Blogging 411

McHungry

2008-04-17T21:00:00.005-05:00

Here's the video that I created to raise awareness about the harsh realities of world hunger. (Per my class assignment of course!)

Online Banking Turns Literal

2008-04-01T10:59:00.005-05:00

The Business Bank of Texas has given online banking a whole new definition. As one of Austin's newest banks, Business Bank of Texas has strategized a new way of helping business owners with their financial needs by doing away with tellers, long lines, drive-thrus, and even a lobby! Almost all transactions are completed via the world wide web.
Potential customers are personally contacted via phone by bank founder and Chairman, Ed Lette and his chief financial officer. During these sales calls, business owners are persuaded to join the bank through incentives such as:
saving on monthly fees (because everything is electronic)
access to latest technology like electronic check cashing and payroll debit cards
So what does this mean exactly for one-on-one customer relations? Has it been thrown by the wayside?
Heck no! In fact, Michael Andrews, an analyst for SNL Financial says this gives the one branch bank the opportunity to build stronger networks, spend more time making loans, and working with individuals.
For now, this is the only bank like it in the area. A test trial if you will. However, since more and more people are resorting to technological conveniences like the internet, this may be the way of the future?

VH1 and Social Media, A Common Bond

2008-03-18T13:05:00.007-05:00

Here's a link to our Podcast :) We (Christina Timms, Mikela Floyd, Sivan Behar) interviewed Kristin Davis, who is the Digital Marketing Coordinator at VH1.

Show Notes:

Helloooooo Mac

2008-02-25T15:11:00.005-06:00

So I finally caved in an bought a MacBook. But not before doing some research and asking questions. When it comes to Macs, I knew the perfect Citizen Marketer to ask . . . Corinne of course! She's a Mac expert, or should I say a Fanatic.
I must admit it cost an arm and a leg for my puny budget, but I also must admit all their ads that CLAIM they are simple, user friendly, better than pc, blah, blah- actually turned out to be true.

Who'd of thought an ad actually preaches what it sells?

A Marketing Campaign for Teens by Teens

2008-02-19T16:46:00.006-06:00

MORE EVIDENCE ON WHY SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CREDIT UNION'S
Y GENERATION WORKS!!!
Superior FCU in Lima, Ohio was approached by the Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) at Lima Senior High about collaborating on a marketing project. What they developed was a whole marketing campaign using various social media tools.
The campaign was created by the students and then after six weeks of prep work, the students pitched their ideas to the client-SuperiorFCU. The campaign aimed at attracting the Y generation group and to do so, a myspace account was created a long with a few videos which can be seen here. Six videos were created in all and one (from what I gather) aired on the first 20 seconds of American Idol's season finale. I personally think they are kind of cheesy, but the whole concept is fantastic; a campaign for teens created by teens!
FYI: Based on an article published in the Credit Union Journal, as of December 2007, the campaign had generated 150 new accounts.

Here's the video I found the most amusing:
yChecking... Good for Teens, and for Parents

Add to My Profile | More Videos

YouTube for Credit Unions

2008-02-10T23:00:00.000-06:00

Last week's presentation by Citizen Marketers' co-author, Jackie Huba brought an interesting point to mind after our discussion about using social media as a tool for reaching various markets. Huba mentioned that the culture of the organization is key in determining whether this technological tool could/would be effective. So going on this thought, I continued to contemplate the question I posed in class.... Why is the board at the credit union where I work so against using blogging if it is a such a powerful tool that can be used positively to attract, educate, and reach tech-y generations?!?! Then I stumbled (well not really I was intentionally trying to find something to prove my point!) onto this:

Larissa Walkiw, a 19-year-old girl is the "spokester" for Young and Free and is collaborating with Common Wealth Credit Union to create awareness for their under 25 age group. Check out this video: to see just how she got involved and how this idea evolved.

Her video blog explains the difference between credit unions and banks in very simple terms. It was created in an effort to attract and educate generation Y members.

The video was posted the last week of January, and by the following Monday afternoon, the video blog had been viewed nearly 4k times. Two weeks in and it has been viewed over 11k times!

Planning a Disney Vacation? Look no further....

2008-02-04T16:45:00.000-06:00

Who said a person has/should consult with a travel agent to arrange their flight and vacation itinerary to the Disney theme parks (or for that matter anywhere)? That's old school! Now, thanks to blogs, Disney enthusiasts like John Frost, who is featured on three whole pages in chapter one of our book, The New Influencers, can babble on and on about his favorite pass-time and can even put on his travel agent hat and do all the work for people looking to visit the world of Disney! But its not just senseless babble! Frost's blog, TheDisneyBlog.com informs many of his blog loyalists and other Disney aficionados about movies including the upcoming pixar film, Wall-E,

the weather around the theme parks. And anything else anybody could possibly want to stay in the ">
While Frost's site is not legitmatley acknowledged by the Disney corportation, his site has upwards of 3k readers. Which just goes to prove that the average personcan definatley exercise their power to have an impact on any business whether or not they are on the payroll spreadsheet!

3D Shopping Fun!

2008-02-04T10:13:00.000-06:00

For those of us who love to shop but hate the crowds, www.kinset.com offers the perfect solution!

The Kinset Store is the first online 3D shopping mall that allows users to browse, linger, and scan through virtual aisles filled with shelves full of their favorite products.

From a marketing standpoint, Kinset targets those shoppers who stick to "traditional" shopping because of the frustrations of online shopping. In order to combat those who hate online shopping because of the inability to browse and physically look at/touch the purchase items, Kinset powered by today's techonological advances allow internet shoppers to point the mouse at the products from the shelves and be able to read the backside.

The Kinset virtual store currently offers a bookstore supplied by Brookstone, INC. (Brookstone is the first national retailer to launch a 3D online store) and an electronics emporium with over 10,000 items for purchase.

While more and more national retailers join Kinset in revamping the way customers think of online shopping, this is not to say that traditional shopping will be thrown by the wayside. For those retail stores that join this E-Commerce breakthrough, "Kinset [will track] shoppers’ activity and lets retailers compare results using detailed analytical output. Because Kinset stores can closely mirror real world store designs, retailers can quickly learn the effect on shoppers of small changes in their real stores, and then act upon their resultant “retail intelligence."

Dear fanatics........take it one notch down please

2008-01-29T21:52:00.000-06:00

The first chapter in Citizen Marketers discusses the concept of the 4 F's: Filters, Fanatics, Facilitators, and Firecrackers. For this blog specifically, I draw my attention to the Fanatics. These are described as people who are true believers of a particular product, brand, organization, or person. They praise great work but they don't hesitate to call "you" out on any mistakes. They are a true representation of people who go ALL out for something they are passionate about and thus can be considered a tool for social media. And, they do all of this for free! WOW!!! I can't help to think these people have some serious time on their hands. Don't get me wrong, I partake in filtering and some fanaticism as well, but I usually engage in word of mouth, be it good or bad. This is just too much....

I guess its just the lazy, overworked (ha!) college student in me?

Sex Ed via Video Blogging

2008-01-29T11:27:00.001-06:00

A group of non profit reproductive health organizations launched a video blogging contest which challenged teens to openly discuss their experiences with sex education in the classroom. The Fresh Focus Video Contest asked teens to answer the question "Why is sex so interesting and sex ed so boring?" The videos were to be presented in one of two forms: students could share their personal experience in reproductive health classes, detailing both what was useful and what wasn’t. Or, they could redesign the sex ed curriculum indicating how they would they like to the subject taught?

Although recently concluded, the contest brought many submissions. Some bold, honest and provocative. The 1st place winner, Kylee Darcy, took home a $3,500 scholarship for her video, Talking to the Hand.

---I think this is an excellent example of how the younger generations are steering off to other places to get their once "traditional" education. Andy Carvin, an author and internet activist, wrote an interesting piece on this contest bringing up a good question about whether this form of creative expression using social media is more engaging to students and the younger generations than conventional teaching methods? I think so.