Last week our class met with Chris Morata. Morata is a UI Designer from Lakeland, Fl. When speaking with my class, he discussed his life and career, and taught us how to “build our own personal brand.”

Morata started by giving advice on how to improve our resumes. One of the more notable things he said was that if we didn’t have experience, we should go out and actively make our own experience. He used himself as an example, when he didn’t have much experience to put on his resume, he would search out project to do for friends and people within the community. He would make websites for people. With each website, he gained experience, he honed his skills, and he had one more piece to put on his resume.

Morata extensively went over how he built his own personal brand and how we could do the same. He began with how to “build your brand collateral.” He discussed how social media plays an important part in this. He told us to “google” ourselves. Do any hits show up about us? How many? He told us the more hits we can achieve the higher our brand collateral could become.

Then he discussed the method of “working on presentation.” Especially in the advertising business, presentation is everything. Not only is it important to effectively present our own pieces of work, but it is important to first be able to effectively present ourselves to our clients, coworkers, and possible hires. Then he discussed how to “market yourself.” In his case he came up with his own logo created from his name.

In this way, he was able toe turn himself into a type of brand with a special tone and flair completely unique to himself. Finally, he finished his discussion by explaining we must constantly and consistently “refine” ourselves. That could be from refining yourself as a “brand” or refining your own personal website and social media presence. 

Chris Morata’s lecture was probably one of the most helpful lectures of the semester in terms of giving advice on how to set yourself apart from others within the job market. He gave us many links and resources to further help us and was very instrumental in teaching us personal branding, I really enjoyed meeting him.

It looks like people don’t mind paying for Hulu

On Tuesday, Hulu CEO announced that Hulu now has over 2 million paid subscribers using Hulu+. Every month Hulu+ users pay $7.99, much like Netflix users, to use Hulu’s premium features. Hulu has begun to expand like Netflix as well, offering original content and account availability on iPad, iPhone, PlayStation, and many other devices. What does this mean for advertising? Well, last year Hulu generated $420 million in advertising and subscription revenues, a 60% increase from 2010.

Along with CEO Jason Kilar’s announcement, there has been news of changes to Hulu’s ad pricing system. Hulu’s Senior Vice President of Advertising JP Colaco has stated, “Hulu advertisers will not be charged unless their advertisement has been streamed through completion; in other words, an advertisement that has been 100% delivered. There will be no extra cost to Hulu advertisers for this service.” As of now 90% of Hulu’s advertising creative is repurposed from television advertising. Hulu CEO Jason Kilar said, “There is a great opportunity [for advertisers] to be smarter and get better results… One of the first rules of advertising is to be easy to buy. And it’s easy to take existing creative and use it and leverage it in an environment that’s familiar, the 30-second spot.”  Kilar’s right, but developing advertising creative specifically optimized for Hulu could lead to great potential that advertisers shouldn’t miss out on. 

(Source: Hulu Now Has 2 Million Paying Subscribers and Advertisers on Hulu Only Pay When 100% of the Ad Is Streamed)

‘Tumblr’ is the new ‘blog’

According to Google’s data, Tumblr will overtake blog in search terms as soon as the end of 2012. Many already see Tumblr as synonymous with the word, “blog,” and due to Tumblr’s increasing popularity, Tumblr just might replace the word blog in internet user’s minds. 

Check out this graph provided by Mashable:

How do you search for blogs? or do you already search for tumblrs instead? And what does this mean for advertisers? Well unfortunately, CEO David Karp is adamantly opposed to cluttering Tumblr with advertising. He said, “Our attitude toward all this attention on Tumblr, which we could very easily throw a Google AdSense on and be profitable tomorrow — that’s so far down the list, I mean, we’re selling our desks to avoid that, it’s a complete last resort.” 

(Source: ‘Tumblr’ to Overtake ‘Blog’ in Google Searches)

For the most part, I feel makeup companies always hit the mark with their email campaigns, especially those with large online communities. Sephora, Coastal Scents, NYX, and many others do great email campaigns where they offer coupons, highlight products, and remind you about online deals. I have bought many makeup products online using the coupon codes that were emailed to me, as well as checked out products that were highlighted in the emails.

In contrast, I just don’t like Ebay’s email campaigns. I feel like they are never exciting, they never grab my attention, they are so generic and boring, and they are always cluttered with information and deals that I never read the emails even when I open them, it’s too much. And for some reason, I think the timing of the emails is just totally off, or I get 4 or 5 emails a week that it becomes monotonous. Ebay is just trying to hard with their email campaigns in my opinion. 

Instagram bought up by Facebook!?

It’s now old news that Facebook purchased the popular mobile photo sharing app. The whole Instagram community was in a frenzy. Many people were reminded they are still the 99% by the one BILLION dollar buy out by Facebook, and many instagram users, disliking the merge, wanted to delete their Instagram accounts. But if you’re a an avid Instagram user, have no fear, Mashable has given us an article that sheds some light into the future of Instagram. According to the article, Zuckerberg will not compromise Instagram’s assessibility, by not just limiting sharing photos to Facebook, you can still tweet your photos, guys! He also explained “the company will be building on Instagram’s strengths and features and growing the app independently rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.” 

(Source: Facebook Buys Instagram for $1 Billion)

A Look into American Pro Gaming

Mashable provides an extensive look into the popularity of StarCraft II and how StarCraft and other popular video games have allowed video gaming to be transformed into a huge national sport. Just think of the opportunities! Mashable reveals how gamers can now make a profitable career out of their hobbies, winning trophies, sponsorships, and thousands at gaming conventions and tournaments, but think about what this means for the future of advertising. There is already a great deal of advertising geared towards the growing gaming community. Examples in the past include Mountain Dew giving away Battlefield 3 points for purchases of Mountain Dew bottles, and Dr. Pepper has done similar things with the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 game. There are countless ads built into video games, such as billboards of different products appearing when walking around maps, or racing cars. Products become the video games, just look at Disney and the Kingdom Heart’s franchise. With the pro gaming community expanding, there will be more and more unique opportunities for companies and products to advertise.

(Source: StarCraft II and the Rise of American Pro Gaming)

Iran might be pulling a China

Reports have been circulating that Iran plans to shut out internet access outside of its own country and build an internal infrastructure of networks that can be easily monitored by the government. By doing this, the government will cut its citizens access to the global internet as well as block many outside sites such as Google and Hotmail. As of now all Iranian web traffic passes through a National Gateway that filters western content, but many savvy Iranian internet users can easily bypass this ban by using proxies. According to an official statement released, the reports are baseless and Iran does not plan to shut off global internet to its people, even though statements from Reza Taghipour, the Iranian minister for Information and Communications Technology, have confirmed the internet shut down as early as August. As of now the future is unclear for Iran’s netizens, but I’m hoping their rights and their internet won’t be taken away from them.

Situation Analysis

SWOT Analysis

Strengths: Knowledgeable with electronics, College degree, young and in tune to pop culture and cultural issues, Zimmerman Advertising Program backing, creative mind, always wanting to learn and grow, determined, experienced in fast-paced setting, experienced in sales and customer service, experienced in managerial duties and team building exercises.

Weaknesses: Quiet-spoken, shy in new settings, not nearly as much understanding of Photoshop, InDesign, and other programs used within the job field as the technical institution counterparts (though to balance this out there is a greater understanding of brand strategy).

Opportunities: Tampa market is 14^th largest media market in the United States.

Threats: Competitive workforce, many college graduates as well as graduates from technical institutes whom have more training in application techniques.

Assessments

Competitive Analysis

Competitors include college graduates with mass communications degrees, business degrees, marketing degrees, and quite possibly any bachelor’s degree. Competitors also include graduates from technical institutions and art institutions who have a greater understanding of the tools used within the advertising field. Those who are already in the job market are also a competitor for the amount of experience they have acquired.

In the Tampa market competitors include graduates from Florida Universities as well as special ad schools, such as Miami Ad School. Graduates from close by institutions such as The Art Institute of Atlanta are also competitors. While the shear number of university graduates being competed against will make the job search difficult, the knowledge of those in technical institutions will also play a big factor when competing within the job market.

Market Analysis

Market segments include but not limited to:

• Creative – an area I would like to excel in to potentially be an art director or copywriter within the advertising market.

• Digital media – a niche area I would like to be an expert in to excel in my career and cater to the growing and prominent digital market.

Focus and Goal Setting

Ideally searching for a job close in the Tampa Bay Area would be a good starting point, then once there is enough gained experience, traveling overseas would be a goal. Looking into small local agencies to begin with, and then branching out to bigger more established agencies once familiar within the job market.

Agencies I will look into and apply for would include:

• 22 Squared: http://www.22squared.com/

• Trickey Jennus: http://trickeyjennus.com/

• MDG Advertising: http://www.mdgadvertising.com/

Marketing Program

Product: I believe the way in which everyone thinks sets us apart from one another, I am a creative individual and have always been a creative. I enjoy art, drawing, sketching, writing, reading, photography, cinematography, anything that can channel our creative thoughts and ideas.

Pricing: Starting salary would be for as much as an agency is willing to give me, I don’t believe in this economy a graduate fresh out of college should be picky about prices, but ideally an average starting salary would be $25,000 in the southern market. If I wanted a higher starting salary I would think of moving up North, but to me, the cost of picking up and moving away from my family and friends would not be worth the extra money, at least as of right now. According to PayScale.com the national average of an art director salary would be $34,000 to $88,000 and the national average of a copywriter salary would be $26,000 to $67,000. Though, I am aware those in the Southern markets get paid less than average, and starting salaries are probably much less.

Place: I would first look for jobs in the Tampa Bay Area, and then branch out to Miami and Orlando areas. Eventually I would like a job overseas in Japan, Korea, or other nations that surpass the United States digitally and in technology.

Promotion: because I do not have any experience in the advertising market, I will focus on my ZAP Degree until I can obtain an internship. Other than that I hope my portfolio will be a sufficient amount of promotion as I continue to make my pieces better and add to my online portfolio.

Resume online – http://luciaalexander.com/post/18908176063/resume at http://www.luciaalexander.com

I was fortunate enough to be able to visit Spark Ad Agency with my classmates last week. We were able to speak with Digital Technologist, Daniel Melick, who gave us a first hand look at the agency lifestyle, tips and tricks for acquiring a career in advertising, advice on resume building, as well as a tour of the different departments of Spark. 

Daniel Melick familiarized us with the inner-workings of his integrated digital ad agency, explaining the client process, client and agency relationships, and new business prospects. What was surprising to me is when asked about how Spark usually goes about new business procedures Melick made it clear that the stress of new business is sometimes not worth acquiring more clients. For example, there are many different facets to consider, the type of client, the attitude of the client, down to the kind of product that motivates new business. Melick gave an example that in the case of new business with a client that produces something like hemorrhoid cream, Melick noted that’s probably not a campaign he’d want to work on. Just recently Melick’s agency, Spark, helped produce a community website that helped connect disabled individuals and their family members and gave them the opportunity to speak to those who understood their trials and tribulations. Something like that is motivating for Melick and Spark agency.

A piece I took away from the discussion is Melick’s advice on resume building. He explained a lot of different cases in which students have tried to stand apart from the rest in terms of resume finesse, but the most important insight is when Melick said if one can show examples of a challenge, a proposal to that challenge, and the execution to strategic solutions, that it will reveal you can think in the same way as those in the professional world. I think I’ll make some adjustments to my resume to fulfill those ideals.

Melick answered questions about html, coding, internet branding strategies, and then showed us the different departments of Spark agency with a quick tour. The agency is beautiful and modern looking, with its own studio, which Melick noted brings in lots of business as it is one of the only production studios in the area.

I was very glad to be able to visit an agency in my area and speak to such a helpful and engaging professional as Daniel Meilck.

Is censoring Pro-ana content working?

Both Tumblr and Pinterest have banned pro-ana content on their websites. Just a short while after Tumblr put a ban on content that “actively promotes or glorifies self-injury or self-harm,” Pinterest has added a legal notice in their user agreement as well, stating any contecnt that “creates a risk of harm, loss, physical or mental injury, emotional distress, death, disability, disfigurement or physical or mental illness to yourself, to any other person, or to any animal,” will not be tolerated. Even then, there really hasn’t been a change, which makes one wonder how effective censoring pro-ana content really is, or if Tumblr and Pinterest go about addressing the situation by censorship at all. If you search “thinspo” on Pinterest dozens of pro-ana pictures can still be brought up. Dozens of Tumblr pro-ana blogs and self-harm blogs are still large and active even with Tumblr’s ban. Many Tumblr users say the ban is doing more harm than good. I’ve talked to some users who run self-harm blogs, who will remain anonymous, who say censoring these blogs impede upon their freedom of speech. Many users who follow and own such blogs use the internet as an escape so they will not actively engage in the acts they are blogging. These users say by eliminating this, many of these users will lose a lifeline, support system and a community that they feel connected to. There have been many cases where Tumblr users have made “suicide videos,” which through the Tumblr community have been reblogged and gained enough awareness to save these individuals. And I, for one, can’t say if censoring these blogs and ultimately taking away the opportunity for these people to connect to others and instead making them feel even more outcasted is the right or wrong thing to do. Even so, the content is clearly still there, so do you think Tumblr and Pinterest are accurately accessing this controversial situation or are these companies just trying to cover their ass and don’t really care one way or the other?

(source: Pinterest Bans Pro-Anorexia Content to Little Effect)

Well, at least someone likes the new Facebook timeline

For brand pages, the new Facebook timeline is a godsend, boosting brand page engagement an average of 46%. Brands, such as Toyota, have seen their brand engagement jump a whopping 156%, according to Researcher Simply Measured. 

Taken from a 15 page sample size, Simply Measured offered some estimated annual figures. The sample size is admittedly small, but the study does offer some early insights for marketers. 

You can view Mashable for some new page timeline examples, I have to say the new pages are very aesthetically pleasing, it’s no wonder users are engaging longer with the timeline. 

So what does this mean for smaller companies? Well, if you haven’t switched to the new timeline, do it now. As well as implementing more picture and video posts instead of only text-based posts within your brand timeline. It’s interesting to note that many users will engage longer and more frequently with posts that are more visually based. Embrace the timeline! I have, it’s pretty awesome.

(source: Facebook Timeline Provides 46% Lift in Brand Page Engagement [STUDY])

Digital Nation was an interesting documentary, though outdated for today’s time, it delved into the world of internet lifestyles. As someone who grew up within the digital age some parts of the documentary were fascinating, some parts were creepy, and some parts were just downright offensive. 

I personally didn’t like the beginning. The documentary started off as a bunch of ‘the internet is evil’ papaganda. Yes, we all know being on the internet all the time is bad, just as doing too much of anything is bad. For me, the internet isn’t this huge mysterious entity, but it was clear the people being interviewed had very little exposure and wanted to blame the internet for everything wrong in the world. Protect your children from the evil abyss of the internet, will someone please think of the children! I just had to roll my eyes when the narrator refered to online gamers who are “addicted” to online gaming as “causalties of the digital revolution.” Cmon, really? Could this documentary become any more mellow-dramatic?

Turns out it could.

The documenters went to South Korea to show what the evil horrible internet can do to a civilization. Using examples as a South Korean gamer who went from the top of his class to the bottom of his class because of MMORPGS, his mother went on to blame his internet addiction on his innability to communicate. They went into South Korean “internet rescue camps” calling South Korea’s plugged-in community a “public health crisis”.

I find this choice of South Korea problematic for many reasons. First, South Korea’s culture lends itself to a repressed and subjugated generation of workers. The society is nuturious for stiffling their emotions and desires for the greater good of uniformity. The younger generation is taught to be repressed in everything they do, is it any wonder this new younger generation of techies escape to an online life?

By drawing South Korea as a nation that was destroyed by the internet without regarding the highly repressed culture is irresponsible on the documenters’ part because the viewers don’t get to see the whole picture. They just see the internet ruining kids’ lives. Within South Korean culture many believe mental illnesses just don’t exist, and instead of creating “internet rescue camps” for the kids who display obsessive compulsive behaviors, those kids should seek mental counseling for their psychiatric disorder. But of course the only thing highlighted is the powerful destruction of the internet. 

Then we go back home to show the deliquent internet users of the United States, oh what shenanigans will they commit next!

To be frank, the documentary continued to be really off-putting. I can admit, the digital revolution is not without it’s problems, but advancement as a community and civilization is well worth it.

Some interesting moments were close to the end, when it showed Soldiers who were suffering from PTSD use virtual reality therapy to overcome their trauma. It was refreshing to show the benefits of technology rather than making it seem like we’re all bad people and should feel bad for enjoying what the internet has to offer. 

Kris Solberg, a recent USF ZAP graduate and current account manager at Social Forces, was a guest speaker for our Digital Media class. He discussed the marketing process, gave some feedback, and just let students know that as a USF student, we can make it in the industry too.

Kris Solberg graduated from The University of South Florida in 2011. As a student, he was the USF Ad Club President. He moved on to become the Ad 2 Tampa Bay Public Service Account Director and, as mentioned above, the self-appointed account manager at Social Forces, a digital agency in Ybor City. Currently, Social Forces is a small agency of four, whose clients consist of Circle K Florida, Kelapo Coconut Oil, and ICE Woman’s Hockey, as well as other various clients. 

Solberg discussed what his agency produced for their clients, the process of engaging customers, and gave some tips and tricks of the trade. Solberg noted,  ”Fun is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal,” and explained the relaxed atmosphere of his agency that just drew clients in, his advice really stood out for me.

Solberg went into detail about the many different digital campaigns he worked on for Circle K Florida. This just went to show how many potential customers can be gained by small initiatives digitally for small business owners. For example, Solberg explained a “Coffee 500” campaign on the Circle K Florida’s Facebook, in which a simple giveaway garnered 1,000 new likes and 83,000 post views. Solberg noted, “A robust plan of action is one of your biggest tools when growing and managing a community.”

Something that stood out most in my mind is Solberg’s talk about the engagement pyramid. A diagram that shows public engagement marketing. At the base there’s growth, which consists of giveaways and sweepstakes. This is the lowest barrier to entry for potential consumers. There’s lots of response but low engagement. At the peak there’s engagement, such as video entry and creation, this consists of the most involved interaction with the brand. Below is an illustration I found which explains the concepts.

Meeting Kris Solberg ended up being very insightful, if anything it gave me hope that my USF advertising degree can get me somewhere.