Archive for Social Media
MTV Switch
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I want to start with the little known fact that I’m not a MTV fan. I haven’t turned on MTV since I was probably 16. But I came across this commercial which then brought me to the MTV switch website. I was blown away by the concept that a company that is generally known for is crazy tv shows, crude humor and much more was trying to educate their audience on what it means to “go green.” Now, obviously the “go green” theme is a little over used, but MTV has shown their audience what problem is out there and allowed the opportunity for the consumers to elaborate on this process and find solutions.
They also have a blog that allows readers to “GET INVOLVED – and find out what YOU can do to help the environment and STAY INFORMED – on the latest trends and fashions that are keeping the Earth clean and keeping you classy”
With their use of great music and visual aspects in their videos and site, it really engages the audience which leads to an interest to seek more information. I applaud MTVs efforts to reach out to the “unclean.” What other audiences could be reached by the media they watch?
Is there another organization that could help responsibly promote how to live e-friendly?
Levi’s Campaign for Harvey Milk Highschool
Posted by: | CommentsLevi Strauss & Co just recently launched the “Give them hope Now” Campaign. This campaign is to raise money for the Hetrick-Martin Institue, which is a non profit organization that that supports the Harvey Milk High School. As you can imagine the Harvey Milk High School is dedicated to support and help gays, lesbians, transgenders, and bisexuals during there time of need. They like to think of themselves as a school that is there for them when their family isnt. When their family kicks them out of there houses and wont support them. The school provides after school support groups and support services. At first when i viewed the ad i was unclear of what the message was for…Here is one of the commercials… What are your thoughts can you tell what it is for?? Also with Levis supporting a messsage like this do you think that people that are againt gay marriage and are homophobic may stay away from a company like this and stay away from purchasing their products? they have gone about delivering this message in a very modern way Rob Toledo, senior account director, Razorfish, Seattle says “We’ve put together a very impactful social media outreach strategy. We’ll be reaching out to bloggers and like-minded organizations and people in the LGBT community,” Do you think they did this because this topic is more of a modern issue and traditionalist might not agree and therefor they figured they could reach more of there target market? or because it cost less to get the message out??
Twouble with Twitters-How far can Social Media go?
Posted by: | CommentsWarning: This video contains minor profanity
This YouTube video is basically a mockery of the lengths at which social media and social networking sites have infiltrated our lives, and to an extent have consumed all aspects of our daily lives and interactions with others. The video enlists characters of every different personality and shows them twittering about extremely random and often irrelevant subjects. Even at the end of the video when the character is facing his death, he says “hold on I need to twitter about this.” So while I agree that social media is extremely helpful at relaying positive messages in an effective way, at the same time it produces a negative side effect: people being consumed by technology and casting off normal human interaction. This relates to the whole idea of cell phone usage. I often find myself guilty of giving into the power of cell phones and texting. It is my belief that when you are with someone and they are constantly on their phone, texting, making calls in a sense they are saying that that phone and the person on the other end is more valuable than their time with you. It is offensive. Same thing with social media to an extent. When people abuse the powers of social media networks and become addicts it destroys the natural communication between humans. In fact page 113 of our Secrets of Social Media book discusses how “adults cringe at that kind of talk, believing that it confirms their suspicion that kids are forsaking meaningful person-to-person contact in favor of idle online chatter.” So as social media marketing students, what would you say is our responsibility to promoting a healthy amount of social media. Do you agree with the fact that social networking sites can go to far? Additionally, what are some ways or approaches that social media can encourage healthy usage?
Social Media Adds Entertainment to a Dry Topic
Posted by: | CommentsI think advertisers should always be looking to create campaigns that can breathe life into a usually mundane product or topic. For people to pay attention to ads, the content has to be new and different. Sometimes a concept can be made entertaining by simply choosing the right media sources. IBM understands this idea and has developed a “tounge-in-cheek” way to reach software developers through a campaign centered around “Mr. Fong,” a software developer who is lost in space and trying to reconnect with his team. The campaign utilizes youtube, facebook, twitter and myspace. Ogilvy and Mather, who helped create the campaign says that they hope to “tap into cubicle culture and the popularity of passing along funny, offbeat sites and videos among colleagues.” I enjoy this creative approach and think that IBM is smart to utilize social forms of media considering their target market. To check out the campaign go to www.connectmrfong.com. 
Power to the Bloggers
Posted by: | CommentsThe website listed below is an article from Advertising Age. It is talking about how Frito Lay is sponsoring 7 blogs and allowing the bloggers to produce creative content for the Cheeto Brand. The Bloggers create content that will appeal to their blogging community. It was really interesting to come across this because it deals directly with what we have been talking about in class. How important it is to appeal to your blogger community. It’s cool to see companies taking the first steps toward word of mouth marketing, and giving the power to the talkers, ie: the bloggers.
http://adage.com/madisonandvine/article?article_id=134558
Finally something FREE…It’s called LISTENING!
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This brief interview deals with the topic of listening. Richard Branson, the man in the interview discusses how important it is to listen to the ideas of your consumers. While he does not mention specific vehicles to listen to (ie: blogs…) he does state that listening is free and that some of the best ideas come from these “talkers.” He states that ” a lot of your customer’s are the best brains out there.” It’s kind of ironic that companies still reject what there consumers have to say when they are offering them not only free advice but also innovative ideas. I know we discussed this in our class readings, and I think Branson’s emphasis on this topic contributes to the importance of taking into consideration the “talkers.”
