Long Time No Bloggy

Well it's been a while since I blogged but it's time to get back in the groove.

I recently came across an interesting website through a friend. Let me ask you: do you know how the results of your Google search are determined? Organic Google search results (the results that are NOT paid-for advertisements) are based upon an ever-modified complicated algorithm. If the algorithm is so complicated, some businesses fear there could be certain aspects that block their results from showing. Check out this article that was in the Star Tribune:
http://www.startribune.com/business/130093678.html?page=all&prepage=2&c=y#continue

The secrecy of Google's algorithm in addition to their sheer size as a company as well as their nearly 80% market share has raised questions of thwarting Antitrust laws.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/technology/googles-to-face-congressional-antitrust-hearing.html?_r=2

It's an interesting debate going on and I would like to hear what you guys think. Go to the website FairSearch.org to read more about this topic and write me back!

Top Ten Reasons Why Target Should Hire Me!

Welcome to my personal blog (usually about viral marketing but this occasion calls for a special post)! This should be a convincing list on why Target and I would be a perfect fit:

# 10.
LOVE










9. I am young, full of enthusiasm and new ideas, and I need a career that will give me an outlet for that; Target radiates energy, Target encourages sharing new ideas, and Target gives respect and responsibility to students entering the business world.

8. I need a career that will challenge me everyday; Reba states that in her 15 years working at Target, not a day has gone by that she hasn't been challenged or learned something new.

7. I won't stop bugging you Target recruiters until I at least get an interview to prove all these claims I am listing =)

6. Environmental pollution and destruction gives me anxiety; Target has deferred 34,000,000 plastic bags from landfills since they launched their reusable-bag program. Now that's a company I would be proud to work for.

5. I want to be able to help people through my job; Target supports their local communities by donating 5% of their income...THAT'S $3 MILLION A WEEK!

4. I love numbers. (Yes, I obsessively monitor and analyze this blog on Google Analytics). Isn't that a great quality to possess to be hired as a Business Analyst?!?!

3. Target's company culture embodies what I value; contagious energy, empowerment to innovate, create, and find solutions, and emphasized individualistic strengths within a team environment.

2. It's a fresh new day and you possess the influence to give someone (ME) the opportunity of their (MY) lifetime; to share with another person the incredible opportunities and experiences at Target.

#1 Reason why Target should hire Courtney Stinson: You are impressed with all other 9 reasons and I have already convinced you to share my resume with other decision makers and to CALL ME! Refer to resume to obtain my number (I don't want to publicly post my number or else everyone would be calling me!)

Viral Branding a Bad Idea?!?

I was reading an article titled "The Problem with Viral Branding" from the Harvard Business School. The article essentially states that viral branding and marketing does not support building an iconic brand. Here is my take on this idea:

By using viral marketing to establish a brand, the brand is unable to control the core message that will come to intrinsically represent their brand.

Case study: Snapple

Snapple began branding itself in a haphazard manner ranging from product endorsements by personality-conflicting celebs (Howard Stern)...



...to random ads featuring product mispronunciations and
"Wendy the Snapple Lady".












Snapple enjoyed quick success based on brand awareness and recognition but they ran into greater problems. Starting out as a small company, Snapple was admired by consumers for their misaligned and random advertising efforts. But as the company grew and Coca Cola took over, marketing personnel ran into difficulty when their strictly-run and highly organized marketers tried to continue the randomness of the early days of Snapple. It was difficult to portray the same sense of not trying, while actually trying really hard. In addition, what were marketers trying to communicate to consumers anyways, since Snapple had not really established a core brand identity that would have been created by their consumers in the viral process. There was no bottom, no base, no core to Snapple's message.

The virality of Snapple's success was based on the idea that any repeated and shared communication is good for the initially building of a brand.

But what really matters is an intrinsic feeling, an emotion, a connect to a brand that is not just retold and shared, but never forgotten.

By missing this point and allowing the consumers to brand Snapple (in which consumers did not create an intrinsic message), Snapple enjoyed short-lived success from skyrocketing sales of $700 million in 1994 to the loss of $1.4 billion when is was sold.

***Don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly embrace, encourage, and enjoy viral marketing.*** But viral marketing should be implemented by established brands with a clear core message to consumers. That way, their message cannot be misinterpreted or even just plain missed.

Here are some examples of great viral advertising done by established brands:

NIKE- Write the Future epic commercial



Anheuser-Busch and the Clydesdale (Super Bowl)


Apple vs. PC Ads

#1,2,and 3 of the Best 3D Video Projection campaigns!

3D projection is a really cool new technology that has created huge buzz for some brands. I found this on the ViralBlog and had to blog about it myself. The 3D projection mapping can be fit for nearly any architectural building.

Here three of my favorites:

H&M in Amsterdam's city square for their grand opening



Sony


Samsung in Amsterdam


I've never seen these 3D projection videos and I wonder how they would look live and in person. Why don't we have UNI do one on the CBB to honor and congratulate their graduating seniors!?!? It would create publicity for those students who are still job searching and would impress potential employers; "Hey! I want to hire one of those UNI business students who implemented that 3D projection video on their business building! How creative!"

...just something to stew over...

At First It Was An Assignment...

Well people, my Klout score is up from 15 to 28!!!!!! I feel like I have a slowly growing significance in the online world...all based on some silly number that shows up on my computer screen. But hey, I would rather be an Explorer than an Observer, it just sounds cooler. Check out your Klout score and it may help or hurt your ego for a second: http://klout.com/



I have an hour over lunch between classes that I have reserved for tweeting, facebooking, and blogging. I was originally forcing myself to think of useful tweets and blog posts with considerable effort, but now I actually look forward to my hour of socializing online. It's actually become quite an addiction where I find myself showing up for class late because I am in some sort of trance online....that which made me look at the clock and realize I better log off!

Courtney

Top 4 Lessons Learned at the AMA International Collegiate Conference

My experiences from the American Marketing Association's International Collegiate Conference in New Orleans can be summarized into 4 Lessons for a Successful Marketer:

1. Customize to your audience; Keynote speaker Michael A. McCullough, the Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer Miami HEAT, spoke about the huge marketing campaign held the summer of 2010 to secure three of the NBA's biggest free agents for the Miami HEAT: Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. The We Want Wade campaign was entirely aimed directly at Dwyane Wade cleverly including huge billboards placed on Wade's route to work, home, the grocery store, and the gym.

2. Be Unique; there was a table at the conference at which attendees could drop their resumes in trays for employees present at the career fair. Leafing through the top few resumes I saw a cookie-cutter layout and text. How on earth was my resume going to stand out among the 1500 other resumes?!?! Find something unique and interesting about yourself to grab attention and be memorable.

3. Be Passionate; Beth Ann Brannon, Complex Sales Manager at W Hotels of New Orleans said at her Experience Speaks session that "when searching for the right career path… Be Passionate. Be Involved. Be Informed. Be Humble. But most of all… Be You!" Combine all the time you spend working with all the time you wish you could be doing something for yourself and you will find a successful and fulfilling career will follow.

4. Work hard, PLAY HARD; combining the AMA Conference with its location a block from Bourbon street taught me this cliche is nothing but the truth. If you can work hard and feel that you have put 100% into your work, there is nothing as rewarding as celebrating your hard work. You've got to chill out and let your brain have a break or else you will burn out eventually. Both parts of this motto are to be followed though; if you do not work hard but decide to play hard that night, you will find your work will only pile up and still be waiting there the next day. This motto also creates a great time to get to know your coworkers on a different level outside of the office.

Here are a few photos of the University of Northern Iowa's AMA chapter members that attended the 33rd International AMA Collegiate Conference this year. We worked hard both preparing for the conference and also competing and participating in the conference. With all our hard work, we were able to enjoy a few (maybe too many) nights out on Bourbon street bonding with each other.

Burger King's Viral Marketing Successes

I thought this was a fun post to see the past attempts by Burger King to create viral commercials. Of course the most remembered was the subservient chicken who would do any command the computer user typed.



How was this subservient chicken such a success? It was interactive, customizable, entertaining, and playable. All of which are included in the 6 Great Foundations of Great Digital Creative posted by soapcreative.com.

Other Burger King ads from the years are just as fun. Check out more at:

http://adage.com/article/agency-news/slideshow-burger-king-crispin-ad-creative/149491/