Social Media

Man do I ever miss the days of ICQ. Everything was so much simpler back then. That program was basically the only form of social media that we had. There was no Facebook and anyone who used MSN Messenger was an outcast. The internet wasn't flooded with advertising. Things like banner ads and what not weren't even on the table yet. *sigh* Simpler times.

Now there are about 1,000 different ways to communicate with people, and thus just as many ways for advertisers to reach all those people as well. I think it's great for advertisers, absolutely it is. It allows them to really narrow down their audience and target very specific groups of people with their advertisements.

As much as I love the Internet and would probably never stop crying if I couldn't use it, at the same time, it really scares the shit out of me. It's really starting to get a little insane how much I, and the rest of the world, depends on it.

For example, over the holidays I spent about a week at my parent's house where not only is there no Internet, but no computer at all. It was like being a caveman for a few days. I didn't talk to any of my friends really, and I overall just felt really lost without it. That was only for like 4 days too.

I don't even remember the last time I had a phone conversation with someone. I don't mean something quick like "wanna go to a movie?" "ok sure". Done. I mean an actual conversation where you take an hour or so and just talk about what is going on in your lives. Same thing goes for in-person conversations too really. Instead Facebook and MSN and all those other similar programs pretty much take care of all of that for you. There's really no need for phone conversations anymore except maybe to say "hey check your Facebook, I left you a message on there."

The Internet has made is possible to do just about everything without having to interact with

another human being, and like I said, that terrifies me a little. Everything is slowly shifting towards online, so as a person it's weird, but as a person going into the world of advertising, it's actually pretty damn awesome.

The idea of the Internet and social media as a whole has really changed the way advertising is, and can be done. I'm sure it's just going to continue down this road too. As mentioned earlier advertisers can down really be specific about who they are advertising too and can make ads that directly relates to that audience.

Social media even allows them to advertise to people, without those people even realizing they are being advertised to. This was sort of already covered when I was talking about blogs. It doesn't stop there. Facebook, MySpace, all these types of sites are great tools for companies to emply some very subtle advertising to their audience. Hell I'm sure I'm looking at ads half the time I'm on the sites and not even realizing it. It's a really great tool to use.

We talked about it a little in class but social media is also letting smaller companies and businesses market their products. That site we looked at which sells custom made t-shirts is a terrific example of this. You can sell your products, while also talking to those who purchase them. It adds a level of interaction that you don't find with a lot of businesses. These are the sorts of advantages social media can give advertisers.

I think online advertising is absolutely going to become bigger and bigger and becoming more and more innovative as time goes on. Soon it will reach levels of interaction that we haven't even begun to imagine. Be sure to check back in 20 years to see if I was right about this.

Guerilla Advertising

Personally I think guerilla advertising is a fantastic way for an advertiser to gain some attention, assuming it's done right of course. There are many ways in which it can backfire against the agency as well. The best example of course being the Aqua Teen Hunger Force bomb scare in Boston a couple of years ago.

We touched on it briefly in class already but there really isn't a better example I can think of for a guerilla marketing strategy that went completely wrong. To give a little backstory on the situation, in January 2007, little displays (similar to a Lite Bright) of a character from the cartoon Aqua Teen Hunger Force were placed in 10 major cities across the US. 

About two weeks after they were put up, there was a massive scare in Boston because of the devices. The bomb squad was called in, major roads and highways were shut down, complete chaos. As a result, the two guys who put the devices up were arrested and charged, Turner Broadcasting Systems paid $2 million dollars in damages, and the head of the Cartoon Network stepped down.

It is pretty interesting to note that it was the Boston Police Department who almost suffered a larger black eye than anyone involved with the actual cartoon. People criticized their overreaction and the fact that it happened 2-3 weeks after the devices were installed. 

On one hand, most people did recognize that the devices were either from the show, or clearly not a threat. If you see pictures of the device, it's pretty obvious right away. On the other hand, you have to be very careful with these sorts of tactics these days since everyone is still very sensitive after 9/11.

But the point of a guerilla marketing campaign is to get people talking about the product, and this one certainly accomplished that. So despite all of the fallout, you still can't write it off as a complete failure. That right there, is the power of guerilla marketing. 

Personally I feel the most effective campaigns are the ones that get people directly involved. It's one thing to witness a guerilla campaign, but to actually be a part of it is what gets people talking. A great example from some of the examples we looked at on friday is the one for Clue with the blood coloured soap. I loved this. It actually makes me a little angry that I will never get to take part in that. That's something that if it happened to you, you would tell EVERYONE about it. It helps that you are a part of the story.

It's a little less exciting if you just see a building that is painted a certain way. Sure it's cool to look at, but it's not nearly as engaging for the viewer if they don't get to actually interact with it. 

I find the more subtle ones work well too. The Clue soap, the cockroach being slid under an apartment door, the dentist papers designed to look like a mouth, these are all great examples of something a little more low key than say, crushing a car with a huge ping pong ball. 

I think people like to piece things together. I hate to keep going back to the Clue soap but damn do I ever love it. At first people would have no idea what the hell is going on and it would take them a few seconds to figure it all out. Once they got it, it's all the more rewarding for them. Simply seeing a display on building will get a "hey that's cool", and then that's probably it. It's a lot better for them if they have to work at it for a bit to figure it out.

Another great example is the pictures that made it look like the tires on someone's car had been stolen. At first they would be confused, and most likely angry, then once they figure out that it's all just a joke, they would appreciate it even more I believe. 

Overall I think guerilla marketing is a great way to grab attention, whether it's in a positive or negative light. If done right, it can be engaging and involving and will definitely get people talking. I don't think we'll be seeing the end of it for quite some time, or at least until there isn't a single surface left in the entire world without some sort of advertisement on it.

Week 2 - Blogs

I myself have been keeping a blog for about a year now so I'm pretty familiar with the whole concept of blogging. Of course my blog is dreadfully unpopular so advertisers aren't at all interested in it. My blog is for movie reviews and I have built a collection of fellow movie review themed blogs that I keep up with. These also don't feature advertising and that's kind of why I like going to them. It makes the blogs seem a little more personal and down to earth, which makes me feel like I can trust them more. There's no banner ads or clutter, just one person's opinion and it makes everything feel a little more intimate and connected. Personally I enjoy blogs more if they don't feature advertising.

For the purpose of this post however, I have been following a few other blogs that do feature advertising in some form. After looking at them for a few days now I came to one solid conclusion...blogs with banner ads and so forth don't work nearly as well as ones where the advertising is within the actual blog post.

The majority of the blogs I looked at went the latter route and any ads or advertising area featured within the actual post itself. For the record, some of the blogs I looked at include "Three Minds on Digital Marketing", "Ad Rants", "Adverblog," and more. By placing the advertising within the post, you're more than likely going to read it and pay attention to it. I found myself pretty engaged in posts about subjects such as the new Angry Whopper at Burger King and a virtual test drive for Toyota, things I don't normally care about but found myself paying close attention to. 

I honestly can't even explain why I found this method so effective. I think it goes back to the idea of it being a lot more personal this way. You feel more connected with the product than you do simply looking at a still advertising image of their product.

Another thing I found with blogs that have advertising outside of the posts, is that after visiting the site for a couple days, I completely stopped noticing the ads all together. I'm guessing this isn't exactly what the marketers want. It just became second nature to ignore them. I couldn't even tell you what the ads were for now. 

You're there to read the posts, not the ads. Therefore combining them into one entity is a much more solid strategy. Having the ads within the post also allows much more to be said about the product, where a banner ad can only have a few words at the most.

I think blog advertising is only going to become bigger and bigger down the road. It allows marketers a level of intimate interaction with the consumers that few mediums provide.