Month: November 2012

This video is similar to the Did You Know video released in 2009. However it has facts for 2012, some of which made me laugh or think.

All of these facts express just how deep-rooted social media is reaching into our lives. It can start our next relationship, teach our kids what we learned on paper, or disrupt our lives by being too transparent.

I recognize that with such a young global population (50% of the world’s population is under the age of 30), social media has extremely strong staying power as newer generations will embrace and not fear it. But a part of me also worries that many of us will not fully comprehend just how dangerous it can be if we are too easy to trust the online world. If put in the wrong hands, our lives can be flipped over and highly disrupted. Now this is not to say that the events from Die Hard 4 are going to occur; Bruce Willis will (hopefully!) not have to save us from cyber-terrorists that can hack into any government database or citizen’s computer, and threaten to take control of everything in the country. However (and even that doesn’t seem too unlikely, unfortunately) the threat of cyber stalking, identity stealing, and blackmail is out there; as the late Amanda Todd, from Port Coquitlam, represents (she committed suicide last month due to extreme long term bullying and physical assaults from classmates, all which spurred from someone who was blackmailing her over the internet and turning her friends against her).

I think the point of this post is just to remind marketers just how integral privacy issues are to this wonderful tool of online media. I love the free reigns we are given in terms of creativity through this medium, and I am excited for it will take us in the future, but it is stories like this that also remind us of the customers and what they need, ensuring that privacy laws are maintained and strengthened in this technological world.

Nov. 27, 1996 – Oct. 10, 2012

With many reports, group presentations, and assignments coming to their deadlines this month, some of use may be losing some faith in the importance of blogging. We may be putting off our weekly (supposedly) blog to work on other assignments we consider to be bigger priorities. I certainly considered doing so. But then, the thought of pushing back my blog and doing it at a later date inspired me to write a post about why blogs add value to our lives, as marketers or even just as people who want to voice themselves.

This brief video of Seth Godin and Tom Peters captures the sentiments that I want to share.

So for some, maybe your blog doesn’t add value to your life in a profound way, and maybe you dread writing them. But when you think about it, the thought process and critical thinking you force yourself to go through, about topics that matter to your future career, is rather useful!

Yes, we already spend more than half our current daily lives being students and writing assignemnts that prompt us to think about similar issues and force us to answer with our opinions and knowledge – but still, blogs are different. Blogs let us be free to write whatever we want, with the concept that no professor is going to mark them, and yet that anyone can read them. We no longer worry about hitting the right points or including the right terms, but rather we can write something that truly reflects who we are and how we think, because we are not trying to impress a select person. We are also free to follow less structure and allow our personality to shine through much more brightly. Although there is uncertainty of who (if anyone) is on the other end reading, somehow just the possibility that someone is there intrigued or genuinely impressed by what we have to say, is motivation enough to put effort into these posts. In this way, blogging is really a better judge of who we are as individuals, and who we are becoming as professionals. And I think that’s pretty cool.

Tim Reis, head of mobile display for Google, explains why mobile ads are the next big thing. Please watch the video at the link below! I am unable to post the video directly as it uses Flash.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/a-googler-explains-why-mobile-ads-are-the-next-big-thing-2012-8

In summary, Reis says that cell phones are “extraordinarily personal devices” and therefore must be treated as such by advertisers, to maneuver around the protective and guarded attitudes that consumers have towards their phones. Reis calls this the attempt to break into a consumer’s “circle of trust”.

To successfully do this, mobile advertisers can’t spam or mislead its targeted audience, otherwise they will become defensive and thus unreceptive to any further mobile advertising attempts. Instead, marketers have to offer mobile-users content that is seen as relevant and eye-catching; whether that be through humour, education, or incentive (like a contest). By making material that is deemed relevant, the convenience of viewing or interacting with it on one’s phone on-the-go, or even while sitting in one’s room next to their computer, becomes the selling point, as mobile content is even more easily and more often shared. Although it appears tough to reach through these consumers’ defense mechanisms, once accomplished, the user is more likely to be a repeat customer as they enjoy the convenience of on-the-go, in-their-pocket engagement. They are also more likely to view the same content or visit the source’s website, on their computers at a later time.

As Reis notes, many consumers actually sleep with their phone right beside them, if not under their pillow, as well as take it with them to the washroom. These facts represent just how attached users are to their phones, and we all know what happens when you take away a baby’s security blanket; major damage control is needed to clean up the mess of crying, screaming, and flailing. As marketers, let’s not allow this to happen to our consumers.