Sunday, March 9, 2014

Big Sugar-Big Problem


Are tobacco companies responsible for lung cancer?
Are Sugar companies responsible for negative health outcomes?
Are fast food companies involved for obesity?
Are car companies to blame for automobile accidents?
Are expensive gym memberships to blame for not working out?


I believe that they boil down to a personal problem. We cannot sit here and point our fingers at industries who manufacture products or services that lead to negative outcomes.
I do not believe that food and beverage manufacturers have neither an ethical nor a legal responsibility to consumers who experience negative health outcomes from consuming products with added sugar but I do believe that they should be regulated, but not taxed.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Got Insurance?

They say sex sells, so what happened to the drugs and rock n’roll? We have seen ads using sex and humor as an appeal and they are very effective. Carl’s Jr has consistently used sex as an appeal to see their burger. Though looking at the ad, I don’t always want to go buy one, it makes me remember the ad because of its sultriness.



While the use of humor is done well by Post-It, making me laugh because their ad is something that many women wish they could do.


So sex and humor sell, and even the Oregon State University Barometer knows it!



So why are these ads so effective? Not necessarily because of the humor, that is just one portion, it is the entire ad design. So when looking at the Got Insurance ads, their use of ad design is spot on making them effective.

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Sunday, February 23, 2014

Loyalty Programs| Good or Bad?

Loyalty Programs have been around for a while and have caused a large debate on if they are ethical or not. There are many pros and cons to both the consumer and the retailer with the programs, so are they ethical? And trust me, it won’t come down to a black and white answer.

So first questions- where do you stand?
Do you think they are ethical? Or do you believe they breach consumer’s privacy rights? Do you think that the retailer opts in for the program maliciously? Or do they create a program while thinking of the customer first?

Basic Background Information:
Consumer Pros
                Get items at discounted prices, coupons, better targeted marketing, purchase history
Consumer Cons
                Junk mail, spending more money, not being considered a “better” customer, privacy issues
Retailer Pros
                Better marketing strategy, better sales campaigns, maintain customers
Retailer Cons
                Rewarding those who don’t purchase, costly, competition, no incentives
               
But the Holy Grail of this issue stems from the idea of Data Mining. Data Mining is “the practice of examining large databases in order to generate new information.” It seems reasonable: you had over your purchase behaviors and they generate new information for you. But when does it become unethical?  

So what is the answer?

As I said earlier, it is not black and white. The only way to discuss the matter is by looking at both groups and both sides of the topic.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Rule 40

Guidelines for NOCs regarding Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter
Paragraph 3 of the Bye-Law to Rule 40 (hereinafter Rule 40) of the Olympic Charter states:

"Except as permitted by the IOC Executive Board, no competitor, coach, trainer or official who participates in the Olympic Games may allow his person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games”.

The financial model for the Olympic Movement, including NOCs, IFs, OCOGs and, indirectly, athletes, is based on the exclusivity of rights granted for Olympic marks. Rule 40 provides a framework and guidelines for all participants, to ensure that the partners which have acquired the rights to the Olympic properties are respected. With Rule 40, the IOC also prevents over-commercialisation of the Games; it reinforces the uniqueness of the event, removing undue commercial presence on the field of play, which ensures that the performance of the athletes is the focus.

The Olympics are an iconic sporting event that takes place every two years. The branding committee will spend millions upon millions of dollars to become an Official Sponsor- but what does that really mean? Well, with regards to Rule 40, you are one of the few brands whose able to mention the Olympic Games.

So what better way to advertise your brand then at the Olympics? Millions of people tune into the ceremonies and games for weeks at a time, causing the Olympics to become a conversation piece for the weeks surrounding. But the pricier it becomes to be an Official Sponsor, the more ways brands will try to use ambush marketing as a tactic to be seen.


Ambush marketing is the “idea of healthy competition in a climate of expensive and often ill-
conceived sponsorship's.”

Sunday, February 9, 2014

SuperBrand

Once a year one of the greatest events of the year happens: Christmas, Halloween, my birthday, Nordstrom Half Yearly Sale, no, no, no… the SUPERBOWL. With brands paying approximately 4 million dollars for a thirty-second ad, they are doing everything they can to be the most memorable. But what makes a memorable ad? Which appeal works best?  Are you going to focus on your target market, the Superbowl watchers, or more broad because it is such a hyped event? Will you release the ad early, if so how early?


These are just a few of the things I thought would be going through marketers minds for the past few months. 

Sunday, February 2, 2014

| Fear | Humor | Musical |

This summer when I lived in New York, I started a blog called Deebs In The City, which detailed my adventures of a solo Oregon raised girl living in the big apple with no idea on why I was there. Half way through my trip and 22 blog posts down I hit this wall. Not a writer’s block because I knew what I was going to write about, but a block because there was too much to write about. The feeling I got was the same feeling I had when I went to write this blog post. How was I to pick three ads? We have grown up in a world where we are constantly bombarded by ads- about 5,000 per day. I had so many thoughts going through my mind and I couldn't pick just three ads (don’t worry, after countless hours I picked three).

Luckily, my search became more narrow when I actively thought about the criteria for the ad, they had to speak to my style, they had to be memorable and they had to be done with certain finesse.  My top criteria for the ads were that it has not yet been shown in class.

When searching for the ads and the initial drafts of this post, I changed my idea for the types of appeals and the ad, to make sure I had the best ones in my post. In the end I chose to write about fear, humor and musical. But in each ad, there are multiple appeals within; something that I noticed and I think is very effective.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

Stay Classy Marketers

Who the hell is Julius Caesar? You know I don’t follow the NBA!-Ron Burgundy, Anchorman
Who the hell is Ron Burgundy? You know I don’t follow the NFL!- Diana Brillhart, My Whole Life

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Assignment Two

It’s crazy to think about how quickly news can spread over social media compared to traditional communication forms. Today, as a college student I rarely read the news, and yes I am embarrassed to say that, but I feel that I am just as informed by checking social media routinely throughout my day. I don’t get a newspaper or tune into the nightly news but what I do is follow CNN, OregonLive, BreakingNews and other news outlets on Twitter which updates me with all the same information in 140 characters. I may have to click on a link to read a full article, but 140 characters can keep me well informed on all important matters.

I knew instantly about the death of Nelson Mandela because of the hashtag #RIPNelsonMandela, the Boston Marathon bombing from #BostonStrong, I was updated about the freezing weather conditions from #PolarVortex and I knew all about how Miles Scott, a five year old boy saved San Francisco because of #batkid. The power of social media is undeniable. By using social media to your advantage is something that brands should capitalize on. Trending hashtags inform people of what is going on, but users are still on theses sites looking at their friend’s tweets, and looking at what brands are posting, on average 37 minutes a day.



The article HowAirlines Are Using Social Media to Deal With This Week’s Weather shows how important customer service is, especially in the airlines industry, with a major storm happening. American Airlines blew away their competition in the number of tweets that they sent to their passengers. Many people’s flights schedules were changed due to arctic temperatures, causing frustration and angry posts. By quickly responding, airlines were able to keep their customers happy, create a positive rapport, and create a comparative advantage through social media. By continually updating flight schedules, and replying to their audience through social media, airlines can keep customers choosing them over other airlines because of their quick response to annoying matters.



After my summer internship at DBA, I was offered a contracting position as the weekend community manager for Claire’s and Icing. It was my job to post on all social media channels for them, as well as keep customers happy. It was imperative that all tweets, Facebook post’s and messages were responded to, and extremely important that anyone with a complaint was left satisfied. As a company, it was very important to them to make sure that their customers were left happy after a bad experience, and well informed on all sales and promotions. Claire’s and Icing taught me that customer services comes first when on social media because everyone is able to see their complaint and your answer.

According to the Social Study in 2012, 33% of people follow a brand on social media and that number continues to increase.  It’s important to capture an audience and keep your customers happy, by responding, retweeting, favoriting. The more a company engages with their customers, the happier they are. From my personal experience, I am very happy when I tag a brand in an Instagram photo and they go in and “like” my photo, or when I have complained and I get a response I feel like i matter to them. I think the end of the article summed up my thoughts on this topic very well:
Moral of the story: If your brand isn't on social media, get on quickly because the ship is sailing without you, and when you’re there, put yourselves in the customer’s shoes and ask “what’s in it for me?”, then give it to ‘em.
I think that putting yourself in their shoes is the best way to phrase it. Brands need to see what the customer is seeing: if they are unhappy you should figure out what you can do to change that. An angry customer is likely to write on your Facebook wall, but so is a happy customer. So it is up to the brand- do you want angry posts or thankful posts? Do you want customers to see unanswered angry posts? If they see this behavior on your site, how do you think they will feel when going into the actual store?

Brands need to connect with their fans, though liking or replying. By engaging you form a relationship with the customer, and that in turn creates a competitive advantage. Making sure your customers are happy is a simple yet tedious task for brands, constantly checking every outlet multiple times a day and crafting copy that will satisfy a customer, takes time and practice. But once a brand can succeed and doing this, they put themselves ahead of their competitors and people will want to engage with the brand. 

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Assignment One

I am a senior at Oregon State University majoring in Business Marketing and will be graduating in the Spring of 2014. I was raised in Portland, Oregon where I ran track, played soccer and golfed. I am an active member of Delta Gamma where I served as Director of Crews for 2 years. In Corvallis, I am a regular volunteer at Corvallis Caring Place spending time with the elderly, participating in other University sponsored and Greek life community service events as well as raising money and awareness for Service for Sight and Aid to the Blind. I have enjoyed the past few years in Corvallis (especially with the win at the Hawaii Bowl by the Beavers!), but upon June of this year I will be leaving the place I have called home for other opportunities with the hopes that my education and past employment will lead me to great endeavors.

I have had two major internships during my college education that have set me up with knowledge in the social media marketing industry. The first internship I have had was at Postano. Over the course of the past three and a half years I have personally seen this industry grow among users, platforms and brand engagement. 

This past summer, I had my second internship at Digital Brand Architects where I worked with different fashion brands to create the best social strategy for them. This internship helped me gain knowledge of how to best capture an audience though various social media platforms. In addition to a summer internship, I returned to New York City for Fall Fashion Week where I was able to use social media as a driving force in such public way. 

Over the next nine weeks I will be spending just a little more time online, blogging about everything marketing related. I will look at the good, the bad and the ugly while tying it to course topics. I have a strong interest in using social media to share a brands message, and think that it should be a front-runner in brands eyes. With this blog I am hoping to relate course topics and ideas and spin them in a way that I see them best fitting. I think that recent examples, pictures and links as well as personal experiences in both my professional career and my personal life will be a driving factor to how I view course materials. 

 I am really looking forward to learning more about this class and relating it back to previous work I have done with brands. One thing I found very intriguing about our class on Thursday was discussing the importance of having "One Clear Voice" and how it will give you a competitive advantage. Working with many brands, it was very important to make sure that you knew each brand through and through to create the best social strategy. One example was working with Nine West, and we have to make sure that their tweets, Facebook posts and Instagram pictures all were correct according to the website and their overall culture. Though all posts were different, it was extremely important to have the correct promotion, product details or themes such as #StyleResolution. Having "One Clear Voice" is very important, if a message has a mistake on one media outlet it can confuse buyers, anger them, and they could choose another brand. 

Nine West: #StyleResolution