My friend Caitlin (@caitlinjjohns) and I had a cute little lunch today at Sushi Train. Throughout the meal we tweeted our experiences, checked-in on Google+ and Foursquare, and posted photos of our meal on Instagram.
We tried to document as much of our little lunch time adventure on social media as possible. Although it was probably mundane updates to other people it was a lot of fun. It also gave us both a chance to use Google+, something we now both adore.
So next time your having a lovely lunch don't forget to share the experience on social media, and on Twitter use our self-made hashtag phenomenon #SocialMediaLunching.
About Me
- ImpractiCASSity
- Adelaide, Australia
- 21 years young. Marketing & Accounting student at the University of Adelaide. YAC member for Campbelltown Council SA. Passionate about social media. Working full time as an accountant. Dreaming of NYC. Follow me on Twitter @cassie_deconno
Monday, 26 September 2011
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Life's For Sharing
Procrastinating as only an University student can, I re-discovered my favourite pieces of advertising from T-Mobile.
Flash mobs are difficult to undertake and if done poorly can cause damage to the brand's overall image. When done well, as T-Mobile has done on several occassions, it becomes a powerful piece of communication.
The T-Mobile Dance is fantastic. Look out for the people who aren't involved in the flash mob but dance along anyway, especially the two old ladies.
This sing along in London to The Beatles' classic 'Hey Jude' is moving to say the least. The whole idea of this flash mob really illustrates what the brand is about and their motto 'Life's for sharing.'
The final video is something I discovered today. I absolutely love aiports & this video made me want to be stepping off a flight and seeing this reception.
Flash mobs are difficult to undertake and if done poorly can cause damage to the brand's overall image. When done well, as T-Mobile has done on several occassions, it becomes a powerful piece of communication.
The T-Mobile Dance is fantastic. Look out for the people who aren't involved in the flash mob but dance along anyway, especially the two old ladies.
This sing along in London to The Beatles' classic 'Hey Jude' is moving to say the least. The whole idea of this flash mob really illustrates what the brand is about and their motto 'Life's for sharing.'
Wednesday, 14 September 2011
Get It For Less...
I only saw the latest Big W ad the other night but it's already firmly imprinted in my mind, possibly for all the wrong reasons. If you haven't seen it yet check out the YouTube link below.
Warning: Will be stuck in your head for days. If you're like me you'll also feel the need to buy a $1 skipping rope.
On the back of consumer uproar and hatred at the Coles singing advertisement I can assume the only reason Big W followed was for the publicity. The Facebook group hating the Coles ad currently has over 26,000 members. Coles has even started a competition where the school with the best performance of 'down down' wins more sports equipment. Ethical issues currently in the media about this aside the advertisement certainly cut through.
I don't know if Big W followed or simply was slow off the mark releasing it.
Personally, I hope these retail giants dont start a trend of cringe worthy musical advertisements in the future. What are your opinions of these ads, love, hate, or indifferent?
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Apple Lover
I learnt about authentic brands today during my Management of Brands lecture with Cullen Habel. Apple came up often as an excellent example of an authentic brand, something with quality leadership, a passionate artisan (being Steve Jobs) behind the brand.
Throughout the lecture I reflected upon how I became such a lover of everything Apple. My first Apple purchase was a first generation, pink, iPod Mini. Now I own an iPhone 4, iPad 2, iPod Classic, and my pride and joy a MacBook Pro.
Apart from word of mouth recommendations the only research I conducted before purchasing my MacBook Pro was watching this YouTube video. Despite the ads being a little old they are still as relevant as ever.
Apple is selling the benefits of their products rather than the features. Rather than saying it comes with a magnetic power cord they state it if the cord is tripped over it will *pop* out & not bring the laptop crashing to the ground.
Watch it and then buy yourself a MacBook Pro. It will be the best decision you ever make, I promise.
Apple just works.
Throughout the lecture I reflected upon how I became such a lover of everything Apple. My first Apple purchase was a first generation, pink, iPod Mini. Now I own an iPhone 4, iPad 2, iPod Classic, and my pride and joy a MacBook Pro.
Apart from word of mouth recommendations the only research I conducted before purchasing my MacBook Pro was watching this YouTube video. Despite the ads being a little old they are still as relevant as ever.
Apple is selling the benefits of their products rather than the features. Rather than saying it comes with a magnetic power cord they state it if the cord is tripped over it will *pop* out & not bring the laptop crashing to the ground.
Watch it and then buy yourself a MacBook Pro. It will be the best decision you ever make, I promise.
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
Our Gruen Experiment
Marie and I headed down to Westfield Marion on a mission to buy some gifts. We decided to experiment in a completely new shopping centre how disoriented we would become, also known as the Gruen effect. I've decided to blog about our adventure with special comments (in italics) from Marie.
For those that don't know Gruen isn't just the popular ABC show about marketing. The current shopping mall layout was first designed by Victor Gruen. It is a highly confusing layout of stores causing consumers to forget exactly what they were there for and increases the likelihood of impulse shopping. It's why there are no windows so you can't see the world outside changing and why there is a distinct absence of clocks so it's easy to lose track of time.
With this in mind Marie took my phone, changed the time (so I couldn't cheat) and we set off. I kept asking Cassie what time she thought it was - to my surprise she actually thought it was later than it actually was. I thought the whole purpose of the "Gruen" effect was that consumers thought they were in the shops less time than they actually were. To be honest I had a few hints, I saw how quiet the food court was and school kids walking around and could determine the time.
I quickly became confused between the major retailers. I thought I was in Harris Scarfe and was in fact in Myer. Crossing the mall, up and down levels combined with the fact I had no idea of the mall layout just added to the confusion. The confusion was also prominent for me despite knowing what time it was, I felt that the shopping centre was ill planned and made it more difficult to shop. Given its supposed to be a large and superior shopping mall I was awfully surprised at how hard it was to navigate.
I love online shopping and for this reason is rare for me to now simply browse a shopping mall without a specific purpose, which allows me to get in and out very quickly. Real shopping, as I discovered, is REALLY tiring. My feet were sore, my brain was aching, I just wanted to go home if I could ever find my way through the maze of stores. I became extremely disoriented to the point where I felt drunk, nothing was making sense and I was losing my mind a little bit. We both almost became impulse shoppers continuously, I wanted to buy lots of junk I didn't need but I have a feeling thats my shopaholic nature and love of material things - not the gruen effect. Leaving Marion, Marie and I had completed our mission of buying gifts although it probably took a lot longer than either of us expected.
Has anyone ever had a similar experience when shopping or is it easy to ignore the so called Gruen effect?
For those that don't know Gruen isn't just the popular ABC show about marketing. The current shopping mall layout was first designed by Victor Gruen. It is a highly confusing layout of stores causing consumers to forget exactly what they were there for and increases the likelihood of impulse shopping. It's why there are no windows so you can't see the world outside changing and why there is a distinct absence of clocks so it's easy to lose track of time.
With this in mind Marie took my phone, changed the time (so I couldn't cheat) and we set off. I kept asking Cassie what time she thought it was - to my surprise she actually thought it was later than it actually was. I thought the whole purpose of the "Gruen" effect was that consumers thought they were in the shops less time than they actually were. To be honest I had a few hints, I saw how quiet the food court was and school kids walking around and could determine the time.
I quickly became confused between the major retailers. I thought I was in Harris Scarfe and was in fact in Myer. Crossing the mall, up and down levels combined with the fact I had no idea of the mall layout just added to the confusion. The confusion was also prominent for me despite knowing what time it was, I felt that the shopping centre was ill planned and made it more difficult to shop. Given its supposed to be a large and superior shopping mall I was awfully surprised at how hard it was to navigate.
I love online shopping and for this reason is rare for me to now simply browse a shopping mall without a specific purpose, which allows me to get in and out very quickly. Real shopping, as I discovered, is REALLY tiring. My feet were sore, my brain was aching, I just wanted to go home if I could ever find my way through the maze of stores. I became extremely disoriented to the point where I felt drunk, nothing was making sense and I was losing my mind a little bit. We both almost became impulse shoppers continuously, I wanted to buy lots of junk I didn't need but I have a feeling thats my shopaholic nature and love of material things - not the gruen effect. Leaving Marion, Marie and I had completed our mission of buying gifts although it probably took a lot longer than either of us expected.
Has anyone ever had a similar experience when shopping or is it easy to ignore the so called Gruen effect?
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
Is Brand Loyalty Hereditary?
My good friend, Marie Logan (follow her on Twitter @marie_logan or check out her delicious blog http://thedeliciouslifeofme.blogspot.com/) brought the fact of brand loyalty to my attention this morning. Marie recently bought a gorgeous bright blue Nissan Micra for herself, affectionally known as Mikey. Now, Marie had effectively decided to purchase Mikey before looking at any other cars, and simply visiting other car dealerships cemented the fact she had made the right choice for her.
The main reason Marie headed straight for a Nissan dealership was because her Mum also owns a Nissan and loves it. With that in mind why would Marie doubt her own mother and look elsewhere? Now we come to the issue of brand loyalty and how it begins in consumers. Many people would have the same experience when purchasing certain items. I know I can't go past Yamaha speakers because my Dad adores them and my Mum swears by Clinque so when I started wearing makeup my first stop was the Clinque counter at Myer. Getting consumers at a young age is brilliant for brands, and if done successfully can lock in a brand loyal consumer for a lifetime.
I know I'm old enough now to make my own choices as a consumer but many of these brands my parents are loyal to have been transferred to me. Do you think brand loyalty is hereditary?
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Twinternships
I stumbled across an article from Adelaide Now earlier this year as I was job hunting:
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/interns-help-firms-turn-on-social-media/story-e6frea83-1225983833486
It is all about companies hiring interns who focus on social media including Facebook and Twitter, called a twinternship. Something that many companies feel simply because they have a presence on social media means that it is an effective communication tool. As I blogged about yesterday, Qantas, used social media to report through a press conference and received mixed reviews. However for social media to be most effective it requires a two way communication.
Through my University degree majoring in Marketing I am discovering just how powerful a tool social media is, creating jobs that only a few years ago didn't even exist. It seems like the perfect fit for businesses wanting to have a greater online presence through social media and for young graduates wanting experience in a professional communications environment.
It sounds like the perfect job for me! Anybody in Adelaide need a twintern?
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/interns-help-firms-turn-on-social-media/story-e6frea83-1225983833486
It is all about companies hiring interns who focus on social media including Facebook and Twitter, called a twinternship. Something that many companies feel simply because they have a presence on social media means that it is an effective communication tool. As I blogged about yesterday, Qantas, used social media to report through a press conference and received mixed reviews. However for social media to be most effective it requires a two way communication.
Through my University degree majoring in Marketing I am discovering just how powerful a tool social media is, creating jobs that only a few years ago didn't even exist. It seems like the perfect fit for businesses wanting to have a greater online presence through social media and for young graduates wanting experience in a professional communications environment.
It sounds like the perfect job for me! Anybody in Adelaide need a twintern?
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