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It’s complicated with Facebook

Posted on by Emilie Buckman

With going public and another mandatory change looming in form of Timeline, it’s been a big week for Facebook.  After reading a week’s worth of news, I found this this article, about five problems it faces, that seems to reinforce my strained relationship with Facebook. (It’s important to note; my personal and professional feelings towards Facebook, and most other social media outlets, are drastically different.  Everything that makes social media an amazing tool for business and marketing I find asinine in my private use.  Having the ability to talk directly to customers and fans is fantastic for building brand loyalty but detrimental to causal online friendships.)

It would be easy to latch onto number two, “Facebook users hate change,” but I’ve been on the site so long I’ve come to understand change is inevitable.  Consider these fun facts about when I joined in the summer of 2005: to join you had to belong to specific universities, your only picture was your profile pic, you literally had one page and your wall resembled a dry erase board, and it was still called The Facebook.  So yeah, if I was still complaining about changes I’d seriously need to reevaluate my life!

Instead, I am drawn to number one, “Facebook actually makes us miserable.” I have to agree; most days Facebook makes me miserable.  Unlike most of my generation, I don’t subscribe to the world of over-sharing.  I use to the site primarily to share pictures and music ; post self-deprecating anecdotes about myself or unwarranted pet peeves, like pajama pants in public; and, most importantly, to have easy way to communicate with friends, family, and casual acquaintances. Unfortunately, it feels like a majority of users see Facebook as a chance to post rants about politics or personal squabbles and over share about every detail of their lives, no matter how mundane or even icky.  (I’m sorry but there is never a reason to post running commentary on potty training your toddler. Gross.)

But I have to point out; my feelings are irrelevant because, clearly, I am in this relationship for the long haul.  Whether it’s me or Facebook complicating our relationship status, it doesn’t matter.  I have no plans of deactivating.  I just wish people would take few seconds to think, “Should I really post this?” or more importantly, “Does anyone really care about this?”  It’s not the most realistic wish; but hey, a girl can dream.

Marketing through Pinterest

Posted on by Brian Lee

I’ll admit it. I am a Pinterest addict. Over my winter break, I spent countless hours on the site, “pinning” recipes, clothes, photos from blogs, etc. to my “pinboards.”

If you haven’t heard of Pinterest yet, you will soon. The site already has a reported 3.3 million users and is growing quickly. Many companies like Gap, Whole Foods, and the Travel Channel have already created their own profiles in order to interact with their fans through the site.

Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board. It works in this way: users can “pin,” or post, original photos or content from their computers or from around the web. You then pin this content on one of your pinboards (which are like bulletin boards) that are separated into categories like Travel, Recipes, Clothing or Dream Home. You can also “re-pin” other users’ posts.

Pinterest provides an interesting opportunity for marketers. It gives companies the opportunity to promote their brands to their customers in an engaging and visually stimulating way.

At the same time, too much self promotion is a big no-no for brands on the site. For example, a clothing company might have a “Vintage” or “Street Style” pinboard that serve as inspiration for their line, but should avoid posting photos of all the clothing items they sell onto their pinboards. The point is to capture the essence of the brand without just posting content that is directly related to it.

Interacting with customers through Pinterest is a new concept for many marketers. I’m very excited to see how we can integrate the site into our clients’ marketing plans in the future.

By any other name

Posted on by Emilie Buckman

It’s fascinating to me when people attempt to change their names.  Like a kid from high school who spent his formative years known as Robby but all the sudden college came around he wanted people to call him Rob.  It makes sense; names ending in y usually aren’t taken as seriously as a solid one syllable name.  But that doesn’t mean it’s not going to be uphill battle.  People are creatures of habit and it’s going to take a lot of “Oh, I go by (insert new name) now” before it’ll stick.

If it’s hard for an individual person to change their name among their social circle you can only imagine the difficulty facing a company opting for a new name!  People spend a lot of money in advertising and marketing to change how the name of their company or product is perceived.  But I have to believe sometimes they wish they could just scrap their current name and start anew!  (I’d guess at least one person after the oil spill suggested BP just change their name and hope no one noticed!)

But Sunsweet is trying to do just that.   I was pretty impressed with the bold move of this Sunsweet Ad attempting to rename prunes as Plum Amazins.  I am not embarrassed to admit it took me a few seconds to recognize that this wasn’t a new product but rather a new name.   Prunes have a serious stigma and are often the butt of jokes.  I think this is the rare case where a name change might actually be easier than trying to change their connotation.  You can say all the wonderful benefits of prunes but it doesn’t change the fact that they are prunes.  Despite the obvious challenges of a name change I think this was probably their best strategy.

Although, I still don’t plan on going out and buying dried plums just because you don’t call them prunes.  But here’s to hoping other people don’t make the same connection!