Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Does advertising really work?

If You're Trying To Get New Customers, You Advertise On Social Media. It's What You Do.

Everyone instantly recognizes a GEICO commercial when they see their spokesgecko, but they have a whole series of commercials without him as well. Their "It's what you do" set of advertisements are very funny. A quick search for GEICO on YouTube will put more of these ads than you knew existed right in front of your eyes. GEICO even has an official Twitter account! Since they joined Twitter in early 2009, GEICO has amassed a following of over 45 thousand people, and tweeted more than 5 thousand times. They have a separate account specifically focused on customer service, and direct you to tweet at that handle if you're having any issues. In addition to those, GEICO also has twitter accounts for their racing and powersport teams, and whether official or not, the GEICO Gecko and Caveman also have their own accounts as well.
While I'm sure GEICO's target audience would be the giant umbrella category of "anyone who drives a car", the new ads featuring silly situations seem to be more tuned toward gen X and gen Y (do gen Z kids drive yet?) drivers who would be more susceptible to humor. I feel like their campaign is working, though I haven't seen the data from drivers who insure with GEICO from before and after their new ads. I do know that GEICO is well known, and most people I know can quote at least a half dozen of their commercials. The only downside I see is that I don't think of GEICO as a respectable insurance company. Sure they have lots of commercials on tv, and I like the gecko, but when it came time for me to spread my wings and leave the comfort of my parent's insurance, GEICO was not even on my radar as an option. I know I'm just one consumer and not everyone shares my views. GEICO has been around for over 75 years, so clearly at least one of their marketing campaigns has worked to keep them going.
Jeff Jarvis talks about several ways in which advertising needs to change. My favorite proposal he had was that "competitors who learn to target customers-by relevance, not by content or demographics-will increase effectiveness and efficiency and lower their cost." One of my favorite things to do in my spare time is to crochet. I don't really ever see many advertisements for yarn or tools or patterns, and sometimes I really would like to! The biggest problem I have is that when I finally do see an ad for something related to my craft, it seems that they are all targeted toward the grandmotherly types - the blue haired generation with arthritis. I'm even more likely to NOT buy a product if I only see older people using it. I love when I can go on Pinterest and see other people my age sharing pattern ideas or blogs about different products. It's free advertising for the companies, but I think it would be fantastic to see more ads that are not targeted at the older generations. Crocheting has somehow become fairly popular with the younger crowd lately and it would be great if the yarn/hook companies targeted us as well.

OK, So What Works and What Doesn't?
I'm a sucker for a food commercial. Especially one that is shown when my tummy is already screaming to be fed. I also love commercials that are not what you would expect. One of my favorite commercials that I've seen recently on TV is for Burger King Chicken Fries. The best one shows a daughter chicken with her french fry boyfriend telling her chicken parents that she is pregnant and is going to have chicken fries. The hen mother freaks out and starts flapping around and the father rooster yells for eveyrone to calm down. This is definitally a humor technique, bringing chickens to life and putting them in a situation that is the nightmare of every parent. They are targeting people who haven't been to Burger King for a while as they are bringing back an old favorite, and also targeting younger people who are easily swayed by commercials about food. I would say this commercial definitally works, as the first time I saw it, I laughed out loud and then sent my husband right out to get some.
 
There is a series of commercials out there that use plain-folks approches to their advertisements, and also throw in some really bad animated graphics. I'm sure just about anyone with a TV set has seen the commercials for The General Insurance. They show everyday people at home, work and sometimes at play on the tennis courts or softball field. The newer ads show people wearing green army helmets as they go about their daily life, and when asked about it, the response is "oh, I just insured my car through The General" like that is an acceptable response as to why you're wearing a helmet at your office job or to lounge around the house. They are targeting people with low incomes who want to save as much money as possible by finding the cheapest insurance option around. While they may have low prices on their insurance plans, I would go out of my way to avoid using their company based on their commercials. I just can't take them seriously when they use such bad actors in weird situations like that.
It's like they're trying to tell potential customers, "look how ridiculous you can look if you use our insurance!" 


Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Wait ... Twitter, WHAT?

I have barely twit. Twitted? Oh, right! Tweeted.

I didn't see the point in using Twitter when it first got popular. It seemed to me more like talking to yourself in a room full of people, unless you had a large enough following to be noticed, and I had no real desire to try for that. If I had something to say, I would say it on Facebook, and that was that. Then I discovered that the Chicago Blackhawks had an official account! I signed up and followed the team to keep up with the game scores when I couldn't watch live. Through my time reading tweets about and from the Hawks, I found what I believe is one of the best people on Twitter to follow, but first a little background. The coach of the Hawks for the past eight seasons, including their most recent three Stanley Cup Championships, has been Joel Quenville, affectionately called "Coach Q" by the masses. He is known, physically, by one major defining characteristic. His mustache!
Just look at that handsome fella!
Now, you might be wondering how this all ties in to the best person to follow on Twitter, and rightfully so! One of the first people I ever followed on Twitter was @CoachQsMustache. How does a mustache tweet? Very well! The person behind this Twitter handle has got facial hair humor down to a sweet science, regularly taunting the beards of opposing players, or congratulating a Hawk with fantastically growing sideburns. Especially active on gamedays, this one is sure to make you laugh.

Ever since my high school days, I have loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer. During one of the later seasons, a character was introduced who immediately became one of my favorites. It was an evil priest played by the one and only Rick Castle. No wait, that isn't his real name, that's the character he plays now. Captain Mal Reynolds! No, no that's not it either. That was his name on Firefly - easily the best sci-fi show of it's time. Captain Hammer? Nah. In all seriousness, his name is @NathanFillion and he is so funny on Twitter! He regularly responds to fan questions in as hilarious a manner as possible. He really seems to love engaging with the public and using his fame for fun, rather than power.

One of the few other people I follow, who is not a hockey player, is @jimmyfallon. I don't really make a point to read all of his tweets, but I do love how he uses hashtags to get people involved with The Tonight Show. Every week, he tweets out a hashtag and asks people to use it to respond. The next night, he shares some of his favorite responses. It always ends up as a trending topic withing a half hour! I will throw out my own short story when I feel so inclined, but I know everyone else's stories are always so much better than my own.


My favorite tweet that I've seen recently was this once right here. It was the last in a countdown series by @NHLBlackhawks showing captain Jonathan Toews (pronounced kinda like Tay-v's - call him Toes and we're gonna have problems) holding up a single finger indicating just one day left until the season's home opener at the United Center in Chicago. The Hawks hoisted their championship banner, and then played host to the New York Rangers. Even though they lost tonight, I am so excited for this season to start and can't wait to see how they do without the players they lost to retirement and trades, and their new recruits as well.

There is no question in my mind that social media empowers the people! Whether they use that power for good or evil is entirely up for debate. It is heartening to see people come together to support a cause (or individual) to make a change for the better. My brother introduced me to theChive a few years ago, and if you don't know what that is, you should really go check it out. They post collections of photos that are funny, serious, painful, and informative. They also have what they call Chive Charities, as well, where the Chive community comes together to make donations to worthy causes. Last year they raised enough money to build an entire sports center specifically designed for children with disabilities in Texas! The story was absolutely incredible and the community response was immediate and amazing. It all starts when theChive asks for donations from the community and sets a goal. It has become a regular occurrence for the donations to surpass the goal (sometimes by two, three or even four times the amount!) Talk about power!

As far as strengthening democracy, that's where I get a little fuzzy. I know that the internet allows for people to access information and points of view they wouldn't necessarily agree with. By taking that into account, they can make an informed opinion about candidates or policies. They can then take to social media and broadcast their thoughts to the world and possibly influence other people to vote a certain way on an issue. However, I feel as though lately, I've been seeing more posts and articles about how our government is failing the people. I'm not sure if having so many opinions just a click away has strengthened democracy or just made people argue more with each other. I am often dumbfounded by the comments on politically charged articles on Facebook. It seems that they all start out as a good conversation, but by the time you get about twenty to thirty comments in, every thread has been reduced to name calling, bad grammar and swear words. Hmm.

So, was 'What Would Google Do?' written by Tony Stark's butler?

No, but Jeff Jarvis does seem to know his stuff! He talks about businesses needing to become a platform, where your service enables your customers to do more than they would be able to on their own. I never really thought about this concept as I used the internet. It makes sense once it is written out in front of me, that each website I use becomes a means to an end for me. Although I don't have many posts yet, I do use Blogger to connect with the world. I am able to use their platform to post crochet patterns that I have created, and anyone can access them at any given moment. I used to just think of Blogger as a stationary location that plays host to my blog, but now I can see it as its own entity, molded by what its users (myself included) are looking for. It allows me to personalize my blog so that it is a direct reflection of what I want, instead of only offering a one size fits all, cookie cutter approach to the blogging world. It is amazing what a little perspective can do.

In the video, Jeff Jarvis addresses the argument that people being rude on the internet make it a bad thing, saying that while that may be true, people can be rude anywhere, not just the internet. I fully agree! Anywhere you go, people are able to say anything they want, and the things they say are not always pleasant. When someone can get behind a screen name or avatar, they feel that they are anonymous and might be more apt to say meaner things than they would if they knew a name or face was associated with the words. Rude people don't make the internet a bad thing, though. You can choose to be offended and start arguing or just ignore the comments and move on. In World of Warcraft, you can form a group with random people to beat a dungeon (small group) or raid (large group). When you're in a group, you get a text chat channel devoted to your group and can type back and forth to each other. After running a few dungeons, you're very likely to run into a troll, or someone who says rude/mean things just to get a reaction out of the rest of the group. In these cases, it is best to remember "DON'T FEED THE TROLLS!" The best way to deal with someone who is being mean is to ignore them, just as in real life or on the internet. Once they realize their goal will not be met, they end up being quieter for the rest of the dungeon and you can happily get through it. Even if they don't stop, and continue being rude, you can try to kick them out of the group or ignore your chat channel. While they can be irritating and frustrating, they don't make the game (or the internet in general) a bad place to be. It's just something you have to deal with when humans are involved. Some are nice and some are not. It's just the way things are; the location, whether real or virtual, is irrelevant.
Just remember: