#gcweb15

[camgodbold]

Final Project: Advertising in the Digital Age

For my project I focused on the history and overall impact that the digital age has on advertising. "Madison Avenue is quickly morphing into Digital Drive." This quote fully embodies the overall idea of this presentation; that advertising is gradually evolving into different forms of media. Advertising agencies are doing everything in their power to evolve with this digital movement to keep with the times. As advertising becomes more advanced, clients demand more creative and sophisticated ads so agencies are trying to keep up. Digital advertising has a longer history than you would think. It started with the first SPAM message in 1978. From there it involved into banners and popups and then into several other formats to what we have today with social media and high speed internet. My presentation contains multiple articles that give tips for better advertising, the negative and positive impacts, basic rules in advertising, measuring ROI, digital ad trends, social media, and a couple others. I also include several videos to give a basic rundown of how digital advertising works and how to work well with advertisers and publishers. I then lead into several pictures that chart statistics and demonstrations of digital advertising and examples of older formats of digital advertising. I also try to tie these ideas together with social media platforms and how they greatly influence advertising. As we all know, Facebook has been leading the social media race for years now and is still gaining in popularity, this is due to their constant work on updating their system with the time; however it is also because of their use of digital advertising that increases their revenue and their followers. Overall, this presentation greatly focuses on what digital media is, its history and future, its overall purpose, and why we need it to move forward in society.

Sources:

Articles:

Petrecca, Laura, and Roger Yu. "How the Digital Age Has Reshaped the Ad Game." USA Today. Gannett, 29 July 2013. Web. 02 July 2015.

Sankit. "The History of Online Advertising." AdPushup. N.p., 03 July 2013. Web. 02 July 2015.

Miranda Morely. "The Positive & Negative Impact of Digital Media on Business." Small Business. Houston Chronicle, n.d. Web. 02 July 2015.

Gerson, Alan H. "8 Golden Rules for Advertising in the Digital Age." - IMediaConnection.com. Imedia Connections, 9 Jan. 2009. Web. 02 July 2015.

S, A. E. "How Online Advertisers Read Your Mind." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 21 Sept. 2014. Web. 02 July 2015.

"Measuring the ROI of Digital Advertising Campaigns." RSS. Social Retail, 5 Mar. 2015. Web. 02 July 2015.

Dhanik, Ted. "The 4 Digital Advertising Trends That Are Reshaping Advertising." Entrepreneur. Entrepreneur, 25 Feb. 2015. Web. 02 July 2015.

Garner, Meg. "Why Facebook (FB) Is the Leader in Online Advertising."TheStreet. The Street, 01 July 2015. Web. 02 July 2015

Videos:

Dye, Mark. "Digital Advertising Ecosystem 101." YouTube. YouTube, 23 Apr. 2013. Web. 02 July 2015.

Dye, Mark. "Digital Advertising Ecosystem 102." YouTube. YouTube, 19 Aug. 2013. Web. 02 July 2015.

"Understanding Programmatic Digital Advertising - IAB Digital Simplified."YouTube. YouTube, 20 Oct. 2014. Web. 02 July 2015.

Graham, Spider. "5 Rules for Selling and Managing Successful Digital Advertising Campaigns." YouTube. YouTube, 16 Mar. 2013. Web. 02 July 2015.

Chipotle. "The Scarecrow." YouTube. YouTube, 11 Sept. 2013. Web. 02 July 2015.

https://storify.com/caminicole/advertising-in-the-digital-age

@Camigodbold1993

[neverland-belle]

Cognitive Surplus Reaction

It’s almost hard to believe that we’re almost wrapping up this course. We essentially have just one day left! Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky was our last book to read for this course, and we just finished our readings for it yesterday. While we did only read the first four chapters, there was plenty of intriguing information that drew me in and made me want to learn more, so I’m sure that I’ll finish reading through the rest of the book on my own. 

The whole notion of the cognitive surplus is essentially aggregating the extra free time of the world’s educated citizens. In our online discussion board, our professor provided a definition of cognitive surplus found on Urban Dictionary, which defines the cognitive surplus as describing “the free time people have on their hands to engage in collaborative activities,” especially by using the web to accomplish these activities. 

The first chapter of the text defines cognitive surplus and provides several different examples about what it is and how it’s used. One example I enjoyed from this chapter discusses the problems we have thinking about media. Shirky compared this to when McDonald’s hired researchers to help them improve sales of their milkshakes. (Bear with me, because Shirky’s examples can get quite lengthy.) All but one of the researchers made the mistake of focusing on the product itself and its qualities that attracted customers. One researcher chose to focus on studying the customers buying the shakes rather than the milkshakes themselves. He sat in a McDonald’s for 18 hours one day, and observed the following: many milkshakes were purchased early in the day, the purchasers were always alone, they rarely bought anything to accompany their shakes, and they never consumed the shakes inside the store. This researcher deduced that the milkshake-buyers were commuters, buying the shakes to drink on their way to work in the morning. A milkshake is easy to consume with one hand while driving, it isn’t messy, and it can easily be consumed during the morning commute. The other researchers had missed this behavior because it didn’t fit with the normal ways of thinking about milkshakes or breakfast. The two mistakes the other researchers made, which Shirky calls “milkshake mistakes,” are 1) concentrating mainly on the product and assuming that the important things about it were inherent in its quailities, regardless of the role consumers wanted it to play, and 2) adopting a narrow view of the types of food people have always chosen for breakfast, “as if all habits were deeply rooted in traditions instead of accumulated accidents.” Shirky compares these “milkshake mistakes” to our problems thinking about media; we often focus too much on the tools themselves or their attributes, rather than focusing on how the humans that use these tools want them to be used. 

The next three chapters of the text following an explanation of what cognitive surplus is focus on the means, motive, and opportunity that are all necessary to make the most of cognitive surplus. Shirky uses the second chapter to illustrate how we all possess the means and capabilities to use digital tools to complete tasks online and use social media to create beneficial collaborations.One of my favorite parts from this chapter is when Shirky states that the former view of cyberspace being an inherently separate realm from the real world is an accident of history, due to lower numbers of the online population. With the increased availability and access to the internet at all time, our digital tools and social media tools are no longer seen as an alternative to real life, rather they have been integrated to become a part of it. Another quote from the chapter I appreciate is this: “The harnessing of our cognitive surplus allows people to behave in increasingly generous, public, and social ways, relative to their old status as consumers and couch potatoes.” With this free time available to us, we can commit time to projects that could potentially be transformative and have a huge positive impact. We have the means at our disposal, and while they alone haven’t caused the transformative behaviors, when mixed with motive and opportunity, these new tools have allowed for it. 

In the third chapter of Cognitive Surplus, Shirky discusses motives within cognitive surplus, the differences between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations as well as personal and social motivations. He also asserts that everything we agree with or disagree with and like or dislike in our private sphere can now be made public. This allows to take advantage of how easy it has become to come together and discuss with other individuals who share the same interests and passions and opinions as you. It has become much easier for people with shared interests to help each other and give advice when they may have never had the opportunity to be connected before. 

The fourth and final chapter of our assigned reading for this course discusses opportunity as the final component necessary to make the best use of the cognitive surplus. Along with means and motive, we need opportunities to engage our free time and social communication towards beneficial use. One of the key point of this chapter that has been a common theme in all of our materials for this course is the uniqueness of our generation due to all of the opportunities afforded to us by the advancements of technology that previous generations didn’t have the privilege to grow up with. Also a common theme in Cognitive Surplus as well as Groundswell and Digital Nation, a documentary we just watched, is the sometimes negative responses of the generations that come before us in regards to today’s digital age. Members of older generations often like to criticize the technology generations for all the ways we’re different than they were and how we do things differently than they did. Well of course we do! The times are different. We have completely different situations and opportunities than they did, so of course we’re going to make the most of that and embrace the progress. We won’t continue to do things in inefficient ways simply because that’s how those who came before us had to do it. That’s a sort of theory-induced blindness, similar to “milkshake mistakes,” for our elders to expect that of us. The world that we’re growing up in today is very different than the world they grew up in due to all of the advancements of technology and digital tools. Our actions and behaviours are different from what older generations have been accustomed to, but that doesn’t make them bad or wrong simply because they’re new and different. We have to continue to progress and embrace change and the digital age and implement advancements to our advantage and achieve new potential that was previously unimagined. The opportunities we have today open the doors to endless possibilities of what we can accomplish using our cognitive surplus to its maximum benefit. 

Overall I have enjoyed and learned a lot from the reading the four assigned chapters, and I do plan on reading the rest of the book. My biggest critique of Cognitive Surplus is that Shirky’s examples tend to be excessively lengthy and drawn out, like he wants to explain every single detail to ensure you’re fully getting it and making every connection he wants you to make. It seems a bit laborious and cumbersome to read along with the exact though process he wants you to have, as if he thinks you won’t get there and make those some connections on your own. Other than reading through the very long and tedious examples, I have enjoyed everything else I’ve learned from this book, and I’m sure the rest of the chapter hold just as much information. 

Link to Digital Nation documentary: http://video.pbs.org/video/1402987791/

[camgodbold]

Webinar

So, I chose a webinar that I thought I would find very interesting because it falls under my focus of Public Relations. The title of it is “The (Non-Boring, Actionable and Useful) Writing Rules for PR” by Ann Handley. The overall idea of the webinar is how to write well in the age of digital technology and short attention spans with a few tips and tricks. She describes writing to be a fundamental of communicating, which I completely agree with because when you write well, you talk well. PR professionals really need to know how to write incredibly well and produce good writing. Writing is not all about grammar, ideas are most important. We can all learn to be better writers with a few certain fundamentals: there is no one way to write, content is key, and marketing usage is very important.

She uses her daughter, a high school student, as an example of what bad writing is. She talks about how her daughter is having to write the five paragraph essay that we have all learned to write and that we all had to erase from our memories once we began college. In some ways it was useful growing up because we learned the basics of what points to focus on when writing essays; however not something we could carry on after high school. This is a great example because it shows that we all have the potential to be good writers.

She then transitions into her big point; why does writing matter in PR? There are three reasons, two professional and one human. Those points are such as content, marketing usage, and write true.

Handley then discusses her newest book, “Everybody Writes.” Her points in the book also embody the points for being a good PR writer such as, learn how to choose words well, write with economy, style and empathy, and tell true stories. The content world is dominated by short and attention grabbing headlines and social media that runs the internet. Overall, this webinar was very interesting and helpful towards bettering your writing skills.

http://www.cision.com/us/resources/webinars-events/writing-rules-in-pr/

@Camigodbold1993

[camgodbold]

Cognitive Surplus

Cognitive Surplus, written by Clay Shirky, gives a deeper understanding of how the public uses technology to collectively engage with one another for so many reasons, from merely chatting to engaging in politics. According to Urban Dictionary Cognitive Surplus is, “A word to describe the free time that people have on their hands to engage in collaborative activities, specially as applies to web 2.0.” This definition seems very accurate in describing exactly what the cognitive surplus is and how it affects us. Shirky opens with comparing London’s gin craze in the 1700s to our current obsession today, social media. In today's society people are constantly using social media in their free time to connect with other people, entertain themselves, and simply just pass the time. This leads into chapter 2 and the discussion of digital tools. Each social network is used for a different purpose, Twitter allows companies to promote goods and services, Facebook allows me to communicate with distant relatives and friends, and email allows me to stay connected with work and school. Chapter 3 discusses the idea that in today's society, people are more motivated by public approval of something and people collaborate together (publicly) when there's a problem or something they disagree with. Our personal motives are now affected and driven by public motivations. Chapter 4 embraces the idea of free time and how that connects with social media, during our free time and the idea of a financial reward. I personally do not think that we deserve a financial reward because we are not given one when we connect face to face. Overall, the millennials generation is very different because we are given more opportunities. According to American Press Institute, millennials use social networks for news and information, especially Facebook. This shows the idea that millennials have just been given different opportunities than others growing up. It is something we are used to and grew up just knowing, just like older generations grew up knowing television, when generations before them grew up listening to the radio, and the list goes on. This will only continue as technology advances over time. Overall, Cognitive Surplus gave me a better and deeper realization of how we use and view social media as a whole.

http://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/reports/survey-research/millennials-social-media/

@Camigodbold1993

[camgodbold]

Blog Review 2

I chose a blog that focused on social media and politics, such as the 2016 Presidential candidates. I chose “Facebook, Snapchat, and political journalism,” by Alex Veeneman. I think that this idea is interesting because it changes how the elections are run, compared to the 2012 elections. There weren’t as many opportunities, as there are now, to engage a younger audience to educate and allow them to voice their opinions and debate with one another. Social media is our newspaper; therefore as adults (political figures) have realized this, they are taking advantage of this opportunity. Facebook has been indicated as the dominant platform for young adults and teens consuming political news. Even snapchat is being used to help shape this idea as well. They have been showing live feeds of speeches and events that have been given concerning the upcoming elections. Both social networks are changing in order to broaden relationships between social media and journalism. Facebook is configuring a way for users to respond to Instant Articles and Snapchat is updating their new Discover feature. Political engagement among millennials is the goal between these two platforms. This is pushing news organizations to rise to this challenge and experiment with change in order to engage this specific audience. This election will show which is stronger; social media or journalism.

Overall, I think that Veeneman did a great job explaining the importance of next year’s elections, the role of social media, and her role as a journalist. She engages her readers with simple facts and ideas of how politics are affecting social media and how millennials participate in. Being a professional journalist, Veeneman explains how her work and others’ affects politics and the plan to combine social media and journalism to make a bigger impact on people, especially younger people, especially brand new voters. If this generation doesn’t understand this election, then they are more likely to not even vote at all. Altogether, Veeneman allows readers to fully understand the importance of targeting and engaging people in politics.

http://blogs.spjnetwork.org/tech/2015/06/17/facebook-snapchat-political-journalism/

@Camigodbold1993

[camgodbold]

Twitter Reflection

Hey guys! So today I would like to focus on my reflection of my current use of the application called Twitter. For my online class, Web for Mass Communication, one of my weekly assignment for the month long class, was to create a Twitter account and use it to post about ideas related to the class. This pretty much means anything related to my major (Advertising, Public Relations, Broadcasting, and Journalism), to other forms of social media, and global news. I have never been very fond of Twitter and never really understood the appeal until I took this class (I didn’t even have a Twitter until now), but as of now my perspective has changed a bit. I always thought that Twitter was pretty much the same as making a Facebook status, but now I’ve learned that there’s more to it than that. It’s tricky because you have to really think about what you want to say because you only have 140 characters to use, so it’s a fun challenge. This form of social media is also more recognized for its statuses than Facebook. I have found it much easier to view a specific businesses Twitter because they’re so organized and they actually have a lot of informative tweets about the company and what they do. Bigger companies also have multiple accounts to organize what they do, such as Nike who has an account for football and another for basketball, etc. Seeing this has really opened my eyes to how useful and convenient Twitter is for companies and people wanting to connect. It has so many uses. My overall experience was very interesting. At first it was a challenge to condense what I wanted to say, but now it’s comes easier. My favorite tweet was probably about marriage equality because it is such a big accomplishment and I feel so lucky to be alive during a time that will have such a big impact on our nation’s future. I was able to spread the love on such a huge day in history. Overall, I really enjoyed using Twitter, will continue to use, and look forward to learning more about it. I know with my focus on advertising and public relations, I will be using it in the near future for jobs that I will have, so now is a good time for practice!

@Camigodbold1993

[neverland-belle]

Groundswell Reaction 1

If you’re like me, when you first hear the term “groundswell,” you think you may have a sort of vague idea of what it might mean, but nothing that could be nailed down. So for me, in reading the first few pages of Li and Bernoff’s Groundswell, my already murky definition became even muddier. However, reading through some of the examples provided in the book helped clear things up for me a little bit, as did reading what others in my class had posted in our online discussion board. The best way I like to describe what “groundswell” is, is like a revolutionary movement, before things really start to take off and changes start being made, when everything has just been ignited and the fire starts blazing inside of everyone and there’s all this energy and momentum building and swelling, ready to determine where to go. That’s how I perceive the groundswell, that constant state of intense energy and momentum, the constant exchanging of information; that’s where technology and social media are thriving, that’s where messages are being spread and shared about brands and products and services, that’s where anyone who wants to be successful needs to be. 

The second chapter discussed the various ways different technology can be used as part of the groundswell. For each one, the authors explained how they work, how many people use them, how they enable relationships within the groundswell, how they threaten institutional power, and how you can use them to promote your brand. One thing the authors stated in this chapter that I’m not so sure how I feel about is that the relationships need to be focused on rather than the technologies. I completely get what they’re trying to say, that the technologies are constantly changing and evolving, and you feel like you’ve mastered something, it changes again. It’s much better to have  basic understanding of how to use the different technologies than to know the intricate details of each. You’ll pull your hair out trying to keep up. The relationships forged through the use of technology and how it brings us together are the key components that require focus. The relationships between a brand and its customers as well between customers and other customers are the glue that holds companies together. I think the authors’ statement should be amended that it’s important to focus on the relationships more than the technologies, rather than instead of. 

Chapter three gives us an in-depth look at social technographics. Before reading this chapter, I had no idea what the heck that meant. Social technographics profiles are a way to group consumers based on their level of activity within the groundswell. It is best described as a ladder, as you can see in this image. The different groups (from most to least activity) are creators, conversationalists, critics, collectors, joiners, spectators, and inactives. A description of each group can be found in the image I linked to above. 

Chapter 4 includes various strategies for thriving within the groundswell. The first of these strategies is the POST method. This framework focuses on people, objectives, strategy, and technology, all being equally valuable when putting together a plan for your company. The next strategy provided by the chapter is the five objectives of the groundswell that a company can choose to pursue. These are listening, talking, energizing, supporting, and embracing. These are similar to the five business objectives of research, marketing, sales, support, and development, but with even more focus on engagement and communication. 

Chapter 5 focuses on the first of the objectives, listening to the groundswell. The first important message of this chapter I took note of was that your customers define your brand, it is whatever they say it is. This has proven true time and time again, when customer perceptions of a brand don’t match up with how the brand markets itself. If there’s a big discrepancy in perceptions, your company needs to listen to its customers and find out what needs to be fixed and how you need to market yourself differently. 

The last chapter I’ve read thus far, chapter 6, discusses the next of the five objectives, talking. The main methods companies use to communicate with customers are through advertising and public relations. These methods are costly, running up hundreds of billions of dollars a year, mostly spent on TV commercials. The book describes these practices as shouting, aimed at the masses, rather than talking, which is far more personal. The authors describe how consumers move along the path from awareness to purchase through the use of a clever metaphor, the marketing funnel. The influence of the groundswell is heaviest in the middle of the funnel, the place where marketers loose most control over what happens. This is why talking with the groundswell is so imperative. 

So far, I’m enjoying this book quite a bit. The beginning was a little unclear for me, but I’ve definitely gained a better understanding as I’ve continued reading, and the real-life examples and case studies always make it easier for me to wrap my mind around how something works. I’m looking forward to reading chapters 7-14 and deepening my knowledge of the groundswell. 

Until next time, 

-@AmandaSelby93

[camgodbold]

Groundswell Post 1

“The groundswell is: A social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional instructions like corporations” (Li and Benoff, p. 9). Google states that groundswell is, "a buildup of opinion or feeling in a large section of the population," which also demonstrates the same idea. It revolves around the idea of the public agreeing on something and making it popular as well as develop into something bigger. In chapter 2 I agree with the idea that we shouldn’t get caught up in technology, at least not a specific type. Technology is constantly changing, therefore if we become too attached to one idea, we will never advance and create newer and better formats of it.

I found the main topic of chapter 3 to be very intriguing because it discusses the idea that power has shifted from the producers to the consumers. I personally agree with this idea because people such as, creators, conversationalists, and critics, overshadow those who just partake in watching and reading ideas, instead of spreading them. Social technographics profiles influences people to become more motivated in contributing and sharing good ideas.

Chapter 4 focuses on the planning process (POST), which helps businesses engage, build a better relationship with their customers, and create an overall better business with a strong foundation. The five words discussed, listen, talk, energize, support, and embracing, support the planning process and adds to the element of engaging the customer. Chapter 5 was a little more difficult for me to explain, but overall I think it was trying to explain the importance of customer research and the idea that the customer actually defines the brand, not necessarily just the company itself. Groundswell seems to focus on the idea that the customer can make or break a company because it is all about pleasing them and creating brand loyalty.

Chapter 6 was the chapter that I lead discussion in. I really enjoyed leading the discussion because it revolved around the topics that I find most interesting; public relations and advertising. Personally, I do not believe that a company needs to spend an absurd amount of money to advertise, especially since advertising through platforms like, YouTube and Twitter cost nothing to get the word out. Another successful way a company can use social media to help customers is through blogging for ideas and feedback. Overall, the best way to increase customer loyalty and sales is through creating a trustworthy community. It all goes back to word of mouth.

@Camigodbold1993