May 2012
1 post
1 tag
“Sometimes, when a client doesn’t e-mail me back for a few days, I think,...”
February 2012
1 post
7 tags
Communal Content Management
It has been a few years now since marketing departments jumped onto social media and scrambled to develop a interactive brand presence.
Commonly referred to as a “Community Manager,” the person-in-charge of the efforts has varied widely between companies and over time. I see the evolution path like this:
1. The Social Media Intern: Find a college student with some extra time, and...
January 2012
2 posts
6 tags
When does Account Management change?
As I transition back into advertising account management, I’ve been thinking about the role in our digital age.
Rapid changes in technology and digital communications has caused advertising to constantly reconsider the most relevant media. New job titles debut every month to accommodate the change, and agencies spring up to specialize in new areas.
So where does that leave account...
October 2011
1 post
9 tags
Merging Customer Loyalty and Social Media 2
In this second post, I am applying another topic from the article to SMS:
Customer Segmentation
Industry publications like to report on how social media affects customer loyalty. I would like to ask the exact opposite question: How does a customer loyalty strategy affect social media?
I remember a significant discussion in business school about the implications of customer loyalty. Are loyal...
September 2011
1 post
6 tags
Merging Customer Loyalty and Social Media 1
One of my favorite articles from business school is ’The Mismanagement of Customer Loyalty,’ from the June 2002 Harvard Business Review. The piece is the authors’ reaction to costly CRM programs with ineffective measurement tools. Read it here.
In my next few blog posts, I’ll take some concepts from this article, and apply them to 2011’s Social Media Strategy (SMS)....
4 tags
Musicians Could Be Great Tweeters
Having a performing arts background has helped me in my social media strategizing. In singing, playing instruments, and speaking, one must first understand their audience before they can plan a program. Choosing the time and location is a positioning tactic to engage the right people.
Even though performances are rarely two-way conversations, the best performer knows when an audience becomes...
August 2011
2 posts
6 tags
Tablets are the Key for Small Businesses
A girl walks into a bar. She receives a 30-page menu detailing her cocktail choices. She looks through it for 20 minutes, can’t remember which one she liked, and just orders a gin and tonic.
Small to mid-sized businesses may have never considered purchasing a tablet PC (namely the iPad), but I am here to tell you they should! Tablets can solve many organizational and operations problems,...
July 2011
4 posts
Maybe Twitter’s ‘lists’ would be more popular if they had been called ‘circles’ instead.
3 tags
I think Ebay would be much cooler if the bidding happened more like Twitter. Each buyer uses their handle to bid real-time on the product’s page. They can see the other bids going up, just like a real life auction. In fact, why don’t we all do our bidding and selling on a Twitter auction page and forget the Ebay site?
There are probably logistical issues, but I’ll keep thinking...
I’ve learned that research is 50% about the information, and 50% about how you present it.
7 tags
Social Media Grades: Luxury Hotel Brands
Much of the luxury hotel industry has been slow to adopt social media. The good news is, a few brands are setting encouraging examples. I had previously done some research on luxury hotel chains online. Below I outline some interesting and a couple poor social media pages that I’ve picked out from my research.
Note: I conducted this research a few months ago and many pages have been...
June 2011
3 posts
“If we are ever in doubt about what to do, it is a good rule to ask ourselves...”
– ~John Lubbock
4 tags
What I Learned (from my internship)
At the end of my 3-month internship in an advertising agency, I took some time to think and reflect on all I’ve seen and done. I’ve come a long way in understanding account services, and the ups and downs of agency life. Of course the majority of what I learned was useful job skills: writing briefs, client relations, coordinating production, balancing client requests with creative...
Freelancing?
At the height of a service-based, free information economy, I ask: can we all be freelancers?
I’ve set out to see just how possible this is for us account handlers.
May 2011
5 posts
8 tags
Agency of the Year 2050
Can the traditional advertising agency structure survive forever? There have been countless discussions on this topic, but I feel I must write it in my own words.
If I were to start my own ideal agency in a sustainable format, I would go for a network structure. (See an overview here)
My network structure would include ‘nodes’ of each traditional agency department. Each node is an...
6 tags
6 tags
Hashtags are the new "Googling"
Do you remember when we would “google” someone’s name to learn more about them? There are so many more venues to choose from now!
For brands, I’d like to suggest Twitter’s hashtag search. Already obvious for many companies, reviewing one’s online presence includes unathorised posts by the general public. Online information about your brand is available, whether...
What if dynamic pricing is the wave of the future?
————READER COMMENT————-
Now, I’ve seen that local businesses have flexible pricing after all! Bargaining, apparently, is back on the table.
I think this is spot-on. But what if negotiations were always on the table? For example I always ask for a discount while shopping and small biz’s almost always give you a discount. What gpon and...
8 tags
Discount Deal Websites
My Thoughts on Group Deal Sites
In light of the recent Facebook Deals launch, the world is now fully awake to the “group discounting” fad. It seems this service (product) category has quickly reached maturity, with a proliferation of these websites. Although I adore discounts, I must add myself to the list of skeptics on this one.
Using Groupon, Living Social, and similar sites have...
April 2011
7 posts
5 Briefs in before noon
Not bad for an intern, eh?
4 tags
How to apply for a job in 140 Chars
If you think you can carefully craft the perfect 140 impressive characters to get you a job offer on the spot—well you can’t.
But you can expertly leverage your twitter towards the job you desire.
The point is not to wow with every post, but concentrate on your long-term “brand positioning.” Companies are struggling to do this themselves, so lead the way! Think of who...
Reach Higher
My current goal is to convince the marketing field that “Social Media” and “Intern” should not be in the same job title
My App Idea
Here’s my completely serious new idea:
A Google-analytics style mobile application that organizes the data trends of one’s hook-ups. The user can instantly see reports of the average age, income level, attractiveness, education level, etc, of all their partners!
When someone asks you the dreaded question “What is your type?” no need to think. Just consult the app:...
It's still amazing to me
that so many people are saying the same things about social media. Me, my industry contacts, top agency directors (as quoted below). And still, it seems 75% of companies’ social media usage is under-performing. I hope to get my head around this, and become better-versed at some solutions.
“I think the real change is how consumers choose to interact with brands. How...”
– Campaign magazine, 11 March 2011 “Are ‘traditional’ agencies made for social media?” pg. 19
March 2011
8 posts
Introspective Lunch
I keep touting to the digitally-interested about how brands need to plan out their social media strategy. Today I realise that even though I’m still a learner, it is hypocritical of me to not have my own strategy for my ‘personal brand’ and express it well online.
So during my lunch break I’m going to start the process. Daunting at best, expressing my purpose in a consise...
“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t...”
– ~G.B. Shaw, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, 1893
Social Media Grades: Premium alcohol brands
This is my first social media report. I’ve been doing some research for a few clients on social media, and have been generally disappointed with what is out there. Some brand understand the concept and are doing well, while so many others are just spinning wheels.
It’s not enough for a company to start a facebook page under their name, or let an intern tweet constantly. Any online...
Toast →
Today I received the ‘Toast’ men’s clothing catalog in the mail. I have never in my life been so captivated by a piece of junk mail. I actually dropped what I was doing and began to rip it apart, selecting which beautiful flower photos and mesmerizing model poses I wanted to put up on my walls. Now that is a successful direct mailing.
Google at it again →
I thought that Google Wave (and/or Buzz) was their “big entrance” into social media. Looks like they’re regrouping to try again!
Angel's Social Media Categories
Through my various research projects on social media, I have just jotted down my own categories of social media usage from the brands I’ve seen. This is not a comprehensive list but I am working towards one. If you have seen a usage category not already listed here, let me know! I’ll add it. As far as I’m concerned, companies want to include all 13 of these—the higher up...
Novariosity
Our line of work thrives off of people’s general novelty-seeking behaviors. Realistically we play off it to make a living. In fact, I believe the affinity for variety is so strong that it can override logic in many decisions. And quite possibly that has contributed to the demise of long-term monogamy in my generation. As we learned in basic college psychology, choices are inversely related...
Principal Hayley →
Finally! The site I’ve been working on for WEEKS has gone live! Check it out :)
February 2011
14 posts
“In the early days, digital was always an afterthought, so we didn’t acknowledge...”
– —Edward Boches, Mullen’s chief innovative officer.
As seen in Fast Company’s report, “The Future of Advertising,”
A Modern Alphabet Soup
As a young ad agency intern, I am increasingly made aware of the need for digital skills. So this weekend, it is my hypo-office work mission to research the types of skills I can teach myself, get certified at, or at least become familiar with.
I am continuously seeking advice and more input on this list. Right now, I think a good start is looking into:
SEO keywords (which I have already jumped...
Recently in Ad News
After reading loads of advertising news sources (and even the regular daily news!) over the past few days, I came up with my own little hypothesis on future of digital media advertising. I would love to hear some feedback on what other’s think one way or the other.
1. If you are a traditional agency with no presence in digital, you’ll survive for more years to come.
You may have to...
Anecdotal
Hilarious: turns out I’ve been seeing a certain TV advert over and over and thinking, a (background) girl on there looks EXACTLY like one of my co-workers at the ad agency. Today, I find out, it WAS her, and WE did those adverts… hahaha!
I clearly need to read more of our client file archives.
“Some days it seems that I am living the immigrant dream in reverse, starting...”
– Garrison Keillor, Leaving Home: a collection of Lake Wobegon Stories
Glasterday
I’m the type of person that likes to relax on the weekends by going somewhere new and enjoying the sights, sounds, and surroundings. Today was such a Saturday. I started off with a morning run, on which I discovered that I am living a ten-minute walk from one of the most amazing, serene nature parks in the Edinburgh area! I wanted to go back with a video camera, that’s how much I want...
“Diligence is the mother of good luck.
- Benjamin Franklin”
EOD Friday
At the end of my first full week, I am proud to say I have sucessfully written TWO (2) creative briefs for one of our client’s projects. There’s one of my major internship goals accomplished! Still much more to learn though
Yoghurt. →
I’ve been doing some research for one of our new clients (full advertising and even possible POS promotions campaign). Ours is a yogurt (yoghurt) producer that wants to show off its “local sourcing.” So I found a comparable U.S. company as an example. To me, Stonyfield’s home page advert is super cheesy! BUT it really gets the point across.
Sad to see a local Portland business go corporate!
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=95168&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1500063&highlight=
I hope YoCream stays the same. I love them.
Reading Materials
While I have breaks during the day at my internship, I’m trying to read up on the IPA http://www.ipa.co.uk/Default.aspx. It seems to be a very reputable organization over here.
2/2 both ways
My first day at the ad agency was great! I was actually given real projects to work on. And everybody is SO helpful.
I’m afraid I’m going to get addicted to tea again. Today: 3 cups. And 2 of coffee. Tomorrow?
October 2009
2 posts
http://bit.ly/17nj7i
