Twitter is serious

Recently on twitter, someone was found guilty and now has a criminal record due to his twitter tweet. Paul Chambers is from the U.K and tweeted to his 600 followers "Robin Hood airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise im blowing the airport sky high!". This was not a serious tweet but some security saw it and had to bring it to the police which brought him to court. The results were a fine and costs totaling around 1,000 British pounds. As well as a criminal record. There is a lot of controversy over this and Chambers is planning on launching an appeal. It it wondered if he was found guilty to set an example to others.

I found this article very interesting because when you post something online, it just goes to show you that you never know who else is looking at it. I think they found him guilty to prove a point to others.

Work Cited:
Matyszcyk, Chris. "Twitter Bomb Joker Found Guilty." Cnnet News. 10 May 2010. Web. .

Share your Location

Facebook has a new application coming out where you can share with family and friends your location. if you are concerned about privacy issues, they are most likely setting it up as a opt-in basis.
This feature can be very beneficial to marketers and businesses mentioned in the location-based updates. McDonald's is already in the process of being involved in this location updates by allowing their facebook app to let users tell people they were at mcDonalds while giving the company the opportunity to feature one of its products in the post.
This application is still being worked on and is not available yet.

I think this application is interesting for users because they can share to others where they are as well as advertise businesses depending on their location. I think this will catch on and become popular. This is an ideal application for marketers.

Work Cited:
Whitney, Lance. "Facebook to Let Users Share Their Locations." Cnnet News. 10 May 2010. Web
. .

Like or be a fan?

Facebook has done it again. Yet another change. In simplest terms, facebook has changed the term "become a fan" to "liking". Instead of being a fan of a brand, you now "like" it. This is just another ploy of facebook to expand in company profits. They believe that people will be more likely to like a brand then become a fan. Nothing has really changed but the term. I find it pointless and stupid that they keep changing everything. Incase someone is unfamiliar what "liking" something is on facebook, it is basically a thumbs up to something whether its a photo, status update, or wall post. According to facebook, users click "Like" twice as much as they click "Become a Fan". There is a major difference to liking something and becoming a fan. Liking something requires little effort but acknowledging something without getting involved. But when you "Become A Fan" you receive status updates from this brand or company and your name is on their page as well as their name on yours. I believe users will not change and increase "becoming a fan" of things because the term is now "liking". I think this was a failed attempt to connect users and products.

Work Cited:

Jacobsson, Sarah. "Facebook Decides You'd Rather 'Like' than 'Be a Fan'" Web log post. PC World. 30 Mar. 2010. Web. 21 Apr. 2010. .

$$$$

Internet advertising has ended high in 2009. Ad revenue had made $22.7 billion which is down 3.4% from 2008. However the fourth quarter of 2009 made a comeback with advertisers spending $6.3 billion which was a 2.6% increase from 2008. This figure set a record for the most revenue made in a quarterly.

From this article I learned that 47% of ad revenue was from search services. Online advertising can be found on search, display related including banner ads, rich media, digital video, and sponsorship, advertisers also advertise on classified, referrals, and e-mail.

I never realized how much money goes into online advertising. I found it interesting how in 2009 it was lower but is now going up which is looking good for 2010.

Work Cited:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2010/04/internet-ad-revenues.html

Reseinger, Don. "Internet Advertising Ends 2009 on a High Note." Los Angeles Times. 7 Apr. 2010. Web. 14 Apr. 2010.

iPad

This past saturday, Apple launched their newest product, the iPad. This product is kind of like a larger version of the itouch but much more complex. It has over 3,000 apps available so far. Most of the apps are free but something are available for a low cost.
You can find digital magazines as an app, although most of them are still figuring out payment methods. For example, Men's Health is a free app in which you can review articles but has the ability to buy the whole magazine for a $5 fee per issue.
For music, there is a pandora app in which you can listen to music and read artist informaton but the negative is you can't multi task on the iPad so the user is unable to listen to pandora and do other activities.
There is a Marvel Comics app that has amazing large illustrations and moves you across the screen as if the comic is one continous strip.
Scrabble is available for $10.
For education purposes there is a app called "The Elements: A Visual Exploration" which costs $14 and is the periodic table. There is also Apples iBooks and Amazons Kindle which brings book digitally.

There are so many available applications for this iPad, which gives the user many options on what they want to do with it. I think the iPad looks like alot of fun and I would love to have one but I wouldnt have the time to play around with it.


Work Cited:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303411604575167932497910828.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read
Mossberg, Walter. "For the IPad, Apps with Their Own WOW Factor." The Wall Street Journal. Online.

Thread.com ?

I never heard of the website thread.com before. I was searching through professional blogs and stumbled on Stuart Fosters blog from The Lost Jacket and found a blog titled "Social Savvy'".

It is discussed how people are social creatures and how we create technology to improve our current behavior. Also how some people use social technology to search for their significant other online.

Online dating: has expanded greatly. This is a big industry (bigger then the porn industry). Online dating is a $1.5 + billion industry. The mobile phone dating market is worth $550 million which is expected to increase to $1.3 billion by 2013. The largest social network is facebook that has a user base of about 450 million.

Thread.com .....

The creation of thread was based on the idea that we meet our significant other through our friends. Operating through Facebook connect, Thread looks into your profile and checks your friend's friends and discovers their relationship status. Relevant matches are then shown to you. If the person finds a match interesting, then all they have to do is ask the friend who that person is to get a introduction.

Apparently thread is very simple and easy to use and safety shouldn't be a concern because all candidates are friends with your friends. Thread offers a simple introduction and icebreaker. It is a simple tool that does not compare to real dating sites but as time progresses, it will become more complex...

I found this interesting. It is something I would never use but if someone is looking for a significant other and is looking to meet other people, this is a good way to do it.

http://vimeo.com/http://vimeo.com/6375627

Works Cited

Foster, Stuart. "Social Savvy: Thread." Web log post. The Lost Jacket. 5 Apr. 2010. Web. 5 Apr. 2010..

If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em

This is CW's new advertising plan. CW believes its advertisers know where its viewers are going, on the Internet. A while ago, CW pulled Gossip Girl", and "America's Next Top Model" off the air because they believed the digital versions were taking away from traditional TV which gains the network advertising money.

It was discovered that the CW viewers were pirating episodes so CW put these shows back on the Internet. CW gets most of its viewers online because its younger tech-y audience. Due to this CW has doubled the amount of advertising online, so there is now 20 thirty-second commercials per one hour TV episode. Their plan is to get people to come back to traditional TV and they are doing many deals combining TV and Internet advertising. 35% of U.S TV homes have DVR's and soon viewers will not be able to fast-forward through commercials.

Work Cited:

Friedman, Wayne. "CW's New TV/Internet Advertising Plan: If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em." Web Log post. TV Watch. 29 Mar. 2010. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. .

Facebook beats google

Last week facebook beat google as the most visited domain in the U.S. Facebook had accounted for 7.07% of all U.S visits, Google had 7.03%. This is very good for facebook but the article discusses how it isnt very relative due to the fact that the two companies' businesses are different. They arent competing websites and they both hold different enviroments. Google has a few properties and revenue streams besides google.com. It also has Gmail and youtube. Youtube itself had over 2% so if youtube and google were combined they would far surpass facebook.
Although they are not competition, I was surprised when I found this article. Google is such a powerful search engine that everyone uses. I am aware that facebook is also a very popular social networking site but I never thought it would beat google for the most visited domain for that week. This may not be that big of a deal for google but it can lead to many more opportunites for facebook. Since facebook is so popular currently, this can lead into an increase in advertising opportunities. Many companies can reach their target market through this site so I'm sure in the future there will be more advertisements.


work cited:
Marshall, Jack. "Facebook Visits Surpass Google, But What Does It Really Mean? - ClickZ." ClickZ - News and Expert Advice for the Digital Marketer since 1997 - ClickZ. 16 Mar. 2010. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. .

ChatRoulette

Today I saw on facebook that this girl I know supposedly talked with Ashton Kutcher on a site called "ChatRoulette". Unsure of whether this was true or not I decided to look for a article on this so I could further explore... I am still not sure whether she really talked to Ashton but he is into "twitter" and that picture is of him so it wouldnt really surprise me if he tried out the newest social media.

ChatRoulette is a new website that brings you face-to-face, via webcam with an endless stream of strangers randomly from all over the world. This site is only a few months old and has expanded greatly from 300 users in December to 10,000 by the beginning of February. It is not fully out yet (being covered by media) but it is said to be "intensely addictive".

How It Works:
Once you go onto the site, it activates your webcam automatically and when you click start you are instantly staring at another stranger and at this point; you can either chat (text or voice) or click "Next" which brings you to someone else.

The Problem with ChatRoulette:
There is no filter. It is completely unmonitored and you have to take that risk.It is absolutely not a place for children because the stranger can do whatever they want or say whatever they want. The author of this article said he has seen nudity, masturbation, drug use, many people under the influence, and many other bizarre things. "Once you dive in, there's no way to manage the experience to filter users, search for friends, or backtrack and reconnect with someone you chatted with an hour ago"(Sam Anderson).

The Real Possible Dangers:
-Privacy issues, There are screengrabs of other users meaning that somone can save your picture (like above).
-Sexual Predators, this is an easy way for them to expose themselves (THERE IS NO AGE LIMIT).
-The threat of violence - someone can hurt themselves or someone else while chatting with another person.

I find this site interesting, something I would never do but different. The author of the article said he would like if it had filters for age, interest, language, location but argued that it might lose what makes Chatroulette so different. The average age for people who use this site is 20 and it is said that males outnumber females by 20:1. I just found this article interesting because its a different way to interact with strangers.


Work Cited:
Anderson, Sam. "The Human Shuffle." New York Magazine. 5 Feb. 2010. Web. 3 Mar. 2010. .

Product Placement= $$$

According to Nielsen Company, total advertising spending for the first half of 2007 decreased .5%, however internet advertising increased 23.2%. This meaning that traditional media advertising has reached its decline stage while internet advertising is in its growth stage with increasing revenue.
It is also found that product placement in traditional media has increased over the years at a rate of 50%. For internet advertising, product placement is rare.
The lifecycle of internet advertising is just like traditional media in which at first in the beginning there was no advertising but when the consumers started coming, so did the advertising. Then eventually it is realized that product placement is the best opportunity.

According to Jake Pitt's blog from the Marketing Pilgrim, there are three reasons why product placement in your site will have greater value to advertisers, making better profit for yourself.
1. "Product placement occurs within and as part of the content of your site, the advertisements that are included are part of the content which results for more space for content and less traditional advertising."
2. "Product placement is better than other forms because it ensures that the advertisements will reach all readers"
3."With product placement, the advertising is more conspicuous, much more concise, and more credible".

This blog was very true because there is a lot of product placement in traditional media and soon enough I'm sure we will all see it spreading across the internet. It only makes sense for advertisers because it less in your face for the viewers and the ads are in the actual content they are reading.

Work Cited:

Pitt, Jake. "Why Product Placement is the Future of Blogging." Web log post. Marketing Pilgrim, 19 Mar. 2008. Web. 1 Mar. 2010. http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2008/03/why-product-placement-is-the-future-of-blogging.html

Alcohol Advertising and the Youth

This artice is about the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth researching the Youth (age 12-20) and adults (above the legal drinking age of 21) and their exposure to alcohol advertising on television, radio, magazines, and internet. The research shows that in the U.S, alcohol companies advertise more where the youth are more likely to see then adults. It is disocvered that the youth exposed to alcohol advertising in various venues such as sporting events, broadcast, print or outdoor will have increased and heavier drinking among youth people.

"Found that teens with alcohol use disorders show greater activity in areas of the brain previously linked to reward, desire, postive affect and episodic recall in response to alcoholic beverage advertisements..."(Jernigan). This means that alcohol advertising has a effect on youth who are already heavy drinkers. This article discussed methods to finding this information from research. 13 is the average age of initiation into alcohol use in the U.S.

Alcohol internet advertising was researched in which 55 alcohol company websites were tracked. Many of these sites had video games, free music downloads, and screen savers. In 2003 almost 700,000 underage youths visited these sites. http://www.bacardi.com/ had 60% of the views from underage people http://www.skyy.com/ had half of its viewers underage. This is an alarming amount of youth visiting these alcohol sites. The way they heard about these products were from other advertisments from the media, and these advertisments were clearly effective because they caught these youths interest and made them explore more into it. Budweisser was the most popular beer website. To reduce this exposure, the trade associations revised standards for alcohol ad placements.

Work Cited:
Jernigan, David H., Joshua Ostroff, and Craig Ross. "Alcohol Advertising and Youth: A Measured Approach." Journal of Public Health Policy 26.3 (2005): 312-325. JSTOR

Pepsi, the Superbowl, and the Internet

For the 2010 Super Bowl, Pepsi announced that they were not going to be a sponsor. I was completely surprised by this decision because they had been a sponsor for the past 23 years. Millions of fans watch the Super Bowl and Pepsi was a popular company in which viewers looked forward to their commercials. They have had famous celebrities in their commercials in the past such as Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, and Ozzy Osbourne.

Pepsi was making a risky choice on pulling out of the super bowl and instead to advertise online. It could either be a success or fail.

The internet is gaining popularity for advertising aiming to attract Generation X, Generation Y, the Millenial Generation, or baby boomers. Internet technology has major advantages. Companies are able to have their ads be effectively targeted to the right demographics (age, income, location).

"By providing the proper consumer profile and keywords, an Internet Advertiser is able to place their ads in front of prospects at a much lower per image cost than tradition media advertising" (Weaver).

Internet advertising has the advantage of being cheaper then other types of advertising but my question is how effective it really is. I know I don't usually pay attention to the internet ads when I am online trying to do something. I don't think Pepsi should have made such a drastic decision by turning away from the super bowl. It was a very big risk.

Source:

Weaver, Rick. "Pepsi drops Super Bowl ads, emphasizes Internet advertising." Review. Web log post. Examiner. 17 Dec. 2009. Web. .

Web sites selling cigarettes: how many are there in the USA and what are their sales practices?

I found this article very interesting. The reason for this article choice is that I always wondered how smokers could save money on cigarettes due to the never ending increase of state taxes. Currently, cigarettes in Connecticut are almost up to $8 a pack. This article was written in 2001 so I am sure the number of online purchases have greatly increased since the state has not slowed down on taxing smokers.

Tobacco products are a major retail item in the USA. In 2001, there were over 47 million adults and 4 million teenagers who smoked cigarettes. The annual sales of tobacco products exceed $40 billion.

Smokers usually purchase cigarettes by the pack or by the carton from local retail outlets but there is new competition that can be found online from a growing number of e-commerce sites. Due to the fact that there are more people online, these online outlets are getting an increase in sales. "Increased state taxes on cigarettes have fueled demand among smokers who seek refuge from escalating retail prices".

Cheap cigarettes can be found now just a click away.

There are over 130 sites selling cigarettes in which at least three dozen of them are operated by the Senecca Indians in Western New York.

Some promotional strategies these sites use include reduce price specials, free gifts with purchase, and monthly specials. The purchasing method included buyers could order directly online or by phone and the most common used payment method was credit card. These sites sold a wide range of cigarette products that include premium, discounts, and value brand.

The problem found in all of this is that it was found that only 28% of the sites had the US Surgeon General Warning. However, 81% had a warning about the minimum age of sale for tobacco products.

Many states fear that the growth of sales online will lead to decreased cigarette tax revenues. In a prospective view; "Forrester Research estimated that in 2005, 14% of tobacco sales will occur online and that states will lose an estimated $1.4 billion in tax revenue. My feelings on this is simple, let the smokers buy cigarettes from where ever they want. If buying online is legal, which it is and will save them money, and they want to continue to smoke, then it is a good deal for them. The state tax smokers all the time with a very significant increase each time so if they are going to lose so much money on not getting cigarette taxes from smokers then tax someone else. I'm sure there are other items/ people that states can tax to make up for that loss. It is unfair to the smokers to be continously taxed so if they have somewhere else to buy them other then locally and it happens that the state is losing money from them, oh well.

Source:

Kim, A.E., Ribisl M.K., & Williams S.R. "Websites Selling Cigarettes: How Many Are There in the U.S.A and What Are Their Sales Practices. Tobacco Control. 2001. JSTOR. BMJ Publishing Group. 352-359

Mainstream is what sells

The Long Tail by Chris Anderson.

This article can be perceived in two different ways. You can either agree with Chris Anderson’s perspective that “the future of entertainment is in the millions of niche markets at the shallow end of the bitstream” or question his general point. I felt like this article attacks the mainstream hardcore. I agree that there are sales and demand for different things that aren’t as a popular but what I took out of this article was the complete criticism and judgment on mainstream and what is “trendy”.

“This is the world of scarcity. Now, with online distribution and retail, we are entering a world of abundance. And the differences are profound”.

I understand others want more than just hits and what is popular but for a business perspective, mainstream is what sells. This is what people demand and desire and that is the purpose for any business; to meet the customers needs. “There is plenty of great entertainment with potentially large, even rapturous national audiences that cannot clear the bar”. This may be true but why take the risk. The decision for a business to take on “potential” hits is not worth the time when they can carry guaranteed winners. Money is involved in these risks and I think it is completely understandable for places to not take it and risk their reputation. For example, if Wal-Mart carried unheard of music to the public that wasn’t mainstream, not only would they be missing out on sales but also losing their reputation of carrying what most consumers really desire. The point of any major successful business is to please the majority; not the smaller group that may like it.

I work at a movie theatre and we have had “non-hit” movies and they fail. It is pointless for the theatre to carry an indie flick that will maybe attract the thirty college students all night long. Instead of wasting those show times and theatre space it would make more sense for the business to have more showings of the movie that has been selling out or the top ten weekend box office hits. These unheard of movies that don’t have any promotion fail attendance wise; they don’t bring in any crowd worth getting the movie. Mainstream sells. Mainstream keeps the business afloat and the paychecks coming. Online distribution works for others taste. Online is the place to go for changes so don’t criticize businesses and the mainstream. If you want variety and not just mainstream, online is the place for you.

Based on mainstream, advertising has significant effect to convince people that this is what they want. But that is what sells. Regardless of how it is being sold, it is what is demanded thus making it priority and easily available for purchase. If you are looking for something less popular then at least you can go online but I don’t expect anything but mainstream being the main focus for selling in stores anytime soon.

Anderson, Chris. "The Long Tail." Wired 12.10 (2006)

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail_pr.html