Seeing Media Thru the Linz

Last Post (for the class)

medialinz — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:33:04 +0000

This is my last post for Emerging Media. I have learned so much through this class and I hope to continue my blogging although it will probably be through another host and a different username. I enjoyed promoting my blog on Facebook and many of my friends said they liked reading it, especially the ones who were not familiar with marketing and new techniques in advertising and marketing.

I hope all of you enjoyed my blog this semester and if you want to continue following me, my new blog will be hosted through Blog Spot. The URL is http://writingsofwaybrights.blogspot.com/

This blog will feature things about my fiance and myself, but I will definitely throw in my opinions on marketing as well!

I hope to see some of you as followers and let me know about your blogs, too!

WordPress Logo Search

medialinz — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:29:05 +0000

http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/vote-on-the-wordpress-logo-entries/

This site allows users to vote on the new WordPress logo. I think it is great to use websites and blogs to deliver content to users, especially content that allows them to vote or have a choice in a matter. Leaving the logo decision up to the users of WordPress is a great route to take. Afterall, the users is who they are trying to reach! Sometimes all of the marketing and developing teams in the world cannot understand what a consumer is going to like and react to.

This gives me an idea for the hospital I work for. Although they do not need a new logo right now, they will within the next couple of years and I think it is a great idea to create a few and allow the public to choose. Allowing them to have a part in the decision marketing will make them feel loyal to the hospital and build a stronger sense of brand recognition, I believe.

What do you think?

Emerging Media Awards

medialinz — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:24:30 +0000

I found this website while researching for class.

http://www.summitawards.com/about-the-sia/competitions/emerging-media.html

It is a site that gives awards for Emerging Media! The categories are Online Advertising, Email Marketing, Websites, Interactive, Integrated Campaign, Specialty, Bleeding Edge Media, On-Line Video, Mobile Marketing/Wireless. Each of these categories has several subcategories, but it made me wonder who I would choose for these awards in my own life? So with that… here is my answer!

Online Advertising

This one is tough, but I chose Beau-Coup on that advertises through Facebook. I started receiving the ads on my Facebook as soon as I changed my relationship status to engaged. Facebook and Beau-Coup do a great job partnering to target audiences and I have actually purchased several things from the site that I would not have even known existed if I did not see their ad.

Email Marketing

New York and Company, for sure! I get so many emails from them a week promoting their new products that they are hard to ignore. Most, if not all, of these emails include coupons, so you can’t go wrong there!

Websites

I see so many companies change their websites in my job, but one of the websites that stands out to me is Under Armour. They always have the same theme, it is easy to navigate, and provides great dynamic content!

Interactive

Facebook, of course. I use Facebook everyday for business and personal use. It is sad to say that I do not know what I would do without it

Integrated Campaign

The best Integrated Campaign I have seen this year has been Coach Handbags and Accessories. They use their Facebook page in conjunction with email and their website to promote their products and allow Facebook fans to have first glances and new products.

Specialty

This refers to use of video or dynamic content. I honestly do not have a winner for this award because so many companies and individuals use great video!

Bleeding Edge Media

This is a new technique that I am not very familiar with. It refers to any media that is pushing the bounds of an already defined category.

On-line Video

YouTube gets my vote. I know that they do not create the videos, but they provide a site for them to be hosted and that is a huge deal for certain videos that have had their “big break” on YouTube… (wedding dances, funny kids, etc.)

Mobile Marketing

I despise mobile marketing, but if I had to pick one, I would choose AT&T’s text message promotions. The text messages are free (although most users have a plan anyway), and provide details about new products and services. I actually do read them and it is good to know about things happening with my cell phone provider.

So there they are! Who would you pick for these awards???

What is up with “new” Facebook?

medialinz — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:03:55 +0000

Sometimes, Facebook annoys me. Don’t fix something that isn’t broken. It seems that every couple of months, a “new” Facebook is released and usually at the same time that I was just getting used to the old one. The last “new” Facebook featured a different layout that took awhile to get used to, but was ultimately easier to use. However, this time, Facebook has decided to have “live feed” and “news feed.” Live feed is what we are used to, giving us up to the minute updates on friends. I have no idea why someone would choose “news feed” because it is usually about 12 hours behind.

Many users have been complaining about the new live feed because it literally shows you everything everyone is doing on your feed. It shows who is friending who and becoming fans of things. I think the old live feed only showed selected things. So, my question is, why does Facebook keep changing? The answer is fairly simple. They feel that they need to stay a step ahead of other social networking sites. Eventually, this live feed concept will be the norm, but it will look like everyone just took after Facebook. By creating things before people are really ready for them, Facebook stays ahead of the competition and they know that no one is really going to delete their Facebook (at least not for good) because of a few silly changes.

So, in conclusion, if you hate the new Facebook then join the club… but in a few months you will be used to it and not even be able to remember it any other way!

www.Facebook.com

Go to your home page and look at the top. It says Live Feed or News Feed. If the option is set to News Feed, then Live Feed will say 100+ new entries. Pretty annoying to think there are 100+ things Facebook left off your page!

Successful Facebook Fan Pages

medialinz — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:51:39 +0000

Facebook fan pages started out as a way for companies who had already formed a “group” to have an actual profile. The fan pages have expanded to include much more than businesses, stores, and companies. They include things such as “sleeping in,” “cats,” “cuddling” and many more. These particular pages are just a way to clutter up a Facebook profile, in my opinion, but companies and individuals who utilize Facebook fan pages correctly can actually see great things come of them.

Over the last few months, I have developed a Facebook fan page for my fiance’s business, Athletic Outfitters. We send out updates, coupons, and photos on the page promoting our current sales, new products, and more. At first, we did not see much coming from the site, but then it seemed that over night we were having people call the store saying, “I saw this on your Facebook… do you have it in my size? Can I order it?” The point is that it took a long time for our Facebook to really get off the ground. The people that I invited to be fans were just mine and my fiance’s friends and that does not cover much of our client base. However, those people were friends with more people that became fans and now we are up to around 500 fans. That does not seem like a lot, but I live in a town that barely has 1,000 at our local high school so it is fairly small.

The page is growing everyday. We get a lot of hits that we never used to get and a new fan is added everyday. Of couse, we sometimes have people that remove themselves and we lose a few fans here and there, but the proportion is so small compared to the overall number of fans that I do not worry about it.

So what does it take to be a successful page? In my opinion it takes a lot of content. Users will want to come to your page if you have content, just like a regular webpage. In my lessons in IMC: 619, it states that a website must be interesting for people to feel that it is doing something for them. The same thing goes for a Facebook fan page. Photos, discussions, videos, status updates, and comments are all examples of content that drive people to your fan page.

If you have a business, I would strongly recommend using Facebook. Do not get frustrated in the beginning and don’t get offended if some people decline your request to be a fan. Some people just do not want those things on their Facebook, which is understandable. The most important thing is to make sure your page provides interesting content for the fans you have.

Marketing in PC Games

medialinz — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:46:14 +0000

I am really not a huge fan of PC games, but I do get into the CSI games. I think that they do a great job of advertising their season DVDs in the game previews. The games take about 10-15 minutes to install and during this time there are several different media clips that show the upcoming releases of season DVDs, as well as other PC games by the company (UbiSoft) or in the CSI collection.

The videos seen in the previews are similar to those seen at this link. Since the installation requires that the consumer change CDs a few times during the process, they are required to sit at the computer and watch these videos. Marketers have realized that they are not going to get up and leave the computer when the process requires them to stay, so they created interesting videos for the consumer to watch.

I have actually purchased games based on these videos I have seen, so I have to say that they have done a very good job.

Advertisement in iPhone Apps

medialinz — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 02:37:04 +0000

Recently, I downloaded an App for my iPhone called Word Warp. It is a fun, popular game, and is free. Since it is free, it has advertisements in the middle of levels that include video and other forms of ads. It is not as annoying as it could be, but it is still not anything that I ever want to see and it has no effect on me. I honestly could not even tell anyone what the companies are that are advertising.

Many apps are doing this because it is a way for them to stay free for iPhone users. It is great that apps can be free, but sometimes the advertising is very excessive. I would often rather pay the .99 cents one time in order to have no advertisements while I am playing a game. Does anyone else notice this with apps? Since I am a consumer that is very annoyed by pop ups, cell phone marketing, and banner ads, maybe I am one of the few that actually find this annoying.

I realize that the advertisements are necessary for the app to remain free. However, the ads slow down the game and sometimes cause errors in the game. Consumers should be warned that this may happen because I probably would have found a version that I could pay for had I known

Social Media – a combination is best!

medialinz — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:54:38 +0000

We have all discussed which form of social media is best for particular needs. However, now that we are finishing the class I have decided that it is best for advertisers to be involved in many forms of social media. There is nothing wrong with having both a Facebook fan page and a Twitter account. In fact, they tend to feed off of each other! Since I have started this blog, I have decided that blogging would be a great tool for certain companies to have, as well.

Creating a fan page on Facebook is very easy, as is creating a Twitter account. I recently tried Twitter for the first time and I am not really a fan of it, but I could see how it could benefit many companies. Blogging would also be beneficial to many companies in my opinion. Blogging allows pictures, links, and personal content to be posted.

My last post indicated that I had been receiving many forms of marketing materials regarding H1N1. After doing some Facebook research, I discovered there are actually fan pages for H1N1! A simple search will result in many choices. Some are in foreign languages, but the ones that are not provide discussions, tips for avoiding the illness, and questions and answers about the virus.

I imagine that many consumers who have been sick for a week or so have been spending a lot of time on Facebook to pass the time (I know I did…). Having fan pages about the virus that provide good information are a great tool for the companies that are providing the information. There are multiple health care services that are doing this. Check them out!!!!!

The H1N1 hype…

medialinz — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:09:15 +0000

I am sure most of you have seen the swarm of media coverage on the H1N1 virus. The virus has hit where I live in Ripley, WV very hard. Last week at our local high school 250 students out of 1,000 were absent. This is due to a mix of the H1N1 virus and seasonal flu. At the middle school, about 150 were absent each day. The absences were so severe and the virus has attacked so many individuals that cheerleaders were unable to cheer at the football game on Friday because they did not have enough and the attendance at the game was down significantly.

The point of this is I believe that although the virus has made its way to many friends and family, I think the media coverage of the virus has made the overall public more aware of the illness and how to prevent it. Emails have been circulating with ways to prevent the virus and there is something on the local news everyday with a tip to stay healthy. Media has come along so much in the past few years that it is able to really get the message across to individuals that H1N1 is serious, but measures can be taken to prevent the illness from getting too severe.

As I am writing this, I have a horrible case of the seasonal flu, an ear infection, and a sinus infection! I have heard of many cases of H1N1 turning into pneumonia and I am thankful I do not have that to worry about. I am sure I will get an update on my local news of how the swine flu is keeping children out of school this week, as well, but hopefully I get over my illness and stay healthy!!!

What Kind of Advertising Reaches You?

medialinz — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:11:43 +0000

Since I am currently debating on the best way, or most effective way, to advertise for the company I work for, I thought it would be interesting to see what kind of advertising our class thinks reaches them the most.

In my case, it would have to be a combination of email and Internet. I rarely listen to the radio and I don’t pay attention to television ads. Newspaper ads are a waste on me because in my local newspaper, they are usually buried in the back. Email works for me, especially if it is a company that I am already interested in, such as a clothing store or Coach

I get several email advertisements per week from New York and Company (a clothing store) and Coach. The New York and Company advertisements often offer coupons with new product updates, which keeps me interested. The Coach advertisements are usually just updates on new products and they rarely have coupons, but it still entices me to go visit their website.

My dilemma is should I offer a coupon with an email advertisement if I go that route? We have offered coupons before and have not seen a great response, but we have never done anything through email (only radio and newspaper). We have many of our customers’ email addresses from previous orders and surveys, so I could reach many of our current consumers but not very many new consumers. Newspaper may be the way to go on this even though it does not work on me, it could possibly work on others…

Let me know what you think!