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Tuesday 18 January 2011

FYI Facebook Rocks!

82,557 is the number of status updates being posted every 60 seconds on the most successful global social platform. With an incredible 500 million worldwide users Facebook has outshone its competitors and in my opinion is a culture in its own right. If Facebook was a country, it would be the 3rd most populous in the world after China and India. Facebook has changed the way the web has been built. In the 90’s the web was built around browsing, in 00’s this changed to search and now in the 10’s it is structured around discovering. It is continually being re-built around ‘people’ to help users to ‘discover’.

Now that I have wowed you with stats it's probably worth noting that I'm not a huge Facebook supergeek but have actually just spent the morning at Facebook's London offices as part of my grad scheme at MEC. The 2 hour induction included a Facebook overview and case studies exampling how brands have used Facebook to target consumers. A great example is Cadbury's campaign to bring back the Wispa bar which began on Facebook and prompted a huge press campaign. Despite being interrupted by a fire alarm drill the morning was extremely insightful and I managed to bag myself my very own Facebook t-shirt!...hmm potential eBay listing?

I am fascinated by the social media giant as it provoked real people to create Facebook profiles giving them for the first time a real online identity. This profile creates and connects you to your social graph, mapping your friends, interests, hobbies, relationship status, where you live and work and so on. This has enabled businesses to use Facebook as a global communication tool and offers one of the greatest and most trusted online platforms for brands to target consumers. News, shopping and gaming are key industries which have re-organised their marketing and communication models around ‘people’. For example with the use of Social Plugins, 43% of news sharing occurs through social media - dramatically increasing the immediacy of news around the world.

For the future: Although this has already rolled out in America look out for Facebook Check-in deals using Facebook Places!
If i could share anything with you about the greatness of Facebook it would be this video: What happens every 60 seconds on Facebook: http://vodpod.com/watch/5268426-60-seconds-on-facebook# Enjoy!


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Wednesday 12 January 2011

Red Carpet Glory

The anticipation I felt for my first film premier definitely lived up to it's expectations. As I approached the red carpet for the premier of 'Morning Glory' I could hear fans screaming names of the celebs that had turned up to be snapped by the paps. Although I was no celeb I walked down the carpet feeling a million dollars, brushing shoulders with the likes of Rachel McAdams and Harrison Ford...Ok well not quite, although they did make an appearance at the London premier. The closest I got to to any kind of celeb was Peter Andre and Stacey Solomon! All the cameras were flashing and the paps were directing the celebs to get their picture for the next morning's paper. For a split second I felt like I was one of the stars of the film as I faced a wall of camera men and photographers before entering the cinema. Once inside I had my celeb radar turned on full in the hope of spotting any guestlist worthy celebs. I had kind of hoped that Beckham would have made an appearance since he was actually on London soil but instead I only really spotted a handful of Z listers including Gillian McKeith and Kerry Katona who are both clearly trying to enhance their public profiles.

Before the film started the two main stars of the film came on stage to give the usual thank you speech.
The actual film proved to be lighthearted and enjoyable to watch and although not much depth, it's comical undertones scored it a few extra brownie points. Ford had seen better movie days and McAdams' role was quirky and cute. Overall the film was a hit but it is definitely a film that could be rented rather than seen on the big screen.
See the trailer below:


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Sunday 9 January 2011

This Industry Is Big Enough For The Both Of Them

As I come to the end of my placement in MEC's digital department I feel the time spent has been extremely beneficial and I have got to grips with one of the newest and most unpredictable media platforms. Although the knowledge I have gained has barely reached the tip of the iceberg, I have left feeling excited about my future work in media agencies.

One thing I am certain and have been consistently reminded during my time in digital is that it is the future and it is an exciting department to work in. However I can't help but question the strength of digital as a sole media platform. I don't doubt online's extensive potential however a new advert for retailer Tesco came to my attention.
This was a TV ad for Tesco's grocery shopping app (please watch the below):
Tesco is the first high street supermarket with a full digital strategy however it is interesting how much it relies on traditional media such as TV to advertise and promote it. There have been countless predictions and statements that the digital space is soon to overtake traditional media.
Although more and more consumers are buying into digital technology and spending increasingly more of their time online, one thing remains constant - TV is still trusted in penetrating a mass audience especially since it is at a time when people are relaxed in their home environment. In comparison consumers face digital advertising every time they carry out daily tasks such as online banking, email, online shopping, gambling sites, social networking, gaming, researching and much more. Thus my point is that most people are online for a certain reason other than to relax and so are maybe less likely to take notice of ads. It is all very well for a brand to have digital services but in order for these services to be used and appreciated, traditional means of creating awareness play a key role in their success. This is why I believe digital advertising will never be superior to TV, maybe not for another 10 years at least.


This blog has moved to www.laurarobinsonblog.com