I've been following Auto Trader Magazine, a periodical that started out as a weekly publication that you could purchase at any newsstand or anywhere newspapers and magazines were sold. It's content is just as the name implies, a place where a seller could advertise their new or used vehicles for sale. In the last few years they have become a free online publication only. No longer does a seller have to worry about missing a publication deadline or a buyer having to wait a week before they can view the new listings.
I have noticed the links to social media Face book, Twitter, You Tube and Google Plus at the bottom of Auto Traders web pages. But until taking this class "Widgets, Clicks and Tweets" I never had the curiosity to click on one of the links. To my surprise, I found the links to be a clever marketing tool. Other than the "follow us on" line that directs you to these links, you can also post a vehicle you're interested in on Auto Traders web page and when that vehicle posts for sale you can ask to be alerted via one of or all of the links that appear at the bottom of Auto Traders web pages.
I found this to be a clever use of social media. If I used social media more often I would most certainly take advantage of the service. If I were to make any suggestions they would be to include the options of being notified by text or email. The idea of not having to browse the web site everyday for new listings and instead simply be notified via web 2 technology is a fascinating idea.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Langham Chicago Hotel
When I thought about a company that was using social
media to boost their clientele market, the new Langham Hotel in Chicago
immediately came to mind. The Langham just opened a few days ago in downtown
Chicago, across the street from Trump Tower. I do not usually spend my time neither
researching hotels nor focusing on them whatsoever; especially those in the
city I live in. This hotel caught my eye as I followed them on Twitter, and
every day they posted multiple tweets about the happenings of the hotel,
sneak-peaks at the suites, and even food tasting parties prior to opening. This
was exciting as it led to light the beauty of architecture and interior
designing, two things that I am very passionate about.
The
Twitter handle @LanghamChicago has over 2,300 followers, and makes for a personable
social media by following 2,616 itself. Over the past few months, the hotel has
kept for a very fascinating twitter by uploading pictures of the architectural
process, the interior design choices made, how much of a process picking out
furniture and color paneling are. The hotel has also included photos of
beautiful Chicago sunrises and sunsets, pictures of the city for even out of
towners to appreciate. This twitter has boosted my interest to experience the
city through a new set of eyes, and to even check the hotel out for myself.
Prior to following the Langham hotel on Twitter, I would not have wanted to “waste”
my money on a hotel in my own city when I have an apartment right around the
corner. Though this hotel has boosted my interest to experience what beauty the
hotel has to offer.
Like
the Wheat Thins commercial; the Langham offers potential clientele a moment out
of their hectic lives to gain luxury and relaxation; even for just a night. Though
everyone wants a break from the busy city, no one wants to spend the money. The
Langham has competitive prices that keep this luxurious potential five star
hotel to a price that many people my age can appreciate. Langham, I commend you
for turning my feeling of wastefulness to a feeling of excitement and curiosity
to see what your hotel has to offer me in this beautiful city of Chicago.
RSS Feeds
RSS
stands for Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication. You can use an RSS feed to keep updated on
your favorite websites. Instead of
bookmarking a site and having to go out to each of your favorite sites manually
for updated content, you can use an RSS feed to do all the work for you. An RSS feed will list the latest posts as
clickable headlines on your reader application.
Google
Reader was a very popular RSS reader but is now defunct. I went on a search for another good website
and found http://digg.com/reader. I used the website to put together a quick
sample of this technology. One can
either add a website to your RSS feed by the URL or you can browse categories on
digg reader and add suggested pages. I
took about two minutes to add several websites from the browsed categories and
this is what my digg reader now looks like:
For some sites, a summary of the article comes up, and one
can click on the article again to be redirected to the site.
This can be a quick, valuable way to catch up on information
and news that is personally important to you.
I, for one, am going to start using this technology more to streamline
the influx of information I get from my social media feeds.
-Katie Eckert
Dove's Social Media Self Esteem Mission
Since 2009 Dove has been focused on self esteem for girls. It all began with Dove's evolution television campaign where a woman was taken from her everyday look to supermodel with a time lapse hair and makeup session. She is then photographed and her picture enhanced via photoshop or some other picture enhancing program where the model's featured were changed. At the end it makes a statement like "No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted."
Dove has taken great strides in their use of not just media but social media in their pursuit to make every girl love herself just as she is. Dove is the most successful in this pursuit on YouTube. At the time of this post, Dove's US channel only has 23,182 subscribers however, their latest videos have garnished almost 70 million views. Dove Real Beauty sketches is a highly watched YouTube video with over 55 million views speaks to how woman view themselves versus what other people see. The woman were asked to describe themselves to a forensic sketch artist who cannot see them. Later another person who the women were paired up with are asked to describe the woman to the sketch artist. In every instance, the picture description from the woman herself is far more unattractive than the depiction given by their counterpart. Another great video is Dove's Camera Shy video, showing how many women don't want to caught on video or in photographs.
Aside from YouTube, Dove's website is a great source for woman and girls. Dove offers self esteem kits to girls as well as guides to mothers instructing them how to talk to their daughters about self esteem. Dove's Self Esteem Project offers not only instructions but an annual Dove Self Esteem Weekend to celebrate a girl's real beauty with performances, exercises, speakers and fun activities designed to build up confidence and celebrate beauty. The Self Esteem Project has a commitment to enroll over 15 million girls by 2015, as of this post that number is already 11 million. The Dove website also has a Social Mission menu button that has a pull down menu with items such as "Make Girls Unstoppable" and "Self Esteem Kit and Resources;" all of which further push their campaign of helping women and girls love themselves, and of course using Dove products to complete this mission.
Dove has taken great strides in their use of not just media but social media in their pursuit to make every girl love herself just as she is. Dove is the most successful in this pursuit on YouTube. At the time of this post, Dove's US channel only has 23,182 subscribers however, their latest videos have garnished almost 70 million views. Dove Real Beauty sketches is a highly watched YouTube video with over 55 million views speaks to how woman view themselves versus what other people see. The woman were asked to describe themselves to a forensic sketch artist who cannot see them. Later another person who the women were paired up with are asked to describe the woman to the sketch artist. In every instance, the picture description from the woman herself is far more unattractive than the depiction given by their counterpart. Another great video is Dove's Camera Shy video, showing how many women don't want to caught on video or in photographs.
Aside from YouTube, Dove's website is a great source for woman and girls. Dove offers self esteem kits to girls as well as guides to mothers instructing them how to talk to their daughters about self esteem. Dove's Self Esteem Project offers not only instructions but an annual Dove Self Esteem Weekend to celebrate a girl's real beauty with performances, exercises, speakers and fun activities designed to build up confidence and celebrate beauty. The Self Esteem Project has a commitment to enroll over 15 million girls by 2015, as of this post that number is already 11 million. The Dove website also has a Social Mission menu button that has a pull down menu with items such as "Make Girls Unstoppable" and "Self Esteem Kit and Resources;" all of which further push their campaign of helping women and girls love themselves, and of course using Dove products to complete this mission.
1 Like = 1 Balloon
Beginning in early January of 2012, Heineken Brazil began a clever and fun campaign to boost the awareness of their presence in social media, specifically Facebook. For those of you not familiar with Heineken, the brand is an international Dutch beer brewing company. They produce pale lager beer with 5% alcohol volume. I, myself, am not a fan of their beer. However, I am a fan of their Brazilian marketing campaign, "Um Like, Um Balao" (translated: 1 Like, 1 Balloon).
It was a simple, yet interactive campaign. The gist of it all was as follows: for every 'like' they got on their Heineken Facebook page from a user, a member of the office crew would blow up a green balloon and fill an office up with it until it got to the brim. Select users who 'liked' the page were shown a custom video of a Heineken employee blowing up a green balloon and filling up the room to its capacity. At times, they would give out shout-outs to those users in their videos.
In just one day, Heineken Brazil's offices were packed with green balloons, the Facebook page got thousands of 'likes', and their campaign videos were viewed tens and thousands of times by users.
With a campaign like this one, a 'like' isn't just a click of a button. Along with the addition of a follower, Heineken can now spread more awareness about their company and products, other new campaigns, interact with more fans, and get their name out into the social media world. A 'like' is also a way to tell a follower's friends, "Hey! I trust this brand and you should too!" It's stronger than word of mouth because it takes less effort and is quicker to spread.
Heineken did a great job in expanding the popularity of their Facebook page and keeping followers entertained.
It was a simple, yet interactive campaign. The gist of it all was as follows: for every 'like' they got on their Heineken Facebook page from a user, a member of the office crew would blow up a green balloon and fill an office up with it until it got to the brim. Select users who 'liked' the page were shown a custom video of a Heineken employee blowing up a green balloon and filling up the room to its capacity. At times, they would give out shout-outs to those users in their videos.
In just one day, Heineken Brazil's offices were packed with green balloons, the Facebook page got thousands of 'likes', and their campaign videos were viewed tens and thousands of times by users.
With a campaign like this one, a 'like' isn't just a click of a button. Along with the addition of a follower, Heineken can now spread more awareness about their company and products, other new campaigns, interact with more fans, and get their name out into the social media world. A 'like' is also a way to tell a follower's friends, "Hey! I trust this brand and you should too!" It's stronger than word of mouth because it takes less effort and is quicker to spread.
Heineken did a great job in expanding the popularity of their Facebook page and keeping followers entertained.
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Yogurtland - Looney Tunes "Flavors With Character" Ad Campaign
Yogurtland's new Flavors with Character campaign features the characters from the popular Looney Tunes animated series. The campaign features six new flavors of yogurt as well as several new toppings that are based on the characters from Looney Tunes. Posters in the store window inform customers when the new flavors will be released. They also direct customers to download the free Yogurtland app to earn special rewards.
Customers who have the free app are able to scan QR codes in the store when they visit. These codes are located in the description for the new Looney Tunes themed yogurt flavors. Each store carries two new flavors at a time. Patrons are allowed to scan only one flavor per day. Rewards are earned once you have scanned at least four unique flavors of the new yogurt. Four character flavor scans earns you four ounces of free yogurt. If you manage to scan two more for a total of six unique character flavors, you earn six additional free ounces of yogurt!
I think this social media campaign is an excellent way for Yogurtland to market to customers. I think incorporating the Looney Tunes brand was very smart. Looney Tunes is something that connects with many demographics and I think it really evokes the childhood spirit that is associated with the show and with eating frozen yogurt. Personally I have gone ahead and downloaded the app to earn free yogurt. This campaign is almost irresistible (I think) since it rewards participation with free yogurt. I think it will definitely attract many new customers and sell a lot of yogurt.
Customers who have the free app are able to scan QR codes in the store when they visit. These codes are located in the description for the new Looney Tunes themed yogurt flavors. Each store carries two new flavors at a time. Patrons are allowed to scan only one flavor per day. Rewards are earned once you have scanned at least four unique flavors of the new yogurt. Four character flavor scans earns you four ounces of free yogurt. If you manage to scan two more for a total of six unique character flavors, you earn six additional free ounces of yogurt!
I think this social media campaign is an excellent way for Yogurtland to market to customers. I think incorporating the Looney Tunes brand was very smart. Looney Tunes is something that connects with many demographics and I think it really evokes the childhood spirit that is associated with the show and with eating frozen yogurt. Personally I have gone ahead and downloaded the app to earn free yogurt. This campaign is almost irresistible (I think) since it rewards participation with free yogurt. I think it will definitely attract many new customers and sell a lot of yogurt.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Largest 4G LTE......VZW!
A company that comes to mind that is using social media for marketing is Verizon Wireless. Verizon has the largest 4G LTE network in comparison to all other vendors. With over 5,794,019 likes on Facebook and now joining together with Redbox and Comcast, there are sure to be even more advertisements and campaigns to come. I am a Verizon customer and I have been for quite some time. They consistently advertise their newest products and notifications of any new updates on the new and current products being used. I see the advertisements and tips in my news feed on Facebook and also on the sidebar telling me which of my friends like their product as well.
I like Verizon Wireless, however I hide their statues most of the time because it may not always be something I want to see or hear about when I go to my Facebook news feed. I cannot say if the campaign would make me likely purchase the products or services necessarily but their offers are quite tempting. I guess it would depend upon my financial situation at the times they advertise new products or services. Other than that, I sometimes like to hear about any special features or tips on how to use certain apps or icons that I might have on my phone. Their notification of joining Redbox; “Redbox Instant” made me curious to know how they work. Since I currently use Netflix and have gotten pretty bored with their library. I decided to try them out for the free 30 day trial offer.
Quite interesting; but they pretty much hold the same selection of movies as Netflix. Netflix has a larger selection than Redbox Instant, but that’s because they are fairly new and most of their sales are via the kiosk. I like the idea of getting 4 free movies (even new releases) a month out of the kiosk for about $8 a month. However, to me, it’s just another way to get more Redbox sales. I think I’ll stay with Netflix for right now.
Overall, advertisements, campaigns, and promotions are part of the many ways to market within today’s society. Providing alerts on the side bar for specials or promotions that are going on would make me all the more of interested into what they have to offer. Especially, with all the hottest phones they tend to bring out every quarter, they are sure to grab my attention!
Like....www.facebook.com/verizonwireless
I like Verizon Wireless, however I hide their statues most of the time because it may not always be something I want to see or hear about when I go to my Facebook news feed. I cannot say if the campaign would make me likely purchase the products or services necessarily but their offers are quite tempting. I guess it would depend upon my financial situation at the times they advertise new products or services. Other than that, I sometimes like to hear about any special features or tips on how to use certain apps or icons that I might have on my phone. Their notification of joining Redbox; “Redbox Instant” made me curious to know how they work. Since I currently use Netflix and have gotten pretty bored with their library. I decided to try them out for the free 30 day trial offer.
Quite interesting; but they pretty much hold the same selection of movies as Netflix. Netflix has a larger selection than Redbox Instant, but that’s because they are fairly new and most of their sales are via the kiosk. I like the idea of getting 4 free movies (even new releases) a month out of the kiosk for about $8 a month. However, to me, it’s just another way to get more Redbox sales. I think I’ll stay with Netflix for right now.
Overall, advertisements, campaigns, and promotions are part of the many ways to market within today’s society. Providing alerts on the side bar for specials or promotions that are going on would make me all the more of interested into what they have to offer. Especially, with all the hottest phones they tend to bring out every quarter, they are sure to grab my attention!
Like....www.facebook.com/verizonwireless
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