Visuals in Advertising

Visuals are being using in advertising and public relations for a list of reasons. Visuals are the backbone behind every advertisement that’s not radio based. The flashy colors and images are what catches the attention of the general consumer. Marketers and advertisers are very specific when it comes to what is portrayed visually in their ads. For example, the color red has been researched that it makes people more hungry when they view it compared to other colors. This is why you see many fast food companies, such as McDonalds’, Arby’s, Wendy’s, etc, using the color red. There are many different studies done on different colors, most of which you can fine online on a website such as this. Another example of colors suggesting people to think a certain way would be the color blue, which represents trustworthiness and calmness. Many of the same strategies have found their way to modern day advertising, using different colors being one of those aspects. In the past decade or so, advertisements have been more tailored to a specific genre of people compared to the general population. On social media for instance, most ads you see are targeted specifically for you based on previous things that you have clicked on. Ads themselves have kind of changed tone, one ad for a company may target their competitors users instead of trying to upsell their own product. In the future I expect advertisements to be more eye-catching, things that will catch consumers eyes instead of swiping past them on their phones. Bright colors or surprising images that take them out of the constant swipe and like thought process. Hopefully by the time my career in advertising starts to develop, i’ll be able to stay on top of the changes happening within the Ad world, and use it to my advantage moving forward. By the time my career is over, I expect that the entire game will be changed somehow, whether that be advertising on a new and different platform, or advertising using only a certain strategy. Even in the last 10 years, the ways in which marketing and advertising happens has changed drastically. You can no longer locate someone by their area code, or use phone based surveys due to their ever decreasing response rate. All in all the game should change, and i’m looking forward to learning the differences.

Peers Working Together

In order to effectively do some projects, you must collaborate with your coworkers. Collaboration between coworkers is a very important aspect of the work environment. It allows for not only different ideas and viewpoints to be shared and explored, but also comes along with different experiences on certain tasks. In the past, coworkers and peers were able to somewhat effectively work on projects together, but due to new technologies and softwares, it’s become easier than ever to share ideas about a project.

In a few years by the time I am out of school, I believe that businesses will encourage more in-office workers, but at the same time support the jobs that can be done remotely being done remotely. Being in the same room as a client or coworker can be important in some settings, especially when information is needed to be confidential. On the other hand, there are many jobs that can be done just as effectively at home if not more than they would be in an office environment. Some good examples of these types of jobs would be a Transcriber, Typist, or Accountant. There are plenty of other jobs that can be done from home, some of which can actually be done more effectively outside of the workplace.

There are many tools and softwares out there that can be used to collaborate, but my favorite is remote access and cloud-based systems. The ability to take remote access gives many opportunities to collaborate. For instance, imagine you can’t figure out where something is on a project, or how to do a certain calculation. A co worker may be able to remote access in to your computer and help you out right away, even if they aren’t there. You can also show a presentation from a distance, which can be very useful when it comes to certain business needs. Imagine having to miss a meeting due to weather, but being able to go along with the meeting live from home? That is one of the main reasons I love both of these technologies. During IT projects, multiple people being able to work on one project all at the same time can be very useful and speed up the process significantly.

While tools and softwares tend to be very useful, when there are too many being used at the same time, it can be overwhelming. Google does a good job at this, because you are able to have text documents, presentation, spreadsheets, and other files all saved onto one cloud. Being able to do this makes it so you, or anyone else that needs it can access it from anywhere. This makes things incredibly easier, and it tends the be the most useful between peers in college. While working on a group paper for instance, all members of your group are able to read what you are typing in real time, which could potentially speed up not only their portion, but the overall paper as well. All in all, collaboration between coworkers is a very important aspect of the work environment. It allows for not only different ideas and viewpoints to be shared and explored, but also comes along with different experiences on certain tasks.

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Technology In Careers

  • Paid Search Specialist
  • Company – Blue Wheel Media
  • Link – https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=advertising&l=rochester%20michigan&vjk=e748562d36baefe9
  • Google Ads
  • Bing Ads
  • Yahoo Gemini/Oath
  • Google Analytics
  • Bonus: Google/Bing Shopping ads, RLSA, Marin & Kenshoo experience
  • Action items to become a stronger candidate – I have never heard of Marin or Kenshoo, so I would have to look them up and try to learn them prior to applying for this job.
  • Marketing Coordinator
  • Company -Waltonen
  • Link – https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=advertising&l=rochester%20michigan&vjk=b0b76bf4e4d9926a
  • Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing or Advertising (or related field)
  • Ideally 2 plus years’ experience (internship experience will be considered)
  • Strong written and verbal skills
  • Technical and/or writing skills
  • Ability to understand highly technical information and determine go-to-market strategies
  • Action items to become a stronger candidate – I’m on track to have a bachelor’s degree in advertising, but I don’t have any actual experience under my belt, an internship is something I should really look at in the near-future.
  • Paid Social Analyst
  • Company – Starcom
  • Link – https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=advertising&l=rochester%20michigan&start=10&vjk=97b31d2984866438
  • Experience with Facebook and Twitter Ads platform or 3rd Party API technology
  • Understanding of Search PPC and digital display advertising
  • Action items to become a stronger candidate – I have some experience with running Facebook ads but have never seen how ads on twitter function, In the future I should use a few dollars and try running a test ad just to see how their system works.
  • Manager, Advertising Sales
  • Company – Buckeye Broadband
  • Link – https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=advertising&l=rochester%20michigan&start=20&vjk=558867367b52b9a7
  • Bachelor’s degree in business, communications or similar field – required
  • Five years of related media management experience – required
  • Five years of related media sales experience – required
  • Proficiency in Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel and Word – required
  • Knowledge of DFP and digital certifications – preferred
  • Action items to become a stronger candidate – I dont have the experience that they would prefer, but I am proficient in Microsoft Office. I’m currently getting online certifications but it would be better to get certified in more things just in case they brought them up, I could say that I was already certified in it.
  • Director, Digital Marketing
  • Company – CBI Detroit
  • Link – https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=advertising%20marketing&l=rochester%20michigan&start=30&vjk=412d0cf2f0bca3c6
  • Expert experience with Twitter, Google Analytics, Google Ads, Google Search Console, LinkedIn Ads and Facebook Ads Manager
  • Direct, hands-on experience developing, planning, launching, and analyzing digital campaigns
  • Experience managing multi-channel digital campaigns, and owning a campaign from start to finish (conceptualization, design, execution, analysis)
  • Excellent project management and prioritization skills with attention to detail
  • Action items to become a stronger candidate – I would like to take the time to run an official campaign from start to finish and be able to track the analytics, but don’t really have anything as of right now that I can run a campaign for. Before applying to this job, I would definitely try to run a campaign during an internship or something along those lines.
  • Digital Marketing Assistant
  • Company – Smart Link Systems
  • Link – https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=digital&l=rochester%20michigan&advn=4815455095334036&vjk=5b4bdf15ece9f997
  • Minimum of two years experience working in the WordPress Platform.
  • HTML and CSS skills a plus
  • Graphic design experience helpful
  • Previous professional experience in web design and development
  • Experience with responsive and mobile design techniques
  • SEO knowledge is a plus, we will help to expand that
  • Action items to become a stronger candidate – We’re actively using WordPress in this class, and whenever I use it I become more proficient in even the basic things that are used on it. I have some web development experience from my IT days but am not proficient in most HTML and CSS, I used to use Java more often.
  • Digital Marketing Specialist
  • Company – Credit Acceptance
  • Link – https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=digital&l=rochester%20michigan&vjk=9ece35dae8b96b62
  • Proficient in MS Office, HTML and Adobe Creative Suite
  • Experience designing websites and/or working in CMS website platforms, such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla!® or Liferay
  • Experience working in marketing automation systems, such as Pardot, Marketo, Hubspot, Eloqua, etc., creating HTML emails and landing pages
  • Experience developing marketing materials, including but not limited to website, Google Ads sales support materials, HTML emails, landing pages, presentations, print ads, etc.
  • Experience with SEO and Google Analytics
  • Action items to become a stronger candidate – This is one of the few job applications that actually outlines exactly what kind of experience they’re looking for in regards to softwares. I have never heard of Pardot or Eloqua, so I would have to learn about both of those before applying to this job.
  • Digital Analytics Manager
  • Company – 1-800-Hansons LLC
  • Link – https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=digital&l=rochester%20michigan&vjk=abc64941af71a7bd&advn=2394028355817852
  • Deep understanding of Google Analytics (GA) and Google Tag Manager (GTM).
  • Experience with Visual Website Optimizer (VWO)
  • Experience developing dashboards and reporting in PowerBI, Google Studio or other tools
  • Action items to become a stronger candidate – I need to practice using Google Analytics on top of the certifications that we’re getting in this class. Google Analytics seems to be program that is highly sought after my multiple companies hiring in this field It would probably be the best thing to focus on going forward.

Social Media & I

I use social media in the same aspect that mostly everyone in my age category does, but also in a few more ways. On the personable aspect, I use social media platforms to stay connected with friends and people that I don’t see as much as I used to, and to be able to stay relevant in their lives through seeing and interacting with key events in their lives that they chose to post about. On the professional side of social media, I have always been very interested in social media marketing and digital marketing. I actually tried to run my own e-commerce dropshipping store, using Instagram and Facebook Ad campaigns. I used basically no money (something along the lines of $2 for a domain per year on Cyber Monday) and then a little bit of money for ads. I did it purely just to gain knowledge about the systems that people have put in place to make a profit for themselves. Through my own personal research, I have seen some amazing individuals completely transform their lives using social media. Anything from becoming an influencer and following their dreams to starting a brand, to doing advertising for larger companies.

There are many positives and negatives when it comes to social media. For instance, on the negative side, cyber-bullying is now an issue that wasn’t previously as of 20 years ago. Each year, there are thousands of cases of cyber bullying that could lead to a child endangering his or her own life. Posting the wrong thing on a social media account could also cause damage to professional image in the future. When users are on Social Media for too long, there are also other negative effects on health. Social media has been linked to depression and anxiety with prolonged use, and has started the phenomenon that is FOMO, or, Fear Of Missing Out. This is the idea that if you are constantly checking your social medias, you’ll see someone in your life that is having more fun than you, and feel left out or feel like you’re falling behind. In reality most people post the best parts of their lives online, leading others to be jealous or feeling like they are not accomplishing enough.

I believe that each platform has its different uses and capabilities. For instance, Twitter is more of a forum type website, resulting in more text posts compared to some of its competitors, such as Instagram, where the main point is to show off your nicest pictures. Many believe that Facebook is on the downfall, and while it might not be gaining as many new members as it used to, it still has the largest population of any social media platform, and is a very useful tool in the advertising world. If I had to choose one to stay, it would be Facebook, due to the amount of money and time invested in Ad Campaigns alone on there. If I had to choose one to be on its way out, it would either be Pinterest or Twitter. All in all social media is constantly changing and adapting to the needs and uses of the people that use it, and i’m interested to see the route that it takes in the future.

Nerdist Podcast with Steve Carell

In this episode of the podcast Nerdist by Chris Hardwick, he interviews and chats with actor/comedian Steve Carell. You may know Steve from the popular show “The Office” along with many other popular movies such as “40 Year Old Virgin”. He had come onto the show to give some insight into his life and discuss some topics about television with Chris.

Steve Carell was born and raised in Concord, Massachusetts. He is married, and has two children, one son and one daughter. He actually had met his wife while teaching an improv class, she was one of his students. Before becoming an actor, he was actually a mailman. His boss at the time had told him that he wasn’t fast enough, but he continued to work this job for almost 7 months until his career as an actor started to take off. He started acting in a theater in 1989, until eventually he was offered to work on his first television commercial for a food chain, known as Browns Chicken. One of Carell’s favorite stories was when shortly after shooting 40 Year Old Virgin, he went back to a high school reunion and when people asked him what he was up to and he told them, they all figured that the movie was going to be the end of his career, but the movie ended up being a hit. One of my favorite parts of the podcast is when Steve Carell talks about how some other actors react to being thrown out of the spotlight, and how some react positively and others react negatively. He strongly reinforces the fact that everything changes and everything must come to an end at some point. He goes a little in-depth about how Will Ferrell was doing small-brand beer commercials that only aired in the southwest, basically only for fun. After this, they then go into discussion about how there are comedians that genuinely care about comedy, and others that are only doing it for the fame or fortune.

When the topic of “The Office” being re-done in 2018 was brought up, Steve explains why he believes that the shows concept wouldn’t work in today’s times, compared to when it was originally released. There is a lot of humor that wouldn’t fly the same way if it was performed now. Some of this humor comes from soft racial, gender, and age-related jokes.

I really liked how Chris (the interviewer) was able to build such a personable relationship with Steve in such a short amount of time, overall increasing the smoothness of the podcast and making it flow much easier. They seemed to have a lot in common, not only common interests but also how they had similar “goofy” personalities. It made the podcast feel much more like you were hanging out with both of them, rather than listening through a computer. All in all it was a great podcast, and you should definitely check it out over on their website if you haven’t heard about it yet.


Technology & Ad/PR

Imagine waking up, and having a different career path than you did the previous day. This recently happened to me, when I changed my major from IT to advertising. What really spiked my interest was the process of E-Commerce Drop Shipping. Advertising and marketing are everything in this setting. The process is basically having no inventory, and ultimately re-branding a cheaper product from manufacturers, and marketing it towards consumers with an up-charged price. When the consumer purchases the product from you, for say, $10, the payment is sent from you to the manufacturer for only $5, leaving you with $5 profit for being the middle man. Young people are using this strategy online to heavily profit off the new area of social media. Due to the process being new, many people are continuously buying products that they don’t need or really have no use for, because they’re being advertised right.

Recently enough, popular rapper “Souja Boy” tried to shoot his shot in the drop shipping scene, releasing a re-branded video game console selling for $100, when the same console was on amazon for 66% less. Check more about it here, https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/9/18130498/soulja-boy-video-game-console-nintendo

The ways in which advertising and public relations have changed is most dramatic when it comes to technology. Technology can be used in advertising for a list of different reasons. It seems that nowadays anyone with a good strategy, some startup web design skills, and an internet connection can go about producing a professional looking website, to sell or market their service. With a larger portion of young technology users, social media has become to go-to when it comes to information. Professional’s in the advertising area are still not 100% sure how to go about advertising on social media. At this stage there’s still a lot of experimenting whats the best option.

Technology itself is constantly changing and improving, a great example of this would be recently when Google released the “Babel Fish” earbuds in 2018, which can translate a language being spoken to you almost immediately. I can see this gaining traction and being used more in a business setting, ultimately reducing the need for trained interpreters, saving the businesses money.

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