In a blog post titled What Comes After Social by David Armano, he discusses and analyzes the rapid change in technology, particularly social media, and how it’s forcing Marketers to adapt to the changing marketplaces. Armano’s blog “Logic + Emotion” discusses issues and analyses of the involvement of technology and advancement of marketing as a form of communication. In What Comes After Social, Armano compares the methods by which he would “market” when he initially began his career to how companies and individuals must now incorporate an extensive amount of methodologies into their marketing in order to continue to perform at an optimal level. Specifically, Armano acknowledges how costs, content, overall integration, teams and the ROI have had to adapt to a market that requires Marketers to be different and unique if they want attention.

 

 

I found this blog particularly interesting for two reasons: 1) It shows just how fast the vessels which Marketers use to communicate with their target market are changing and how Marketers must adapt to the new trends. 2) I found it interesting how the blog provides evidence that it is increasingly becoming harder to both define and reach specific target markets in a growing amount of marketplaces. In this constantly changing and advancing world, individuals and organizations must recognize the volatility of marketplaces. By volatility I mean that, for many markets there is a real concern that a new product or technology be created which would completely take over a given market indefinitely. I came upon this idea after reading the section of Armano’s blog where he discusses the use of Instagram by Oreo to “integrate its marketing techniques”. In particular, thought of how Instagram, a well established Social Media Outlet, nearly abolished Vine from the marketplace by creating the video capability that made Vine so successful.

 

Given the market or world that I will be a consistent contributor too in the near future this article just reminds me that no matter what sort of success’ or failures I experience, I know that I just have to keep learning and working hard and I’ll give myself the best chance to succeed.

Marketing by most peoples standards entails the creative ways of educating certain market segments of the benefits and value that a companies product(s) can provide. Susan Krashinsky, however, published an article that examines an alternate use of marketing, and that is to help fight crime. Krashinsky explains how a recent video that has been released by Toronto’s Crime Stoppers uses a different type of marketing to target youth and students of the GTA. The video attempts to assure viewers that tips given to Crime Stoppers will forever remain untraceable and anonymous. This advertisement is in response to a growing amount of criminal activity amongst area school students, largely being teenage offenders.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=dte3k9qNUeI

 

This article highlights a very undervalued use of marketing. I business school we tend to be herded into thinking that “we use marketing to sell our products, and that’s it” however as we’ve learned both in class and as this video shows that is not the case. Recently, in class, we’ve discussed the use of the marketing mix in creating a brand. Price, product, promotion and place are the pieces of the mix and very closely relate to tangible products however, even though this advertisement isn’t related to any specific tangible product it is still deeply intertwined with these components of marketing. The perceived  cost of using this service is getting hurt or facing emotional abuse however, this commercial tries to explain how there actually would be no way to identify users so there’s actually no cost! The product provided is actually prosecution of individuals who have committed crimes. The promotion for this is in the video, and is utilized on social media sights in order to attract members from the targeted segment. Finally, the place where this is available is clearly in the GTA however, it speaks to the campaigns that other crime stopper organizations are working on as well. This goes to show how versatile and important marketing can be to all types of markets and towards all kinds of issues.

In Brand and Politics: Thinking Inside the Ballot Box Lucy Handley examines the how companies and brands are begin align themselves politically, which until recent history has been an extreme marketing taboo. Handley details the ways in which brands like Starbucks, the European O2, Virgin and Elle have begun to affiliate themselves with certain causes and viewpoints. The article, largely, discusses the ways in which Starbucks and its CEO Howard Schultz have in recent years backed the Obama administration as well as lobbied for an agreement to be made regarding the recent American Government shut down. She further acknowledges the legitimacy and acceptance for certain brands to take a stand in favor of certain political views such as, same sex marriage, equality, and certain political affiliations.

 

 

 

I found this article extremely interesting and also contradictory to my last post. This article outlines the growing acceptance of companies to discuss topics and market their views on subjects that I thought were extremely taboo and would result in organizational suicide. This article examined certain marketing practices that in recent years have become increasingly used and sought after by consumers. I believe that marketing should include more value basis, as it is both important to a growing number of consumers and reflects a much more modern approach to marketing.

 

While reading this article I did come a across a few questions, I wondered just how far a certain organization could go in support of a cause without becoming too political affiliated? This question interested me because there are certain organizations, like Starbucks, that have a very strong brand image and at times seem like no matter what marketing tactics they may or may not use they will continue to be successful and profitable. At what point would consumers in todays society stop believing in an organizations brand enough to hurt profits.

In remembrance of the 9/11 attacks that occurred twelve years ago there was a number of inappropriate and insensitive advertisements that were both unappreciated and offensive to many people who viewed them.

Recent advertisements by organizations such as AT&T, HBO, Marriott and the Los Angeles Lakers who attempted to call for “Remembrance” sparked an interesting article from the Globe and Mail. Susan Krashinsky, the author of this article titled “Marketing Tragedies: When Ads Become Apologies”, initially explains the marketing mistakes that were made on September 11^th of this year that were made very public through social media sites such as Twitter.

AT&T decided to use a new smart phone to display an image of “Ground 0” with two large lights where the Twin Towers once stood.

 

 

 

 

 

The Marriott decided it was appropriate to provide muffins for 30 minutes of the day.

  

Krashinsky further goes on to highlight other instances where companies use situational references to market their products and, just as the fore-mentioned companies did, did an extremely poor job of doing so.

Though there were comedic undertones to this article, it evidently displays an ongoing problem that can have incredibly negative impacts on any organization. One lesson that this article has taught me is that there are a few topics that organizations and individuals should not involve themselves with, for political, religious, and ethically sensitive reasons. The article also brings to question whether you’d call an organization unethical for displaying these add’s? Would it have been unethical for these same companies to do nothing, instead of something? These are the questions I really am not educated enough to be able to answer but, I can say that there are many sides to ethical dilemmas and in certain situations, especially in business, deciding what side of an argument is the ethical side can be extremely difficult. Regardless, I will firmly support anyone and any organization that wants to be ethical and who strives to encapsulate this very idealistic characteristic.

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