Here’s a photo of how it’ll look when you receive money via Snapchat. Looks fun!

What is Snapcash?

Snapchat, the (in)famous photo messaging system partners with Square to launch Snapcash — an add-on feature to Snapchat that allows users to instantly send money to their friends/contacts. Square started off with a similar peer-to-peer money sharing system via email — for their platform, the user simply types in the amount they want to send on the subject line of an email, and then the money is sent. It’s a secure way to transfer money from your debit card, and partnering with Snapchat makes their core service extra cool.

How does it work?

Of course, you need to have the Snapchat app to make this work. Once you add your debit card information, you can easily send money to your friends by typing in “$” then the amount (i.e. $15). Snapchat automatically recognizes that you’re trying to send money, so it switches to Snapcash and the yellow “send” button turns green. The user can hit the green button once they’re ready to transfer money. Sounds really easy.

Who can use it?

Right now, 18+ Android users in the US are the only ones who can use it. But Snapchat says that the app’s service will be available for iOS soon and will expand to other countries where Square is fully operational.

What problems could this bring?

Aside from security issues (which is not that bit of a threat considering that Square is the one that holds all the financial data, not Snapchat), concerns like inappropriate exchange of money for nude photos are coming up. This could be alarming because 50% of Snapchat’s users are aged 13-17. Someone could say “$10 for a photo of my boobs” and the creepy older men could send it over no problem — it is possible, right? But then again, there’s nothing stopping users from sending nude photos right now for free. Plus, Snapcash is only available for 18+ users — so technically, it’s not “illegal” anymore if someone over 18 does this. Sneaky, huh?

Is this a good move by Snapchat?

They’ve recently launched ads on their platform, so they are trying to branch out from being a purely photo messaging platform. This is actually quite strategic. I don’t have Snapchat but like me, it’s possible that consumers would be considering downloading Snapchat just to be able to easily send money (i.e. pay your share of rent to roommates, share a taxi, etc) instantly. Plus, many people who never considered downloading a financial app like Venmo and Google Wallet might just stick to Snapchat, just because it seems like it’s more fun.

Good job, Snapchat. You’re sneaky, but you’re good.

By now, most of us must’ve heard and seen Kim Kardashian’s Paper Magazine Cover and her attempt to #BreakTheInternet. She didn’t really break the internet, but it was a good try! Although I never liked the Kardashians and their lifestyle and how they make money and became famous (by doing absolutely nothing and having zero talent), I find this #BreakTheInternet campaign pretty funny because of the memes that people have been making using Kim’s cover photo.

Here’s the original (and most likely photoshopped) cover:

Here’s one version of Kim like a centaur. It reminds me of the characters in the Narnia books. This photo was posted with this tweet: “Kim Kardashian looks so much like a centaur in Paper Magazine, I figured I’d take it one step further.”

Here’s another one that came out in this tweet:”Nice rack #BreakTheInternet ” Good play of words! Not to mention, the bike looks good too.

Then there’s this one from Ellen  DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi. This is golden!

They actually used Kim’s oiled body and photoshopped their faces on it to make their holiday card. Ellen partners with Shutterfly as they donate part of the proceeds of their holiday card to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Humane Society. They poke fun at Kim and raise money for good causes — Ellen is just awesome.

And then there’s this meme — my favourite one. This reminds us of how Kim started… It’s a little bit mean, but it’s the truth.

In Kim’s attempt to break the internet, I think, even just a little bit, the internet broke her. Or so I hope.

To me, Kate Spade is the perfect blend of fun, casual, classic, and chic. Its clean and timeless pieces, bold colours and overall sleek marketing campaigns (plus steep prices) make it the aspirational brand it is today.

Anna Kendrick as the new face of Kate Spade’s holiday campaign is almost like a match made in heaven. Kendrick’s casual-cool and funny persona, as solidified by her leading role in Pitch Perfect, brings a sophisticated accessibility that connects the brand to the younger demographic.

In the new holiday campaign, Kendrick gets locked out of her house and does the funniest things to get over her boredom. Watch this video of Anna Kendrick for Kate Spade. Another cool thing about this video is its interactivity (although the video I linked is from YouTube so this interactive feature is missing, sorry!) — you can click on any product on the video to know more about it. The video will keep playing even as you click, and the selected products will be saved on a tab which can be viewed at will. This is a good way to pique the interest of millennials or tech-savvy fashionistas too.

With the holidays coming up and buzz from Pitch Perfect 2’s movie release next year, Anna Kendrick and Kate Spade couldn’t have picked better timing. After seeing this campaign, I definitely feel extra cool when I flaunt my Kate Spade purse and accessories. #JustSaying.

I just had to take a “tourist” photo in Times Square. Looks like the guy behind me (left) and some person whose elbow got in the photo (right) are taking their “tourist” photos too.

When I went to NYC last year, I had a short bucket list: watch Wicked live, jog in Central Park, and walk around Times Square. The first two goals were not as popular as the third — every traditional tourist needs to go to Times Square. It’s almost like an unwritten rule.

With 300,000 eye balls passing through this monumental space every single day, it only makes sense for ad space rental to be as inflated as NY’s real estate prices. But Google’s new ad takes Times Square advertising to a whole new level: an 8-storey digital ad spanning one entire block.

Google’s ad is set to go live in November 24 until early 2015. With the holidays just around the corner, and NYC’s annual Ball Drop in Times Square attracting media attention from all over the world, it seems like Google couldn’t have picked better timing to take-over this massive digital display. The price tag? A whopping $2.5 million.

Billboard owners testing the massive digital ad display with an image of a skier.

If we do a little math, $2.5 million divided by the 300,000 people daily X 30 days (assuming Google’s ad is up for this long) = $3.6 per set of eyes. Yikes. That’s still a steep price to pay to get 1 person’s jaw to drop.

But at the end of the day, I think this ad spot is an ego-boosting move that sends one big message: Don’t Mess with Google. If it can take over Times Square, it can take over anything.

Source: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/insanely-large-billboard-will-light-entire-block-times-square-starting-tonight-161480

We all know what a tablet or notebook is. But have you ever seen a bookbook?

Ikea introduces its BookBook (a.k.a. 2015 catalogue) through a video-parody of an iPad commercial, urging us to “Experience the power of a Bookbook”.

It’s pretty much a book; who are they kidding? But the clever way they’re comparing it with an iPad is what, I think, got its over 12 million views on Youtube in a span of 1 month. And it’s pretty funny too!

Here are some of the neat points of comparison of the Ikea BookBook:

1. Eternal Batter Life – No need to charge, forever.

2. No lag – If you want to scroll right or left, you will instantly be directed to the page.

5. Easy-to-find bookmarks – Simply crease the page, and you’ll be able to find it in no time!

Although we all know it’s a joke, they do raise certain good points about the benefits of an old-fashion book. It’s definitely a catchy way of bringing back interest to an actual printed version of, well, pretty much anything.

I’m not a big Ikea fan (I’m too poor to buy new furniture), but this definitely makes me want to check out their products for neat decorating ideas!

When was the last time you saw a good commercial for lightbulbs? Let’s face it, people don’t really get excited about bulbs. I don’t remember seeing a good light bulb ad ever in my life, until this: GE’s commercial entitled “Enhance Your Lighting” for their GE Link Lightbulbs featuring the very funny Jeff Goldblum. (check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egIY7ushchU)

Goldblum plays the character of a “Famous Person” who is very rich, has servants, and benefits tremendously from good lighting (care of GE). This actually reminds me of Austin Powers (his hair, bachelor pad, attractive ladies), except Goldblum doesn’t have a British Accent.

This commercial is a little over 2 minutes long — over 4 times the regular 30 second TV spot. What’s remarkable is that it’s been released only 6 days ago via GE’s Youtube Channel but it already has over 1.5 million views. Commercials this long, especially for the highly commoditized lightbulb industry, don’t usually get this popular. Talk about going viral!

The smart way of integrating humour with the product’s ease of use, control via the Wink Hub, and justification of spending over $14 for a single light bulb (vs $1-$2 light bulbs) proved to be effective in getting people’s attention. In fact, I went out to buy 6 new LED light bulbs after watching this in Home Depot. Unfortunately, only the US Home Depot stores have this, so I ended up buying Philips bulbs instead.

With the clever humour used by GE in this commercial, I predict that it will reach the level of popularity of the Old Spice Man ads. I imagine GE doing a series of mini-ads with Goldblum promoting the lightbulb in other parts of his home, in his outdoor garden, his vacation house (a.k.a castle), and other weird places like the “Hot Tub Room” in the ad.

I can’t wait to see more of this. Good job, GE!

“67% of all B2B content marketers consider event marketing as the most effective strategy.”

That, to me, is huge. Let’s ignore the Social Media and Email tidbits first because we all know how important it already is and give Events its 15 seconds of fame.

I’ve been involved in Event Marketing for the past 6 years, and I never get tired of it. However, I’ve met so many Marketing students who look down on Event Marketing; I’m not going to lie, sometimes I get offended. I’ve heard many people say “It’s just events.”, “It’s pretty much just project management.” and worse, “Anyone can do events.” Sorry to break it to all of you, but Event Marketing is not as simple as our club conferences (that takes a year and a team of 50 students to plan), no matter how large scale they may be.

After running a series of Canada-wide events over the summer, I realized that it requires a more strategic approach, more collaboration with external partners, and a bigger responsibility to add value to the brand and its shareholders.

What is more, instead of having a team of 10-15 “Vice President of xxx” to do a lot of the legwork, often, event marketers have to take on the project by themselves or with a small team of professionals who don’t have the time to keep going back and forth with aesthetic decisions. It requires high-level decision-making, negotiation, budget monitoring, and communication skills to succeed. And being naturally enthusiastic and energetic is instrumental in rallying a corporate office to get out of their comfort zone (i.e. their offices and desks) and mingle with the public.

Event Marketers make an average of $39,000 annually. Yes, it’s a little bit below the Social Media Coordinator’s $45,000 salary. But with the increase in industry’s awareness of the value and impact of events, not just for B2B but B2C strategies, I wouldn’t be surprised if that average increases. Plus, it’s definitely more fun for all those who enjoy having a lot of human interaction in their lives. The take-away: do not write-off Event Marketing from your career path selection. Although it’s nothing like the impact of digital, it’s a growing trend that deserves our attention.