Online vs. Traditional Marketing

Online marketing is a rapidly expanding trend that ecompasses any type of advertising or brand building exercise done through the internet. It has a number of advantages over traditional media, as well as a few setbacks. The biggest advantage of online marketing is the ability of a company or advertising firm to specifically target a very narrow audience, allowing their message to only reach those who are most likely to be in their target market. In traditional media marketing, advertisers often find themselves wasting money on large audience numbers that include huge sections that will be very unlikely to respond to their advertisements. Another positive element of online marketing is the ability to create interactive campaigns that allow users to feel more involved with the company or product, and thus increase interest as well as time spent with the marketing element. The main downside to this kind of marketing is the expansive nature of the online environment. Although it is easy to pick out several websites that may fit well with a product's target market, there are always new websites being made and hundreds of better opportunities that a marketer simply cannot be aware of. Television, cable, and radio have the advantage of only having relatively few choices for advertising efforts. This means that a marketer can always be able to predict with relative accuracy the reach and effect of the ad. Still, advertising online continues to grow due to the rapid growth in number of websites as well as the growth of individual sites or networks. It is a good way to reach a targeted audience and will likely take over nearly all advertising revenues within the next 15 years.

Fair & Transformative Use: Girl Talk case

When considering intellectual property rights and the implications of big business on creative expressive means, a number of dicey questions come up regarding the legality and morality of both sides' positions on the issue. Should a person's own creative expression be considered his property? that of the company that owns his contract? and what constitutes fair or transformative use? Well, although U.S. copyright law has undergone a number of major changes throughout history, the fair use act was probably the most important distinction to creative implications of copyright law. Although there are several factors that constitute a kind of "grey area" within its main tenets, the law is fairly clear on what kind of use, profitability, and volume of sharing is allowed. The "transformative use" clause, on the other hand, is much more subjective in its definition of acceptable use.
In the case of Girl Talk, there is a major discrepancy between his "combination" technique of remixing songs and the constitution of "transformative use." His use of the songs generally does not seem to be a complete rearrangement, but rather a series of juxtapositions among several genres. The concept is intriguing, to use a full arrangement to create an original soundscape, but in strict legal terms probably not fully acceptable. He has not made an effort to purchase rights to any of the music he uses, and although he considers the rearrangements to be an original work, the copyright holders would probably not see it that way if he were making substantial money off of it. I think the lack of backlash from these companies is probably owed mostly to his model of sharing his content, which has always consisted of very cheap or free copies of his arrangements. Additionally, since he was working with a small independent record label for much of his career, there is little threat of corporate litigation between the two firms. Large companies like Warner Bros. or Sony/BMG likely realize the unsubstantial returns compared to expensive lawsuits against individuals or very small companies.

Interactivity in web design

http://ausweb.scu.edu.au/aw99/papers/rahardja/paper.html

My article comes to you from Agus Rahardja of the Centre for Computer Studies in Singapore. He examines a few travel sites and discusses the intentions of including interactivity on a website, as well as some tips for accomplishing this interactivity. This article is related to the central notion of internet communication because it defines the goals of a new website, which inherently has no active or intentional user to begin with. The author provides a diagram that shows the flow of information priority as it is related to the website's stakeholders. The stakeholder is important to the overall flow of the website because they decide what is a good choice for the website's development. Although it is obviously not clear at first what the users will require or want from the site, there always has to be some kind of starting point for web developers to work from.

When it comes to measuring the interactivity of a website, there is not a standard or official unit. You have to think practically in order to understand the usefulness and value of a website's interactive features. Rahardja shows some examples, as well as giving some ground rules to work from, on the importance of interactive and visually appealing elements on a website. The most important part to consider is how the user will interact with the site. Before determining what kind of interactivity you want on a site, you have to decide what the user's main goal will be there. Use this to determine the workflow for the user: number of clicks, size and number of the buttons, etc. If a sites' interactive elements are somewhat directly related to accomplishing these goals, then it is probably a good form of interactivity. However, there are times when some interference may be preferable. For instance, on a site directed at younger audiences, you may choose to include some small flash game that lets users accomplish a goal. These should usually only be a type of skin to make the functional aspects more appealing. It is hard to measure a site's interactivity or usefulness quantitatively, but a good understanding of the function of the website, elements of design, and creative value will allow you to analyze a website from the ground up and decide its level of interactivity.

Network Laws

      Out of the three laws discussed, I think I agree most with Reed's Law. His law states that the value or usefulness of a network tends to expand exponentially with each addition of a user. This law makes the most sense with today's main communication methods. Much of the interpersonal communication in today's world occurs through group messaging and sub-sections of larger public networks. Because so many connections rely on common interest, geographic, and professional groupings, these mini-networks are probably the most important element of modern communication. These public groups rely on their members to invite new parties, who can then make all the connections available within the single group. Since most people online are members of more than one of these organizations, they always have a chance to bring new users in, connect with the other new members of their group, and potentially find other organizations to be involved with. It follows that these types of connections are always being made, and there is no shortage of new users for any given group on the internet. As one sub-network grows, millions of others are growing along with it, every day. As such, the overall network is continually expanding at an exponential rate, given the vast amount of members and groups that are themselves always expanding.
        Five years from now, I think the way we get our information will remain to some degree unchanged for our generation. The expanding social network environment will undoubtedly continue growing and diversifying, but the changes made, as they have in the last ten years, will be minor in comparison to the initial change that social networks brought on. The differences between new social networks as they gained popularity (twitter, snapchat, instagram) always seemed to be some kind of gimmick or new "selling point." People are generally not interested with the same social network after a few years of use; it gets old. So developers will always be looking for a new format to create a new social network.
         However, I do think the baby boomer generation will  continue to adapt more than they already have to social media. Of course, a lot of younger people might not like that their parents are using Facebook or Twitter. This does not necessarily mean that they will give up on it entirely, but I do think it's likely to see a higher and higher ratio of older generations on these sites in the next few years.

Generation Like Discussion Questions

1. Using examples from the documentary explain these terms:...

 - Engagement: the amount of people who interact with some kind of content. An example in the movie of engagement is its statistics on the amount of people following social media and other forms of internet communication
- Interaction - Anything a consumer does to respond to brand content. The movie shows examples of interactive online advertising, such as games or trivia that people can put feedback into and makes them feel more involved.
- Targeting - encompasses matching brands on lifestyle and interests to send ads for related brands. The movie showed aggregators that allow advertisers to see how many consumers of one product also showed interest in another, which helps specificity of ad targeting.
- Reach - the amount of people who have been exposed to content. The documentary explained there are simple ways to see who is viewing content on the internet. Usually this is right on the website, but 3rd party sites are sometimes used.

2. Explain what "like"ing someone's post on Facebook means to you

To me, the act of liking a post means that I am interested enough in the content that I'll take time out of my day to share my positive feedback with the originator.

3. Does knowing others like what you like influence you?

I think there is an inherent desire to like what others do. It helps reinforce our taste criteria and values, and allows a deeper feeling of acceptance.

4. Explain the concept of "influencer"

An online influencer is a presence on the internet whose opinion is valuable to at least a moderate segment of the relevant market. They can be incredibly useful tools for large companies trying to expand or reinvent their brand, and for a relatively low cost. Influencers like the one in the movie can profit from their decision to help these companies, but it is really the brand managers who collect big on it.

5. Explain how marketing Oreo alongside a current issue helped Oreo.

By associating Oreos with the social issue of homosexuality, they expanded the brand image to capture new audiences who would probably never have thought about Oreos in any connection with political or social ideals. It came as a surprise, and caught the eye of like-minded consumers who would otherwise have chosen another brand.

6. How do companies use social media to advertise?

Companies create facebook, twitter, instagram, snapchat, etc pages to branch out to new customers with new products or branding designs. It helps for preliminary research, particularly because of interactive aspects embedded in the page. These elements allow consumers to provide relevant feedback for the company in their marketing efforts.

7. How are marketers using social media to build brand trust?

If marketers can get enough people to like/share/comment on their products, other consumers can read this and learn from their peers. There is a greater level of trust among consumers than there is in a corporate-consumer relationship.

8. How do celebrities use social media to advertise?

Celebrities can use social media to personally interact with fans. This is a new concept; the idea of a celebrity is someone whom everyone knows about but few people are familiar with. With social media, fans get to feel like they are more significant because they're getting direct responses from their favorite celebrities.

9. What is Corporate Sponsorship?

Companies looking to capitalize on some type of celebrity can provide products to be used or worn on Youtube or social media, which gives them increased exposure, and provides the creators of the content with an additional source for fundraising.

10. Are marketers being transparent or invisible when using technology as described in the documentary?

I think marketers are retaining a level of transparency with online marketing strategies, but for the most part the companies themselves are attempting to remain invisible or unnoticed. They use third parties to advertise for them, and audiences can relate the product more to the individual promoting it rather than the corporation manufacturing it.

11. How is The Hunger Games plot a lot like advertising using social media?

Just like in the books, teens are spurred by adults (companies) to "fight" each other for likes and favorites. The more people who like a person on social media, the more likely they will earn a sponsorship.

Hello World!

Welcome to my space, I'd like to start with a sweet music video for a forgotten band. Credits: Director/producer: Austin Milligan, Olivia Abrams, Stefano Romano AKA real red group