Fashionbook: For when you cannot live without a second opinion.

Ever been shopping alone, and asked the fitting room attendants opinion (or even a random stranger), because you absolutely cannot make a decision?  Maybe guys won't openly admit to this problem, but I can say this has happened to me on more than one occasion.

Facebook is attempting to step in to remedy those fashion indecision woes.  A recent post on Adverblog.com reports that there is a new case study to combine the way Facebook users shop, and get a second opinion on the clothes they buy.  The concept is currently being tired out in stores in Portugal, to see if it is received well amongst the public.

C&A displays, like the ones pictured here, show in real time how many likes each item of clothing receives.  Wondering if everyone will approve of your new outfit?  Can't choose between one shirt over the other?  Check the likes on the hanger for the most popular item and you won't need to ask the fitting room attendant (or random stranger.)

For some consumers, this could be the answer to their fashion dilemmas.  For other, less easily-influenced when it comes to fashion, they may not want to know what the world thinks of that green blouse hanging on the rack.  For advertisers, this could be a great opportunity to influence their own customers into buying, perhaps even more clothes from their stores.

Google the Golden Child?

"Google it."  "Why don't you just google it?"  You probably have heard these phrases or said them yourself, at least once a week.  I mean if I have a question, it has become automatic for me to use google.com to get the answer.  So automatic that the brand name has become a verb for most internet users.

In the advertising world, brand awareness on the internet is almost vital to a company's success.  Companies will pay thousands for search optimization, just so their website will appear at the top of the list on Google.  Trust comes in from all angles to google.com, from the person who wants to know what the ugliest dog breed is to the company who trusts their search optimization specialists to identify the right keywords to be sure that their company is first.

Recently, Jonathon Mayer from The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School discovered something fishy going on with Google, the golden child of the internet world--an alleged invasion of privacy using "Safari Trackers."  According to his article, Google used a software trick that wormed its way around Safari's privacy limitations on third-party tracking.

They are now facing a hefty $10 million fine, thanks to Mayer's discovery.  Google has admitted to implanting the code, however, responded by saying they did not collect any personal information from users.

Brand trust and brand identity on the internet can be a tricky thing, and for a ginormous company such as Google, there is an extreme amount of brand trust from users and advertisers.  An incident such as this one shows that people should never put their blind trust into a company, no matter how "good" or "trustworthy" it may seem, because it is, after all, just a company like any other.  Whether the allegations of collecting personal information or not is true, this can be viewed as a wake up call for people to look out for their own privacy on the internet, especially the next time you go to "Google" something.

When I read this, I was less than surprised.

So I saw this infographic on Mashable.com...

and I just said, "Well, yea obviously."

How many times have you heard a news report, seen an article, heard a 50+ year old person say that college students cannot do anything without technology.  And my answer is the same resounding, "Well, yea obviously."  The infographic went on to throw out facts such as "73% of college students said they cannot study without technology" and "70% of students use keyboards to take notes (no more paper)."

At first glance, those facts that were meant to make us out to be some sort of completely dependent slaves to the internet/smartphone, were actually telling me something a bit different.  To me, its saying that modern college students are actually more efficient by finding easier ways to access all types of information at a rapid pace, we are inadvertently tree-huggers by going paper-free, and most importantly, this is great for internet advertisers.

From an online advertising standpoint, the more time college students spend "depending" on the internet and technology, the more confirmation that it is a virtually propelling market.  According to a journal article from Education Resources Information Center called "The Internet Goes to College," studies from 27 colleges and universities have shown these main findings:

•  College students have adopted and heavily use the internet early on

•  College students feel that the Internet has actually enhanced their education

•  They agree that their college social life has been altered by the Internet

What does one have to do with the other?  With the 12 million college students that already take online classes, and the projected 22 million that will join in the next 5 years as predicted by the aforementioned infographic, being in advertising, especially on the internet, opportunities are about to double.  With a huge stronghold in the connection between college students, technology, and education, advertisers can use that seamless gap to connect with a huge world of a dependent audience.  So, yes, I can say that I was not in any way surprised by the information the infographic or article had, but I was in no way offended.  In fact, for any person that is in advertising, this is just the type of thing that I want to hear.

Source:

Jones, Steve.  "The Internet Goes to College:  How Students Are Living in the Future with Today's Technology."  Pew Internet and American Life Project.  ERIC Education Resources Information Center.  September 15, 2002.  http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED472669

Clients: You can't act like you want all their money (even if you do).

Just to be clear:  I do not have my own business, clients, or huge knowledge base about either of the two. That was not a disclaimer, but I do pride myself in looking at things logically but with an understanding of human nature.  I like to think after four years, as many of my fellow Advertising and Communication majors, that I have the ability to connect with people through many mediums of communication, and convince them that they need whatever I am selling.

As the end of college career nears, I have given thought to the eventual factor that working with clients may be in the near future.  Using the concept of web advertising or design as a basis, I researched and found an article about attracting, keeping, and the overall etiquette of working with a client when it comes to working on the web.

According to an article written by Lior Levin, a business entrepreneur, there are 3 ways to attract not just clients, but higher quality clients, the ones that will benefit you the most.  Levin acknowledges that in any business, especially in the creative web design field, there are many times a client is not willing to pay enough or does not appreciate the quality of work that has been provided.  Far too often these type of "low quality" clients can cause a creative to end up in an undesirable position, leaving both the client and the designer dissatisfied, and can ruin a reputation very easily.

Even for someone who has had zero experience working with clients of their own (such as myself), realizing that these "low quality" types of clients will always be around is just as important as knowing that there are ways to attract "high quality" clients.  Your name might not be well known, your reputation might not have even gotten off the ground, but just the attitude (without being pompous) that even you deserve a quality client may set off your career in the right way.  Granted that you are capable of delivering a high quality website or advertisement yourself, you can project your self-confidence towards a satisfying career, according to the article.

Levin's 3 tips to orient yourself towards high quality clients:

1.  "Know your worth":  "High quality clients want high quality designers," know that you can deliver if you insist on a price you think your work is worth.
2.  "Be flexible but not bendable":  Some clients will let you use your creative abilities and let you go on a project, while others will attempt to micromanage.  Either way, it is important to keep the client within your own boundaries and make sure they understand your own creative process.
3.  "Offer services clients really want":  Take the time to get a feel for the market through research.  See what clients are looking for, and make yourself an expert at it.  The more you can offer your client, the more high quality you will appear.

It may seem a bit premature to be thinking about clients, yet its never too early to imagine yourself in the position of exactly where you want to be.  If you see yourself as a top designer, you have to start by building your client base.  Besides making the initial contact or connection, researching and knowing just how clients tick when you want to produce your best work for them is never too far off in the future.

I sort of don't know anything about web design.

It is safe to say that every one of us has no clue how many websites they have visited so far in their lives.  Just to think about what the number could possibly be is pretty mind-boggling.  Yet, of those infinite amounts of different websites we have scrolled through, skimmed, or stumbled upon, there are those that have caught your attention, and you have probably visited them more than once.  Besides the ones that have become an obsessive or daily habit (ahem, Facebook, Twitter, we are all guilty), there are those that have for some reason, spoke to you in one way or another.

What was it about that website?  Was it a particular interface, game, video, design, article, or just how it plain made you feel when you saw it?  With my own relatively limited experience working in graphic design, I have always considered myself influenced by just the experience of how something looks alone.

One computer, one screen, one website,
 but there's a whole lot going on up there.

According to an article in the Journal of Business Research, one helpful perspective of website design is viewing the layout as a cognitive landscape.  The article points out the direct relationship between content and design.  It says, "As content on the web includes text, pictures, graphics, layout, sound, motion and, someday, even smell, making the right web content decisions are critical to effective web design."

Basically what goes on in your head, engages all your senses, and makes you create connections to other concepts--is exactly what goes into a truly well-designed website.

The article analyzes studies done of different multi-million dollar company's websites, and looks at contrasting opinions--one saying speed, ease of use, and high-quality content are most important, the other siting the user's shopping experience as the most important factor.  It gives these studies the appropriate merit, however, it offers a different and more psychological perspective.

What would your cognitive landscape look like?  More importantly, what does your audience's cognitive landscape look like?  Based on the work of environmental psychologists, the article concludes that offers this suggestion:  when attempting to design a website, think of it as if you just walked into your perfect room--what is the experience of the space?  In designing a website that makes the person want to visit it again and again, it exudes the same qualities as designing a physical landscape.

My concluding thought comes from a direct quote from the article, "Computer interaction is intensely cognitive involving perceptions and preferences. Interactivity implies not only perceiving the web landscape, but also entering into it and “experiencing” the space."

Source:  

Deborah E. Rosen, Elizabeth Purinton, Website design: Viewing the web as a cognitive landscape, Journal of Business Research, Volume 57, Issue 7, July 2004, Pages 787-794, ISSN 0148-2963, 10.1016/S0148-2963(02)00353-3.

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0148-2963(02)00353-3

50 Ways to Make it Viral

Well I won't name them all, but I can give you 5 ways viral videos become successful.

                                                           It's because of content like this
        

And this

And of course...

So can brands really create campaign videos with the same effective level of "virability" as these?

It has been done, tried, successfully completed, and failed miserably by a number of companies that have attempted to jump on the viral video bandwagon.  So, yes it is possible since it has been done.  However, when is it a truly helpful or hindering aspect to an ad campaign?

Having advertising concepts drilled into my head, I tend to enjoy looking at top companies latest ad campaigns.  Recently one in particular caught my attention, SoBe's campaign for its Natural Fruit Elixirs on its website.  Basically, SoBe has come up with "personalities" for each flavor of Elixir in the line of products.  Each of these personalities have a corresponding video, with testimonials of people trying and describing the particular drink.  Basically, they show the people who emulate the personality of the drink as well as the laid-back Californian lifestyle of the brand.  This is, however, where the videos begin and end.  I immediately thought of how they have the potential to create a viral video presence, but are not connecting to the right outlets to do it.

I then found this article on Mashable.com and a scholarly article from the Kent Academic Repository, both agreeing that there are five main types of viral marketing factors that make or break an attempt at a viral marketing campaign.

Both articles also agree that, "The rapid diffusion of the Internet and the emergence of various social constructs facilitated by Internet technologies are changing the drivers that define how marketing techniques are developed and refined."

To put it in plain English:

1.  Look beyond celebrity endorsers and obvious influencers.  Brands can benefit from word-of-mouth advertising and a large spread across social media sites rather than simply putting it on TV.

2.  Make a "social object".  Even if the person loves the brand or product, it does not mean they want to be sold to.  As with the SoBe drink videos, it is too obvious that they only used what supported and sold their product.  Instead, there should be an element of conversation for two people, or social object, that drives the connection and sharing around the brand solely based on hitting a person's interests.

3.  Use a brand pulsing strategy.  The brand should be integrated throughout the video content, rather than the driving force.  Find the sweet spot between the brand's positioning and its humor or attention-grabbing factors.

4.  Timing is everything.  If the video is too short or too long, people are less likely to share it.  The shorter one may not grab the attention of the audience, while the longer one can bore people and over-do the joke or point.

5.  Use the right mix of social media.  As for SoBe, there was a limited, seemingly nonexistent presence of the videos on any other website.  The company has pages on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, yet fails to utilize these to display or promote their videos.  The right mix can help spread the likelihood someone will share the video, increasing its "virability."

Source:  Woerdl, M. and Papagiannidis, S. and Bourlakis, M. and Li, F. (2008) Internet-Induced Marketing Techniques: Critical Factors in Viral Marketing Campaigns. Journal of Business Science and Applied Management, 3 (1). pp. 35-45. ISSN 1753-0296.

Men, Women, and Advertisers: An e-Harmony True Story

The classic story:  Man falls in love with car, woman falls in love with ice cream, advertiser makes man and woman fall in love with their brands.  

In 1st grade, girls had cooties and boys were icky.  Back then, girls and boys seemed like opposites in every way, and may still seem like that today (although luckily the cootie shot was invented at an early age).  Everyday, a person will see ads that are geared specifically toward men and women.  Advertisers, based on careful research, assume they know what men and women want.

However, what if social media is allowed key points of research that changes the dynamic of what advertisers thought each sex wanted?  Well, in a recent social media study, that shift in the dynamic has been brought out of the woodwork.

According to this infographic on Mashable.com, the sexes have more common denominators than you might think.  In the study done by the social media monitoring company, NetBase, a year's worth of online conversation has revealed this conclusion:  the top 10 social wants list overlaps by 70%...

What do both women and men want the most?  Their top 3 were both the same:  ice cream, a car, and pizza.  The extra 30% of the list that does not overlap between the sexes?  They were still the same kind of food.

What does it all mean?  For men and women, you can score points by buying each other their favorite brands.  For advertisers, more ads geared toward both sexes, or them sharing the same interests in brands and food items holds added merit.

Zero to Skip in 5 Seconds

Back in the day...

As in maybe a year ago, if you wanted to watch Jenna Marbles talk to her dogs or Lady Gaga's strange extended music video on Youtube, you took the chance that you would most likely endure a 30 to 60 second commercial beforehand.  For you, that is 30 to 60 seconds of something you may or may not want to watch.  For advertisers, that is just a short spot to grab your attention.

And now...

You see things like this:

But what does that mean for advertisers?

From an obvious standpoint, they now have just 5 seconds to grab your attention and stop your mouse from clicking the "skip this ad now" button.  According to "The New Science of Viral Ads" from the Harvard Business Review, effective online video advertising takes the audience on an "emotional roller coaster" during a 60-second spot.  Also, the article points out the problems advertisers attempt to combat for these types of ads which include:

• brand logos that are too prominent in the commercial
• viewers getting bored
• viewers enjoying the ad but not taking the time to share it with others

What happens now that viewers can skip an ad at 5 seconds?  Attempting to capture the viewer's attention in the time it takes to walk from the Tv to the couch is a challenge all on its own.  As an Advertising and Promotions major, I am fascinated by the demands of getting an audience's attention.  As a person who uses Youtube everyday, I enjoy being able to click to skip and get to the video I want.  However, sometimes, I find myself actually sitting to watch the ad.  What could have possibly grabbed my attention in five minutes?  A lot of time its the music they play, or if I see a movie trailer starting.

My point?  When you attempt to reach your audience, where you thought you were given 60-seconds one day, you may have 5 the next.  As technology advances, people's attention spans shorten.  Even from an article only a year old describing the challenges of a 60-second online spot, advertising has already taken a challenging turn.


Source:  Teixeira, Thales. "The New Science Of Viral Ads." Harvard Business Review 90.3 (2011): 25-27.Business Source Premier. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.

The Ad That Chooses You

I have always been fascinated by guerilla marketing.  Although it is not especially prevalent in the U.S., and I was not aware of it until I left my home in Hickville, Connecticut, it has captured my fullest attention.  Of course its attention-grabbing and cool, that is the entire point, besides the more technical definition found in the American Psychological Association Journal:  "The basic tactics of guerilla marketing are to substitute innovation and creativity for the staid and status quo methods of advertising" (Galer-Unti, Regina A. Guerilla advocacy: Using aggressive marketing techniques for health policy change.  Health Promotion Practice, Vol 10(3), Jul 2009, 325-327).


Beyond that, this article talks about a new type of guerilla marketing used in a recent campaign in London, England set up by a not-for-profit organization in the UK called Plan UK.  The overall goal of the organization is to raise money and awareness for children in third-world countries.

To truly target their female audience, the organization set up a new type of outdoor advertisements--an ad that decides who it will show itself to.  Through a high-def camera and advanced facial recognition technology, the ad (pictured above) recognizes the gender of the person and shows the ad only to women.  The point is to show men what it feels like to have their basic choices taken away, something that many girls in third-world countries experience everyday.


Imagine that, advertising so direct that IT chooses YOU.  What can be done with this technology elsewhere?  Gender specific ads for men and women's products on the streets of New York.  Especially for the beauty industry, with advancements to the technology, imagine standing in front of the ad and it telling you the exact products you need?  Industries in the US could truly benefit from following suit with more aggressive guerrilla marketing campaigns.

A good way to psych yourself out

Don't get me wrong here.

I love a good meme that floats around the interwebs and suddenly becomes popular.  I find these ones particularly funny, and new ones have been popping up everyday.  These also sparked a thought for me as well.  For the people who are just starting out in their career paths, sometimes the blunt truth is well, blunt.  I find it interesting that people admit to the difference between what they "think they do" and what they "actually do", and in all cases of these memes, the difference is more than a negative.  So why not strive to be what you actually think you do?  Because someone else has somehow accomplished it, why not you?  You might impress your friends, parents, society, and most importantly, yourself.

"Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path, for they draw only corrupt blood." -Khalil Gibran

Why not advance?

From philosophy major to graphic designer to marketing director at a cable company.  That path, as explained by my boss, was a series of events that made him exactly what he is today.  This is a man that says if you are not providing your full energy into your goals at least eight hours a day, then you are completely wasting your time.

The evolution of your career.

The chaos theory when applied to economics: The branch of mathematics that deals with complex systems whose behavior is highly sensitive to slight changes in conditions, so that small alterations can give rise to strikingly great consequences (Roe, Mark J, Chaos and Evolution in Law and Economics, 109 Harv. L. Rev. 641 1995-1996 ).

The same theory applied to your career:  Its not about where you start, or what society thinks you should be doing, its the events in your that mold you into your career, your energy levels, your relationships with others that lead you to exactly who you are.  However, if you want to become something, such as a social media manager, apply and work towards your goals, every single day.  The bottom line is amongst the chaos of your life, you have control over your goals that cause you to become what everyone (including you) think you should be.  Its the same principle.

Ideas are worthless.

Stick a pin in the "Big Idea"
Can you really value an idea if you haven't done anything about it?  Or for that matter, is there value to an idea if you haven't done it well?  Maybe i was a little late in my "discovery" of Pintrest.com, or rather my interest in Pintrest.  Is it really that important if I can read about "freezer friendly make ahead meals" or view a picture of a cool "look for spring"?

My first thought was, "Who really cares?" And 40 minutes later, while I was writing an idea for a poster design for my internship that was inspired by a photo on the site, I thought, "Oh, wait I do."

With sites like Pintrest, its easy to see website trends moving in a different direction.  Stepping away from Facebook and Twitter, this site takes on an ability to inspire people to actually execute their ideas.  As humans we appreciate the gratifying effect of praise, and being able to receive feedback on something as simple as a "Mason Jar drink dispenser", the encouragement of acting on an idea is given.



Pintrest can inspire you to fulfill your dreams.
I'll admit, it is a bit of an exaggeration.  However, Pintrest users are passing along well-executed ideas on this website, why can't you execute your own ideas in your desired job field?  I asked myself the same question, and I came up with this:  My ideas about my career are completely worthless if I do not execute them, and execute them well.  Otherwise, ideas and interests hold no value.

What is my point?
An article by Sarah Kessler in an article DigitalMash.com said about Pintrest that "It drives more traffic to websites than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined.  As it has gained in popularity, so too has its unusual design."  As did the entrepreneurs of Pintrest have an idea for a website to inspire others and made it happen, the importance of making your own ideas into reality truly defines the value of those ideas.  Sounds cliché?  After spending almost an hour on this new and popular website, I decided to start looking up 3-D Maya design classes in my area to create new designs for my internship based on ideas I've had.  I may not "pin" them on the internet, but they will certainly pinned in my own future success if done well.

Good things are good.

"Waste not a moment" - Tibor Kalman

When I talk about "doing good stuff"by utilizing the capabilities and unique broad reach social media sites offer, I don't mean McDonald's cutting out the pink slime from their food and attempting to recover on Twitter.  I mean the feel-good, do-it-to-better-the-world kind of movement, that use social media as an outlet to communicate their message.  One particular movement, "Project Unbreakable, is attempting to cut through the "pink slime" of the social media world and get the word out about important issues.

When the Contagiousness of Social Media Helps
As a way of empowerment for sexual abuse victims, Grace Brown, an art student, started the Tumblr entitled "Project Unbreakable- The Beginning of Healing Through Art".  Through this site, rape and sexual abuse victims can post quotes from their attackers and abusers, in hopes to empower others to speak out.  Grace has also been traveling from city to city, photographing those who wish to share their quotes as well.  She uses her site to help spread the word about where she will be next (pictured below).  According to an article about her project on Mashable.com, Grace "plans on photographing survivors for as long as she possibly can. Her goal is to spread light, awareness, and healing for those who have been affected."

The Bottom Line--Keeping Up Can Save Lives
Keeping up with social media trends are deemed beneficial in the advertisement and shedding positive light on negative choices big businesses have made.  However, when it comes to using these trends to simply spread word about horrible and very real situations, awareness is spread.  That being said, for people like Grace Brown and others like her, I really do believe the words of Tibor Kalman, because wasting a moment means wasting resources that can truly work for the betterment of others.


The best part is, as soon as I click "Publish" the word will spread to you, too.

In an ideal SOPA and PIPA world...

Imagine that.  Saying goodbye to innovation, expression, and cutting off a vital part of communicating in today's society.  As America is considered the "melting-pot" of different cultures, the internet serves as the melting pot of the world.  All cultures combine, mix, and meld together unique ideas and concepts stirred together into one big constant global communication.  It may seem like a dramatic approach, but we live in a churning society, where one technology, trend, or even theory is constantly advancing and replacing the next.  The freedom of sharing of information that the internet allows has rocketed these advancements so far that the trends of ten years ago seem like the dark ages.  The support bills like SOPA and PIPA gives that opportunity for advancement a heavy sedative.

Pirate (pi•rate) noun:  A person who attacks and robs ships at sea.

See also: rob or plunder.  If pirates are people who attack, rob and plunder, could major entertainment industry leaders in fact be the pirates of creativity, communication, and freedom of expression?  To make an overall stand against piracy on the internet, these companies have taken legal action and had to proposed bills written up, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act).  What will they have the power to do?  According to the breakdown in this article on www.1stwebdesigner.com, SOPA and PIPA gives U.S. corporations and government the power to do the following:

• If deemed as copyright infringement, U.S. internet providers to block overall access to the offending
  sites
• Seek legal action against offending sites and have them blacklisted
• Private corporations will be able to create personal "hit lists" of websites that they feel are breaking
   any copyright policies

The bottom line of both bills that has been causing the recent uproar of protests from the major Fortune 500 companies such as Google to the bloggers such as myself is this:  the vague language of the SOPA and PIPA bills that allows a scary amount of wiggle room.  The simplicity of the bills and allowance to self-monitor basically gives any person with internet access to black list a post, picture, or even an entire site.  Yes, this has the potential to affect major sites such as Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube, but it also stifles the communication, creativity, and inspiration that the internet allows to circulate around the world.  From a different perspective, the allowance of wrongly-accused people and sites have the potential to be plundered by the buccaneers of communication.

Sharing information is what turns this society on.
From the person who sends a link to their favorite song on Youtube to their friend, to the aspiring photographer on Facebook, to the newbie blogger who simply wants to share their interests on a collage for others to see, each would be threatened with the potential to be "shut up" by these laws.  Hillary Clinton was quoted on americancenceorship.org saying, "When ideas are blocked, information deleted, conversations stifled, and people constrained in their choices, the Internet is diminished for all of us." I could not have said it better, as I believe that a threat in that nature could potentially turn off a vast majority of people from using the internet at all, creating, in effect, a stalemate of creativity.

What is my point?
If SOPA and PIPA are passed as laws, it would be like setting back society by fifty or more years.  The support these acts is the support the suffocation of creativity, opportunity for innovation, and an overall global communication that is vital for the advancement of our society.  All in all, society is excelling to the future, how can we let our very civil liberties be halted and thrown into the past?