Eco-Friendly Digital Marketing Internship

Derek Mehraban, Professor of Michigan State University’s New Media Driver’s License and CEO of Ingenex Digital Marketing in Ann Arbor, Michigan has been ranked as the #23 Top Marketing Professor on Twitter by the Social Media Marketing Magazine.

About the Top Marketing Professors on Twitter list:

The magazines Co-Publisher Kent Huffman, CMO at BearCom Wireless compiled the list as an exclusive for the magazine. To be considered as a top marketing professor on twitter, the professors, located all around the world, must meet the following criteria:

• Have at least 500 followers on Twitter
• Provide useful information and actively engage with those followers
• Demonstrate that they understand the best methods for social media marketing outlets such as Twitter

Derek Mehraban and the New Media Driver’s License at Michigan State University:

Derek Mehraban (@Mehraban) started this venture as a professor at Michigan State University in the spring of 2009, with the kick-off for the New Media Driver’s License class. He and Co-Instructor Dr Richard Cole, Chairman for the Department of Advertising, Public Relations & Retailing worked together to develop the class as an opportunity for students within the college to gain exposure to new media and its effect on marketing and advertising.

According to Mehraban, “The goal of the New Media Driver’s License is to certify students in new media so that they can go on after the conclusion of the course and use new media and digital marketing in their career, job search and everyday life. The course has proven itself as a great learning experience for college students, which is why we also offer it as a life long education course and for corporations.”

The semester-long class meets twice physically during the semester, with weekly assignments due on the New Media Driver’s License website. The assignments are submitted in blog format and teach students the ins and outs of blogging, rules for online public relations, digital presentation skills, search engine optimization techniques,  and how to build you personal online profile.

An innovative digital marketing professional at Ingenex Digital Marketing and new media professor at Michigan State University, it is no wonder that Derek Mehraban has the twitter following to place him in the ranks of Top Marketing Professors followed on Twitter.

A Special Thank You to Kent Huffman and the Social Media Marketing Magazine for publishing the Top Marketing Professors on Twitter.

Check out the New Media Driver’s License website, http://NewMediaDL.com

Follow Derek Mehraban on Twitter, @Mehraban

Google Chrome is the newest addition to the Web browser game. According to recent browser stats, Chrome is ranked number 3 as of May. The folks at Google have implemented an interactive marketing strategy that allows designers and programmers to create “Experiments” for visitors using Javascript, HTML5, Canvas, and more. It has been tagged as “Not Your Mother’s Javascript,” and indeed, it is much more. One such designer, Mr. Doob, created Harmony- a procedural drawing tool. By clicking around, I made this:

It’s not much in the way of art, but it is quick, easy, accessible, and an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon researching at Ingenex Digital Marketing. Other experiments are more geared toward gaming such as Stewart Smith’s “Browser Pong” and Paul Brunt’s “Bert’s Breakdown”. Google is taking submissions and posts the best experiments so design away.

Developers at Google have also developed a race across the internet called Chrome Fastball. Google takes you on a scavenger hunt around the internet. Time yourself and see how quickly you can tweet, find a bike route, or translate text. See if you can beat me!

Social Media, Twitter, Blog, RSS, many words and phrases used today to describe components of digital marketing. But maybe you are wondering what these words and phrases mean, or maybe you are having a hard time explaining it to someone else.

If that is the case, I introduce you to, Common Craft, a company based out of Seattle, Washington that produces simple, short and informational videos “in plain english.” Each video features paper cut outs, increasing the ease of comprehension.

Simply put,  Common Craft, is a simple company, that gives perfect explanations, and that is all there is to it. This video is one of the many technology related videos on the website, and will explain “Blogs in Plain English:”

Now that you have see the Common Craft explanation of a blog,  visit other Ingenex blog pots:

• The Digital Bus, to learn about digital marketing from the professionals at Ingenex
• Eco-Friendly Internship Blog, to find out what is new in digital marketing and eco-friendly from the interns at Ingenex
• New Media Drivers License, will feature posts by students as they learn about new media in the course instructed by Derek Mehraban, Ingenex CEO

Twitter, the simple 140 character status update social media site is experimenting with more opportunities in the realm of trending topics to advance their availability of digital marketing opportunities.

Twitter trending topics allow Twitter users to see what other users in their chosen geographic location (country or well-known city) are talking about. By clicking on the topic, users can see all updates that contain that topic.

Recently Twitter confirmed that Pixar paid for a trending topic placement for the recently released Toy Story 3. The topic was marked as “Promoted” taking away any potential hidden issues.

Thank You Flickr User: tsand

There is no doubt that somewhere in the release of Twitter updates there is a hidden potential for high volume advertising media placements. The question I find myself asking now is if paid trending topics is the answer. A few things to think about:

THE TWITTER USER:
If trending topics are paid for, does that take away the relevancy and uniqueness of the feature? It is possible that followers of trending topics will lose interest in the feature all together if it is overly populated with paid placements.

As an advantage, keeping the ads in the trending topic field may discourage growth of ads within the Twitter updates field and crowded banners, taking away from personalized Twitter backgrounds.

THE TWITTER PROMOTER:
The company sponsoring the promoted tweet has an opportunity to take control of their reach on the social media platform and increase conversation, but only to a certain extent. What happens if the topic is negatively tagged and  revealed upon following the trending topic updates? This presents itself to be more of a problem for competing brands than for “Toy Story 3,” but a concern all the same.

TWITTER:
Will this earn enough revenue as an ad source? Currently, the program requires a double-click for payment, which means that the twitter user has to click on the trending topic, and then on the link within the actual tweet. Do enough Twitter users follow the link to make the program worth the potential of losing the relevancy of trending topics? And is there more opportunity for Twitter to attract competing brands to this platform?

It may not be a bad idea for Twitter to limit who has access to the trending topic spots, like movies, non-profit organizations or other less competitive companies.

Twitter has shown its potential, now it is up to them to decide what to do. The idea of promoted trending topics as a use of digital marketing is growing on me (possibly because Toy Story 3 was a pilot promotion to the idea) as a way to make Twitter users aware of things that may have been outside of their radar. However, if not well thought out before implementation, Twitter could have quite a mess on its hands.

They are on the news, optimized over the web and one of the most talked about manufacturers of the modern day computer. Apple Inc., based in Cupertino, California  is a leader, innovator and money maker.

With the recent release of the iPhone 4, Apple is under the radar and often the topic of technology conversation. Some choose to praise the addition of FaceTime messaging and multitasking features, while others highlight recent issues with the antenna and mobile service, however there is one new component to the Apple name that has yet to be the main topic of conversation, the iAd. It’s a mystery, that is slated to unfold today.

With a passion for the world of advertising, the iAd falls right into my area of curiosity. Yes, I have heard mention of the iAd, but before researching the component of Apple’s digital marketing, I had not a clue of the features it would offer.

Rumor has it that today will be the official roll-out of the Apple iAd, and according to Apple this program is what brands have been waiting for, “Access to the global audience of iPhone and iPod touch users.”

The iAd will be featured in Apple’s App store and as a component of third party applications. Ads will be marked with the iAd logo making iPhone, iPod and eventually iPad aware of the advertisement. The apparent goal of iAds is to create a user friendly, interactive advertisement that allows a user to act on the ad, (make a purchase, save a coupon or share with friends) without leaving the application that they have open. The ads will follow the trends of digital marketers on other platforms, such as Facebook and Google, that use demographics to determine what ads each user will see. iAds will make it possible for Apple and third party developers to make money while eliminating cost to the consumer.

With the release of the iPhone last week, and iAds this week for iPhone and iPod (The iPad iAd release has been delayed until Fall) the Apple news will continue on this steady stream. The popularity of Apple products is sure to speak volumes for the hopeful success and reach of these ads, but for now we wait to see what will come about over the iAd in the next few days, weeks and years.

I am excited to see what the iAd does for advertising campaigns, it has the potential to be an important component in the future of advertising and digital marketing. Now for all of you readers, what do you think about the iAds? And have you had the pleasure of coming across any on your iPhone or iPad applications?

The avid Facebook user is most likely aware of the recent switch from the “Become a Fan” feature to “Like.” What many users do not realize, as is common with Facebook changes, is that some of the original settings were modified along with it, which will now demand more attention.

If you are currently the administrator of a professional or businesslike Facebook page, it is important for you to know that your personal “likes” are now the same as the page you administer, whether intentional or not. Facebook now assumes that anything that you, as the page administrator, “like” your business page will “like” too.

Scenario:
You manage the Facebook page for your family’s local hardware store. You have found it to be a great way to stay connected with the community and keep them informed with your upcoming sales and promotions to attract business. You have the perception of a separation between your Facebook account and the hardware store’s, so you continue on your Facebook as usual. Before you know it, the hardware store “likes” your favorite TV shows and restaurants and your frequent customers make comments about these “likes” on your wall and in the store. While these examples may not be harmful, they may not be helpful either.

The world of digital marketing is becoming increasingly  important among the current client base of many industries. This glitch in privacy settings just may require a more professional attitude as you keep up with social media.

• Avoid “liking” controversial pages that will have negative affects on the Facebook page that you administer.
• If the page does not benefit your business, you may be best without it
• Consider creating a dummy Facebook account to administer any Facebook business pages that you may manage. This will eliminate any negative impacts you may find between your personal “likes” and their influence on your business page.

We’ve all been pestered by flies. Annoying critters.

I’m sure some of us, amusingly, have thought about tying a string to them and carrying them around as pets.

However, a Germon book company, Eichborn, dediced to think beyond flies merely as annoyances or pets. They looked at them as advertising media.

“Eichborn’s “smallest commercial gimmick in the world” was simple: attach physical banner ads to actual flies.” You’re kidding? See for yourself @Mashable

I started noticing the new Re-Connect feature on Facebook, that prompts users to reconnect with a friend that they haven’t spoken to in a while. Since Facebook doesn’t really “announce” new features, the recent addition didn’t strike me as a recent addition until after a couple days. Truthfully, I haven’t reconnected with anyone that has popped up, and none of my friends have ever mentioned doing it either. I’m curious to see how successful it has been?

Pete Cashmore recently posted some less than desirable scenarios that have been occurring because of the new application: “It’s recommending they reconnect with their (current) husband or wife. It’s even advising people to reconnect with friends who have died, causing obvious distress.”

Whether Mark Zuckerberg will correct the mishap is to be determined, but for now, I think we will all wait and see where this new accessory will venture to.

Having studied advertising and marketing for four years now, I’ve learned more theory then you could shake a stick at.  However, there is no substitute for real world experience. Some of you may be already familiar with the Bateman Competition, a national case study competition held by PRSSA every year. Each university has a team who acts as an “agency” to develop a public relations campaign for the selected client of the year. This gives students a chance to rack up real campaign experience for actual clients and receive some feedback on their efforts as well outside of a professional setting. The Spartan International Advertising Association over at Michigan State University is pioneering a brand new program, the first of its kind in the country, very similar to the Bateman Competition.

Partnering up with internationally renowned media mogul Mark Carassi, the SIAA is forming a “virtual international agency” to work with real clients on a global scale. Using contacts established by Carassi, the SIAA will work with big name players such as LG, Samsung, and Sony providing advertising consulting services in return for educational grants for MSU. Carassi got the idea from a similar program overseas and saw MSU’s student IAA chapter as the perfect fit. The SIAA is the first student chapter of the IAA in the country and for those of you interested in participating in this virtual agency can attend an informational meeting next Thursday, October 15th at 5:30 in room C213 in Wells Hall.

Without a doubt, one of Twitter’s most defining features is the @Reply, which allows you to in a sense “notify” another user within a tweet for the purpose of sharing information or just communicating a message. Just this past week, Facebook introduced a copycat feature by allowing you to “tag” other users in wall posts, links, statuses and even private messages. At first glance, one might say what is the use of this feature; I can already post directly on peoples walls. The biggest advantage of Facebook’s new @reply feature is the ability to share information more efficiently. You can in a sense now do mass wall posts in one status update by tagging multiple people and the recipients will all receive notification updates. The heart of social networking is the ability to establish networks and share information and Facebook really hit the mark with this latest update. Already in the week that this feature has been available, my friends and I have jumped on it. Not only is it a great way to share media with a multitude of people, its a fun way to to interact with people on wall posts and status updates. The only real difference between the reply feature in Facebook and Twitter is that Facebook actually posts the reply the tagged person’s wall, whereas Twitter merely notifies the user that they were mentioned in a tweet. Facebook has really stepped its game up in the past 6 months, shifting from being a site focused on finding people, events, and pictures to a real time source of relevant media and information.