad game justice.
InStyle magazine trended after Emmy nominated actress Zendaya covered their September 2020 issue. Zendaya is nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role as a Rue a teenaged drug-addict in HBO’s Euphoria. Fashion lovers were obsessed with Zendaya’s style and looks in this latest issue. Her appearance in InStyle magazine gained more attention after it was revealed that this was the first time the magazine exclusively featured Black designers. The shoot also featured Black photographers, Black hair and makeup artists, Black jewelry designers, and even Black shoe designers.
Tencent is a mega Chinese tech company known for its video games and instant messaging apps. One of their most popular apps is WeChat which gives users the ability to message and even make mobile payments. Tencent’s WeChat and ByteDance’s TikTok are trending because they are at risk of being banned in the United States. On Aug 6, 2020, Trump signed an executive order to ban WeChat and TikTok in the coming 45 days if they are not acquired by American companies. He argues that these applications are collecting data of personal information on American users for the Chinese Communist Party. This threat is not being taken lightly since both apps have billions of users.
The Columbus Blue Jackets trend as NHL teams compete in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Games are played within NHL’s bubble where games are audience-less and players must under-go regular COVID-19 testing. The Blue Jackets advanced to the playoffs after beating the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-0 in game five of the Qualifying Round. The Blue Jackets have yet to win a Stanley Cup so fans are eager to see them win, especially after coming close in 2019. The Blue Jackets are now facing off against the Tampa Bay Lighting to advance to the Second Round.
BrandGraph Trends is designed to help marketers identify, compare, and contrast momentum among brands, topics, and concepts in social media. Powered by IZEA’s proprietary content classification engine, BrandGraph Trends allows marketers to benchmark any keyword against a brand or groups of brands in a general industry or specific category.
Those interested in learning more about BrandGraph Trends can request a product demonstration at izea.com/brandgraph/get-a-demo.
