Eco-Friendly Digital Marketing Internship

Social media has transformed the way companies market their products and, in my eyes, Kraft Mac & Cheese is the newest front runner. I logged in to Twitter yesterday and was surprised to see that “Mac & Cheese” was trending. I know, as well as the rest of the Tweetos, that whenever something is trending, there is a story behind it, but I couldn’t figure out why people’s tweets were including the phrase “Mac & Cheese.” Shortly after, I was perusing Mashable and discovered that an article was written about why the lunchtime delight was trending on Twitter.

To my surprise, Kraft has a type of game going, known as the Mac & Jinx promotion, in which the winner receives five free boxes of mac and cheese and a T-shirt. The game goes something like this: any time two different people tweet using the phrase “mac & cheese,” they’ll each get a link pointing out the “Mac & Jinx.” The first one to click the link and give Kraft his or her address wins. This contest is so different than the traditional “enter and win” contests and I think it’s a great idea. Twitter is revolutionizing the way we get our news, keep in touch with friends and now they are changing the way we participate in contests.

It’s great to see that companies are getting creative now, and I love the fact that Kraft is making it relatively easy to win the prizes; you don’t have to jump through hoops or have some special talent to be a winner. Anyone can participate in the contest as long as he or she has a Twitter account. I also like that there are numerous winners; everyone has the chance to win without dropping their name in a hat and finding out months later that they won. I love that Kraft is embracing what new age technology has to offer with its Twitter contest.

Like Movies? Hate going to Blockbuster, or waiting for your Netflix movies to arrive? Disappointed in the limited selection of movies available to watch online? Well things are looking up.  Mashable announced today that Warner Bros. is making their movies available to rent online… through Facebook. Yeah, you read that right. Starting today, when you visit the fan page of some of your favorite Warner Bros. movies, you can not only “like” the movie, but you can also rent it and watch it right there. The rentals are available for the low price of $3, or 30 Facebook Credits, which are an online currency that buys you things on Facebook. At the moment the feature is only available for “The Dark Night“, but they are going to be expanding soon.

This is an interesting development for all of us 600 million Facebook users. It takes the already expansive user experience provided by the social media giant, and opens up a door that leads to a world of new possibilities. I would love to see Facebook to become a place that incorporates a Netflix + Hulu type video catalog that, with a low monthly price, can be available for use online and on other internet enabled devices (TV’s, video game consoles, etc.). Then they can add music and some proper games and I’ll never have to leave the site. Sounds good to me.

I know what you may be thinking, “Oh great, another website about social media,” and after reading about what this new website, Quora, has to offer, I would consider it an unnecessary addition to the world wide web. Quora could offer some valuable information, but the whole website appears unorganized and pointless.

The new site calls itself a “continuing collection of questions and answers created, edited and organized by everyone that uses it.” Sounds great, right? The idea appears to be helpful, but in reality, it is, as I said before, unorganized. To offset this organization, Quora’s search function is top notch; you ask a specific questions, you get great material in return. Imagine this site as Wikipedia for questions; people ask questions and experts answer appropriately. The search results on Quora come up with the “Best Answer” and “Best Answerer” categories, which allows you to retrieve the best answer to your question.

So what exactly is Quora best used for? For one, networking; you are being connected with experts in the field you are curious about. The site also helps out with possible blog ideas. If you’re stuck on what to write about, check Quora to browse what content people are asking about the most lately. Although this site seems great, LinkedIn Answers is definitely better if you are interested in a more professional answer. Quora also reveals that there certainly is such a thing as a “dumb question,” so if I were you, I’d stick to LinkedIn for your question and answer needs.

I recently read an article posted by Josh Rose on Mashable and it really got me thinking about how far we have come in relation to technology and even more specific, social media. Social media has truly brought so many people together in ways we couldn’t have dreamed of 20 years ago. For instance, who would have thought that we could actually see our loved ones simply by holding a cell phone (iPhone4), or talk to our friends and family in another country with a laptop, better yet, who even knew we would have laptops 10+ years ago? I don’t think most of us realize how influential social media and technology are these days.

A couple decades ago, the only way someone could keep in touch with family that lived far away was by phone or by mail. Now, we can keep in contact with those we don’t see in person often through Facebook, webcams and, most recently, with an iPhone. I can talk to my brother who lives in Florida by using my iChat application on my laptop. I can see him every day if I want, and it doesn’t take more than 5 seconds to say “Hey get on iChat,” and with a click of a button, there he is. I do think it is an overshot to say that grandparents are able to see their grand kids using the iPhone4 like the Apple iPhone4 commercial. My grandma wouldn’t know what an iPhone4 was if it hit her on the head, let alone be able to work it by herself.

Josh Rose mentions being able to keep in contact with his son every day, something that used to be hard for them because him and his son’s mom aren’t together anymore. This got me thinking about the perks of technology in relation to members of divorced families. Children who don’t get to see their immediate family members every day now have the opportunity via laptops and cell phones.

Children are learning how to use the various forms of technology at surprisingly young ages; I once saw a little girl who couldn’t have been older than 6 in the mall with a blinged-out cell phone talking away like it was no big deal. I was surprised but I think this will be the norm within the next few years. I do believe that the current generation and generations to come will continue to embrace the revolutionizing technology that presents itself every day.

(Photo cred: Google)

If you’re walking around NYC and see a couple homeless men with cell phones, don’t be discouraged. A new Twitter campaign, Unheard in New York, aims to raise awareness about the trials and tribulations of the homeless in a large urban city. Four homeless men, Danny, Carlos, Derrick and Albert, were given a prepaid cell phone with unlimited texting and a Twitter account and were told to tweet about the things they do every day in NYC. It’s not like they’re walking around with iPhones though; the 4 of them are tweeting away on inexpensive, Samsung clam-shell phones.

BBH advertising agency responsible the campaign and Rosemary Melchior, Robert Weeks and Willy Wang are the interns behind it. The interns were challenged to “Do something good… Famously,” and this is what they came up with. The 4 homeless men were given the phones, paid for by BBH advertising agency, and also received some training on the basics of Twitter. Although Unheard in New York is not a fundraiser per say, it was created in hopes that people will be inspired to donate to the homeless as well as homeless shelters such as NYC Rescue Mission. It was the NYC Rescue Mission that helped select the four homeless men who were to take part in the campaign, as they have built a relationship with BBH ad agency.

These four homeless men serve as a pilot group; the agency wants to expand the Twitter accounts and voices of the homeless around NYC. The campaign end when the internship ends, however, the interns are hoping that their work will not go unnoticed. They are anticipating that another agency will pick up their strategy and continue to raise awareness about the homeless.

I actually started following them on Twitter and it’s very refreshing. They don’t complain about one thing; it’s all positive tweeting coming from each one. They tweet about job interviews, how their day is going and feedback to their followers. It’s great to see that their followers are actually trying to help them out and give them positive feedback as well. These 4 men seem to have a big heart and are grateful for what they do have in life, though it’s not much. I think this campaign should be expanded to different urban cities; if people are given insight about members of the homeless community, they could be more apt to helping out. If you’d like to follow them, their Twitter names are @putodanny, @awitness2011, @albert814 and @jessie550. You can also follow the campaign itself at @underheardinNY.

(Photo taken from Mashable article)

A Facebook alternative for kids between the ages of 8 and 13 will be launching next week. This new social networking site, Everloop, is much like the actual Facebook site, with a few parent-friendly exceptions.

Perhaps the best thing about Everloop is that it requires parental approval to join. Parents are also able to choose to be notified about certain things that their children do on the site. Features such as instant messaging and friend suggestions can also be monitored, or even restricted by parents. Everloop contains many of the same features as Facebook such as photos, the “Like” option, groups, games, videos and even the option to change the background of your page. The site is maintained by the company to make sure that inappropriate behavior is not occurring. Everloop is even available to be used in schools because it complies with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a law that prohibits websites from collecting information from children under the age of 13 without parental consent. Children currently using Facebook under the age of 13 are able to create an account by simply lying about their birthday.

This new social media site is ideal; it allows children to be subjected to the world of social media without compromising their safety and privacy. Children can interact with their friends without parents worrying about them being exposed to some of the racy and inappropriate content that can be found on Facebook. I do wonder what is stopping older people that could be dangerous to children from signing up. How can the site actually know you are between the age of 8 and 13? There has to be some kind of prevention of this, otherwise it could be an easy target to pedophiles. We’ll have to see how the site runs when it has been active for a little while.

Children these days are very picky about what is “cool,” especially if they learn that the site is monitored by their parents. Everloop as been successful in convincing investors and partners of its worth, but the real test is kids. It’s tough to say whether kids will catch on to it, but social media sites are addicting and if Facebook can catch on, I’m sure Everloop will soon become a tween trend.

Social media is taking the world by storm. The influence is so prominent that it is reported that people are now using social media during emergencies. We have noticed lately that social media has been used in national and international crisis in the past few years, such as the political hubbub in Egypt, but people are actually using it to inform their social networking site viewers of personal emergencies.

A few years ago, two girls found themselves trapped in a storm water drain used their phone to inform Facebook of their emergency rather calling 911. This was somewhat ridiculous to authorities at the time, but researchers have found that social media can play a large role in emergency response. A recent survey shows that almost half of respondents said they would use social media to inform relatives and friends that they are okay in the event of some sort of disaster. The survey also reported that 69% of respondents think that emergency response agencies should monitor their social media sites to respond promptly to people in trouble. CDC Emergency and the American Red Cross are the top emergency agencies on Twitter; this allows them to quickly respond to people in need.

I think that the idea of using social media in emergency situations is an interesting topic, although there are both pros and cons. Because it is so easy to post on Facebook and Twitter, it’s more likely that people will abuse the sites. It also seems that the younger generations are more likely to update their Facebook and Twitter, so most of  the population of the older generations will not be taking part in this. On the other hand, people are constantly on social media sites from dawn until dusk, and it would take 2 seconds for anyone to receive word of an emergency, and in turn, attempt to help the person(s) in need. Facebook and Twitter sites take just seconds to update it is proven that these social media sites have actually helped in emergency situations. Let’s not get rid of 911 just yet though.

So I’ve been hearing a lot about this as of late, and I was hoping to get some feedback on what you all think on the matter. There was a story online recently that talked about a California student that was suspended from school for calling his teacher “fat”. A lawyer for the student, because this obviously required a lawyer, claimed that his suspension directly violated his first amendment rights. The lawyer referred back to another case where an employee was fired for making derogatory remarks about her supervisor. In that case, the courts determined that Facebook Posts are, in fact, protected under the first amendment. I, myself, had a situation in high school where our school leaders were able to hack into the students Instant Messaging accounts and print off their previous conversations. They then held a parents-only meeting where they showed the conversations to the group and got a lot of people in trouble.

I’m kind of taken aback by this whole situation. I mean, I get that people shouldn’t so stupid as to post something mean, or derogatory, in a PUBLIC forum, then allow the people that is has been written about to see what they have said. It’s like vandalizing someones car then walking up to them and saying “Hi, I vandalized your car, wanna see?”, and expecting to just walk away unscathed. Having said that, I find it completely ridiculous to suspend, or fire, someone over Facebook. If they aren’t directly threatening someone than it should be dismissed. Facebook is a place to express yourself. You are connected with your friends and family and you want to tell them about your life. I’m sure the teacher had their feelings hurt when they were called fat, and I don’t condone being mean to people, but come on. As for firing people for their posts that I could understand a little bit more. If someone is using their Facebook to incite dissension, or reveal anything that is privileged information that I agree, it’s grounds for dismissal. It would equate to overhearing someone say those things.

I think there are just a few easy steps that would make this whole point moot. First, don’t be stupid, change your account’s privacy settings. If you are online, and you are posting about how much you hate everyone, and you know that your boss, or coworker, has a profile, and you have your page open to be read by anyone, than you deserve to get fired. Protect your page, remove your boss from your friends list, and have at it.

Second, from the other end, if your are a large corporation, or really a business of any kind, and you decide that you want to peruse your the profiles of your constituents than maybe it would be smart to have a mutually agreed upon Social Media policy that everyone is aware of and signed off on. If you develop a Social Media policy and your employees agree to it, than when they violate it, you can stomp all over their first amendment rights. Be smart people.

So there you go, that’s my take on the whole situation. What do you think?

When I read Joe Jaffe’s blog about possible front runners of the digital marketing age, combining social and digital media to get the job done, I immediately thought of Ingenex Digital Marketing.

After interning at Ingenex for a few weeks now, I can already tell that this company consists of digital marketing pioneers. The planning and strategy that is necessary for each project this company takes on is carefully thought out by more than one person. Having more than one person offer insight to each project gives the team members at Ingenex the opportunity to provide different ideas and angles.

The agency’s strategy for digital marketing includes social media methods that most companies strive for. Ingenex has the ability to not only create a marketing plan, but to also monitor that company’s social media sites and provide the feedback that is necessary for the survival of company’s brand online. Ingenex has mastered the social media sites Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr, and Linkedin so team members are able to brand a company appropriately. Ingenex gets to know the company it is working with, and learns what is effective for that brand. Being such a small company, it can give its customers the one-on-one time that is appreciated; the big-shot digital marketing companies cannot offer the flexibility and quick-thinking that Ingenex can when a problem presents itself. Two members of the Ingenex team are Google-certifed, assuring customers that they are receiving the most up-to-date techniques in the digital marketing world. This company is quickly growing, offering Internet marketing services such as web site design, digital public relations, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC) and Google analytics. Ingenex also offers iPhone and mobile applications providing your company with the opportunity to increase its brand exposure to consumers. These apps increase exposure as well as give consumers the ability to interact directly with a company’s brand via mobile phones.

While Ingenex is a growing digital marketing agency, it continues to show the same customer appreciation and dedication through the years.

Facebook has teamed up with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and is now allowing AMBER alert notifications to reach its Facebook audience when a child is abducted. Fifty-three AMBER alert pages will be set up on Facebook; one for each of the fifty states including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It’s refreshing to hear that Facebook is starting to be used for something productive.

The appropriate police departments will be updating its designated page with any information of leads that they have acquired regarding the specific AMBER alert. If a child has gone missing in the state that you reside, you will be updated on the case, once the police department receives information and posts it on the Facebook page. These Facebook pages will contain pictures, a description of the child and any other information that could be helpful in the child’s recovery. The Facebook pages are organized by the state they concern, if there are possible leads that a child could be in another state, the Facebook page of that particular state will also be informed.

Facebook has been careful not to irritate its users; users will receive these AMBER alert notifications only when they have actively “Liked” the page. The official AMBER alert website states that 525 missing children have been recovered via Facebook. This opens up a new door for AMBER alert, giving hope to all the missing children in the world today.

According to the AMBER alert website, the first 3 hours after a child is abducted is the most critical and using social media pages for the AMBER alert system is a great way to inform people at a rapid rate. So many Facebook users are constantly checking their page and if they are receiving notifications about an abducted child, they can post the updates on their page, informing their friends. AMBER alert partnering with Facebook will contribute big to missing children.