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Hi! I'm Kristen. I'm a marketing student at St. Edward's University down in Austin, TX. I'm originally from Massachusetts (hence the name of this blog - "blogger" with a wicked strong Boston accent).

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Taken with Instagram

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Good old Bottomley luck! (Taken with Instagram)

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Hello job :)

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Skype's call to humanity

Skype is releasing a $12 million dollar marketing campaign in which it criticizes both Twitter and Facebook. The ads state that using Skype will actually keep one in touch with humanity, because you can see faces and emotions and hear the voices of those you're keeping in touch with.

Although Skype is more personable than Facebook or Twitter, Sonia Paul brings up a valid point about the hypocrisy of the claim in her article, "Skype Slams Facebook and Twitter in New Ads." Paul reminds us that even though Skype keeps us closer to "humanity" it is still a social and virtual platform for communication. 

As a part of the marketing campaign to keep humans more involved by using Skype rather than Facebook and Twitter, a twitter feed was established (#timeforskype). In addition, ads were also placed on both Facebook and Twitter for promotional purposes. 

Paul states the hypocrisy and irony of Skype's new campaign, but also claims that it may be a wake up call. Social networks are becoming ever present in our lives and may even be replacing actual human interactions. Claiming that social sites are "degrading humanity" may not be that far off from the truth.

As you by now know, I am from Massachusetts and living in Texas. I use social media to stay in touch with my family and friends back home - obviously I'd love to see them in person, but air fare is expensive and time is precious. To fill the void I keep up with whats going on in their lives with Facebook and Twitter. When I have something exciting or urgent to tell them I'll call them or use skype, but most often you'll find me texting or writing on someone's wall to remain close. 

I agree Skype may be more personal, but I think that social networks are enabling our interactions to span a greater distance and keeping relationships alive that would have otherwise dissipated with time.

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Bruins take Social Media to a New Level

As you may or may not know, I am from Boston and I am obviously a Bruin's fan - I mean they're great they just won the Stanley Cup last year, how could you not be proud?! Well, they've given me something else to be proud of because not only do I love Boston and our sports teams I also want to start a career in social media. The Bruins have recently done a pro sports team first and combined all their social media and networking accounts into their website, aka its all in one accessible location.

Sam Laird wrote the article,  "NHL Boston Bruin's Launch One Digital Network to Rule Them All." In the article he emphasizes the newness of this idea for pro sports team and how it will most likely catch on.

The Bruins' site is incredibly well created with clear intentions in mind. The website is an extension of the team and extends the "brand." The colors are coordinated (yellow, white, and black) and everything you'd ever need or want to know about the Bruins is on the page and easy to find.

Take a look at their website for themselves bruins.nhl.com.

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Extra Credit: CEO Panel Discussion at St. Ed's

This past week I attended the panel discussion at St. Ed’s called A Candid Conversation with CEO’S. For about an hour the panel answered questions with the intent of helping students out with their future careers.

The four CEO’s that made up the panel were:

Mr. Alex Charfen, the CEO of The Charfen Institute

Ms. Amy Wolfgang CEO of Wolfgang Coaching

Mr. Dan Graham CEO of Buildasign.com

Mr. Jay Whitechurch CEO of campus2careers

Ms. Kelly White CEO of Austin Children’s Shelter.

The discussion included a lot of questions that I have as a student beginning to think seriously about my future and my career. The banter among the CEO’s was friendly and humorous. Charfen was especially funny and his personality seemed to lighten the atmosphere in the room.

One of the first questions asked was about the CEO’s success and what they did to earn it. Graham and Charfen seemed to agree that success was accomplished by learning from mistakes and it wasn’t sudden, but it was gradual and took time. Charfen added the idea of “working for free.” He suggested that we as students should not expect to be paid right away and we have to get used to the idea of working for free because the experience and knowledge we gain will ultimately end up paying off later in life. White said that working hard is key and emphasized the fact of life that “everybody has to do the crap work sometimes.” The unanimous agreement was that in order to succeed a person has to love what they’re doing and network. Wolfgang contributed a personal story about a illness she called “The Blue Flu.” This flu occurs on Sunday nights to people who don’t like their jobs and are upset they will be spending another week in the office.

I especially resonated with Charfen’s advice – possibly because I found him very personable. At one point he declared that we are the average of the five people we spend most of our time around. He then posed the question to us whether or not we would bring that average up. When the discussion turned toward stress and how to deal. Charfen replied that he believed stress was motivating and healthy, according to him, “the people with the least stress are dead.”

What is the work world looking for? How does one position him or herself? This question is definitely on my mind, and the panel agreed that cultural fit with the company was the number one thing that employers are looking for. This is upsetting in a way because you are who you are and you just may not fit in with the culture that’s associated with your dream job – but Wolfgang reassured us in the audience that if we don’t fit in and get denied it’s a blessing because not fitting in would make the job suck. Networking was huge to the CEO’s as well. They urged us to get out there and start meeting people. Other attributes a good candidate should have include:

Critical thinking skills

Ability to adapt quickly and think on your feet

Computer skills

Fluent in Spanish

Major doesn’t equal career

Whitechurch said that all potential employees need to show their focus. This means get an internship and prove to employers that you have directions and motivation.

Overall, I got incredibly valuable advice from the panel. I found them intriguing, fun, professional, and knowledgeable – all the qualities I wish to possess one day. The summary of the discussion, in my opinion, is to work hard, embrace the stress, find a job you love, and network.

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Tips for Building Customer Relationships

In my Social Media Marketing class we've talked a lot about how the consumer is number 1. Although a marketing job may seem like it is based on the social media, the content, the campaign, the advertising, the product, etc - you're customers are actually the core focus because without your company would make no money. While I was looking around Mashable I found an article by Christine Erickson called, "14 Community-Driven Tips for Better Customer Relations." The article basically sums up what I've been learning and if you haven't heard these tips yet, taking them into consideration will be extremely helpful for your business and your customers.

The article points out how technology has made keeping in touch easier for companies because a properly worded email can be sent out simultaneously to an entire email list. However, the approach of copy and pasting a message can be dangerous if the content is too generic. Without personable content your email comes off as company promotion and does nothing for you relationship with the customer (except if you email too much, that may actually damage the relationship). So in order to make sure your company is generating content and sending out messages that actually help them out, Erickson has created a list of tips from the professionals: "The following are some tips and tricks on how to build relationships with your customers from leaders in communications, PR and social media."

You can check out the collection of quotes here, but I'll also provide you with a quick summary:

Know your customers

Make them your friends - don't just try to sell stuff to them, ease into it by actually becoming someone they'd like to talk with

Remember the customers loyal to you - but remember that losing loyals is harding than gaining newbies

Be personable - customers want to see the personalities and people that make up the big corporations, don't act like their beneath you

Be truthful - accuracy and verifiability is respectable

Remain open-minded

Honesty is the best policy

Consistency 

Don't try to one-over your customers - if you're an employee talking about something related to your product sign both your name and specify your company

Show them you care

Be yourself 

Be valuable

Get to know them - and remember they're all individuals

Acknowledge positive feedback

Those are just quick snip-its of the quotes and/or my thoughts from reading them.

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Tripbirds: Your Travel Agent of the 21st Century

In the article "New Site Turns Friends' Social Media Posts Into a Personal Travel Guide," by Sarah Kessler, a site called Tripbirds is gathering data to create a site that can act as a travel guide. 

Tripbirds is collecting the geotagged social media posts and making them easy to access. The idea is that when you're going on a trip somewhere you can use the site to get recommendations from your friends who have been to that travel spot. You can see what they had to say about what they liked in the area and even chat them if you want some further advice on what to do, where to go, or where to stay. All this information is organized to make your trip planning experience easier. 

This quote from Kessler's article explains the rational behind creating and investing in site with more personal travel-based information:

"I sort of feel that the web is going through a social transformation... Increasingly people want to get, instead of random information from people they don't know, recommendations from people who they trust."

-Ted Valentine, Tripbirds CEO

The site sounds like a great idea, however, I don't know how well it would work for everyone; this would only work and be helpful for the people who have contacts and friends that travel a lot. I'm also wondering whether or not sites like this that are based off geotagging will get caught in the middle of the privacy battle. The ability of mobile devices to track your every move has begun and I have a feeling there will be a backlash by some who feel that this kind of technology is detrimental to their rights. Overall the idea sounds great, I have a feeling Facebook will just add the travel guide capabilities to their site soon though.

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Need-to-Know Digital Marketing Trends

Not even the best of the best can predict what will be popular and trending in digital marketing in the future. For most of us we have to pick and choose and jump on the bandwagon created by innovative companies and products (namely Apple and Amazon). In the article, "5 Huge Digital Marketing Trends You Can't Afford to Ignore," by Jonathon Gardner, he gives us some insight on five digital marketing tools that all marketers should be aware of to stay ahead of the game in the ever-changing industry.

The first is Location Services. These apps and programs can help you find consumers and provide them with quicker and more relevant services. There is discussion around whether or not locating services are an invasion of privacy - but a digital media marketer who wants to be in the loop should know how to make use of these.

The second tool is New Ad Formats. A smart marketer will look beyond the current types of advertisements available today to try to find the ads of the future. One should definitely try to avoid flashing ads!

User-Generated Curation (UGC) models "...can help brands become relevant to consumers and provide the next great opportunities for marketers."

The fourth trending tool is to Advertise by Format, use the built in functions of the widely used tablets, smartphones, etc at your creative disposal. 

Lastly, focus on your customer with Integrated Marketing. Your customer is always number so keep that in mind - use technology and social media but make sure it is relevant and that its delivering what the consumer wants, needs, and expects of your business and products.

I found this article extremely informative. Keeping on the forefront of the social media trends is essential to keeping up with the changes in the marketing industry. I liked that the last trend Gardner mentioned referred back to the basics. As much technology is out there a marketer has to ALWAYS keep their customer in mind, afterall they are the ones keeping you in business. 

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By Lunchbreath.

This guy is a great illustrator. He always cracks me up! Check him out on facebook and at his website - lunchbreath.com.

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Marketing Using Facebook

In order to keep up and remain competitive entities businesses need to incorporate social media into their marketing and advertising techniques. The need to have an online presence has pervaded the business world almost completely - meaning that even the smallest of businesses should use the free networking sites.

Thankfully, for those out there who aren't comfortable with social media networks, Majestic Media has some tips for marketing on Facebook, although the advice seems to stretch across a few of the media platforms (including Twitter). 

The nine steps are very inexpensive (most are free), they will save you time, and help to rely your message to wide audiences - but also give you the opportunity to make some of your content more localized. 

The Nine Steps (as worded in the article) are:

1. "See if your vanity URL is available" - they even give you a time saving site - Name Vine - which will check Facebook and Twitter for your URL.

2. "Use a third-party platform to distribute your social content" - aka use one-site that posts your message to all your sites rather than going to each and every one.

3. "Use and application publishing platform" - these can get expensive, but it is recommended to start out using the freebies

4. "Utilize using social plugins wherever possible" 

5. "Find out when and what to post on Facebook" -this is largely based on your fans/consumers, your target audience, and what kind of business you are. If you aren't used to Facebook it may be hard to get a hang of this, luckily for you there are third-party services you can use for assistance.

6. "Use Facebook insights"

7. "Provide local content" - make your message more centralized. If you send out a mass message to everyone it could lose its meaning and not engage your viewers.

8. "Create a QR code for your Facebook fan page" - incase you don't know QR codes are for Blackberries... The article states that a company called Esponce is a good place to go to get one of these, and they're usually not very costly.

9. "Buy Facebook Ads"

The article is informative and more detailed - check it out I linked it. I found it interesting because starting this spring I am going to be marketing my Dad's small landscaping business - and I've always thought Facebook was a great place to start! 

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Starbucks continues to successfully use social media to promote its company and increase its sales. They incorporate apps into their products making them move from the physical world into the online media realm. Starbucks has put QR codes on products - and for this valentines day the company created an app for iPhones and Androids. 

Now when you download the Cup Magic app you can take your coffee and turn it into a love-filled valentine to send to your special someone. The app works when the phone focuses on the heart design on the Starbucks cup. It then creates hearts that fly off the cup and around the screen. 

Once again Starbucks had proven its brand strength by keeping up with the trends.This company has more to offer than pretty cups and delicious coffee.

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Police say while Chief Baxter sympathizes with trying to save the deer, driving while intoxicated will not be tolerated.

'DWI Suspect Hits Deer, Takes It To Hospital' on 13WHAM.com

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"Caring, it turns out, is a competitive advantage, and one that takes effort, not money."

Seth Godin

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Accepted then Rejected within 24 Hours

A test letter saying that said early-decision applicants had been accepted into Vassar College was sent out to over a hundred students. The issue is that only about 50 of the students that received the test letter were actually accepted, the other 70 or so were given false hope.

What a huge mistake for a college to make! When investing money into one's future - in an amount equal to a mortgage - there should be no room for mishaps of such a proportion. 

Not to mention getting into college is momentous. Applicants spend so much time and effort on essays and forms and put so much hope and pride into their work. I remember when I got into the school I wanted to I cried! Then I proceeded to change my facebook status, update my twitter, and text and call all my family and friends. I cannot imagine being told a few hours later that my acceptance was a mistake. 

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Useful Online Marketing Tips

In Frank Marquardt's piece, "5 Strategies for Creating Magnetic Online Media", he provides the reader with a few simple steps to follow to make their brand more appealing to the online audience. With each step he explains how companies have successfully used the magnetic method. 

As traditional marketing becomes less and less effective we must find a way to adapt. These five steps allow marketers to grab their audience's attention:

1. Make it Brand Relevant - Make sure the content you're putting online can actually connect the message you're trying to send with your brand in a way audiences can comprehend clearly.

2. Connect Across Time - "The most magnetic content lives over time, building community around an experience..."

3. Extend Across Media - Allow the audience to use multiple networks and online medias to access your brand.

4. Inspire People - If a band can inspire its audience it will have a stronger and more deep-rooted relationship with them. 

5. Draw From the Everyday - The audience can relate easily to daily and common experiences, by connecting your brand to these parts of everyday life people will associate with them automatically.

According to Marquardt, "the best magnetic content begins with a strong,compelling idea. It offers a platform and extension that goes beyond a simple, dead-end execution, and creates conversation around and experience that is relevant to your brand." 

By keeping these steps in mind and creating a brand that engages the audience by relating to them on multiple levels and through multiple platforms of media marketers will be successful.