Phoebe talks digital..

A blog about all my thoughts on digital and from my Google Squared course

[comefeelme]

photo by Matt Adam @comefeelme​

model Sonya Esman

[sonyaesmancii]

Instagram:

Days of peace, nights of terror.

[the-streetstyle]

It all started here. via classisinternal

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Begin Again via classisinternal

[gladtobehuman]

ADVENTURE POPS 

Finn would be Blueberry

Jake would be Orange  

Pb would be bubblegum

 LSP would be grape.

and if I made an ice king pop it would be that random flavour no one can figure out

[staff]

Okay but what would that lemon guy be

[uniquerieda-deactivated20210112]

[fiercegifs]

My friend distracting you so I can steal your man

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Even J-Hud is shading Iggy

[peyates]

I am DYING tooo funny!!!

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Standard underground practice with tourists..

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How to make use of Big Data in the form of a Vine with a special appearance from Ron Burgundy.

[peyates]

Tsk Tsk Facebook

Ethics in business is becoming an increasingly important factor in digital marketing and more specifically social media. It was discovered last weekend that Facebook had conducted a study in 2012 manipulating users view of the platform to test emotional reactions. 

http://www.dotrising.com/2014/06/30/emoticondemned-facebook-slammed-for-secret-psychological-experiment/ 

I am the first person to admit that I don't really use Facebook anymore, it is mainly for keeping up with friends on the other side of the world and to show the other 200 of them what exciting things I am doing... I prefer Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest, just for the fact that you can be creative and it's more image based and centered around people in general not just people you used to go to school with or old colleagues.

This revelation of Facebook manipulating the interface of the screen is quite dis-heartening, the fact that they didn't consider that people might not be that happy about it shows the dwindling support for the platform.

I think that it is interesting to see how horrified people have been to the discovery as well and whilst it isn't great, the out pouring of hatred for Facebook is pretty overwhelming. 

Sheryl Sandberg has since responded to the story, but it has taken her 5 days which is a long time on the internet. I'm sure many people will debate boycotting Facebook or closing their account altogether and a few people I know have done this already. 

I am intrigued to see how Facebook react in the coming months, having seen their new app Slingshot (Snapchats competitor) I am not holding out much hope...

[peyates]

Google <3 SEO

In the irony that is me working in SEO and being a part of the Google Squared course, i have found that i have learnt nothing new from the search gigantic giant. 

This puzzles me somewhat as I know SEO's aren't Matt Cutts' favourite people, but signing up to a course about digital marketing run by Google, you wouldn't have been blamed for expecting some interesting insights on search not shown anywhere else.

Unfortunately i was disappointed and left my penultimate module feeling somewhat beleaguered by my team mates and tired with the lack of fortuitous learning i had hoped to do. 

The module 4 task was cleverly to optimise the Google Squared website and provide thoughts on how it could be improved and increase rank. Oh the Irony! I thought the Google Monster was making all of its products and services rank highest...? So after boringly making effort to improve their content poor and standard- style marketed website. I was dealt with a average 6 out of 10 and moved on from the incident, certain that my Search knowledge had remained in tact in spite of the Google Squared Course. 

So for all you Mat Cutt's fans who are looking to spend money on gaining insights from the horses mouth, i wouldn't bother, as you will be left in the SERP/Lurch.. you get the drift... 

[peyates]

Brand Schmand

This is really going to make me sound like a marketing douche, but i genuinely love branding.

From admiring creative advertising strategies to in-store layouts and visuals and not forgetting the ever-competitive Christmas ad's, it all really inspires me and I have probably built up a greater knowledge of what it is to be a brand and the ethos and marketing disciplines needed through living and witnessing it than in any classroom.

During the third module in my Google Squared course we went over brands and how they utilise different media channels to satisfy each part of it. Each media channel has a clear role to play in direct and response marketing strategies and I had studied them extensively during an IPA revision session earlier this year.

Whilst all this is relevant the true king pin of brand knowledge in my eyes is the straight talking Mark Ritson. http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/opinion/ritson/heres-a-tip-for-cabbies-compete-dont-strike/4010853.article 

He always offers perfectly logical observations and woes about how brands are successful and not so successful in business. Check him out if you can as you will learn so much about branding from him, much more than any class!

[peyates]

Agencies over in-house

Having worked within media agencies for around 18 months, I can hardly say that I am an expert and have a knowledgeable prowess on the subject of whether agencies are better over in-house marketing management.

However, what i do pertain to have is an opinion *hears audible sighs*.. that there are key aspects of the marketing mix to which media agencies can help big brands achieve. Even though many brands have multiple layers of management and very specific teams that the agency must report to, i feel that agencies can 100% add a certain level of expertise and overall media channel view.

Many people in one of my Google Squared lessons huffily marked agencies as 'unaware of brand message' and 'non-committal' and I could not disagree more. These people clearly came into contact with less passionate and uninspired people such as those that work at less favourable media agencies known for doing whats needed to keep the contract ticking along and not going above and beyond for their clients every day to do the very best work for them.

I personally work for a fantastic agency that has given me a lot of experience and learning opportunities since i first started there just over a year ago. I love the fact that i work on a number of different, fantastic brands that I am always excited to develop and create content and strategies for.

So i put this to you, what have your experiences with agencies been? Do you work for one yourself, or perhaps in-house? I'd be keen to hear your thoughts. 

[peyates]

Why I am on the Google Squared course...

By some twist of fate i ended up on the Google Squared course hurrah! I won it by being persistent in my nagging.. ahem.. subtle persuasion of 'pretty pleaseee can I go on the Google Squared course?' But working for a fantastic company and media agency of the year no less, Manning Gottlieb OMD they encourage development and involvement in the wider digital sphere. I am a content copywriter and SEO strategist and love being integrated across different areas of digital with our in-house teams, a definite benefit of working in an agency environment.

The reason I wanted to go on the Google Squared course in particular was that I had heard from past and current colleagues that it was a really great way to learn more about digital as a whole and you got to go to Google to graduate which is always fun. Joking aside, I really wanted to extend my knowledge of digital further and the squared course really seemed like the perfect opportunity.

So I’m going to be using this blog as a mental note of my thoughts and opinions of some of the topics that are discussed during the course and hopefully it will be a way of organising some of the many topics that we will cover.

Anya Hindmarch S/S 2014: Brands and fashion, my favourite combination.