Month: January 2011

Categories
advertising blogs Digital media social media

Kids in the Haul

Haul videos.  Have you heard of this trend?  Young adults, mostly girls, come home from the mall, lay their loot out and film it for upload to Youtube.  Haul videos.  Ever driven by a pickup in the Prairies and seen the deer horns hanging out the back?  Anthropological, kind of, isn’t it?  Don’t gasp.  We  do it in the car on the way home.  Look in the bag at our new runners or new hoodie and admire our purchase.  Run up to our room and put it on, admiring our new, cooler, redefined self in the mirror.  Filming and posting is an extension of our online existence.  This is a great mix of Gen Y’s faves: shopping and tech.

Is there any value here for consumers or is this just voyeuristic or narcissism run rampant?  Turns out that there is value.  The vloggers (read video bloggers) don’t just film high end loot hauls but talk about bargain basement shopping and deals, pointing consumers to sources and offering tips.  Some of the best haulers have inked sponsorships and advertising deals.  With millions of views, and perceived authenticity from the vlogger by  consumers,  manufacturers want in on this game.  (Endorsements and free merchandise must be disclosed.) Some girls are making big bucks. Is this the next big thing?  Really, whether it is or isn’t, it’s a trend that companies are putting some bucks behind as more consumers tune into this alternative channel of product information.

Categories
Digital media social media

Visualize your LinkedIn

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LinkedIn, the professional connections tool that many of us use to stay in touch with current and former colleagues has added a cool new add on:  InMap.  Showing a cloud of all of your professional contacts, LinkedIn brings itself from a somewhat linear online networking tool up closer to the ranks of Facebook.  And the map is way cool.

InMap shows a colour coded map of your contacts (colours based on how you know them) and also maps your  relationships to them… and to each other.  I think that’s the interesting part.  You know who you know but it’s interesting to who knows each other and how.  Yeah, I know this was there before but it was a little hard to follow. Now, visual and virtual.  Cool.

So, what does this offer consumers of LinkedIn.  More value?  Yes.  Certainly fodder for cocktail party conversations “Hey, I saw on LinkedIn that you know Brad Pitt.  He’s my sister-in-law’s dog walker’s cousin.” Beyond that, however, having a visual perspective on how big and broad and varied your network is, courtesy of LinkedIn, takes the site more into the realm of social networking.  Kind of more Facebook for professionals.  Sounds useful.

Categories
retail

Targeting Canada

Hurray, Target is coming to Canada. Target recently bought 220 Zellers stores and will open in Canada in 2013.

Does Canada need another discount retailer? How well will Tar-jay do when they get here? Is there so much pent up demand for this American retailer, especially from those of us who live close enough to make frequent cross border trips, that Target will annihilate existing Canadian low priced retailers like the Real Canadian Superstore and fellow American Walmart? Unlikely, but there will be a big spike in sales and the competition better be ready as Target is slick and smart. And we are keen to have them here.

But why does Target think they can make a go of it in Canada? Interesting question because American retail has been hit hard, although is starting to bounce back. Canadian retail has been hit less hard and there is less competition in Canadian retail than U.S., making the market opportunity better for entry by Target. Good news for Target.

Categories
Uncategorized

Twitter Marketing Basics

Comm 296 started off with 200 students signing up for Twitter accounts.  We’re using Twitter in the classroom so I thought it’d be useful to go over some Twitter basics.

Twitter has two main components:  a social networking aspect, like Facebook, where people follow you and your follow them AND a messaging capability where you send out 140 character Tweets.

The social networking part of Twitter lets you send out updates to your followers and you can receive their updates.  This works well whether you’re using Twitter for personal stuff, like telling people your opinions or what’s going on in your life, or for marketing purposes like driving traffic to your blog or website.  Twitter has been called a microblogging platform because of its message limitation of 140 characters.  This forces you to keep your messages brief.  The fun of Twitter lies here, in that you have to think creatively in terms of engaging your audience but still getting your point across.

Twitter and Marketing

Twitter posts can be used to support a firm’s social media marketing activities in several ways:

1. by driving traffic to the firm’s (or your personal) website or blog.  You can remind your followers about your product or website and encourage them to revisit your website.

2. to connect with your readership & customers.  Twitter is a more conversational online medium than blogs or websites.  You can have more dialogue with your followers and hopefully engage them more with your brand.

3. to build your brand.  You can your online persona using Twitter more fully by sending out tweets that are unique and reflect what you want your brand personality to be.  Your intention should be to get people to connect with your brand and to make yourself unique in your niche.  By being interesting and engaging, you’ll drive traffic to your website or blog.

4. to research your customers.  Twitter offers you an opportunity to spy on your target market’s interests and to ask them questions about their needs.

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