The Power of the Gropon

I just came across an awesone application for my smartphone, have you all ever hurd of the groupon ? Well let me tell you a bit about it. Groupon "group coupon" is a deal-of-the-day website that is localized to major geographic markets worldwide. Launched in November 2008, the first market for Groupon was Chicago, followed soon thereafter by Boston, New York City, and Toronto. As of October 2010 the Groupon serves more than 150 markets in North America and 100 markets in Europe, Asia and South America and has amassed 35 million registered users.

The idea for Groupon was created by now-CEO and Pittsburgh native Andrew Mason. The idea subsequently gained the attention of his former employer, Eric Lefkofsky, who provided $1 million in "seed money" to develop the idea. In April 2010, the company was valued at $1.35 billion. According to a report conducted by Groupon's marketing association and reported in Forbes Magazine, which was reported by the Wall Street Journal, Groupon is "projecting that the company is on pace to make $1 billion in sales faster than any other business, ever". I just think it’s crazy to see what the new invocation with technology and a the power of social media.

Put a Little Color in Your Life

Have you heard of the new app for the I phone?  The app is called color. Let me explain what its all about. The Color iPhone app that has just been launched on the Apple iTunes App Store and has been deigned to create a complete new and innovative way to use your mobile for social networking using your camera and photographs. The new Color application allows you to see other users photographs that have been taken using Color from people within 100ft your location. Providing you with a complete stream of photos to record everything going on at an event. The Color application chooses which pictures you see from the continuous stream based on your location and how often you have been sharing photos with someone else. Every photo and video taken with the Color app is public, not only to the people you consider your friends, but also to any one within your proximity, even strangers. Color is already available to download for free from iTunes and will soon also be available to download on Android as well. I just thinks this app takes stalking to a new level. LEt me know what you think.

"Almost" Famous- The Rebecca Black Story

It amazes me how quickly people can become instant celebrities via social media networks. Rebecca Black is the most recent to join the ranks for the moment of other more successful celebrities. In fact, there has been recent controversy over whether or not Miley Cyrus was a Rebecca Black fan. She said she was misquoted and was a Black fan. Wait a minute! Did you just read what I said? Miley Cyrus had to explain she was misquoted over a nobody who gained fame in this moment.

There are conflicting stories of how Black exploded onto the social media scene. One venue is that just recently Comedy Central's Tosh.O's blog posted her video under the headline "Songwriting Isn't For Everyone." It seems that just one mention and that was all it took. By the weekend's end, "Friday" had been Tumblr'd, Facebooked, Blogged, and Tweeted by countless baffled viewers--and dozens of covers and parodies had popped up on YouTube as well, including an amusingly Dylanesque one.

Money opens doors for anyone. Rebecca's family was wealthy enough to buy her recording time in a studio to record a song for her birthday. On the other hand, money does not buy talent no matter how much time you take to "fix" a voice. After watching the offical YouTube video I believed that she had a terrible voice and her lyrics were redundant. I know she went onto the Today Show or some morning show to prove to America that she could actually sing. I think the important lesson to take from Black is how usefully social media really is. It allows anyone to reach the masses whether it is for fame or for marketing. Social media marketing has an extreme relevance to everyday life. I thought I would post a link to the video just in case you haven't seen it. Feel free to say what you think.

https://sn2prd0302.outlook.com/owa/redir.aspx?C=31f782b6a8ef4987b3a59ed277c7fdb7&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.youtube.com%2fwatch%3fv%3dCD2LRROpph0

Social Media Puts a Microscope on Social Characteristics: Reputation

Social media not only has an effect on business at a macro level but at a micro level as well. In the specific case of reputation social media has revolutionized what reputation has become to be known and how it is presented to the general public. Reputation is no longer just about personal appearance and relationships with other peers. Social media puts a mirror close-up image of who you are to anyone with access to a computer. Employers can check up on potential employees by looking up their credit scores online. Even colleges use Facebook to look up potential students to see what kind of a reputation that person has socially. Without social media outlets, employers would use paperwork and interviews to gage a person’s reputation. The amount of time it would take for background checks, etc. would limit how much information an employer could gain about a potential employee. Social media has become a tool for employers to use to find out even more personal and social details about possible potential employees. In a way, social media has become a “Big Brother.” There are positives and negatives of the influence of social media on reputation. Reputation is no longer black and white by definition. Instead, there are many layers to a person’s reputation that is present by multiple social media outlets. It is a strength on behalf of the person behind the social media when they can present themselves in a way that gives off a prestigious reputation. The only negative to this is that employers and anyone in society in general has more access to information about you. It is up to you what information you allow to be available. All in all, the lesson that can be taken from this social situation is that face still matters when dealing with social media even when it is not you personally but pictures and words that shape your reputation for others.

A social accepable way of stocking

This week I while I was in a local business I noticed advertisement in the form of a sign about Facebook Places. I found this especially interesting since just recently in class we were discussing new trends in social media. The whole concept behind Facebook Places is really genius. While looking up more information about Facebook Places I also came across information about Four Square. Many bigger cities use this form of social media more frequently. Once Bowling Green reaches the capacity closer to that of a larger city instead of a “mini” city, I believe that services like Four Square will take off. I think this will be great for local businesses to get the word out about their products and services available to the public. For example, I could see how a place like Nat’s could really benefit form this new type of marketing. Not only would they be able to keep their current loyal customers but they could also reach new demographics by publishing their products and services for all people to have access to. As I understand it when you “check in” to a place the business will know that you are there and then they might have some kind of coupon or discount sent to your smart phone.  Now you are given a reason to check out the business because you have money saving opportunities available to use and you might be enticed to purchase a product or a service from that business. For more personal uses, the smart phone feature will enable you to see which of your friends are in that same area or business. Overall, this will be a great asset to Bowling Green for consumers and business to use that will allow both parties to understand each other better.

Strategic Uses of Social Media to Make the "Bad Guy" Profitable

Social media and Mr. Charlie Sheen, all I can say is that as his bad boy image has turned into self-destruction he seems to be liked even more in the social media world. Not only is he using multiple forms of social media but he is exploiting them to keep himself in the limelight. Also, he has been using social media to defend his case and put a positive spin on his side of the story. Using Twitter and other forms of social media allow him to socially construct how he wants the public to view the events as they are occurring. He has been able to exaggerate everything that has been happening to keep media outlets focused on him. He has about 2,888,633 followers on his Twitter account the last time I looked. When Charlie first opened his account he set a record by reaching a million users faster than lady Gaga or any other celebrity. Charlie’s story is far from over but I am sure that he will still be in the news tomorrow because of his extensive use of social media.

Blogging about Blogs

I decided to highlight blogs written by “professionals” about Social Media Marketing. One of the first I ran across was that of Scott Monty. He works for Ford Motor Company and is their head of social media. He blogs about a range of topics, a lot of them overlap with the topics we have been reading about for this class. Ranging from advertising to the convergence of marketing, his blogs provide his personal views on those topics that can be applied by the individual or even marketers.

I would suggest reading his blog from January 16 entitled, “Facebook-at the Center of Your Messaging Life.” Generation Y high school students feel that emailing is too long of a process and that iming is a more efficient form of communication. The issue that is discussed is that he finds it troubling that a multi-billion dollar company would base decisions on a young generation’s opinion. Especially when most of them do not have computer literacy when it comes to the ability to write a cohesive, well written anything. This statement alone has many future implications that will be applicable to Social Media Marketing.  

You can read his blog here: http://www.scottmonty.com/