Xbox Connects with the Couch Potatoe

Ok so after taking in entire semesters worth of social media knowledge, you’d think I’d be pretty up to date on a lot of things. Well, I just found out about Xbox’s connection to the social media world and it has been out for just around a year now! As if things were not easy enough for generation Y and Z folks, Xbox has made it yet again, easier by integrating Facebook and Twitter in with its gaming console. No need to get off the couch or grab the laptop; Xbox now allows users to connect to Facebook and Twitter straight from their gaming controller. According to Marc Whitten, Xbox's General Manager, Xbox's social media ability will be just like that of a computer. Users will be able to flip through albums and photo's of friends and family. The great thing about connecting social media platforms and a gaming system like Xbox is there will be instant user generated content and tremendous consumer interaction through things like wall posts, updating twitter status's, Facebook chatting, and uploading new photo's of games.

Bing’s Social Search Optimize Content, Takes Shot at Google

Social:

 

Microsoft’s Bing.com just recently announced that it is integrating Facebook’s very sought after social graph information in to parts of its search results. In the social media world, this has been both expected and long waited for. The “social search” will search algorithms to pick up on signals such as location to figure out what a person is trying to find or do. In lemans terms, Bing is using Facebook’s “like” results and profile search results and integrating them in to their search engine.

Whenever you are signed on to Facebook and are using Bing, you will have an option of viewing search results that will take in to consideration what your Facebook friends have liked or searched. By tapping in to Facebooks information database, Bing is taking a direct shot at other search engines such as Google in the race to customize search options specifically for individuals.

For companies, this is also a huge step. Those companies that know how to manage social media and use it effectively can use Bing to their advantage as the search engine moves towards better search results based on social graphs. Through more relevant user generated data, socially connected people and companies will be in-the-know and will consequently make more money!

NFL gets a Fantasy Boost

                                     

We have talked about advergaming and things like Second Life and World of War craft. But, we haven’t talked about how the fantasy world is hitting up the sport industry. Fantasy sports such as football, basketball, and baseball are all the craze amongst sports enthusiast and it’s paying off big time for TV ratings.  For example, the return of the NFL football season has allowed NBC to crush its competition during primetime with Sunday Night Football. NBC had 11.4 million viewers one week, which was roughly 5 million more than the next best network. The NFL has stated that the rise in fans playing fantasy football leagues has gotten more fans in to the games. Before, fans would pay attention only to their favorite teams.  With fantasy football, fans are focusing on many teams that in the past they would not have cared about. Now, with fantasy football, fans are closely watching many games specifically to see how their fantasy players are performing.

Fantasy football allows regular fans to become more involved in the NFL. Fans can create a league and draft players just like you see on television. Fans manage their team just like a General Manager would and compete with other teams in the league.

The NFL has also stated that other social media outlets have helped increase ratings. Fans texting each other during games or posting comments on their Twitter and Facebook pages has also increased the interest in the games.

Become a Hollywood Producer at Vimeo!

So today at work, my boss asked me if I could download a Facebook video to our shared drive in our office. Now, I know how to surf the web with the best of them, but when it comes to embedding codes, transferring files and things of that nature, I am no pro.  I started off doing what probably the majority of people would have done: going to Google of course! Google took me to a video sharing website called Vimeo. I had never heard of Vimeo before, but apparently it is quite popular.  It is almost like an upscale YouTube where consumers can customize their own videos, collaborate on projects, and build a community of followers with similar interests. Vimeo’s mission is to provide creators with a safe and positive environment to share their videos and connect with others, as well as to develop simple and elegant tools and features to present your videos to the people you want.

One of the best things about Vimeo is its online community. Vimeo allows users to post comments of opinions and suggestions to help one another out.  By watching others videos and “liking” them, as well as posting your own videos, other users will be notified of your work and users with similar interests will soon follow.

Some users may be intimidated by the quality of some of the videos, but they should not be. Vimeo claims that all you need in “a camera and a little bit of motivation.” The tools, online community and resources are in place to help you out from there!

Here is a video that I found while exploring. Looks like WKU is up with the times! Spread the Red!

Social Media Presentation

In my entrepreneurial marketing class the other day, we had a guest speaker. His name was Steve Chandler and he runs his own online ad agency called Chandlerthink.com. He gave a very cleaver and informative social media presentation with some eye popping statistics.  The most interesting things in my opinion were his catchy sayings. For example, with social media and advertising in general, Chandler states that you must “fish where the fish are.” Today, there are many skeptics out there, thinking social media is a fad and is not worth the time or effort to use efficiently. However, the numbers do not lie. With over 400 million people on Facebook, over 50 million tweets per day, and roughly 100,000 YouTube video uploads per day, it is clear that the fish are swimming in the social media stream of today’s society.  Advertisers must recognize this and adapt.  Chandler explained that being successful at social media is not a simple thing though. Advertisers must be real with people. Chandlers discussed how profiles on Facebook are like people’s personal “me time” and that time should not be interrupted by annoying scheme’s and ploys by advertisers. He recommends being interactive. Chandler stated that he lives by posing the question, “WWBRD?” That stands for “What Would Bonnie rate Do?” Bonnie Rait sings the song, “Let’s give them something to talk about.” Chandler says that is exactly what advertisers need to do when trying to connect to consumers using social media tools. Chandlers gave a personal example of a client his company has. They created a Facebook page for the client and initially posted bland non-interactive comments. This got the Facebook page hardly any additional followers. For the first six months, their new followers looked like this: 1) low 90s 2) low 90s 3) 0 4) 500s 5) over 1,000 6) over 14,000. Clearly Steve Chandler and his colleagues figured out something around month 4. They began interacting with their followers more by posing questions regarding favorite personal memories and opinions on various topics. The followers soon started flooding in. This is just another example of how advertising today is moving toward non-traditional media and today’s consumers are much more educated when it comes to a company’s attempts to be real with them.

A Technologically Savvy Resume could mean a leg up

Although the job market may be a bit scarce these days, it is certainly not for lack of opportunities for recognition by job searchers. Today there are more opportunities than ever to get your name and resume in front of businesses looking to hire. With such great resources like monster.com and theladders.com among others it is essential that people understand their resumes are no longer just a piece of paper. For a leg up, resumes should incorporate today's multimedia and social networking capabilities such ones blog or LinkedIn account. Another recommendation is to post videos of mock interviews or audio testimonials of references like a former boss. You can easily do this on your blogs or YouTube.  Incorporating these things in to a state of the art technologically savvy resume not only shows that you are cutting edge, but it also allows recruiters to emotionally connect with you on a level they would not otherwise be able to. 

Now, it is important to note that if you are to create a social media resume, you must thoroughly inspect all your social media sites (Twitter, Facebook, Blogger etc.) and make sure they represent you in a professional manner that is appropriate for hire.

Here is a link on how to build the Ultimate Resume !

Disney Takes a Social Media Approach to Recruiting College Campuses

The other day in my entrepreneurial marketing class, we had a recruiter from Disney come in and talk to us about Disney as a brand. We talked about the history of the company, its significance in today's society and what makes Disney so successful. A big reason Disney is so successful is because 75% of its customers are repeat customers. It is Disney’s extreme attention to detail that helps create a magical fairy tale experience for each Guest. I do say Guest, not customer. Disney calls each customer a guest because that is how they should be treated. Disney is all about the fairy tale and incredible memories that last a lifetime. Their new marketing campaign "Let the Memories Begin", fits right in with utilizing social media in a correct manner. Disney admits they were late getting in to the social media game and still are hesitant in aspects because their brand is so delightful and distinct that they have a fear of hurting it when allowing the user to control content. But their new campaign allows guests to still be interactive with Disney and be original all while allowing Disney to have ultimate control. Another cool thing the recruiter showed was how they have changed their marketing plan towards recruiting students. Disney’s advertising and recruiting efforts are no longer just a poster up on college campus that students walk by. The Disney recruitment posters have a 2D barcode on them that can be scanned with a smart phone. Once the code is scanned a roughly two minute long interactive advertisement video plays right on your phone. This new way of advertising avoids having to type in long URL’s or search for content that may be hard to find. The 2D bar codes can also easily be uploaded to a Twitter account, making them even more viral through user interaction. The Disney video does a great job of bringing the poster and overall marketing campaign to life. The campaign is more unique and makes the prospective employee or guest feel like the message is directed specifically at them, which in turn makes them want to be a part of the magical Disney family.

Facebook is the new Email

The other day I remembered us talking about how it was almost easier to communicate with people through social media sites such as Facebook then it was through e-mail. I decided to surf the web and see what I could come up with. Sure enough, there is information stating that social media sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn have contributed to the decline in usage of conventional e-mail. Social media sites are replacing e-mail because the same production can be done in a more efficient way. Additionally, this trend is gaining ground largely in part to the Gen-Y group's overall dislike for e-mail. However, it's not necessarily a dislike for e-mail, but rather, the popularity and extreme usage of Facebook. For example, last year I was the New Member Educator for my fraternity. I was in charge of communicating to 20 new pledges what was going on in our chapter. Many times I needed to communicate a lot of information that would typically be sent through e-mail. For the first couple of weeks I used the pledges school e-mail addresses. This turned out to be a much delayed communication process. I then decided to create a group on Facebook and send information through messages that they could look at in their inboxes. I knew they would look at the information because the majority of them got on Facebook multiple times a day whereas they were getting on their e-mail accounts maybe every other day. This way of communication proved to be much more efficient and successful.

Here a link to an article I found that gives a few more details: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/facebook_eats_away_at_email_usage_on_todays_web.php

Social Media and College Recruiting

Ok, I am a huge sports fan in general and like any sports fan, I
have my specific teams that I cheer for as well as the specific teams
that I despise.

Coming from Louisville and in general the state of Kentucky, we do not
have a professional sports team. So, college sports are the big dog.
It's the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville that
rule the state and in my opinion it is the greatest overall rivalry in
college sports, primarily because of the fan bases passionate hatred
for one another and passionate love for their teams.

Years ago very few fans were paying close attention to the recruiting
world and the future of the teams because those resources were just not
out there. Today social media has helped catapult high school athletes in to media outlets across the country. Twitter has been the most popular. Fans have taken it upon themselves more and more to recruit top athletes to their schools. Fans are no longer relying on just the head coach to recruit. Tony Wroten Jr. a high school senior from Seattle Washington is one of the top basketball prospects in the country. He has a Twitter account and currently has over 2,000 followers and the majority of those followers are college basketball fans of the schools Tony is considering. Those fans tweet to him attempting to recruit him to their favorite school. Tony is one of the many student athletes that plays up to the fans and eggs them on by “retweeting” what they say and always has the fans guessing on which school he likes the best.

Social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook have pros and cons to them when it comes to dealing with recruiting athletes. Fans could potentially scare recruits off by basically stalking them and saying harsh words to players that do not choose their school. On the other hand it could help them get national exposure by doing things such as posting videos of their games, connecting with scouts etc. Bottom line, the recruiting world is much more involved and technological than before and coaching staffs are no longer the only ones doing the work, whether they like it or not.

Here are some links to Twitter accounts and Facebook accounts of highschool basketball players and a YouTube video of some recent University of Louisville basketball recruits that have gained national exposure they would not have otherwise received if it were not for social media today.

YouTube Quincy Miller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7GC94q1VzM

Tony Wroten’s Twitter page, littered by college fans attempting to persuade his decision: http://twitter.com/ToneTone13

Facebook: This is not a high school recruit, but a college freshman who played at Kentucky and at the time was deciding on returning to college or going pro. Here is how a college fan plays in to his decision in a negative way: http://frathousesports.com/daniel-orton-post-facebook-message-on-twitter/

Hello everyone! My name is Zach Redman and I am a senior at Western Kentucky University. I am a marketing major and absolutely love it. I like to think that marketing is basically in my blood. Both my mom and dad are involved in marketing, advertising, and PR, so by the age of 8, I already knew what I wanted to do when I grew up (that is if a pro ballplayer didn't come to fruition). I am a person who loves being busy, I love changes and challenges and I believe marketing has both.

For my first blog I'd like to talk about a personal success story I recently encountered with my summer job involving Twitter. This summer I worked as a tour guide at the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. My dad works there and he was gracious enough to set me up with the job. As a huge baseball fan, this was a great opportunity for me to hone my public speaking skills by publically speaking in front of thousands of people about something I knew a lot about. As the Communications part of me was enjoying every bit of the summer, the marketing side of me was uneasy due to the lack of usage of simple marketing tools such Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.

It was the night of the mid-summer classic, the MLB All-Star game when I finally spoke up. I was watching the game with my father with a keen interest in which players were using Louisville Slugger bats and which players were not. True to suggested data, about 60% of the players were using a Louisville Slugger. However, the All-Star game was one of tremendous pitching this year and base hits were hard to come by. The game was eventually won by Atlanta Braves All-Star Brian McCann's base knock down the right field line which gave the National League their first win in over a decade. The base hit was done with a genuine Louisville Slugger.

I was so excited that the game winning hit, like numerous other things in baseball history, was done with a Louisville Slugger. I immediately told my dad that they should spread the word, Congratulating Brian McCann on the hit and MVP award through social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook as well as notifying media outlets of the accomplishment. Initially he did not think much of it. My father, like many others older than myself, had not yet grasped on to the new social media wave. I explained to him that Louisville Slugger has a Twitter page and Facebook page with thousands of followers. As arguably the most recognizable brand in sports, they must utilize their social media outlets that connect them directly to their fans. Many baseball fans do not watch the game like me, watching the players bat to see if it's a Slugger or not. So, by congratulating Brian McCann on the hit with his Louisville Slugger, baseball fans can easily know that Louisville Slugger is still on top of the baseball world and had a huge part in the win for the National League.

I convinced my dad to tweet Congratulations to Atlanta Braves Brian McCann on this game winning hit with his genuine Louisville Slugger as well as his MVP award. The Tweet went out early the next morning. By that afternoon, local news stations were walking through the front doors of the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory to get footage of Brian McCann’s bats. My dad later thanked me. It was amazing to him how easy it was to spread the word. Instead of making phone calls and telling media outlets about a possible story they may be interested in, the media outlets were calling him telling him they would be stopping by. Louisville Slugger is now using this tool to their advantage and gaining a lot of free and positive PR because of it. The company has also started to utilize social media outlets such as Twitter more with their other products such as their Powerbilt Golf division.

Check out Louisville Slugger's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1082743179&ref=ts

And Twitter Page: http://twitter.com/sluggernation