How Twitter is useful for finding a job

If someone were to ask how you network, you might say meetings, conferences, LinkedIn and other professional social networking sites. However, I believe Twitter is vastly useful and currently not being utilised to develop relationships between brand and customer but also between professionals.

The rising trend of brands turning to social and also Twitter, emphasises the growing need for businesses to be using this share media space. However, this mass collection of people also opens up the opportunity to meet like-minded individuals to collaborate with.

Just today I was approached with a business opportunity to apply for a job. In the past I have obtained work placements through this social network and I also have friends who have found jobs soon after graduation just through the use of Twitter.

Work aside, I have found others who share my interests in marketing and learning more about digital. On the back of this, I have attended the TFM&A Exhibition in London, joined smaller niche networks, gained two positions in very credible entrepreneurial societies and created a somewhat trending hashtag to find a placement.

These are just a few of my interactions showing an insight into what I have achieved through Twitter so far and its potential for a tool to network. I believe more and more people will adopt this tool in the future and I won’t be surprised if the number of job roles being assigned to applicants through this medium increases.

Have you ever been offered a job through Twitter? Have you found it useful? Or do you think its a waste of time for jobs? Please tell me know on well Twitter @nickwilliamgale

‘Visocial’: My new buzzword

There are so many buzz words in advertising nowadays I decided to create my own.

The term I have coined is “Visocial”. There is research to show that the use of visual content used on social media has a more successful click through rate than other types of communications. It is important for brands to produce content that resonates with its target audience, and arguably no other media is more appealing than visuals. However, it is important to note, integrated use of channels are needed in order for a brand campaign to be effective. A clear example is through Facebook brand pages. Many of the brands use status updates, pictures and videos alongside competitions, downloadable content, all as an integrated approach.

This is also becoming truer in micro blogging. Twitter has also enabled users to upload images and only recently has profile customisation become available for users to create a more visual profile. More evidence if it were needed, showing the growing importance of visual content is the continuing success of the social network, Pinterest. This allows users to create boards surrounding their interests. Although the current primary demographic is affluent elder woman in the US, this is changing to a more mainstream audience.

To apply this neologism to a context: ‘The Snickers Facebook page has manipulated ‘visocial’ to resonate better with its target audience’ or ‘Visocial is a great way for brands to connect with their fans via social channels’.  

What are your view of buzzwords? Are there too many around? Is this confusing? Why not write your suggestions below of others? As always please contact me through Twitter @nickwilliamgale

Campaign Review: Go Compare

 Agency: DARE

The reason I don’t like the Go Compare adverts is not what many have complained about. Claims of trivialising weapons, in the light of many deaths of our soldiers at war or accusations made by Samaritans that the advert humours the subject of suicide are not the issue. Most cartoons on TV would be taken down if we started censoring programmes children watch to that degree including Tom & Jerry.

Instead, my dislike stems from the production of the advert. Through the previous campaign, the brand had cleverly augmented itself a position through its creation of the annoying character of Gio Compario. Dare had the opportunity to listen to the cries of the public to take them down a journey to remove the character from TV screens. Instead the offering is awkward at best, with tedious links to minimal celebrities and what looks like highly-censored acting. It seems as though Dare has missed an opportunity to create a resonating campaign with its target audience and a final removal of the character. I feel the brand is trying to extend the product lifecycle of the Gio which inevitably should come to an end. It’s a shame as this should have been an exciting era for the public to engage with the brand; however it has raised problematic areas of discussion.

What do you think of this ad? Agree or disagree with me please let me know on Twitter @nickwilliamgale or leave a comment.

Campaign Review: Why I like Lynx Excite

A piece of creativity I admire is the Grand Prix, Cannes Lions award winning work for creative-effectiveness of BBH, for Unilever’s brand, Lynx Excite. The campaign entitled “Even Angels Will Fall” depicts a picturesque fantasy scene of celestial creatures plummeting from the heavens in the hunt of the Lynx Excite scent and its wearer.

I believe the brief was to follow on the trend of recruiting young advocates to the brand via social network channels. Additionally, to reignite fallen sales through better alignment of the brand variant to the 11-16 target audience than previous campaigns.

Regarding the success of the campaign, the figures seem impressive; 80,000 Facebook fans, 25,000 likes and 100,000 YouTube video views (source) and a resulting spin off campaign, “Even Goddesses Will Fall”. However, I feel that measuring sentiment on the social platforms is imperative to give the quantifiable figures some context. 

I like this campaign in particular because of TMW’s creative work on social. They directly addressed the importance to personalise communications, which the agency terms “Intelligent Influence” through augmented reality and interactive social media adverts. I particularly like the inclusion of Google Maps, tailoring the visuals and the ability for participants to upload a picture of themselves to be included in the advert.

Moreover, this sophisticated approach to Lynx’s advertising, portraying women as angels rather than ‘sex objects’, tackled the view of Unilever having a schizophrenic brand portfolio. The key example being Dove, which embodies “building self-esteem “and “protecting your daughter” (Dove.co.uk, 2012) of which Lynx seemed to oppose. However, the brand is still sold on ‘sex appeal’ through the social network advertisements but in a much subtler fashion. Furthermore, due to the rising trend of simultaneous media use, I feel an IMC approach was central to the success of this campaign for increased engagement. 

Did you like this campaign? Or do you in fact hate it? Please let me know your thoughts and as always reach out to me on Twitter @nickwilliamgale

The Ingredients to a clever advert

If anyone knew the answer to this they would be very rich. I wish I could tell you the answer to this, if there were a secret formula, however there isn’t…sorry. Instead, I have though come up with two factors that I believe need to be addressed in any advert in order for it to be successful. Additionally, I have included some adverts I find very good for different reasons.

Understanding your audience:

An obvious one? Maybe. However it is imperative that whatever your advert is going to be, using whichever media you prefer, it has to resonate with the target audience. Deciphering the demographics of your audience is just one aspect of segmenting your market. Knowing who buys your product is also important but may not be as simple as you first think.

Let’s take nappies for example. The consumers are the babies and the customers are the parents. However, an advert by Huggies for example needs to appeal to women and men. Arguably, women often purchase the nappies and therefore many advertisers orientate their adverts around this. However, studies have shown that, men who go to the supermarket at the end of the week to buy alcohol for the weekend may also pick up nappies. Therefore, many supermarkets place nappies next to the Alcohol section as a means of Point of Sale.

 
A clear message:

Understanding the context to where your message is being pushed out is vital. There are many examples of companies that have used the same slogan throughout many countries. Schweppes Tonic Water when publicised in Italy translated into ‘Schweppes toilet water’ and General Motors new launch of the Chevy Nova didn’t go down as expected in Spain, only finding out later that ‘Nova’ means ‘does not go’ in Spanish.

This also means using a simple and clear message. Having a billboard with too much writing on it is as much use as promoting a course for beginner internet users on social media networks. A great example of a clear and concise message used in a campaign was the VW Beetle Think Small campaign. Even in the 1960’s clarity was vastly important. This is even more important nowadays with the increasing noise of different medias preventing a message being delivered.   

  












Let me know your thought on this post. What have you seen that has taken your interest? Please let me know what you think by contacting me on Twitter @nickwilliamgale

Facebook keeping pace with Twitter

That’s right, Facebook have only just managed to catch up with progress Twitter have been making on their mobile platform. Facebook has made alterations to its mobile site, adding share buttons for using to engage with content and well share it to make content go more viral.

Previously, criticisms had been voiced that Facebook had been slow to react to the growing emphasis of mobile. According from an article written by Mashable, “Facebook simply never made it a priority.”

The new share button can be found alongside the like and share features available on the mobile application. Prior to now, users have been constricted in using the share facility only on the desktop platform. This transition symbolises the growing need for websites to be mobile ready and if Facebook are still having teething problems, what sort of example is that setting to smaller businesses?

I feel this is an important step because Facebook’s competition is growing and acquisitions such as Instagram, earlier this year, will not cover the consequences of the social network failing to provide a consistent user experience throughout all its platforms.

Do you think this is a necessary step? Is it a significant one? Let me know what you think and by all means contact me on Twitter @nickwilliamgale with any questions or discussions.

Sources:
Mashable Quote: http://mashable.com/2012/11/15/facebook-share-mobile/

Interactive Magazine: Combining Offline with Online

This is a post about a video I saw on Mashable that I believe indicates what the near future holds for advertising. We have all seen and heard about QR codes, the technological that integrates the offline with the online. QR codes have a place in marketing, however they are not user friendly and unless equipped with a smart phone, the user cannot engage with the content.

This article looks into a new start-up named Blippar. They have created a technology that interacts with visual and written content in a magazine called Short List that users are able to engage with. Icons placed next to the products can be scanned, enabling the user to bring the content to life through the use of augmented reality.

The video shows the user engaging in polls, retro games, viewing gallery options and most excitingly, in my opinion, what I’d call a ‘scan-click-buy’ option where it does exactly as it says. Items are able to be purchased there and them, changing the magazine’s marketing role towards a more Point-of-Sale orientation.

Looking to the future, I see this sort of technology being used in more and more medias. It’s important for advertisers and marketers to provide consumers with the means to make life easier. Changing the buying process of products in magazines through shortening the purchase cycle turns this into an impulse buy. Fitting into consumer trends is vital and I think this is an insight into how all traditional media will soon become integrated with online as people look for ease of life in their everyday life.

See the video for yourself at: http://mashable.com/2012/11/09/magazine-interactive-game-cover/

Let me know your thought on this post. What have you seen that has taken your interest? Please let me know what you think by contacting me on Twitter @nickwilliamgale