Strategies and Resources:
1. How these are measured by the agency and communicated to the client
2. Use Shifted Pixels Buzz Numbers system to track brands and word of mouth.
Once the virtual profiles were created for MyPhatBreak it was my job was to use existing social networks such as Facebook on the internet to spread the word about the website. I used Facebook to search for Facebook groups that would be interested in a website like MyPhatBreak. Using both profiles created in Facebook messages were left on the group notice boards recommending MyPhatBreak. To understand the effectiveness of my work for the day we used Google Marketing to track how many people went to the MyPhatBreak website from Facebook. Unfortunately this was not very successful as there were no links from the Facebook website on that day. I did not use Buzz Numbers to track this information as Google was more appropriate for this type of tracking. Shifted Pixels often uses Google Marketing tools to track the success of their campaign. Every campaign is nearly 100% traceable providing accountability and measurability to their clients. I did not understand the Google Marketing tracking process so I needed agency members help me with this process. I am still not confident in completing this process by myself and plan to do more research into how to use all the Google marketing and tracking tools as this would be useful in the future.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
3.5 Learning Goal 5: Be involved in the process of creating an online presence for current agency clients
Strategies and Resources:
1. Be involved in the development of an online strategy for a current client of the agency.
2. Write a creative brief based on my understanding of the clients needs.
A cocktail website is a project that Shifted Pixels is working on to showcase their online services offered and was a good way for me to learn how social media can be used as a form of advertising on the internet. Nick from Shifted Pixels gave a general outline of the type of website they wanted to develop and three potential target audiences they were considering for the campaign. This task was extremely beneficial to me as I needed to understand the types of online techniques that Shifted Pixels use in their advertising campaigns.
This website was an internal agency idea so the creative brief was not written for a current client of Shifted Pixels but I was able to use Shifted Pixels as a client and I needed to understand their needs and was able to get detailed feedback from agency members and understand if the creative brief I wrote demonstrated that I understood their needs. The creative Brief has been included in the Appendices of this report. (Appendices 8.3) The brief includes an online strategy that will be used to execute the online social media advertising. This campaign did not make it past the development of the brief and strategy as I then started working on real agency client campaigns but this was great to get a feel for what Shifted Pixels does as an agency. An advantage of not working on an existing client campaign was that I free to develop my own strategy with out any boundaries. Shifted Pixels may use this brief and strategy if they decide to continue with the website in the future.
3.5.1 Research and Initial Plans for a Cocktail Website
The initial briefing given to me by Shifted Pixels was to research existing cocktail blogs, videos and websites. Three target audiences were given as a possible choice for the website and this research will determine what target audience the campaign should communicate to and then the research will be used to write a creative brief for the campaign. The research gave me an understanding on the material that is currently on the Internet and ideas for how the website can use social networking to create an online presence. The campaign will use the internet as a social media tool and will communicate to the target audience with blogging, online videos on websites such as YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and emailing lists. The website will need to connect to the target market and give them the sense community with an open communication channel where the target market feels they can freely interact with the website. This will include allowing the target market to contribute and talk to each other on the website.
3.5.2 Target Market
Three target markets were researched and considered for the website: Bartenders, Hospitality Students and Female Target Market aged 18 to 35. A Female Target audience was chosen for this campaign. The cocktail website will be a social networking site targeting a female target audience between the ages of 18 to 35. The website will have a community environment where the target market read and have their own blogs and forums about cocktail ideas and recipes. Online videos demonstrating how to make cocktails as well as quick and easy cocktail recipes would be included on the site. Liquor companies and related products could be advertised on the website. This target market has been chosen for the campaign as they would be more receptive to a cocktail website and the website could potentially be more profitable as it is a large target market creating a potential for more internet traffic and in turn more advertising.
3.5.3 Campaign Brief and Strategy
“A fun night in with your friends, for a fraction of the cost of going out to a cocktail bar” Have a website that gives simple and easy cocktails ideas and recipes that readers will use to have a great night in with their friends but still have the luxuries of drinking cocktails. The website will link to a website called MyInvites.com so the target audience can send out online invitations to their friends. The target audience need to feel empowered to make their own cocktails instead of relying on a bartender in a cocktail bar to make it for them. The advertising campaign will be implemented in stages that will be synchronised with the launch of the website.
1. Be involved in the development of an online strategy for a current client of the agency.
2. Write a creative brief based on my understanding of the clients needs.
A cocktail website is a project that Shifted Pixels is working on to showcase their online services offered and was a good way for me to learn how social media can be used as a form of advertising on the internet. Nick from Shifted Pixels gave a general outline of the type of website they wanted to develop and three potential target audiences they were considering for the campaign. This task was extremely beneficial to me as I needed to understand the types of online techniques that Shifted Pixels use in their advertising campaigns.
This website was an internal agency idea so the creative brief was not written for a current client of Shifted Pixels but I was able to use Shifted Pixels as a client and I needed to understand their needs and was able to get detailed feedback from agency members and understand if the creative brief I wrote demonstrated that I understood their needs. The creative Brief has been included in the Appendices of this report. (Appendices 8.3) The brief includes an online strategy that will be used to execute the online social media advertising. This campaign did not make it past the development of the brief and strategy as I then started working on real agency client campaigns but this was great to get a feel for what Shifted Pixels does as an agency. An advantage of not working on an existing client campaign was that I free to develop my own strategy with out any boundaries. Shifted Pixels may use this brief and strategy if they decide to continue with the website in the future.
3.5.1 Research and Initial Plans for a Cocktail Website
The initial briefing given to me by Shifted Pixels was to research existing cocktail blogs, videos and websites. Three target audiences were given as a possible choice for the website and this research will determine what target audience the campaign should communicate to and then the research will be used to write a creative brief for the campaign. The research gave me an understanding on the material that is currently on the Internet and ideas for how the website can use social networking to create an online presence. The campaign will use the internet as a social media tool and will communicate to the target audience with blogging, online videos on websites such as YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and emailing lists. The website will need to connect to the target market and give them the sense community with an open communication channel where the target market feels they can freely interact with the website. This will include allowing the target market to contribute and talk to each other on the website.
3.5.2 Target Market
Three target markets were researched and considered for the website: Bartenders, Hospitality Students and Female Target Market aged 18 to 35. A Female Target audience was chosen for this campaign. The cocktail website will be a social networking site targeting a female target audience between the ages of 18 to 35. The website will have a community environment where the target market read and have their own blogs and forums about cocktail ideas and recipes. Online videos demonstrating how to make cocktails as well as quick and easy cocktail recipes would be included on the site. Liquor companies and related products could be advertised on the website. This target market has been chosen for the campaign as they would be more receptive to a cocktail website and the website could potentially be more profitable as it is a large target market creating a potential for more internet traffic and in turn more advertising.
3.5.3 Campaign Brief and Strategy
“A fun night in with your friends, for a fraction of the cost of going out to a cocktail bar” Have a website that gives simple and easy cocktails ideas and recipes that readers will use to have a great night in with their friends but still have the luxuries of drinking cocktails. The website will link to a website called MyInvites.com so the target audience can send out online invitations to their friends. The target audience need to feel empowered to make their own cocktails instead of relying on a bartender in a cocktail bar to make it for them. The advertising campaign will be implemented in stages that will be synchronised with the launch of the website.
4.0 Incident Analyses
“It is human nature to want to feel part of something bigger; to feel important – that we as individuals have a voice to be heard and a contribution to make. This is the essence of social media.” (Gibbon, 2008, page1)
Online advertising continues to grow strongly in with a growth of 35% making it the highest growing advertising sector in 2007 (AFA, 2008). Social networking has moved into the advertising mainstream as the internet has become a popular form of communication with young Australians forcing the advertising industry to re-evaluate online advertising strategies. (Price Waterhouse Coopers, 2008) Online Blogging has also become a unique medium of communicating with target audiences that are highly engaged attracting corporate advertising dollars. (Price Waterhouse Coopers, 2008) This section of the report will discuss the growing popularity of the new forms of advertising online and my experiences relating to this advertising.
4.1 The not so Secret World of Online Social Media Advertising
When I started my internship with Shifted Pixels the only knowledge I had of internet advertising was banner advertisements being strategically placed on websites viewed by target audiences. I have studied advertising for four years at university and TAFE and had no idea of the depth and benefits of using the internet as part of an advertising campaign. I had never heard of blogging, social media engagement or search engine optimisation in relation to advertising before. This form of advertising is of great interest to me as it is a way of starting a conversation with a target audience and potentially creating a meaningful relationship with the target market. (Gibbon, 2008) This relationship is a two way communication channel where companies must listen to their consumers as the consumers now have a voice and if they are not happy with a brand they will tell people about it. (Bernoff, 2008) The internet has given the consumer the power to amplify their voice and tell people what they think about a brand. The relationship with consumers can be beneficial to a company. If a consumer is happy with a brand they have the power to spread the message of a brand. (Bernoff, 2008) This form of word of mouth on the internet is extremely useful and powerful to companies as they can use their consumers to advertise their brand using the already existing social networks on the internet. (Gibbon, 2008) The negative discussion surrounding a brand can be an opportunity to a company as they can find out what is disliked about their brand and create a solution with the help of consumers. (Bernoff, 2008) If a company chooses to ignore this valuable information it could potentially cause damage to their business.
Dell is a computer brand that has created a community-like website that collects consumer’s negative feedback and uses this feedback to strengthen the Dell brand. Idea Storm www.ideastorm.com(Figure 1.) encourages Dell customers who have purchased a Dell computer to leave suggestions on the website. Other customers can then vote for the feedback that applies to them and Dell will attempt to implement solutions to their products using this feedback. The website also shows the stage of implementation Dell is working on to provide a solution to the feedback so consumers can see that Dell is listening to their suggestions and doing something about it.
4.2 Unexpected Blog Audience
On my first day of my internship my supervisor requested that I start a blog that described the tasks I worked on during my time at Shifted Pixels. I then decided that this blog would become my daily log to complete assignment 3. This Blog was then created to be Assignment 3 to suite the Internet Advertising Agency environement I that I compleated my internship in. I filled the blog out everyday and in very casual language describing tasks I was working on for Shifted Pixels. The blog included the process and current campaigns I was working on and I did not expecting anyone to read my blog but my supervisor. At the same time Shifted Pixels was working on the process of advertising the website that I was working on – MyPhatBreak. When the MyPhatBreak website was searched for in Google the link to my blog was displayed just under the MyPhatBreak website. Anyone who looked up key words to do with the website would be able to view the website and then the processes the agency was working on to advertise the website. Although I placed the information on the internet I was upset that someone who I did not know was reading my blog and copied the information and placed it on a website and then emailed the link to my supervisor demonstrating to him the potential problems my blog could cause for the MyPhatBreak campaign.
The internet can be used to damage the reputation of a brand or company. Anybody can say what they want on the internet with little consequences to themselves. (Bernoff, 2008) My blog was not very damaging to the campaign but I had not fully thought through who would be looking at my blog and how it would make Shifted Pixels look as a company. Everyone must carefully consider the information put onto the internet as the information can easily be found with a search engine such as Google. My blog has not been copied and placed on another website and as I put it on the internet they have the right to copy my blog. My original blog has been changed and code has been put into the blog so Google will not find it.
Online advertising continues to grow strongly in with a growth of 35% making it the highest growing advertising sector in 2007 (AFA, 2008). Social networking has moved into the advertising mainstream as the internet has become a popular form of communication with young Australians forcing the advertising industry to re-evaluate online advertising strategies. (Price Waterhouse Coopers, 2008) Online Blogging has also become a unique medium of communicating with target audiences that are highly engaged attracting corporate advertising dollars. (Price Waterhouse Coopers, 2008) This section of the report will discuss the growing popularity of the new forms of advertising online and my experiences relating to this advertising.
4.1 The not so Secret World of Online Social Media Advertising
When I started my internship with Shifted Pixels the only knowledge I had of internet advertising was banner advertisements being strategically placed on websites viewed by target audiences. I have studied advertising for four years at university and TAFE and had no idea of the depth and benefits of using the internet as part of an advertising campaign. I had never heard of blogging, social media engagement or search engine optimisation in relation to advertising before. This form of advertising is of great interest to me as it is a way of starting a conversation with a target audience and potentially creating a meaningful relationship with the target market. (Gibbon, 2008) This relationship is a two way communication channel where companies must listen to their consumers as the consumers now have a voice and if they are not happy with a brand they will tell people about it. (Bernoff, 2008) The internet has given the consumer the power to amplify their voice and tell people what they think about a brand. The relationship with consumers can be beneficial to a company. If a consumer is happy with a brand they have the power to spread the message of a brand. (Bernoff, 2008) This form of word of mouth on the internet is extremely useful and powerful to companies as they can use their consumers to advertise their brand using the already existing social networks on the internet. (Gibbon, 2008) The negative discussion surrounding a brand can be an opportunity to a company as they can find out what is disliked about their brand and create a solution with the help of consumers. (Bernoff, 2008) If a company chooses to ignore this valuable information it could potentially cause damage to their business.
Dell is a computer brand that has created a community-like website that collects consumer’s negative feedback and uses this feedback to strengthen the Dell brand. Idea Storm www.ideastorm.com(Figure 1.) encourages Dell customers who have purchased a Dell computer to leave suggestions on the website. Other customers can then vote for the feedback that applies to them and Dell will attempt to implement solutions to their products using this feedback. The website also shows the stage of implementation Dell is working on to provide a solution to the feedback so consumers can see that Dell is listening to their suggestions and doing something about it.
4.2 Unexpected Blog Audience
On my first day of my internship my supervisor requested that I start a blog that described the tasks I worked on during my time at Shifted Pixels. I then decided that this blog would become my daily log to complete assignment 3. This Blog was then created to be Assignment 3 to suite the Internet Advertising Agency environement I that I compleated my internship in. I filled the blog out everyday and in very casual language describing tasks I was working on for Shifted Pixels. The blog included the process and current campaigns I was working on and I did not expecting anyone to read my blog but my supervisor. At the same time Shifted Pixels was working on the process of advertising the website that I was working on – MyPhatBreak. When the MyPhatBreak website was searched for in Google the link to my blog was displayed just under the MyPhatBreak website. Anyone who looked up key words to do with the website would be able to view the website and then the processes the agency was working on to advertise the website. Although I placed the information on the internet I was upset that someone who I did not know was reading my blog and copied the information and placed it on a website and then emailed the link to my supervisor demonstrating to him the potential problems my blog could cause for the MyPhatBreak campaign.
The internet can be used to damage the reputation of a brand or company. Anybody can say what they want on the internet with little consequences to themselves. (Bernoff, 2008) My blog was not very damaging to the campaign but I had not fully thought through who would be looking at my blog and how it would make Shifted Pixels look as a company. Everyone must carefully consider the information put onto the internet as the information can easily be found with a search engine such as Google. My blog has not been copied and placed on another website and as I put it on the internet they have the right to copy my blog. My original blog has been changed and code has been put into the blog so Google will not find it.
5.0 Reflection
This internship has opened up a whole new world of advertising that I did not know existed. Through this experience Shifted Pixels has shown me the power of social networking using the internet. This is a new form of advertising and I feel I have a head start in the advertising industry as I understand the capabilities the internet has as an advertising medium. This internship has also given me the confidence to go out into the advertising world next year. I understand that I have so much more to learn about advertising and social networking but I have the confidence to go into the industry with an open mind. These experiences will affect my long term thinking in the advertising industry and has opened my mind to Social Media Advertising.
6.0 Evaluation and Recommendations
I have learned through my bogging experience that anything that you put on the internet can be read and copied by anyone. I must be mindful of everything that is put onto the internet, especially when I am representing a company. This also applies to the advertising industry in general. When advertising is put out into society I mush fully research the possible audiences that will see the advertising and what affects it will have on them. Advertising should be a possible attribute that inspires people in society; it should not cause any harm. I would highly recommend Shifted Pixels to future advertising students as they offer adverting services that are not taught in any advertising subjects at the
7.0 References
Advertising Federation of Australia (AFA) (2008) Advertising Facts, Viewed 25/08/2008,
Bernoff, J. & Li, C. 2008, Groundswell: winning in a world transformed by social technologies,
Harvard Business School Press, United States
Dell, 2008, Dell Idea Storm: Where Your Ideas Reign, Viewed 1/11/2008,
Gibbon, T. & Hawkes, R. 2008, Social Media Explained, Admap magazine Issue 490
Price Waterhouse Coopers (2008) Australian Entertainment & Media Outlook 2008 – 2012, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Sydney
Wells, W; Spence-Stone, R; Moriarty, S, & Burnett, J. (2008) Advertising Principles & Practice.
Australian Edition, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest
Bernoff, J. & Li, C. 2008, Groundswell: winning in a world transformed by social technologies,
Harvard Business School Press, United States
Dell, 2008, Dell Idea Storm: Where Your Ideas Reign, Viewed 1/11/2008,
Gibbon, T. & Hawkes, R. 2008, Social Media Explained, Admap magazine Issue 490
Price Waterhouse Coopers (2008) Australian Entertainment & Media Outlook 2008 – 2012, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Sydney
Wells, W; Spence-Stone, R; Moriarty, S, & Burnett, J. (2008) Advertising Principles & Practice.
Australian Edition, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest
8.0 Appendices
- Completion Letter from Shifted Pixels
- Metamucil Blogger Letters
- Cocktail Briefing
Please see the hard copy of my report to view the documents in the Appendices as I don't want to place them on the internet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)