Eco-Friendly Digital Marketing Internship

What do facial recognition and faster start-up times have in common? According to Sydney Hill at TechNewsWorld, they may be the newest features in Microsoft’s plan for an operating system rumored to be called Windows 8. Earlier this week powerpoint slides detailing the operating system and its features were leaked to the public. Among the most talked about slides were ones which discussed the company’s goal of eliminating its long running problem of slow start-up times, and adding new cutting age technology which would allow for facial recognition.In addition, the slides mentioned Apple’s success in identifying with customers to build brand recognition and loyalty. However, at this point, the rumors have yet to be confirmed by Microsoft; which leads many to question the authenticity of the claims.

“The only way we will ever know if these slides are authentic is if Microsoft comes out and says they are — and that’s not likely to happen,” said Michael Cherry, vice president of research, operating systems, with the independent analyst firm Directions on Microsoft.

“I’m quite confident these are the real deal,” said Stephen Chapman, Microsoft Kitchen site operator. “I just feel bad for the poor sap who either leaked these or inadvertently shared these with the world.”

Only time, and Microsoft, will tell whether there is any truth behind the recently leaked slides. PC users around the world can only hope that Bill Gates won’t keep them in the dark for long.

What better than the first day back to work from a week off then a visit to a well-known Ann Arbor restaurant to continue our Taste of Ann Arbor!  This week, for our return Megan and I ventured across the street from Ingenex headquarters to The Jolly Pumpkin, and as luck will have it, we were accompanied by Tiffany as well.

Now, I know that we missed out on some great eats and extraordinary prices as both Megan and I happened to be on vacation during the bi-annual Ann Arbor Restaurant week, but The Jolly Pumpkin still managed to excel as an eatery and satisfy each of our taste buds at an affordable price!

Christy, our friendly and energetic waitress was a great component to our experience at The Jolly Pumpkin. She offered suggestions, and was not afraid to tell us her honest personal taste opinions of each menu option we asked about. She knew each menu item, and what it tasted like, and if she had not tried it just yet, she was honest! With Christy’s guidance, Megan tried the Margherita pizza, Tiffany had one of their lunch specials, and for me, the Not Just a BLT. Each menu item featured a unique flavor, for example, my Not Just a BLT contained different ingredients such as mozzarella cheese and salsa verde. Maybe not what you would expect on a BLT, but they gave the sandwich a unique Jolly Pumpkin flare.

I think it is safe to say that each of us would recommend these menu items to anyone looking for fine Ann Arbor cuisine. For all of those that do not have a visit to A2 planned in the near future, check out The Jolly Pumpkins other locations in Michigan, Dexter and Traverse City.

It’s restaurant week here in Ann Arbor! That means gourmet food at phenomenal prices. Megan and Lauren are both on vacation, so Eric Rodriguez (our Client Services Manager) and I decided to take on A Taste of Ann Arbor.

Seva is nestled into the heart of downtown on E. Liberty St. As a fully vegetarian restaurant, Seva takes pride in creating new, tasty, and organic dishes. Eric chose the Burrito con Elote stuffed with butternut squash, corn, beans, and cheese (which can be modified into a Vegan dish) while I munched on a Quinoa-Spinach Salad. Both were served by friendly staff that smiled as they passed and never let our water glasses go dry. 

Seva offers as many organic and local products as possible. In keeping with the eco-friendly theme, the restaurant offers biodegradable items, such as little paper cups of salsa and guacamole instead of plastic. If you are looking for a natural pep, try one of their juiced drinks. I decided to order a Ginger Shot. The ingredients are simple: ginger, which is known for its healing properties.

The vegetarian hot spot offers reasonable prices, but during Ann Arbor’s Restaurant Week, Eric and I enjoyed our entrees for $12 and found a new place to frequent.

BP has been taking on a multi-faceted marketing campaign in attempt to offset the bad press as a result of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. Recently, BP began bidding on  keywords such as “Deepwater Horizon,” “Gulf of Mexico oil spill,” and “oil spill,” in which the landing page provides information on BP’s response to the environmental disaster. Visitors can click on video updates, pictures and news releases to get the company’s perspective on their clean up efforts and tactics. Yahoo!, Google, and Bing reveal PPC ads with links to BP’s response.

Social media sites have been targeted by BP in order to control the message being broadcast. To date, BP’s official Facebook page, BP America, counts 30,343 “likes.” Fans can read updates from the company as well as watch YouTube videos and review BP’s commenting policy. However, the majority of Facebook users have chosen to befriend BoycottBP with 694,898 “likes.” Facebook users have the ability to participate with the page instead of BP’s controlled approach that only allows the company’s commentary. The anti-BP page allows users to vent their frustrations and with over 8,400 photos being added by users of the aftermath and more than 51,000 links associated with the boycott, users are, indeed, frustrated.

BP has also taken their voice to Twitter. The company states:

Updates of BP’s ongoing response efforts are provided by our social media team as well as on-the-ground personnel working in the affected Gulf regions… From time to time, CEO Tony Hayward and COO Doug Suttles will be giving first-hand updates via this channel. These tweets will be identified by ^Tony or ^Doug.

Once again, BP’s one-way conversation with its followers are not doing enough to ease the tension. BP Public Relations , another anti-BP account takes a more whimsical approach as it weaves in dark humor and quips about the company’s response efforts. It writes:

My staff told me I shouldn’t wear my monocle in Congress but now I can’t read the lies they’ve written for me. ^Tony

and

We’re not blocking all reporters from the gulf – just the ones who aren’t going to say nice things about us.

The false BP Twitter account boasts 175,820 followers while the official BP America claims 15,735.

It seems as though what the world wants now is to be heard and have a discussion instead of being spoon fed information from a very intentional marketing strategy. Essentially, BP’s social media involvement and PPC ads are not geared toward a direct response, which is quantifiable. Instead, one must ask his or herself: When someone is searching the keyword “oil spill,” what is he or she looking for? The answer may be news, pictures, videos or what BP is saying in general. So, BP’s strategy is a successful one, albeit, a bit of a perversion of the point of social media and PPC ads.

Soccer, or football, is in season. This means, if you are a sports novice, you must struggle to maneuver through workplace conversations, small talk, and Facebook threads without revealing that your silent nods are really a desperate attempt to not let anyone know how clueless you feel. You wish you could scream, “I have no idea what round Brazil is in!” or “why does the United States refer to it as ‘Soccer’?” Fellow novices, choose to suffer in silence no longer, for today, I Googled it.

Property of FIFA

A quick search clarifies the soccer vs football query; the sport’s full name is Association Football. The US shortened it to Soccer from “asSOCiation.” But whether you call it “soccer” or “football” it is a sport that ultimately unites. Mike M. from Ann Arbor writes, “[Soccer] is a sport that everyone around the world plays, really, the only one.” The world coming together as one is something every one can get into; so, let’s get into it.

The Essential Facts:

• FIFA stands for Federation International de Football Association
• The World Cup occurs every 4 years
• The 2010 World Cup runs one month: June 11th- July 11th
• South Africa is hosting the event this year among 10 cities within the country
• 32 countries are competing for a top spot
• Soccer can tie and the completed games receive points:

Easy ways to get connected:

• Twitter offers a World Cup page with the most up-to-date tweets on all things World Cup 2010
• Mobile apps are now available for the iPhone, Blackberry, Android

Although you may still be a FIFA World Cup beginner, you now have a few talking points at the water cooler. Enjoy and relax, Soccer is for everyone.

Today marks the beginning of eco-friendly interns take on Ann Arbor cuisine, a taste if you will. Ann Arbor is full of small get away restaurants that are certain to impress. The question is, how to choose?

This week, Megan V Meade and I chose to take a suggestion from Derek Mehraban, CEO of Ingenex Digital Marketing, and visit Logan, an American restaurant, located at 115 West Washington Street, with the hopeful expectation of a good meal in the Ann Arbor lunch environment.

This first experience at Logan was nothing less than delightful. The warm inviting atmosphere was a great beginning, to a wonderful meal accompanied by high quality customer service and delicious meals. Our water glasses never went empty, and never once did our waiter make us feel as if we were forgotten, or as if he was overbearing on our dining experience.

Our meals, Penne & Gruyere cheese and Oven-dried Tomato Pasta were served in the right portions, at the right price and within the right amount of time.

Needless to say, our next “Taste of Ann Arbor” destination has giant shoes to fill. Just one question, where will the next Ann Arbor lunch spot be?

As Eco- Friendly Interns at Ingenex Digital Marketing, Lauren Weingartz and I have grown accustomed to writing press releases, coming up with headlines, and scouring the web for templates and how-to guides. But this week we have been given the opportunity to embark on a new kind of adventure. An adventure far from the likes of Adwords and Google how-tos. Every Tuesday we will be walking around Ann Arbor and exploring the wonderful world of Ann Arbor restaurants, eateries, diners and bistros and then blogging about our experience. Service, atmosphere and “melt-in-your-mouth” food quality will all be up for discussion. So grab your sunglasses and umbrella – this IS Michigan- and join us on our latest dining excursion.

In the 1930′s it was decided that “football”, or soccer as it is called in America, would be dropped from the summer Olympics that were going to be held in Los Angeles. The committee sited the sport’s lack of popularity in America as it’s reason for dropping the sport. After the decision was made Jules Rimet, the Federation Internationale de Football Association president, began organizing a football tournament of his own. Years later the tournament grew from one with 13 teams, to one which currently boast 32 competitive teams.

The sport has grown increasingly popular in nations around the country. And with another World Cup about to begin in South Africa, it is no wonder that the world has already started to prepare. While avid fans proudly display their team’s colors, and flags for each country are placed for passersby to see; one much more subtle preparation has occurred. When searching “World Cup” on Google people will find that the site has actually changed it’s display name at the bottom of the search page to read as “Goooooal”.

One journalist named Stan Schroeder commented that he can’t help but wonder, with the option to create custom Google pages, if Google is slowly losing it’s brand identity. Or is it possible that the name has become so synonymous with search engines that the changes won’t make a difference in Google’s brand recognition at all?

It brings up the question of how much freedom websites should provide their users, when it comes to customizing their personal pages. Does it hurt companies to allow users to tweet their image? Or does it help the company’s reputation in some way? Only time will tell. But one thing that I think most can agree on is that before customization occurs, companies need to establish a strong brand identity. And with the technology wave moving us into the future, websites are one of the best ways to establish that brand image.

This Saturday, June 5, will mark the start of the fifth semester of  Michigan State University’s New Media Driver’s License Course. At 9 AM students will fill the Walsh College Campus in Novi, MI to begin their semester long social media training. As a past student in the course, I can honestly say that enrolling in this course is a decision that you will not regret.

With only one semester gone by since my completion of the course, I have already seen the benefits for myself, not only as an advertising major, but as a college student striving to build my personal brand and network for the life after graduation career search. And while the course did not do this for me, it taught me how.

During the social media training, students will learn to effectively use social media outlets (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.) to benefit themselves and their future employer, or business. They will also build writing skills through weekly blogs about all things new media and learn to participate in online communication. That being said, it is also important to learn to monitor and track your digital involvement and the outcomes. No worries, the new media drivers license will cover that too!

If you missed the enrollment for this semester’s social media training, no fear, the Fall section will begin just a few months from now! And do not be discouraged if you are not an Advertising major, this class is beneficial for everyone. Yes, it may help future advertisers to better understand the realm of digital, but as digital evolves it is becoming increasingly important in every industry. Don’t pass up this amazing opportunity to build the opportunities of your future.