Media Ethics and Social Media

When it comes to communications/media, I'd love to say I was always interested in it but I can't. That all changed a few years ago, after doing an internship with a symphony orchestra, I was bothered that social media for music houses, especially non-profit was either non-existent or not a priority. Myself, I use social media but it's not as important as using it for something that can make people aware about job/volunteer opportunities, concerts, contests, etc. Entering social media is not easy, more so when it comes to ethics. “Ethics goes to the very heart of why we have media system and what we think it ought to do” says Patrick Plaisance. It’s important to have an effective way to communicate with clients. Some ethical encounters I could encounter are credibility and values.

A current media example that has been talked about in the past and present is the issue of Beyoncé and her feminism campaign. Beyoncé has released songs in the past trying to empower women on loving themselves, respecting each other, and that they “run the world”. But last year she released a song “bow down” in which she tells women to bow down to her and in her most recent song “flawless” she is somewhat encouraging women to flaunt their beauty. Although for many years we have seen and heard her tell us to respect ourselves, some people are feeling a contradiction. It is true that ethical principles are called into question here because now her audience is confused. At the same time, she I do believe in the past she told women to respect ourselves and be humble, and now she’s telling us not to be afraid to flaunt our beauty and be proud.


When it comes to social media, reporting the truth is important. One tool I have to help in ethical decision-making is my credibility. Social media is journalism, and as a journalist we should “seek truth and report it”. What we write about has an affect on who we’re writing about and who is reading what we’re writing. “Conscientious journalists know that their credibility can depend, paradoxically, on not protecting
the public from discomforting truths or images” (Plaisance).

Source: Amazon.com

Patrick Plaisance’s Media Ethics: Key Principles for Responsible Practice explains important ethical principles and how to apply them in print and broadcast journalism, public relations, advertising, and media-based marketing. He writes in a simple way that allows us as future media professionals to know what questions to ask and develop critical reasoning tools, both as media consumers and media professionals.

Some questions I’d like to see addressed in class, in group discussions, or in reading material have to do with social media and the music industry. When it comes to social media and musicians, there are so many stories reported and a lot has to do with the people representing these public figures. What are they doing wrong and what are they doing right that is just not working. How do you incorporate ethics in social media and stay true to yourself and your work?

Media Relations done My Miry's way

When you think of a media relations for a brand you think, newspaper, television, radio, etc. That's what some call "traditional media relations". My Miry doesn't really use "traditional" ways. Times have changed with "new" media relations strategies such as, twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc but the "traditional" way is still there. My Miry being a new brand has adopted the "new" way of doing things. It's not easy to start a company, so you have to think "out with the old, in with the new" and that's what My Miry does. My Miry uses social media platforms like Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook. Now, I know I keep talking about the "new" but they do have press releases, not as much as I'd like to see but they are there.

I think that My Miry does a good job of using the branding details and incorporating it into their media relations strategies through what social media they use so far. But I do think there's a lot of room to grow in that as well, by creating more relationships with their customers. Loyal customers buy, buy, and buy. My Miry needs to tweet more, post more and continued to build a trust with their customers. Their brand strategy is strong in Europe but not in Africa and definitely not in the US. 

I think that the media strategies My Miry use work well with the overall personality of the organization. Their first target is women, and they are doing a very good job at capturing their attention. Women love to look good and even with our love-hate relationship with social media (or like me you tolerate it), we like to find our next outfits online. One other target audience I would like to see are products/services for men. Men love to dress, especially African men. Put an African man in a nice shoe made of African material, he's telling his friends and helping you sell/expand! 

One area I believe they can improve is by releasing more press releases and getting them all translated into English. Another strong media outlet to promote and build a bigger fan base would be through Pinterest and creating an Instagram page. When it comes to anything that has to do with fashion, Instagram and Pinterest have shown to be the best outlets for a company to put themselves out there. They could do more on where they post now and get people talking. We stay on top of the latest trends and promotions, so we will definitely be buying. I live on Instagram and Pinterest, so My Miry please get one.

Personality branding of My Miry

 

Source: www.mymiry.com

In the book Personality not included  Rohit Bhargava, talks about branding by using what he calls a "UAT filter" (Unique, Authentic, and Talkable). My Miry has it's own uniqueness because unlike other African designers who have tried to create just shoes out of African fabric, she also has an accessory line and leather goods. Her shoes do not have to worn with just African clothing, you can also wear it with a nice skirt, jeans, plain shirt, etc. My Miry set themselves apart by widening what their brand has to offer. More people are talking and "liking" My Miry on twitter, and Facebook, for the simple fact that they can get their shoes and matching accessories of the same material by buying from My Miry. Sara Coulibaly knew how to position herself when it came to showing how she wanted to be perceived. She is in Paris but she has a team in the UK, and in Ivory Coast making her brand accessible both in Europe and Africa. 

Sara Coulibaly tries to be authentic by going all over the world to find material that tells a story. Being from Ivory Coast, she could easily just make shoes that come from her country. But  because she wants women to feel beautiful in their heels, she goes everywhere to find that shoe that will separate every woman from the next. For me Coulibaly builds trust with her customers by showing how much love she has for her african heritage by using material from Africa to make shoes and affordable shoes. The meaning behind My Miry is a mixture of English and French, "Miry" means "thoughts"- my thoughts. 

                                              Source: Facebook- My Miry

For a brand to be known or talked about: someone's gotta be talking about it! My Miry has a Facebook page (See Facebook page here) and Twitter (See Twitter page here). "Creating something talkable is all about finding the right hook and helping your customers pass it on." One hook that My Miry has is using the word "pagne" (french for cloth) and "magnifique" (french for wonderful) makes a combination of "Pagnifik". It's catchy and gives that sense of buying something chic. Bhargava believes in word of mouth as a great form of marketing and My Miry encourages customers to post pictures and tag them so they know who is buying, from where, but at the same time your friends are seeing. 

My Miry does not have a specific slogan. To me this isn't a bad thing because every shoes is made of different material, different styles, which makes it unique. One of Ms Coulibaly's main vision for this brand was to be "unique" and she achieves it by not having a specific slogan. Every shoe represents a different stone, making it harder to stick to one slogan (in my opinion). The name and logo exhibit a brand that was created to cater to women who want to wear something vibrant and that's made only for them: My Miry ("my thoughts"). 

My Miry fits with Bhargava's three personality symbols by having unique materials/products to choose from, by being different and allowing customers to share their pictures on their platform. I would describe this brand as vibrant, chic, unique, fun, and affordable to women from different social statuses. I do believe that Sara Coulibaly did a good job at matching her brand goals to the brand itself. She wanted something unique and fun to be worn with anything, and that's what her shoes are. 

Source: Facebook- My Miry

My Miry, which translates to 'my thoughts’ in Malinké, a language from Ivory Coast where the CEO/founder Sara Coulibaly is from, was founded 2 years ago. My Miry is a shoe brand, of shoes made of African Ankara fabric from all around Africa. I chose this brand because it is unique, women love to dress, have shoes that match, but mostly I chose this brand because I was fascinated by this young woman and her idea of creating a shoe out of material from what we wear.

I was first introduced to this brand early summer 0f 2013 when I was having a conversation with my family about using unique ideas to create something and starting a successful business. It’s at that moment that my brother told me about a lady who makes shoes using material or fabric, that we use for clothes. I had to see it to believe it.

To get a little more familiar with My Miry, its mission and where this idea came from, I found information about their mission on their website (www.mymiry.fr). Ms. Coulibaly imagined creating a shoe that was elegant, classic, ethnic, contemporary, unique and vibrant shoe for women, so she created shoes and accessories that bring out the African woman's femininity, makes her noticeable and allows her to represent Africa. She goes all over the world to find fabrics that tell a story.

Ms. Coulibaly started out with a Bachelor in Architecture and also studied communications. Both helped her into becoming who she is today. Architecture allowed her to work on projects, bring ideas to life (innovation), and be liberal. Communications helped her sell her shoes on her own as she was starting out. Though she had a scientific background in architecture, it helped her creative side come out. Because of her creative and innovating capabilities, she decided to make a shoe for herself out of African material to go to a friends wedding. It’s at that time that she realized not only did she have a love for fashion and shoes, but also she had the tools to create and execute a great business. She wanted to represent her country and continent by wearing an African outfit to a wedding between a French guy and Ivory Coast girl: this is where her mission stemmed from.

My Miry makes shoes out of leather and fabric, only premium leather is used on the exterior, interior and the sole with only the best quality Ankara fabrics sourced from around Africa are used, with a contrast of colors. The brand presents a 13-piece collection called “Precious” each representing the name of a precious stone; the first collection under My Miry Comfort is assured – “the pieces are refined and glamorous, modern and ethnic to accentuate your feet. A great quality fit adapted to the life of the woman in motion”. Sara Coulibaly says she “wanted to create pieces that were literally as precious each in their own right so we employed different fabric styles on each of the 13 pairs to ensure they were unique, elegant and classic”.

This brand is growing day by day. It has been received well, and women all over Europe and Africa are raving about not just the beauty of the shoe, but the comfort, the fact that it is affordable and it ships to places all over the world.