Ever get that feeling...

So recently I have been job hunting. Graduating during this recession has not lent itself well to finding a job. This is for a completely different blog post though. Like many of my peers, I have returned home to focus my energies on actually finding a job. In the mean time I picked up a job at a local credit union as a teller. I figured with this part-time job I would be able to completely focus on my task at hand, which is to find a real job. Normally I would also be working on something to increase my experience for my resume and while I continue using Facebook Twitter and the occasional blog post, I have not tried anything Marketing related. I have tried.... on occasion; and this is that story.

To give you a little more insight into the story, I will begin by saying that I have previously worked at this credit union in a marketing intern/analyst/consultant position. I worked on the re-branding analysis of the credit union, sales consulting, worked on the budget and had a few other projects while there. They liked my work and heard I needed a job to get me through the period from graduation to career so I got a part-time job. The marketing position was filled by a great lady while I went back to finish my schooling. Now comes the meat of the story.

A little while back (as I had not found a job) I was talking with the lady from the marketing department about starting a social media campaign for the credit union, as that is a very inexpensive yet effective way of reaching your end consumer. During this conversation I learned that they recently sent her to a conference about this very subject. Everything I had learned from my "experimenting and observing" on the social media front held true with everything she learned. I then proceeded to offer my assistance in starting this campaign (as I wanted to really try this out) and was told that in September they planned on implementing something and she would keep me in mind.

Well we are now half way through October and still no social media from this credit union. I am getting the feeling that it is not a priority for many companies. The only reason I can come up with is fear. Many companies, and those in the marketing departments, do not understand social media marketing and do not take the time learn. I, on the other hand, am not afraid. I ran a website for over a year and implemented a social media campaign designed around Facebook and a blog. After implementing this campaign I increased unique site visits 300%. That is a huge increase. I never would have achieved such results without social media marketing. My advice... take the leap and if need be, follow my advice in a previous blog post.

Dive in and take a chance. At least it will not cost you anything.

I can be creative like you!

Creativity, the power or ability to invent. Now ever time I tell someone I graduated in Marketing I am then asked, "Oh you must be creative then, right?" My answer tends to be a little shocking for most but I at least feign creativity in life. I have heard that creativity involves relevant combinations (at least in advertising) and I can be very creative if need be. What gets me is the apparent lack of creativity in the marketing world for those that are truly good at what they do.

I am sure that whoever first came up with the term "Marketing Ninja" thought it would be funny to coin this phrase but probably thought it would not leave his group of friends. Now let's face it, in Marketing everyone has a little bit 'o nerd in them, I certainly do. What I do not understand is why can we not come up with a new term? Why does every company that is in the Marketing realm, looking for ninjas? Is it because a ninja can make something from very little? Well use the term McGeyver, a true modern day ninja. Or is it for the sneak attacks that the ninja are so famous for? Maybe we could be "Marketing Suicide Bombers!" (Maybe not)

This is my conundrum. Why are we so "creative but cannot think of a new term for ourselves that is not over-used. Creativity breeds new ideas or at least can breed new life into an old idea through a new way of looking at things. Let's start with a new label for our "elite." Time to brainstorm.

How about "Marketing gods" or "the supreme being of marketing." OK those may be reserved for Ogilvy, Burnett, Bernbach and the rest of the advertising minds.

Let's try "MVM -Most Valuable Marketer" or even something as simple as "Game Changer."

To move away from sports we will proceed to "P.H.A.C. - Pretty Hot and Creative" or the "Don Juan of Online Social Media." (I may claim that one one)

There are many more options to choose from. Most will probably be related to military positions but at least we can let the ninjas rest. If not i may bring out my Advertising Samurai for a legendary battle that would make Hollywood jump.

Tweet me something interesting

So lately I have really been enjoying the Twitter phenom that has swept the... well really the world. I can keep track of a few bands I like, get job postings and (sometimes) hear something from a brand I like. Now I say sometimes because I will send a tweet into the world and I get a "following" message from a company. I have no problem with that as I do not mind looking in on my favorite things, hence the Twitter account (that and I am no Oprah so I have to find my own favorites). What I have a problem with is the fact that they do not post. I understand that it is hard to keep track of every social media aspect but if you are going to do something it would be better to go all out, or at least part of the way.

Case in point, I have an obsession - yes I admit it - with a certain watch brand. I have yet to find the actual manufacturer on Twitter but there is an "authorized" retailer with the watches' name. Their last update was on July 4th. Pointless, if you ask me (but no one ever does).

Of course on the other hand I am following someone else who, amidst the few actual tweets of job positions I was promised, tweets "Mom Loses 48 Pounds in 2 Months. Read How a Busy Mom Lost 48 Pounds in 60 days with 2 Simple Products." Am I really following him so he can sell me this product? No.

Now I understand that he wants to make some money, we all do. I also understand that people are learning to use Twitter in new and exciting ways but this sort of promotion does not flow with Marketing. First off if he really wanted me to click through he should try something a little more in line with the "theme" of his Twitter page. I do not look at CNNMoney to learn about cooking and same thing goes here.

So after that rant comes how Twitter (and any other social media marketing) should be used.

The number one rule of Twitter, be genuine. We do not want to be sold a product but we want to feel like we are actually talking to a human. Social media needs to be a dialogue to really work. A great example of this is Best Buy's Twelpforce. The experts at Best Buy are on hand to answer all questions, via Twitter. That is service. Products are bound to be sold through this service and good will is established. Great PR and Marketing.

Number two. Search and Respond. Many companies and people are doing a good job of finding those who mention their products or even the competition's products but few go as far as to really work through problems. If I was a big time marketer I would be scouring the Twittersphere just as they now scan the blogosphere. It is a great way to find out what people think of your brand and you.

Number three. Don't forget to post. My pet peeve is a non-posting business account. Why spend all that time to find people and set up an account if you are not going to use it? I can honestly say that if an account goes without update, I will not follow it unless I have a very special interest in the Tweet-er.

I know this seems like it is going to take a long time to get set up and especially when there is only one person in the Marketing department. Well luckily there are a myriad of programs to run your Twitter. Programs like HootSuite work beautifully. Of course there are many more as this is the new "in" medium.

Twitter can be a great ally or a vengeful enemy. You choose.

P.S. I dare you to not follow my Twitter as it is not interesting and I use it more as a spot to air my thoughts....

Is it truly over???

So I graduated today and have been thrown head first into the "real world." Great fun... right? Oh well, at least I could always fall back on grad school at some point. I am really happy to be out of that though and currently am looking for a job. I do have a few small prospects that have opened up so we will see what happens with that. 

On a slightly unrelated note, the year is ending and we have had a total of three different ad campaigns from the behemoth Microsoft. I have always heard that they do not listen to their ad agencies often and I feel that this shows that off very well. We started off with the ever-so-clever Seinfeld and Gates super duo. The ads weren't bad but what were they selling? That was never very apparent in the ads. I guess you can say that Microsoft does not need to actually sell anything in their ads, just keep their name in the spotlight, but why did they switch to the third ad I will talk about???

Second off they went to the "I'm a PC" campaign that was made on a Mac. Enough said... OK maybe not. This campaign shows that even a super-company like Microsoft is vulnerable. The PC market in Microsoft's bread and and butter because we as a society (me included) have not tried a Linux based platform. We have options. Apple is just getting better at being customer friendly while Microsoft is going the way of the giants and telling people what they should want. When this happens, David comes along and slays that giant. Happens all the time, look at the Big Three. They really are not so big anymore.

Third campaign and (up til now) is the "Mojave Experiment" campaign. OK Microsoft has finally started to realize that they put a product out there that does not seem to differentiate itself enough from its ancestor. The company believes it is different but the ever important consumer sees no difference. S here comes the "trial" of a "new" operating system. Microsoft then displays top-of-the-line computers with the best-of-the-best equipment on them to display the top Vista system and show everyone what can be done with it. Big problem here is how many people can afford an operating system at a price of over $300 and the computer that will efficiently run that power hog. Honestly I am sure that everything that Vista's Ultimate package does is great but most computers will come loaded with the basic Home version. Mine did and guess what... There is NOTHING mind blowing about Vista. 

I am not trying to complain or pretend that I am a techie. For the average person, Vista is not an improvement over XP and really it takes a little time to get used to. The problem most people are running into is that the cost of learning the new features and the extreme usage of memory do not outweigh the benefits that the basic Vista user receives. That makes for a poor value and the reason consumers are so turned off by Vista.

Sorry, I guess I may have gone over board on that one but business is that simple. On a very related note I do enjoy the ease of use that the new Office suite provides. It as well took some getting used to but I do actually enjoy the setup of it all. I guess Microsoft can still do some things right. Too bad they cannot stick with one coherent ad campaign for more than a couple of months!

It's like a virus!

So I have been enjoying reading about Guerrilla Marketing as of late for a number of reasons. It is a very effective tactic in a campaign. The cost of a Guerrilla campaign can also be minimal when compared to the same reach that a television or radio campaign would be. So why does a stunt like the one that happened in Times Square work? After all we have all seen the pictures of the many neon lights and flashing signs that pack the square with advertisements selling anything and everything. Well really it is because of those same lights and signs that stunts like these work.

The biggest aspect of Guerrilla Marketing is developing a shock value. In this case, what was some guy doing carving pumpkins in Times Square and how many pumpkins did he have sitting next to him? Well the typical New Yorker that works around Times Square is now accustomed to seeing neon telling him what he should buy. When there is someone taking up precious sidewalk space with produce and the fact that he is putting smiles on those squash just makes it even more out of place.

In advertising now there are so many distractions that a marketer needs to find ways around all the mess. This calls for a much more creative campaign. What is going to pop out and call attention to your product or service? Well that is the big question. By developing and implementing a good guerrilla campaign, the buzz that is generated is better than any television spot produced. Getting people talking about an ad around the water cooler as if it was the newest episode of "24" is quite a feat (unless you work on Madison Ave).

Of course you have the failed campaigns like the one for Adult Swim a few years back, but that is the risk you run with any campaign.

Tough Market!

So the job market currently leaves a lot to be desired. Granted I changed what is was I wanted to do for a living. It is difficult to actually get call backs now. I have received emails from different companies saying there has been more responses to a job posting than they thought so the process is taking longer. A sign of the times? Probably. So what is a college grad to do? Well this is what I have been doing.

1. Linkedin.com - Basically a Facebook for the professionals. When I first joined I was expecting something completely different. I quit using it for quite sometime but recently I have been trying to use it more for now as I have realized the power. The job search is a great tool but also being able to network with people with similar interests. Great way to find jobs you may not have thought about.

2. Personal network - So I do not have a very large network currently. It has been tough to try to get those I know or have done business with to keep an eye out for a job. The thing is, the more people you have to be watching the market, the better chance you will actually find something. I am pretty amazing (or so I think) but I am cannot be in every place at once. This way the network of my networks are also working for me. 

3. Job search engines - The W.P. Carey School of Business partners with NACELink to find jobs all over the country. Most of them are for more "experienced" professionals and do not want to give a college grad "with no experience" (although I have done more than most of my peers at school) the chance. I guess the saying, "Keep on Truckin'" works for this as well. Just cannot give up.

So these are just 3 different options. I invite you to share your experiences (Ha ha I am talking as if someone actually reads this!) on how your job hunt is going. Then go to the web and find yourself a job. Check out this BusinessWeek article for more ideas! Or this one for ideas on what NOT to do.

Long time, no post

So lately I have been a little too busy to post. I am currently job hunting, finishing my last semester at school, working an internship, running a separate website from this, having a family life and social life, and working on an advertising campaign for a local non-profit company called HomeBase Youth Services. I lead a busy life and unfortunately I have completely put off my blog. I guess you can call it lack of time/sleep to concentrate on this one thing. I do have about 3 entries I started on and for one reason or another, never finished. Well I figured it was about time.

A couple things have changed in my life this semester. Not only has it been a rough time trying to get everything done, but I have realized that maybe the path I was going down for a career is changing  originally thought of going into product/brand management in an international company. My dream really is to go international at some point in my career. I am now gravitating towards advertising. 

I am currently in an advertising class and am loving it. I am also the lead on the advertising project for HomeBase and I love using my creativity while being in charge of something so important. It is a great feeling. It is also interesting to see the board of the organization look at my group as if we have no idea what we are doing and the challenge is then to get approval for our projects. It is a great game of cat and mouse. Honestly at this point I want a job in advertising but I see how hard it is to get into right now with the large number of layoffs. Well I guess persistence pays off. Wish me luck!

P.S. Check out this ad from a local company, Moses Anshell. Great guys. I know Louie Moses and he is very intelligent and incredibly creative.