Education has always been important to me; it is essentially what has allowed me to be where I am today. Throughout my own educational career, technology has changed almost every aspect of our lives, including the way we learn.
I remember the first time I heard about the “World Wide Web” back in elementary school. I think I was in third grade. I can’t remember the rest of the sentence she said, but I very distinctly remember my computer teacher saying “World Wide Web.” It sounded so funny to me, and I didn’t like it because I didn’t like spiders. I couldn’t comprehend what this meant. Was there a web out there somewhere? Little did I know this short phrase would change our lives so dramatically! But I digress.
Today at all educational levels, technology makes it easier to explain and take in new information. Rather than list facts myself, here is a wonderful graphic that cites some of the statistics surrounding technology and education.
If you’re a teacher, how do you use technology in the classroom? If you’re a student, how does your teacher use it? Or how do you wish your teacher used it?
Every year around this time, the world is graced with thousands (or more) articles written about Super Bowl advertising. At millions of dollars for just 30 seconds, I suppose the ads are worth discussion!
It is easy to get caught up in what ads made you laugh or made you emotional (#Clydesdales, anyone?). However, the point of the ads is not just to make you laugh; it is to build awareness and make you feel more connected with the brand or an individual product. Based on this concept, the following are my favorites and my least favorites.
Favorite: Best Buy
Amy Poehler is a hoot, and she naturally makes things more entertaining. But the best part about this commercial was that the concept related to the brand (unlike some brands that just have some random funny thing). Best Buy wants to be the technology expert — your technology expert. The employees are there to answer your questions, no matter how many (and how ridiculous) they might seem. They expressed that here, and got a couple laughs, too.
Favorite: Doritos
My favorite Doritos commercial was the one with the daughter who convinced her dad to play dress up with her by bribing him with Doritos. Besides just being an entertaining concept, I love that the Doritos commercials are crowdsourced. It gets the audience involved and allows for everyone to participate in the brand.
Favorite: Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola brand is all about enjoying the good things, life’s pleasures. This commercial captured that perfectly; it helped us believe the world is a good place by videotaping (via security cameras) strangers performing acts of kindness for no other reason than to be kind. Among all of the sleazy, arrogant ads out there, this ad was refreshingly different.
Least Favorite: Budweiser Black
I get the idea. This is a better, higher class beer and they tried to illustrate that with a seemingly upper class party, filled with dark glam. However, I have a problem not only with the product, but with the placement. I don’t think the Super Bowl is really the ideal audience for this beer product, let alone this type of commercial. That being said, if all Budweiser hoped to do is build awareness (versus build appreciation or like for something), I think this accomplished the goal. It certainly informed millions of the new product – although I doubt they are running out to buy it any time soon.
Least Favorite: GoDaddy
This was an easy one. I don’t think anyone liked it; it was unpleasant to watch. Additionally, a colleague pointed out on Twitter that it was downright offensive to the target mark, which is primarly the tech “geek”. Just because someone is smart or an IT person does not mean they are unattractive. The idea of GoDaddy’s other commercial also seemed out of touch. I get it that they were trying to convince people to reserve their URL names before others have the same idea, but it seemed mean spirited to me.
GoDaddy didn’t necessarily fail because of the awkwardness of the kiss; it failed because it portrayed its brand as haughty and simply out for attention, two less-than-desirable characteristics these days. I’d much prefer the humorous or the heart wrenching. That being said, if their goal was to get people to talk about them, they succeeded; that commercial received one of the strongest responses of the night!
Bonus Prize: Oreo
I did not get their actual commercial (maybe it was me?) but they hit the ball home with their highly discussed social media piece regarding the game’s power outage. The piece not only demonstrated creativity and wit, but it also showed they were ready and prepared. We all should take notes and learn from Oreo’s success: Always be ready to take advantage of the unexpected!
You can watch all the commercials here. Then tell me: Which commercials did you love? Which did you hate? And why?
For service-based businesses, word-of-mouth referrals are perhaps the most important aspect of marketing. But how does a business go about acquiring more word-of-mouth referrals? After reading The Referral Engine by John Jantsch, I have a better understanding of why we refer. The book also offers numerous strategies and tactics for making a business more referral driven, and I would highly recommend it for anyone interested in marketing, especially marketing for small or medium sized businesses.
For me personally, two main concepts of the book stand out in my mind. The first is the idea that we all as human beings have a natural need to refer friends and family to businesses we like. Therefore, gaining more referrals is more about making yourself more likable and less about gimmicks and “traditional” marketing tactics.
On the flip side of that argument, monetizing referrals can actually do more harm than good, as it takes that natural desire to refer and attempts to turn it in to something people do only to get money or something additional. Businesses that provide unexpected thanks after a referral has been made will likely be more successful because that model follows more closely with human nature.
The second biggest takeaway I got from the book was the idea of just asking for a referral as well as the best time to ask. If someone tells you they are extremely satisfied with the service they just received, why not take that as an opportunity to ask them to tell their friends? Rather than hoping they think of someone later on, have cards available where clients can write someone’s name down then and there, before the chaos of life gets in the way.
The book offers numerous ideas like these that can be applied to many industries. I would again highly suggest anyone who performs marketing duties for a small or medium business to check it out. In addition, the author has a wonderful accompanying website at referralenginebook.com.
If you’ve read the book, what did you think? What ideas have you put in place to help your marketing efforts?
This post has been a long time coming. Back in November, I came across this intriguing graphic from PRDaily: The 36 Rules of Social Media. If you haven’t seen it, take a look. While the graphic is a couple months old now, it is worth considering the points it makes. Here are five I thought deserved further discussion. (Although I would love to chat about any of them!)
#2. Stop and ask: Would an actual person talk that way?
For my own work, this is a big one. It is especially difficult because, as an organization, you need to be your brand while also speaking the way an actual person speaks; you must get rid of the “marketing speak” as one of my professors used to say often. The content I work with at my job is often centered around health topics, which can get very confusing very quickly. It is always important to put yourself in the place of your audience!
#3 Everyone says they don’t want to be marketed to. Really, they just don’t want to be talked down to.
This is a big one, not only for social media, but for marketing in general. It is the cornerstone of what modern, strategic marketing is about: Blindly blanketing everyone you can with your message is not likely to get you too far. Drilling down your services and offering them up to people who need them now or will soon in the future is likely to offer more success.
#11 Solve problems for people who talk about you, even if they don’t address you.
I agree with this one, although it often makes me feel like I am “creeping on people. For example, I currently use HootSuite to monitor Twitter mentions of a few important keywords in my geographic area. This means any time someone located within 15 miles of my business’s particular city, their tweet comes up in my feed, and I can view it there. This not only helps me to see when something related to my company’s industry occurs in the local area, but it also helps me to reach out to people who mention my company or have a need. I try not to be too obtrusive for fear of, as I mentioned, “creeping” people out. But because of this feed, I have offered sympathies, compliments or additional advice for a problem. Often there recipient does not respond, but occasionally the person reaches back with a thank you. Finding and engaging in two-way conversation is what social media is all about, and doing that openly is easy with Twitter, which I feel is often considered much less private than Facebook.
#25 The only way to scale word of mouth: Paid advertising.
For the most part, I agree with this statement. Paid advertising can boost engagement and awareness significantly. However, I don’t think it is the ONLY way. I think sometimes there are stories, businesses, people, etc., that are so amazing or so outrageous that they grow by themselves. They grow because of what they are. However, this growth is not the norm and there is no shame in receiving a push. If you aren’t able to get that crowd organically, paid advertising is a technique.
#33 Fans own your brand.
This is another fact that, in my opinion, goes much farther than social media. Branding 101 says that your brand is not defined simply by taglines and logos, although they help to build it. A brand is contained in the minds of those of a community. It’s what an employee thinks in the morning before entering work, and how he or she treats the client that greets him first thing. While we all say that companies own brands and a brand belongs to a company, a brand is actually something that is developed in the minds of the people it affects through the experiences or knowledge they have.
Do you agree with these rules of social media? Do you have something you would add to the list?
As Americans approach the polls in less than 24 hours, many are just thankful that the circus will be over. In this election and others, many have complained about negative advertisements and media coverage. However, a recent Pew Internet study shows that individual Americans may be just as much to blame as the media. That’s because now that we, the people, have the power via social media to say anything and everything we want, we are being just as negative – or rather, more negative – than the media and candidates themselves.
Throughout this election cycle, I have heard numerous Facebook and Twitter friends complain about how annoying it is to see friends talking about politics via social networks. At first, my thought was that we should be proud and glad that we can speak our opinions regarding politics, whether in person, in print or online. In some places, speaking ill of leaders, whether in person or digitally, could result in harsh punishment. However, after doing some thinking and after seeing this study, I realized people are probably most frustrated with the negativity that is on our social networks rather than the actual political discussion. But we can’t shut off all discussion just because others want to ruin it. Instead, we need to look at ourselves, at the reasons why we use social networking sites and the people we are looking to reach through them.
For myself, I use social networking sites to communicate with friends, family, acquaintances and others. It is fun and laid-back, but that does not mean it should be rude, offensive or hurtful toward others. I am looking for honest, intelligent, and sometimes entertaining information and updates, and people looking for the same things are going to reach me.
It’s too late to change the discourse of the 2012 political campaign season. But perhaps for the next election, we can all be a little more civil online. We can have informed discussions on politics — both online and in person — without being negative or hateful. We can agree to disagree, and we can agree that hatefulness is not the answer.
And we can realize that if we can’t be civil with our friends and acquaintances on social networking sites, how can we expect the media and the candidates to be civil during a campaign? It’s on us to do better next time.
With that being said, it’s time to go vote! No matter who you choose, it’s important to participate. We owe it to those who came before us and to those who do not have the same privilege we are able to enjoy.
One of the neatest parts of my job is being able to keep up on the pet industry, which can obviously be fun at times. But who knew keeping up on the pet industry could also help me learn a bit about some new technology as well? That happened when I came across an article about an online app that allows you to virtually “play” with shelter cats.
Basically, a toy is set up in the shelter and is somehow connected to the buttons on the website. When a user (such as myself) goes to that page, I can see the cats in the play area sleeping, eating or doing whatever. I can choose to press and hold one of three buttons by clicking my mouse, and each button makes a different toy spin, swirl or shake. Sometimes, the cats are too busy napping or keeping to themselves. But a few times, the moving of the toy piques a cat’s curiosity, and he or she comes to check out the commotion.
Besides being entertaining for the human user from afar, this technology has done great things for the six shelters involved in the “testing” phase, according to ipetcompanion.com. For example, iPet Companion’s website says:
After just a few weeks of installing iPet Companion, Oregon Humane Society saw the following response:
18% increase in kitten adoptions
295% increase in sponsorships
52% sustained increase in overall web traffic
That is wonderful! While I believe it is still in the beginning phases, it is great to know that people from potentially all over the world can help shelters and the cats in them just by taking two minutes from their day to click a few buttons. I can only imagine how busy shelter volunteers are, and so genuine play time for each cat must be tough to come by. But having the general public be able to virtually play is genius, because all parties receive satisfaction.
This has huge implications for many in the pet industry, besides just in life. We often (unfortunately) have to leave me cat home alone for a night or so and I always feel bad doing it. She must get so lonely! While it is not the same thing as the physical presence of being there, using a tool like this would at least at allow my fiance and I to interact with our cat while we’re gone. We’d get to “socialize” with her momentarily while also helping her get a bit more exercise.
I encourage you to try out the app and share your thoughts. Who can think of any other ways this type of technology could be used?
In college, as I studied journalism and marketing and tried to get by on little to no money, I vehemently opposed news organizations that charged for content. I did this on the basis that most people will not want to pay to read information they could likely find from another medium or organization.
However, my opinion on this is beginning to shift as I am now working in the “real” world. As the person in charge of evaluating potential advertising opportunities for my small, local company, I tend to be hesitant to suggest advertising in printed publications. In my company’s industry, trust is of the utmost importance, and these days, people don’t trust advertising. Don’t get me wrong; advertising has its uses. It just seems to have different uses than it used to have, especially for small businesses that rely on quality service and word-of-mouth marketing.
I am sure I am not alone in this thinking. In fact, I am sure many other small business marketers have similar thoughts. Unless you have tons of money to throw at advertising, it probably will not be very useful. However, this affects the news organization’s bottom line in a negative way, as we have seen with many publications in recent years. But newspapers are getting smarter and realize that they must innovate or die, likely by implementing some sort of reader pay structure. One of the more recent newspapers looking to begin a pay structure is Gannett’s Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester. I recently read an article about their pay changes, which are slated to go into effect in May of this year.
In the article, they discuss a little bit of the history of business models for news organizations. For the most part, newspapers have been on the same business model for more than 150 years. That is a very long time to operate on the same business model, and it helps to show that perhaps it really is time for a change in the industry. Just think about the significant changes that have occurred in news organizations since then. The fundamental channels of communication — from print to internet — have changed drastically!
As a working professional, I now have a better understanding of the importance of bringing money in. If you do not make money, you won’t be around very long, and our world, no matter how transformed from even a few years ago, needs journalism. Just like any other business, a newspaper has expenses: It has employees to pay, utilities to keep up, and many other things to keep itself afloat, before even being able to make a profit.
The way the Democrat and Chronicle is going about the change sounds like the right way. They are informing people a couple months ahead of time, and then allowing people to view a few (exact number undetermined) articles per month, before asking for a fee to read all content. This seems like the best approach to me. You shouldn’t have to pay to read one or two articles a month. What if you’re from out of town and just happen to stumble on the article? However, if you use the organization’s content regularly, you should have to give something for it. After all, I’m positive each and every article they put together has plenty of work put into it – reading too much for free is like saying all of that hard work just wasn’t worth the fee.
While I have never subscribed to the printed Democrat and Chronicle (in my defense, I have been living in Rochester for less than a year), I do frequently read D&C articles online, and I would be open to paying for online content. Just because I prefer the internet to print doesn’t mean what I read is any less valuable!
What do you think of paying for online content? Is it justifiable?
For years, JC Penney has been one of my favorite — if not my most favorite — places to shop for clothing, primarily because they tend to have clothes that fit me and because they are relatively inexpensive. However, with exception of a couple of random items that were desperately needed (primarily from the A.N.A. brand they carry), I never, ever buy unless it’s on sale or on the clearance rack. While I want to look good, I don’t consider myself any sort of “trend setter”and I don’t have the money to spend $20 on a T-shirt. Especially when I know it will be on sale in a few weeks anyway.
It looks like many people are in my same shoes, and luckily the 100-plus-year-old brand has taken note by announcing some fairly signficant changes that focus on playing up pricing an downplaying promotions. A recent AdAge article explained some of the pricing changes here.
The first significant change will be embracing a new pricing strategy, consisting of “fair and square” pricing. It includes three types: everyday, regular prices; monthlong values; and best prices, on the first and third Fridays of every month. To determine new prices across its product range, Mr. Johnson said that the retailer looked at what it was charging and what customers most often paid after numerous discounts. He found that only one in 500 items sold at full price, while 72% of revenue was derived from selling products at 50% off or more.
For example, a T-shirt that had retailed for $14 but typically sold for closer to $6 will now be priced at $7. In a month when it’s a featured product, it will cost $6. When it’s time to clear it out and change colors, it will cost $4. The retailer is also embracing flat prices, no more 50- or 99-cent add-ons.
This sounds great, and I am excited to see how much prices will really drop in the next month or so. However, I hope they will monitor this carefully to make sure they aren’t hurting themselves by getting rid of the “thrill of the sale.” While I advocate for pricing items as low as possible while still being able to make money, there is some excitement in a limited-time sale, and JC Penney should keep that in mind. I think they have by making certain items on sale when it’s time for them to get a move-on.
Also, I am interested to learn they will do away with the .50 and .99 pricing endings. Many marketing texts have said these price endings puts the perception in people’s heads that what they are getting is a good value. But why? If I have the option of paying $5.99 or $6.00 for something, it really isn’t that big of a deal. What’s a penny worth in today’s world? I think JC Penney is recognizing people have become smarter than this old notion.
Besides dropping regular prices, another change to JC Penney is decreasing the amount spent on promotional efforts. According to the AdAge article, JC Penney has spent $2 million per promotion in the past. So, if they have had 590 promotional events per year, as the article states, that is about $1.18 billion or $98 million per month.
Under the new plan, rather than spending so much per promotion, they will spend only (yes, not the best use of the world only) $80 million per month, allowing them to either save $18 million monthly ($216 million annually) or put those extra million toward cutting prices year-round.
In today’s world, where saving money is essential and hokey, redundant advertising is shunned, this plan sounds like a great one; a trailblazing one, perhaps.
In addition to making price points more available, the current advertising JC Penney has done seems to not only mention the craziness associated with sales. I mean, what American hasn’t purchased something only to find out it was significantly cheaper a couple days later? It’s one of the most frustrating feelings in the world, and they captured it in their new commercial.
In the end, I think these changes are exciting and I’m very interested to follow their success. They are certainly getting the company plenty of press and helping change the company into one that is focused on what consumers want. In fact, when JC Penney released this info, its stock rose significantly, even though it had been fairly low for a while.
From a customer’s perspective (assuming you have shopped there before in your life), what do you think of the changes they’re making?
I have been on Facebook since the summer of 2006, when I entered college, and had not been that interested in social gaming at until until just a few months ago.
I used to read the marketing articles talk about how popular Farmville was and how so many people played it, but I never did. I just found it as a nuisance.
Since middle school, I have absolutely loved the Sims video game and that love grew with me as I entered high school, college and adult life (although, sadly, I’ve only had time to play a once or twice since graduating high school). Now, with The Sims Social on Facebook, I can play one of my favorite computer games with my friends. Granted, it is not the same. It obviously is not nearly as comprehensive as the software version.
However, as an adult with limited time to begin with, it is perfect. I curse the game when my energy runs out, but it forces me to do something else for a while, even if it’s just to switch over to Who Wants to Be A Millionaire (I made it to a million once!) or Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader (Yes, I am, thank you).
Despite my love of these games, at this point I refuse to spend my hard-earned money on the virtual goods offerings — the Sims Cash, the extra games of Millionaire, etc. Yet, I seem to be in the minority: The social gaming industry rakes in $8 billion annually and the virtual goods market is projected to reach more than $20 billion in a couple years.
This means it will likely continue to be a great place for marketers to observe and continue to join. Sure, some industries lend themselves easily to social gaming, namely video games, board games and game shows. However, think of the possibilities for other industries — maybe your company could event the first social gaming smash hit that outdoes even the classics!
To end this post, here are the games I play most often (1 being most often, 5 least often):
I have traveled occasionally to larger cities — namely New York City and D.C. — since I was a kid. But earlier this week, for the first time in my life, I traveled to a big city with a smartphone (specifically, a Droid Incredible). And I couldn’t have been more satisfied.
Having a smartphone during an adventure to a large, relatively unknown city can be a life-saver or, at the very least, a trip-saver. For example, I used my phone in a few different ways during my two-day trip.
Kevin and I at the Washington Monument in D.C.
1. Looked up the Metro map (and other important maps).
This one is obvious. Having ridden the NYC subway on multiple occasions, the London Underground a few times and the DC. Metro once or twice before the trip, I consider myself familiar with how they operate, although certainly not an expert. But those initial moments in the Metro when we couldn’t find directors or a map are stressful. Luckily, my trusty smartphone was there to help Kevin and I find our way to downtown DC from Arlington!
2. Found addresses for local attractions.
The National Mall is a wonderful place to visit. It’s chock full of history, and visitors can easily access more than 10 intriguing museums for free. However, finding a place to eat in this tourist-y area can pose a challenge. It’s not quite the same as places like Times Square or Buckingham Palace, where there tends to be at least 10 places to eat on each block (or so it feels). So what’s a hungry tourist to do when feet grow tired and stomachs grow ornery? I used FourSquare and Google to find places. That’s not to say we didn’t use a little exploration of our own to find a refreshment stand with hot dogs, but FourSquare’s explore feature made it fairly easy to find restaurants within walking distance.
3. Took quality photos.
Now that it’s all said and done, Kevin and I probably have three sets of pictures: a set he was taking on my point-and-shoot camera, a set I took on my phone and a set he took on his phone. Naturally, we each had common photos we wanted, for which we used the camera. However, photos he wanted he used his camera and photos I wanted I used mine. Then, we uploaded our photos to Facebook and tagged each other. Voila – no way we will forget this trip!
4. Stayed in touch with friends and family.
Sharing photos with folks back home is not enough; smartphones allow you to actually engage with friends and family while on your trip. This
means Kevin’s mom could easily let us know that the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial had just opened to the public so we could be among the first to see the newly carved monument. It also meant nearby family I had forgotten to inform of our visit could give me a shout to say, “Hey, what’s the big idea, not calling me when you’re so close?” Whoops!
5. Engaged with local advertisements to receive discounts.
Finally, anyone who has ridden the D.C. Metro has likely seen advertisements for the International Spy Museum. The first couple times I saw them, I thought, “Oh, that’s kind of neat.” The ads asked passersby to figure out codes and text the clues. Toward the end of the last day, I caved and texted my answer to them. I had to play with the spacing to get it right, but eventually I received $5 off admission to the Museum. And if we had been there just one more day, we would have used it! Next time Kevin and I venture to the Capital, I’m sure we’ll visit the Museum not because of the $5 off, but because of the impression the interactive advertising left on both of us (me a marketer and he an accountant).
So, I ask: How have you used your smartphone on a recent vacation? Or do you prefer to leave your phone at home and have a true adventure?
