Month: March 2011

I came across this image on StumbleUpon and thought it was a great visual of what we have been learning in class. The pictures above make it clear the difference between the topics but I feel they also illustrate the communication channel. The one individual is trying to encode something to a listener, in order for the listener to decode that message it must break through the “noise”. A way to do that is through public relations which affirms the encoded message. The advertising is the repetition of the encoded message to ensure it makes it to the receiver. Branding occurs when the receiver processes the message and responds favorably to the message. This is something we see everyday, broken down into a very simple info-graphic.

I recently read Mihail Baranovschii’s latest blog post about the annoying ads featured before Youtube videos. The best part of using YouTube is to be able to quickly view and search for short videos, and the use of ads makes the service less appealing. My suggestion to this problem is perhaps shorter ads. This may be difficult to do, however the user attention span is very short, far shorter than that of TV ads. Therefore I believe it would be far more effective to have very concise and to the point ads. This will help YouTube keep its appeal and at the same time generate revenue to remain a feasible business. The worst thing that could happen to YouTube is to over advertise and wreck the service they have worked so hard to develop.

On March 8th, in a game between the Montreal Canadians and Boston Bruins, Zdeno Chara hit Max Pacioretty which resulted in Pacioretty suffering a cracked vertebra and severe concussion. The NHL decided the hit was not intentional and that the injury resulted from the collision with the glass stantion not the hit itself. No suspension was given, yet many third parties have decided to weigh in on the topic. One for example is Air Canada. The “chief executive officer ordered up a letter that demanded the National Hockey League end its passive stance toward player safety, backed by a threat that the airline would pull its sponsorship unless the NHL took measures to protect its players… But the league lashed out at the airline on Thursday for meddling in its internal matters, and suggested it could take its business elsewhere.” Clearly Air Canada was trying to establish themselves as “good” in the consumers eyes, but is it worth giving up a large partnership. As a Canadian airline it would hard to imagine taking its business away from the NHL, as hockey is almost part of an identity here in Canada. After the league responded Air Canada made no further comment. I believe that if this were a sincere action on AC’s part they should have pulled out of their deal, however that is not the case. Clearly this action was more for show than any real commitment. If a company is going to take a stance on an issue they better be prepared to stand up for their comments, not just shrink back and try to forget they ever said anything.

By now everyone has at least heard of Charlie Sheen’s latest exploits; as it has been everywhere. From YouTube clips to major news netwoks his name is everywhere at the moment. Moreover, as stated here on AdFreak he has officially become the fastest person to get 1 million followers on Twitter. The company ad.ly asked him to set up an account, and then they will subsequently pay him to then advertise certain products. They have done it before with such celebrities as Snoop Dog and Kim Kardashian, however this time it is quite different. Obviously Charlie Sheen is a celebrity, however his latest fame is attributed to drug rehabilitation and possible mental instability. With that being said, is he really a person that you would want to associate your product or brand with? We have talked before in class about associative and dissociative figures, of which I would argue Sheen falls into the later (however he may argue otherwise). To me his latest popularity is more based on humor, not the fact that they are genuine fans. So is paying him to rep your brand really worth it? I guess we will have to see, but in my opinion I don’t think so.

A video just for fun.