MMB 12/13

http://chestnuthill.patch.com/articles/top-10-coolest-gadgets-of-2010-4

Top 10 Coolest Gadgets of 2010
The list has the best new electronics that were released in 2010. Though I agree with most of the things on the list, I think it needs changes. For example, though the Kindle is really cool, I believe it's unnecessary and simply bad when compared to the iPad, so I thought it should be further down the list. I also thought the the Android was overplayed since the iPhone 4 is a lot better and much more popular. So, I would have added the iPhone 4 to the list and moved the Android phone further down. I also thought that 3D TVs should have been much higher on the list since they are just so innovative and basically the latest TV technology. I thought they should have at least been higher than the Kindle. Same with the Panasonic 3D camcorder. It should have been much higher on the list.

A few things that I definitely agreed with is the iPad and its place on the list. It's definitely number one since it opened up a whole new world of possibilities about computers and what, where, and when people will do work. The Dyson Air Multiplier seems like an amazing product also. It's basically a fan that is not conventional at all and it should have been on the list but it should be last (it is) because it is not as amazing as the other products. The Cio Mobile TV also seems great since it is really innovative and convenient. It can stream local TV stations like radio streams local stations. It seems great.

Products of 2010

Top products:

• Apple iPad
• Apple iPhone 4
• Android
• Kinect
• Blackberry Curve
• the new MacBook Air

Apple iPad:

The iPad was much anticipated. There were ads featuring a now signature jingle that stuck in people's heads which explained what the iPad can do. There were many newspaper articles on it and it was on the news for a while. The target audience was everyone. It has a touch screen and can virtually do anything a computer can do, camera, scanner, etc. can do. The public knew about this because it was on the news for so long. Apple also released amazing TV ads. Apple doesn't have official Facebook or Twitter pages, so it didn't but it benefited from social media because the iPad was really talked about on social media. Its competitors are the Kindle, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Lenovo IdeaPad U1 Hybrid, and basically all other tablets.

Kinect:

Kinect was marketed through ads on TV, internet, magazines, etc. The target audience was young people who like video games and/or people who want to have fun. With Kinect, no controller is needed. The motion sensor picks up movement of the body so nothing needs to be handheld. The public knew about this because of the ads and all the buzz around it. Kinect used Twitter and Facebook to publicize its release date and its release. Its competitors are the Wii.

Apple iPhone 4:

The iPhone 4 had been anticipated for a while so Apple used the buzz that was already going around to publicize the new iPhone. There were also ads telling people how convenient, useful and awesome the new iPhone was. Its target audience is everyone. It has the latest touch technology with FaceTime (which is like video chatting) and features a sleeker, more convenient design. The public knew about this product because of Jobs's announcement, ads, and the buzz surrounding it. Apple doesn't use social media but people on social media spoke about the new iPhone 4 a lot so it was publicized even more. Its competitors are myTouch, HTC HD2, Palm Pre, and all other smart phones.

MMB 12/6

Facebook is completely redoing its format. Its profile page, which was previously in no important order, now has the bio section right underneath the name. Then, it has a much larger photo section. People can also view histories of friendships more easily. The reason for this overhaul is to organize profiles better and to show who people actually are. Not all members get the new format today. People have to option of choosing the format for a while before Facebook mandates that everyone must switch over. Privacy is a huge flare up with Facebook right now. The Wall Street Journal a while ago showed many of Facebook's popular apps selling personal information to advertising companies. Rapleaf is a company that merges all online data about a person and sells the info to advertising companies to create a narrowed interest window on the Web. They use Facebook profiles and data to create the consumer profiles. Zuckerberg does not plan on creating a phone just for Facebook but plans on continuing to build software for phones. He also does not believe in going public. Facebook had the option of selling to Yahoo! in 2006 for a billion dollars but refused to.

In 60 Minutes, Mark Zuckerberg spoke of wanting to create more personal experiences on the Internet by transforming all of it into a social networking site. The highly competitive company expanded almost exponentially within the last few years. He then explained "hacking" and how Facebook encourages creativity and competition. He also explained the Facebook profile and messaging overhaul and new features on the website. When questioned about Facebook's dubious privacy issues, he defended Facebook and stated any apps which were selling information to ad companies were going against FB policies and would be deleted. He discussed lawsuits brought against him and the movie that was released about him. He also avoided saying anything bad about Google and stated that he did not want to be compared with them. He was later described as going from a "toddler CEO" to a "prodigy."

I like the redesign but I hope FB also improves its privacy options because if an outside company can access such detailed information, I would hate it. It definitely helps the social network because more people can access more information easier but it could also gain negative publicity because it's one more step towards less publicity.

EC 12/1

What is the future of online marketing?

http://www.marketingtitan.com/what_is_the_future_of_online_marketing

The Internet is so young yet we already depend on it so much. As it grows, so will online marketing. The future is definitely bright and as more people join the Internet phenomenon, e-commerce will only become more influential. It will also grow more sophisticated as a younger generation moves into adulthood. Simplistic and old methods such as banner ads and email advertising are dying out due to the various disadvantages they present. Banner ads tend to force a person to keep clicking in order to exit the window and email often results in spam and identity theft.

The dominant models right now are pay-per-click advertising and search engine optimization. Search engine optimization will last as long as search engines do. The future of pay-per-click advertising is less clear because of constant "click fraud" where an ad is artificially clicked to make the advertiser pay. This rate could be as high as 40% of all clicks, which basically means that 40% of money has been wasted. The author thinks this method will only last if changes are made to it to make advertising more efficient.

The author predicts the search engine optimization will the most prominent way of advertising with the pay-per-click advertising in second place, and edited information releases in third. He/she warns, however, that anything can happen in the future.

I agree with the author that those forms of advertising will remain important but I think that social media will also have a huge impact on online marketing because many businesses also promote their brands and advertise their deals online. So I think that eventually social media will trump even search engine optimization when it comes to marketing because of its growing influence in people's daily lives.

MMB 11/29

An article from shreveporttimes.com states that this Black Friday was phenomenal. According to the National Retail Federation, the average person spent much more this Black Friday than the last and retail sales went up. Ads just for Black Friday were released by large retailers like Target aimed to telling customers how much people can save by shopping on Black Friday and many stores opened early.
Today is called Cyber Monday. More people buy stuff on Black Friday than on Cyber Monday but when the increases from last year are compared, Cyber Monday had a bigger increase in sales than Black Friday did.
Social Media incentives for Black Friday
http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2010/november/176859/Social-media-incentives-for-Black-Friday
If you check in at certain places through Foursquare or Facebook Places, you could get a certain percentage off your purchase or get free gift cards. Also, if people unlocked a certain badge on Foursquare, a certain percentage would be taken off the purchase or if enough people "liked" a deal on Facebook, the deal would be activated for those people. Businesses also tweeted about certain deals that they otherwise did not advertise about.

MMB 11/22

The Future of Advertising Has Been Promoted: A New Study

http://www.briansolis.com/2010/11/the-future-of-advertising-has-been-promoted/

Solis writes about how Twitter is no longer seen as a microblogging network and is now seen as a one-of-a-kind network on its own platform. It's special among social media sites because while other websites built off of an established or burgeoning social media, Twitter built its community from the ground up. This highly engaged community combined with the ability to spread information and advertisements creates the perfect blend of a social network and an ad network. Recent changes to Twitter, like its format and CEO who has a different way of monetizing Twitter, have resulted in greater advertising done on Twitter.

Advertising on Twitter is based on interest groups rather than social groups, so it's all about reaching the right people at the right time rather reaching a bunch of friends. A brand's success depends on its ability to raise awareness and "clicks to action," which are basically desired outcomes. According to various studies, it is important for Twitter to understand the difference between intention and attention. A company might intend for something but get a different outcome. Basically, we're living in an age where advertising by focusing on interest groups rather than social groups has become more welcome to everyone and is becoming revolutionized by Twitter.

I agree with Brian Solis that advertising is being revolutionized. It's no longer about watching ads or just listening to information. It's become much more interactive where people are becoming a bigger and bigger part of spreading the information. People's opinions also count much more because advertising is much more reliant on people. Brands now have to do more than just spread information; they have to inspire people to spread the information for them.

Twitter analytics could have been a money making machine
Twitter is releasing an analytics service that analyzes a brand's influence and popularity on Twitter. In other words, it is "launching a powerful tool that will make marketers salivate." Best of all, it is doing this for free. This seems a little foolish because many services and products charge a lot of money to analyze a company's influence in social media so Twitter could potentially be throwing away a lot of money. For example, Radian6 charges its users at least $600. However, many brands are unaware of the service, so Twitter bringing its service out and introducing it to 175 million users is a big deal and worth millions of dollars.

However, releasing it for free would make sense if Twitter was trying to get businesses to tweet more often or retain their Twitter usage. By releasing an analysis service, Twitter is basically showing brands how influential they are and thus persuading them to use Twitter more. Also, Facebook has a free analyzer so if Twitter charges, people might prefer Facebook's services over Twitter's. In addition, when using a free service, customers tend to have lower expectations and thus less complaints so this could be a way of pleasing people in the easiest way possible. It is also likely that Twitter is following the "freemium" model, where it introduces a free service to its customers. After customers start using it often, it introduces better versions or extra features for money. So, making this service free could actually be a good business decision for Twitter.

I agree that making the service free makes sense. However, I do hope Twitter tries to monetize the service or tries to make some profit by using the "freemium" model because that is just good business sense. The "freemium" model is also a really good business model because it introduces something great to a customer and hooks them and later monetizes rather than attracting just a few customers by charging from the beginning.

How Social Media is Changing the Way Movies are Promoted
http://mashable.com/2010/11/29/social-media-movie-marketing/
The film industry has completely embraced social media and this makes sense because it is a modern version of the fan magazines of old Hollywood. In modern times, studios can gauge social media to find where interest in a film truly lies. The best example for this was Paramount's Paranormal Activity, which cost less than $15,000 to make but grossed over $150 million. What Paramount did was use Facebook to see where people wanted to watch it most and released it in those areas. MGM also did this with Hot Tub Time Machine. What's appealing about this method is that fans feel as if they have some sort of ownership or special affinity with this film.

Social media also allows extensive viral marketing campaigning, which is what Inception's PR was largely based on. Marketing for films evolved from having to go to the movies to watch previews to watching previews during TV shows to watching previews online to what social media does now. Although movie studios still have special sites that people could access for information, more and more studios are using Twitter and Facebook to release the latest information about movies. Disney used Facebook to debut its Alice in Wonderland characters and release trailers. Facebook apps are used to create interactive ways of advertising as in the case of TRON: Legacy. The fact that many of the most successful films of the year had strong social media campaigns demonstrates that social media will be embraced more and more by studios.

I agree with the author that social media has a huge impact on movie advertising and this impact will only increase. Many of the movies that were released, I heard for the first time on Facebook and learned more information about on the movie's Facebook page. So, to continue appealing with younger audiences and more engaged audiences, studios will have to embrace social media more and in more innovative ways.

What is Black Friday?
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-black-friday.htm
http://www.dailyworldbuzz.com/black-friday-2009-ads-best-doorbuster-deals-for-walmart-target-and-kmart/1070/
Black Friday is the discount shopping day that follows American Thanksgiving, which is always on a Thursday. Many retailers mail special Black Friday circulars to consumers, announcing deeply discounted items in the hopes that consumers will visit their store on Black Friday because the profits they make depend on the volume of sales that day. Retailers profit (although not greatly) through the deeply discounted deals because many people come out to buy them, so it is important to them. I've noticed ads from many clothing and electronic stores. I thought the deals were good if I was going to buy the product anyway. However, it would not be a good deal if I was not going to buy the product but I do just because there is a sale. Many of the products were also cheap products or products that no one wanted, so those were bad deals too.

MMB 11/15

Facebook Questions

1. It's basically email on Facebook where everyone has an '@facebook.com' address. It's a total revamping of Facebook's messaging system to make it more efficient to communicate with people who don't have a Facebook.
2. Its nickname is 'Gmail killer' because Facebook's project is expected to provide a lot of competition to Gmail and to take people away from Gmail.
3. The announcement is supposed to be made on Monday, Nov. 15.
4. No, Mark Zuckerberg is expected to speak at the San Francisco Conference on the 16th.
5. Facebook sent out invites to the media for a 10 a.m. launch today at the Conference so people thought the announcement would be made today.
6. http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Messaging-and-Collaboration/Facebook-Project-Titan-Preps-to-Challenge-Google-Gmail-206434/ and http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/facebook-mail-coming-monday/story?id=12133107

Dear Foursquare, Gowalla...

Facebook announced Facebook Deals for Facebook Places, where people get coupons for checking in at certain places. They're basically location-based deals. Websites that provide these, like Foursquare and Gowalla, are on the decline. They went from 5% of the population to 4%, a steep decrease. This is because many people don't really care about location-based games and unlocking badges, which is what is done on Foursquare and Gowalla. They attract only early-adopters. They don't reach the majority of the population because they're not well known and what they do (pretending that scavenger-hunting throughout the city for badges and mayorships is fun and interesting) is actually not fun and interesting. The article says Groupon is doing the location-based deals right, unlike Foursquare and Gowalla, and is the fastest-growing company ever because its objective and message are really clear and straight-forward.

Blog idea one: Give us a product and ask us to design packaging/awareness/promotion campaign on social media for it.

Blog idea two: Give us a picture of a lot of products and ask us if we would or would not buy the products and explain our choices.

Blog idea three: Write a paragraph about what the best company (when it comes to marketing) is and why.

Chris Brogan article: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/know-how-to-grow/

Branding Part 2

1. Innovative and in-style
2. 
3. Whole Foods Market's tagline is "Selling the highest quality natural and organic products." Apple and Nine West do not have taglines.
4. There are no jingles. Apple however has a jingle just for its iPad.
5. Apple is recognizable by everyone. Whole Foods is recognized by everyone except kids and preteens. Nine West is known by all shoe-oholics.

1.

2.

3. It did not last; it was used for one week before it was replaced with the original.

4. The new logo was released around October 5, 2010.

5. Crap Logo Yourself was a website advertising to "crap up" any logo if you typed it in. It did this by making the logo look exactly like Gap's. People created fake Twitter accounts, @GapLogo and @OldGapLogo, and would tweet as if they were the respective logos.

6. Gap has stated that it was trying to rebrand itself completely since its sales were falling and that the logo was a part of the rebranding. This was why they tried to change the logo.

7. I think the new logo was completely terrible. It was bland and looked like the least creative middle schooler had done it in five minutes using only Microsoft Word, not a multimillion dollar project.

8. There were many criticisms because it looked very bland and uncreative. People said that it didn't look professional and that it did not represent what Gap stood for while the classic, iconic Gap logo did.

9. This was because the new Gap logo created such a bad buzz on the internet and in social media that Gap had to revert back to its old logo, so people give the internet and social media credit for killing the new logo.

10. http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-10-08/business/24117233_1_new-logo-gap-brand-louise-callagy

http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2010/10/deciphering_the_meaning_of_gap.html

Branding

1. Branding is associating certain features or characteristics with a certain company. It is a way of developing a trademark that customers think of when thinking of a company and is what differentiates that company from others.
2. Some forms of branding are name, terms, sign, symbol, and design.
3. Brand awareness is how many people know a brand and to what extent they know it.
4. Brand experience is feelings and emotions that are evoked when a certain brand is mentioned.
5. Branding sends a clear message about a company's products/services to consumers. It develops an image of reliability and responsibility around the company.
6. Brand identity is how a customer perceives a certain company through its brand.
7. Branding is important to a marketing strategy because it convices people to buy products from a certain brand by evoking certain feelings, confirming the product's credibility, and connecting to the target.
8. Personal branding is where people or careers are branded and used for marketing purposes.
9. Personal branding is important because it creates job security when an individual brands themselves as experts in their fields. It also creates a marketable image of someone that could be used to sell something.
10. Apple, Whole Foods, and Nine West

• 1. I respect them because they are known to sell only quality products.
• 2. They're very innovative and modern. Their symbols/designs give me the sense that they are very original and creative.
• 3. I do it partly because of their brands and partly for the products they sell. The extremely wholesome brands definitely convince me to always buy their brands if I want the best of stuff.
• 4. Yes, I am always loyal because I love them!

Blendtec

1. "Will it blend?"
2. Tom Dickson is the "scientist" who blends stuff together.
3. Either "Don't try this at home" or "Please try this at home" appears during the blending process depending on whether the product is safe to blend or not.
4. Yes. For example, once the iPhone 3G was released, Tom Dickson blended it.
5. Glosticks, iPhones, video cameras, golf balls, etc.
6. Yes, because they are only online and depend on word-of-mouth and social media.
7. According to ViralSEOServices, viral marketing campaign is "a marketing technique utilized to increase brand or product awareness through social media."
8. I think the reach is a couple of hundred thousand people.
9. No. I had never heard of the company or Tom Dickinson or the campaign before.

Social Media Communication

Vitamin Water uses Facebook to connect and interact with its fans. It has its own page and also created a "Flavor-Creator" app where fans could create their own flavor, label, ingredients, nutrients, etc. The packaging could be created by a person and up to two friends. Vitamin Water said that a created flavor would chosen as a winner by Carrie Underwood and 50 Cent. The winner of the naming contest would receive $5000 and Vitamin Water would create the winning flavor. The flavor that won is "connect" which represents how the flavor was created by the connection between the fans and the brand. It tastes like black cherry and lime. Its reach was about a million people.

Popchips is big on Twitter especially after joining hands with Ashton Kutcher. After noticing that Ashton Kutcher was a huge fan and kept mentioning Popchips in his tweets on Twitter, Popchips decided to make him it brand ambassador as well as publicist rather than hire a huge social media service firm. This saved them a lot of expenses and also gave them a huge reach because Ashton Kutcher is a huge celebrity and one of the most popular Twitter users. Ashton Kutcher now appears on the website of Popchips but his main contribution is his tweets and use of social media.

Twitter

Twitter is the latest big thing is social networking. Founded by three former Odeo employees, it features a status-type design where users can post blurbs about themselves or their day or their thoughts. The limit is 140 characters (the limit of standard text messages). It was first called "twttr", but was then changed to "twitter" because it was considered a better fit. In September 2010, a new version of the website was called created called "new twitter" where the user profile is much larger and accessing user information is much easier. While there are some who prefer the old twitter, most people love the new twitter.

Twitter is great for marketing purposes because it is such an effective way of communication. If a business creates its own page and has followers, any information releases can get to its customers/followers instantly. On twitter, communication is also two-way and interactive, so it's a great way to get feedback from actual customers. Now, the business can get specific feedback from actual customers rather than conduct vague studies that only give it quantitative data. Also, the business can give deals online to followers or advertise online for free rather than pay an advertising agency. Overall, twitter is a very efficient marketing tool because it provides an easy way of communication between businesses.

Twitter has unique aspects that make marketing easier. First of all, a page of a user, unless specified, is displayed to EVERYONE, not just followers or users of twitter, but everyone on the Internet. Followers get messages when someone sends out a new tweet but tweets can be seen by everyone, which makes information releases much more available to everyone and the business can gather a huge audience. Also, there's retweeting, where a user can basically copy an paste what someone else tweeted. This provides a better way to spread information quickly. Someone who is a follower of a business can retweet what the business tweeted and one of their followers can retweet what they said. This spreads information much more rapidly than any other social media website.

Twitter is an amazing social media site and marketing tool because it makes communication between customers and businesses much more efficient, makes business information releases much more easy to access, and has unique features that make information spread faster, therefore make marking easier.

The Basics Response

Chris Brogan explains the importance of the 4 Ps in his blog post. He says that marketers spend most of their time on promotion and not enough time on product and place, two of the most important Ps. He says that rather than creating a product of value and distributing it properly, marketers just do a lot of promotion and create excellent customer service to convince people to buy their product. He says that if we don't put value into our product, we're already down by 1/4 of our marketing strategy.

I agree with what he's saying because I feel that many companies, rather than improving their product and making sure it's distributed well, just make better ads, expecting people to buy it just because it has cool ads. I give this article a 4/5 because there wasn't really evidence to back his opinion up but it was really good.

The Twitter Response

I thought it was interesting that Twitter has the most influential customers but it was not really shocking. Many people I know use Twitter just to follow companies, so I kind of knew this already. Brian Solis states that Twitter is a complex, layered system where people are connected to people and things they are attracted to and can influence the subject of a conversation or discussion. He says that businesses are affected by outside activity and because Twitter is a projection of people's activities, it must be analyzed to see what people think and want. Also, according to a recent poll, 33% of people talk about brands, 32% percent of people make product recommendations, and 30% seek advice on what to buy, so this is the perfect website to analyze and study people's psychology and consumer traits.

I give this post a 5 because it was very coherent and informative.

Foursquare and Yelp

Foursquare and Yelp are social networking websites frequently used in marketing. Foursquare lets you check in to places and receive coupons and discounts for frequent visitors. Yelp lets you post and read reviews of businesses and products. Businesses are taking advantage of these websites to interact more with their customers and to promote their products. Foursquare lets people check in to places and if someone checks in more than any other person, he/she becomes the mayor that place. Special deals and discounts are offered to people who have checked in a certain number of times or are the mayor of that place. Yelp lets people post reviews and read reviews, rate businesses, write about experiences, etc. Both places promote latest products and businesses by letting customers know about the latest products through promotions, coupons, and ads. The chances are that a customer does not go to a store to buy JUST the thing on sale, but other things too. This is how businesses profit.

As a user on Yelp. a person can write about their experience, post reviews, or rate businesses. A person can also read the reviews and see the ratings and experiences to decide if they want to go somewhere or buy something or not. On Foursquare, after a person checks in, tips and suggestions from other users pop up to promote products in that place. I think Yelp is very useful because I want to know other people's opinions about the product before I buy it. Foursquare also seems great because of its deals but I think it would be annoying to check in everywhere I go. They are both amazing tools for businesses because it's so easy to promote products and to save money on advertising. It's also really effective because Yelp and Foursquare have a lot of users. I would definitely use this tool if I was promoting businesses because it's so easy, effective, and cheap. However, if the product was bad and I knew it was bad, I would not use it because I don't want people talking about it. Instead, I would use traditional advertising to just convince people that I have an amaizing product. If I have a good product, I would use this websites as much as possible to create positive buzz about my product.

Blake Mycoskie and Rick Bayless

1) I had already known about TOMS shoes and I had participated in "One Day Without Shoes" held by the store. My opinion of the store is very high and I wish there were more people like Mycoskie who thought about people over profit. I will definitely get some TOMS shoes when I get the chance.
2) TOMS isn't doing what other businesses do, like TV advertising and posting ads on the Internet. Instead, it's relying on word of mouth and the publicity it's getting by doing charity. It has received a lot of publicity because of the celebrities who endorse it and the magazine spreads it gets for doing good. YouTube videos from users and the Chief Shoe Givers also help.
3) I learned what types of shoes TOMS sells and where it gets the ideas from. I also learned how such a small company could lead such a huge movement.
4) Rick Bayless raised awareness about authentic Mexican cuisine and the need for fresh food in super markets. His TV show and restaurants helped him publicize his line of products.
5) Rick Bayless's TV show helped him publicize his food product line. His restaurants helped spread word about his line too. Also, Whole Foods, the nation's leading specialty food store, picked it up, where it became really popular.
6) I think Frontera tastes a lot fresher and more sophisticated than the average brand. It tastes much better. I already buy all-natural/organic food and I eat Frontera salsa with my chips, so I definitely think it's worth the extra money.
7) I think the marketing strategies have worked for these companies because they are popular and are still expanding. They have created a buzz that is not going to die down soon and that is the best marketing strategy. Frontera and TOMS shoes are known for doing something right and that's a really good way to convince people to buy your product.

Packaging Comparison of Coke vs. Pepsi

Perhaps one of the reasons Pepsi has always been the underdog in the battle with Coke is because of packaging. Packaging is referred to many as the fifth P because of its immense influence in marketing and convincing a customer to buy a product.

Coca-Cola originally came in a glass

bottle with its logo embossed in a western style. The original bottle was also straight and had no curves. Starting 1900, Coca-Cola introduced a curved bottle that was easier to hold. In 1915, Coca-Cola bottles took the legendary shape that they still have today. Coke bottles are in fact recognizable even without their labels on them because of this shape. In 1994, plastic replaced glass as bottle material because plastic was much easier and cheaper to mass produce and use as container material. Pepsi Co. on the other hand has changed its bottle packaging constantly and has not followed in a trend, like Coke, but in almost completely different designs. It used to have very large bottles but reduced the size to make holding the bottle more convenient. Pepsi comes in either plastic bottles or aluminum cans now.

In the 1900s, when it started labeling rather than embossing the glass bottle, Coke came up with the logo that is the ancestor of the design today. Pepsi, on the other hand, started out labeling its product with a colorful design and the words "Pepsi Cola". In 1950, Pepsi introduced its red, white, and blue circle and around 1962, "Pepsi Cola" became just "Pepsi." Pepsi has since constantly gone through many changes in their logo and packaging while Coke has never changed its logo more than basic colors and backgrounds. This reflects the way Coke influences pop culture while Pepsi is influenced by pop culture. Coke remains constant no matter what and thus becomes an icon while Pepsi tries to reach out to people and changing demographics by changing the way it presents itself (its packaging). The only time Coke has dramatically changed its look was when it introduced its New Coke in 1985 but it almost immediately reverted back to its classic logo because the product completely flopped. Pepsi, on the other hand, has radically changed their logo a couple of times. Their current logo is hardly recognizable except the circular image.

For special occasions, both products change their packaging to appeal to consumers. They have both changed packaging for the olympics, during the holiday season, etc. to relate more to costumers. They use special imagery that symbolizes that event for that purpose. It will make a person want to buy the object for charity (if the companies decide to donate some money for each bottle sold). Such specialized packaging also creates the perception that that product is needed to make the event special. For example, Coke bottles with snowflakes on them make the holiday season seem more special, make it seem Coke cares about its customers and what goes on in their lives, and also that Coke is needed to make the holiday season seem truly like the holiday season.

My favorite packaging is done by Coke. It's such a classic logo and the same one has been used since I was born. It's been there throughout my life so it's familiar and cozy and classic whereas the Pepsi logo seems to be changing all the time; by the time I get used to one logo, it's been already changed. I like Coke bottles, too, for their familiar structure.

Pepsi should get a whole new marketing director. =)

Response: http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt5/viral-principles.htm

Response: The Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing

Viral marketing, despites its scary name, is actually just advertising. At first, I thought its name meant it was something illegal or something that should be avoided, but I was wrong. Though it sounds like some kind of disease to be strictly avoided, it's not. It's really just like a word-of-mouth spreading of a message, but via Internet.

There are certain tricks of the trade. The strategies are very similar to simple marketing because that's what viral marketing is. They both focus on the need for goods and services, transportation, common markets, etc. The only difference is that viral marketing has the ability to reproduce itself (by "exploiting" resources and everyday things we use) very, very quickly. Other than that, viral marketing is the same as marketing in real life.

Response: Facebook and the New Age of Privacy

Although there are benefits to the privacy settings of Facebook such as a personalized web experience, there are also many disadvantages. It's great that we can transform the web to how we want it to be, but it's also daunting that our privacy is disappearing. Most people are familiar with privacy settings on Facebook but many people also don't know how to change the settings and don't even realize that they are displaying their personal life to the entire world. With websites like Facebook and Twitter making it easier for companies and other third parties to gain personal information of users, the Internet becomes a more complicated and scary place.

It's also odd and interesting that such a vast majority of privacy policy complaints are against Facebook when Twitter is more known for its lack of privacy. This is, I think, because Twitter has simpler privacy settings and Facebook's settings are a little more complicated. Also, people expect Twitter to be more open because it has a more announcement type style where it's meant to publicize what a person is trying to say but Facebook contains many personal details that Twitter does not and it's expected to keep those details safe and secure, which it does not. I was disappointed when I found out how easy it is for third-party companies and corporations to see what I'm doing on Facebook and what I'm interested in because that's exactly what I don't want the companies to find out for fear of being an advertising target. I don't want to be sold out, which I feel Facebook is doing.