Websites and Marketing Make a Great Team

In musical theatre, most actors create websites to promote themselves to agents, casting directors, etc. On these sites, performers can put their headshots, resume, pictures, and videos of their performances.  I have talked to many professional actors who have gotten majority of work through their website.  In our generation, the internet is where the prime source of income lies.

Real-time Marketing PR has a chapter (14) on "How Your Website Becomes a Real-Time Marketing Machine."  According to the book, we are now "entering a fifth era of the evolution: transformation of the web site into a real-time marketing (and sales) machine.  This is the natural evolution of a process that started with a new way to slip brochures under people's doors" (179).

Over the years, society has gotten spoiled over how easily we can get things at the precise time that we want them.  This is why businesses find so much success when online.  This also increases the expectations for customers.  People are much less willing to wait in line anymore because they have the purchasing power at their fingertips.

But what happens when your business is too busy to respond to individual customers?  This is where automation comes into play.  Customers do not want to wait hours or days to get a response from businesses.  This is how businesses can respond to customers quickly and easily.  However, the automation should not just be some impersonal, frustrating auto-responders that "follow-up" canned email messages.  The automative messages need to be effective and off information or contact request forms to customers.

Michael Chertudi, vice president of demand marketing at Omniture, an online marketing and Web analytics business unit of Adobe, says the automation process should collect two important pieces of information.  "Knowing the actual place on your site where the person expressed his or her interest allows you to reply in context.  Similarly, it's important to know the nature of the offer that interested the potential buyer" (181).

Responding to customers in real-time is a great determinant of why customers use certain businesses. The main point of this book is to express how important it is to connect with customers and grow your business in real-time.

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty

Have you ever heard of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty?  Before writing this post, I thought about a video that I once saw about teenage girls pointing out their insecurities and realizing they have nothing to be insecure about.  This video had a major impact on me because I saw it a very long time ago.  The major thing I did remember about the video was the brand it represented: Dove.

So I browsed through Dove's website and discovered that I just could not get off.  I came across Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty that was created in 2004 to "broaden the definition of beauty by challenging stereotypical conventions" (Dove).  The webpage promotes the hashtag "#feelbeautyfor" to ask women and girls to share what they think beauty means.  This allows the women to post pictures and thoughts of their ideas of real beauty.  Users can uses social media such as Instagram, Twitter and the Dove website to share these ideas.

The main reason I got so hypnotized by this website was because of Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty videos.  They truly show what real beauty is and how it can affect our lives.  I picked out a few of these videos that I strongly advise everyone, especially any girl or woman, to watch:

Dove asked a few mothers to write a list of how they feel about their bodies.  Then, they asked all of these mothers' daughters to write how the daughters feel about their own bodies.  It is astonishing how similar the responses are from mother to daughter.  We learn that daughters echo what they hear from their mothers.

This video shows an artist sketching his ideas of how each woman in the video looks by how the women describe themselves, without actually seeing them.  When other people are asked to describe these woman, their descriptions are completely different and surprisingly more accurate.  Those sketches actually turn out significantly more beautiful.

Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty is not only teaching girls and woman to feel comfortable and beautiful in their own bodies.  It is also a remarkable PR evolution.  Dove's genius strategy to make sure women appreciate the brand and are able to connect with the brand makes it all the more marketable for customers.  I can say from firsthand, after watching these videos and connecting with the company through the internet and social media, I will proudly continue to be a loyal customer to Dove.

Trust your Character

This weekend I had the incredible opportunity to perform in the Ohio Northern University's production of Company, the Musical.  This was my first musical in my college career and man, did it make an impact on me.

I never thought one show could have so much meaning to me.  The character I played, Marta, was my favorite role to play, but also the most challenging role I have ever played.

I never really had the best roles in my high school musicals.  I was always in the ensemble or one of the supporting roles.  I had the opportunity to play leading roles in some of my performing art studio's productions, but these were usually just short segments in shows.  With such a small cast in this show, every member of the cast had a major role.  This was the first role of mine that I could not be prouder to play.  Marta was so relatable to me.  She was a spunky, sassy, fun-loving girl with courage and passion.  Although I do not always have the confidence as Marta does, she brought out the best of me during this show.  I was able to learn from Marta. She taught me to believe in myself and embrace life and all that it offers to its fullest potential.

Thank you, Marta, for shaping me into the actress I am today.

I am honored to have the opportunity to work with such a talented group of people.  This was definitely the most professional cast I have ever worked with.  The director, Brian Sage, and music director, Michael Jordan, shaped this cast and show into something pretty remarkable.  As intimidating as it was to work with so many amazing people that inspire and challenge me, I never felt more at home in a show.  I could not have asked for a better experience for my first musical here at Ohio Northern University.

COMPANY!

This Thursday at the Freed Center at Ohio Northern is opening night of Company the musical!  This will be my first appearance in a musical here at ONU, which is super exciting for me!  We have worked so hard for the past month in a half to put this show together and in my opinion, it has evolved into an incredible piece of work.  This production has given me an incredible opportunity to observe, learn and grow as an actor.

Our director Brian Phillips and music director Michael Jordan have brought out the best in our cast and continue to help us after each run-through.  I feel very fortunate to have the please of working with these talented directors and fellow castmates in my first musical production here at Ohio Northern.

This production has definitely been a very challenging and demanding process for all of us involved, but we know it will surely be worth it in the end.  As nervous I am about this upcoming weekend, I could not be more excited to show the audience all that we have worked for to make this production happen.  I could not be more proud of what this show has become. Come see this fantastic show!

For more information and ticket pricing on Company, visit the ONU Freed Center's website:

ONU Freed Center: Company

Make New Friends, but Keep the Old

Chapter 10 of "Real-Time Marketing & PR" discusses real time customer connection.

Friends Tweet Friends First:

In this section of the chapter David Meerman Scott questions why companies offer special deals to new customers in order to get them to sign up before people who have been customers for years.  For example, in the book Scott says he renews his “$50-per-month subscription to the Boston Globe newspaper only to see Special Introductory Offer: Sign Up for home delivery for the Boston Globe and save 50% off the home delivery rate” (119).

“Well, shoot!” Scott says, “What about me?  And don’t get me started on the mobile phone companies and their amazing phone pricing that everyone except existing customers qualify for” (119).

This is almost like buying something you really like at full price and then seeing it go on sale a few days later.  It just seems unfair.  I can think of multiple companies at the top of my head that also try to lure new customers in in stead of paying attention to existing customers.

For example, I use the music steaming service, Spotify, to download and listen to all of my music.  When I fist found out about this music application, I noticed it allows new customers to have free music for a month, while current customers pay close to $10 monthly.  It was pretty nice for the first month, but continuous months of using the app really do add up.
Today I just saw a commercial for the Kindle Fire HD giving buyers free Amazon Prime for a month, hoping to receive more customers on Amazon.  Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
An online store that I have previously ordered from, Tobi, offers customers 50% off their first order.  It also offers existing customers special deals once in a while to make sure they stay interested.  I still use this online shopping brand because they frequently give me deals, as if treating me as a brand new customer.

Companies try to lure new customers all the time by giving them deals, but who can blame them?  The only problem is, companies need to continue these deals to let customers know they are not being forgotten.  Once a company builds the trust of its new customers, the customers usually stay loyal.  This is the ultimate goal of most companies: building loyal customers.

I do, however, completely agree with Scott’s complaint.  I think new customers deserve special deals, as long as current customers also get that opportunity at least once.

McDonald's, Working in Real Time

At the beginning of next year, McDonald’s will be the largest brand on Facebook.  When I was searching through articles on PR Newsweek, I came across an article saying McDonald’s will launch 14,500 Facebook pages in  an effort to connect US restaurant with customers via social media.  It will also launch Twitter accounts for individual restaurants.

Coincidentally, McDonald’s efforts to connect with customers via social media relates immensely with the book we are currently reading, "Real-Time Marketing & PR."

According to the PR Newsweek article,

“David Martinelli, US digital marketing manager at McDonald’s, said the goal is to speak to customers in ‘real time.’

‘14,500 pages – we know that’s a lot of pages to get up and running, but we know the customer’s journey doesn’t end at the restaurant,’ said Martinelli, speaking at the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco. ‘We wanted to connect to them in the place they’re at and deliver that relevant content. It’s important to be part of the conversation and really understand what’s being said, and then join the conversation’” (Martinelli).

In the past, McDonald’s has had trouble dealing with the infamous “pink slime” controversy.  As we see from the popular restaurant's success, McDonald's PR team has definitely stepped up to the plate since then.  The fast-food brand just launched a major transparency campaign to counteract horror stories about "pink slime" and answer questions about ingredients in its food.  With its efforts to connect with customers via social media and represent the brand's name appropriately, McDonald's is definitely working in real-time.

The Power of Crowdsourcing

Chapter 9 of Real-time Marketing and PR is about the ability to “tap the crowd for quick action.”  David Meerman Scott uses the National Football League’s Super Bowl as an example of this.  Each year hundreds of millions of viewers tune in to watch the leagues top two teams compete for the winning title.  But this isn’t the only thing the audience pays attention to.  If you’re like me, you watch the Super Bowl for one reason and one reason only: the commercials.

Companies pay millions of dollars to have their commercials shown during the Super Bowl because they know they will be seen by millions.  They spend months creating memorable ads as a way to brand the name.  As said in the book, “the event is so high profile and the budgets are so enormous that each ad is intensely measured and discussed” (Scott, 100).

Scott describes the Super Bowl as an “advertising championship,” because each company presented does as much as it can to get its brand noticed.  After every Super Bowl, we see newspaper articles where panels of “experts” rank the ads based on their popularity.  This often takes hours or even days to be published and only gives us the opinions of those few people.  We want to hear the opinions of the millions of the real viewers watching, and we want to hear it in real-time.

Social media gives us this advantage.  In 2010, an ad agency named Mullen partnered with social-media monitoring and engagement provider Radian6 to create BrandBowl 10, a competition that gauged reaction to ads on the 2010 Super Bowl in real-time.  Web-based crowdsourcing techniques allowed them to monitor and measure people’s opinions to rank the ads during the game.

“Crowdsourcing involves taking a task usually performed by one or few people and distributing among a crowd of people-outsourcing it to a crowd-via online social networks” (101).  This allows companies to engage with public opinion as quick as possible, which is most efficient in the competitive world we live in today.

The best example of a crowdsourced product is Wikipedia.  As you probably know, Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that can be edited by anyone.  “Everyday, people around the world collectively make tens of thousands of real-time edits and create thousands of new articles.  Thus, the volume and knowledge of Wikipedia expands each day, all thanks to one of the most successful crowd sourcing projects on the planet” (102).

Television shows like "American Idol," "America’s Got Talent" and "Dancing with the Stars" also use crowdsourcing.  They ask audiences to evaluate and vote on their favorite performers by voting during live broadcasts.  The use of crowdsourcing attracts viewers because it allows them to be more attentive and actively involved.  It gives them the feeling a percentage of the power is in their own hands.

So now you are probably wondering who actually won the 2010 Brandbowl, right?  Brandbowl collected 98,656 tweets during the game to determine an overall ranking of the ads.  They scored these tweets based on:

•       Volume (the number of people who tweeted about each add)
•       Sentiment (as calculated by Radian6)
•       Net sentiment scores ((positive tweets – negative tweets)/total tweets)

Doritos won the Brandbowl 2010 title by dominating in sheer volume of tweets. Google, which actually had a higher percentage of positive tweets, came in a close second place.  McDonald’s and Dr. Pepper also put up a noble fight in the brand competition.

As you can see from the popular results of Brandbowl 2010 and Wikipedia, crowdsourcing is a magnificent tool in social media for brands.  With this function, companies can receive knowledge and insight by connecting with people all over the internet in real-time, which is what this book is all about: connecting with customers while speeding up the pace of your business.

My Thoughts on Random Seasonal Breaks in College

College Students most definitely NEED a fall break.

Half way through the first semester is usually the breaking point for most college students.  This is the period of time full of midterms, homesickness, and straight up exhaustion.  For freshman, they have spent the past few months trying to adjust to the college life and are probably craving their homes, families and high school friends.  This is also the point in the semester where all of the restless nights of studying and busting out assignments finally catch up to you.  In order for colleges to get the most out of their students, it is a MUST to give students time to rest, relax and rejuvenate.

I am very thankful to go to a college that gives students and faculty a fall break.  This past Saturday, I was able to drive 4 hours to go home to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.  Since this is a trip I do not get to take very often, when I do have the opportunity to do so I try my best to enjoy every second I have at home.  Even if students do not live close enough to drive home for a break, it is still nice to have that extra time to go home with friends, or accomplish things you don’t always make time for on a typical weekend.

As much as I love being home, it does get rather boring at times.  All of my siblings are older than me and living out of town, so when I am home it is often just my parents and me hanging out.  Most of my friends left home to go to college and we usually are not lucky enough to have breaks at the same time.  My fall break doesn’t get much more exciting than watching TV on my couch, getting home-cooked food, visiting people here and there and going shopping.  During the winter and summer breaks, I must admit that I want nothing more than to go back to school, live independently and see all of my college friends.  I also even look forward to starting my classes, which doesn’t happen for me too often.  However, I think this time to waste away as a couch potato and catch up on homework is much needed in the long run.  It makes the busy-bees like me realize how much we enjoy the crazy, hectic lifestyles we live at college.

Breaks also give students the opportunity to travel.  Last spring break, I used my week of to go home with one of my college friends to San Diego.  With all of our busy schedules in the summer, it would have been difficult to take a week off from summer jobs or internships.  Spring break is also, once again, the break we need in that point of the semester.

Here’s some advise for college students:

USE YOUR BREAKS WISELY!  If you have a lot of work to tackle in the next few weeks, take this time to get some stuff done so you’re not as stressed out when the assignments are due and the tests are coming up.  Also, if there are some friends you have the opportunity to see when your home from school, go see them.  Catching up with old friends that you don’t get to see or talk to very often lets them know that you still care.  Lastly, spend as much time as you can at home with your family.  Learn to appreciate the little things in life, like watching movies with your dog, or eating a home-cooked meal, or playing Scrabble with your parents.  You will soon realize these are the things you will truly miss in college.  After all, home is where the heart is.