The Paper Saver

Have you ever been in a class that has a professor who speaks a little too fast? Sometimes notes are hard to keep up with. If you're not a fast enough typer or writer you can get left behind and possibly miss some important information if your professor doesn't have a powerpoint. Now introducing Sonocent Audio Notetaker, the easiest way to keep up in class and also comprehend what you're being taught.

This new technology is giving student more time to interact with the professor and better notes to study from later on. There are features that allow users to highlight important ideas and take side notes aside from what the professor is saying if need be. You can turn these notes into slides by later listening to the recordings at your own pace.

Sonocent is great for people who aren’t multi-taskers and prefer to go at their own pace later on. The best part of all of this is that the app is free making it easy to find if this is your new way of studying. This is a great way for students to stay engaged and make more time for learning instead of stressing over a final exam.

Dove Self-Esteem Project

Dove has been using social media and advertising to reach women everywhere. They are addressing the issue of self-esteem that is effecting a lot of lives. No one likes to have these conversations since there can be backlash if done the wrong way. Dove is known for their ongoing campaigns, they talk to real people, address real problems and find a way to make them feel-good commercials.

            They started this with videos on Facebook that got tons of shares. Women were sharing these videos and all though they don’t start conversations with everyone, when people engage they find a little light in the world as they cyber-meet like-minded people. These comments include women bringing each other up and people talking about the great things that Dove is doing by addressing these social issues. Dove then moved on to YouTube and although a viewer can usually skip the ad these ads are thought out and have a purpose leading viewers to not skip the ad.

            This and other campaigns have brought Dove to a place that companies want to be in this day and age. Younger consumers want a company that uses their power to make change. Consumers are usually looking for either a company that gives back or that address the real issues. By talking about how women really feel and how women should love themselves they are talking to a wider audience than any regular commercial ever could.

Esurance Social Media Campaign (Post #2)

The modern Super Bowl is not only the most significant and most viewed NFL football game of the year, it is also a 3 hour time slot for prime advertising.  Only so many ads can be played during commercial breaks, however, so the price of airing an ad is astronomically high ($5 million for a 30 second ad in 2016!!).  How, then, was Esurance, the online insurance platform, the most Twitter-mentioned brandname during the 2016 Super Bowl without even running an ad during the game?  The answer is simple: genius marketing.  The company deemed it unnecessary to spend $5 million for 30 seconds worth of air time.  Instead, they aired their ads before and after the game, time slots where many of the in-game viewers have their eyes on pre or postgame shows; time slots that carry a significantly lower cost.  

The goal of these “Super Bowl” ads was to reach as many potential customers as possible through social media.  The premise was extremely simple and intriguing: Esurance ran a contest in which entrants could win cash prizes ranging from $250K to $1 million.  The only way to enter this contest?  Retweet the posts that Esurance ran on Twitter.  This method had an extremely low barrier to entry - anyone with a Twitter account could press a single button and have a chance to win $1 million.  Not only was word of the contest being spread rapidly on Twitter, so was Esurance’s name and brand.  Before you know it, Twitter is filled with several Esurance tweets promising a chance at a lot of money.  All the company had to do was compose the tweet.  Twitter users did the rest. 

This campaign was extremely successful in many ways.  Esurance saw it more efficient to spend $1 million on a prize to a lucky customer than $5 million for an official Super Bowl ad.  Instead of running only during the game, their ad essentially ran throughout the duration of the game and for many days after it, as the contest and tweets were being retweeted until the listed deadline.  I find this method to be particularly effective not only to spread the name of the company but also to encourage a purchase of their services.  For young people in modern times, there is a tendency to want to do everything online.  If a service can be purchased on a phone, tablet, or computer, it will reach more people than a traditional face-to-face service.  So any young person that saw the Esurance retweets would have it stored somewhere in their brain that insurance matters can be taken care of online with Esurance.  When the day comes for that young person to purchase insurance for themselves, Esurance will be one of the first thoughts because of its easily accessible features. So the company spread their name more effectively than a Super Bowl ad would have for one-fifth of the cost.  

To cap off the contest, Esurance would alert the winners of their prizes through FaceTime, the apple product, and record their reactions.  These reactions would then be posted on their social media accounts for all of their followers to see.  This campaign from Esurance was a huge success.  They let their brand do the talking and let the masses do the majority of the work.  Big win for Esurance.

Airtable (Post #1)

It seems one of the most relevant problems we face today, be it while running a business, managing clients, or simply keeping track of our lives, is staying organized.  The sheer amount of information there is to juggle each day is enough to drive the cluttered mind crazy.  Airtable is a web application that attempts to solve that problem and keep businesses and the people who run them organized and productive.  It isn’t the first application of its kind and surely won’t be the last, but Airtable took off in 2016, recognized for it’s beautiful UI/UX and relative ease of use.  The application was first released in 2012 but has seen major updates to its platform as recently as 2016.

Airtable is essentially a cloud collaboration platform with a main goal of improving productivity in the workplace (or at home, for the causal user).  Upon first look it seems to run like a Microsoft Excel/Microsoft Access hybrid, as it has the style of a basic spreadsheet while embedding the features of a database within that structure.  The selling point of the technology is that any given “Airtable” can be accessed by those who have permission to use it.  In that way, it is similar to Microsoft Outlook or Google Drive, except it combines all of the services that are separated in those popular services.  In Outlook, for example, Mail, Calendar, People, Tasks, Excel, and many more features are separated and can be accessed individually.  In Airtable, all of these features are combined into one single application, which allows for easier access to these apps.  A problem can also arise from this combination, however, as the application is inherently more complex.  

The features of Airtable are extremely accessible for the average user or business.  There are four levels of pricing, with the most basic (and most limiting) option being completely free.  There are also Plus and Pro versions that are priced at $12 and $24 per month respectively, and an Enterprise option that is variably priced.  These versions work for everyone from the average customer who just wants to stay organized, to the largest of corporations.  

On their website, Airtable lists multiple potential uses of the service.  Some of these include organizing advertising campaigns, product orders, film productions, conference planning, event marketing, medical history, and many more.  Hypothetically, though, a user can engage with Airtable in any way he or she chooses.  Airtable is used by 30,000 business and is growing fast.  Though it might be a bit off the beaten path competing with Google and Microsoft, Airtable is worth a look, even if it’s just the free version.  Besides, an attempt to stay organized is better than no attempt at all!

#ShareaCoke

            Using Social media is one of the biggest marketing advertisements nowadays. With social media come labels such as hashtag (#Hashtag) allowing users to highlight a special meaning. Hashtag was used to make it easy for users to search and find specific content for people who are not very technologically knowledgeable to navigate sites. Twitter users eventually started using hashtag to categorize messages. This is how Coca-Cola Company made its best performing marketing campaign.

            In 2015, Coca-Cola used social media Hashtag label to start its marketing campaign #ShareaCoke. Coca-Cola used their 20-ounce bottles in #ShareaCoke and replaced their brand name with 250 of the Country’s most popular names. Customers had a chance to own one of the most popular soda product with his/her name on it. The purpose of #ShareaCoke was to actually share the product with your name on it with loved ones. In addition, consumers were able share their stories on Twitter with the hashtag #ShareaCoke for a chance to have their photos featured on the company’s website and billboards.

            There are many reasons why this marketing campaign was very successful. For example Coca-Cola targeted people who use Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, creating a huge amount of social media activity through sharing posts and stories using #ShareaCoke. According to Tarver, #ShareaCoke hashtag generated 500,000 photo shares on different social media platforms. More than 6 million virtual Coke bottles were shared, and 25 million extra Facebook followers were gained thanks this campaign (Tarver, 2015).

            I think what Coca-Cola did was very unique in a sense of reaching all their customers on a personal level. I myself have not joined this campaign, however many of my friends have shared their stores through the hashtag #ShareaCoke. Overall, the campaign is something different and I would buy the product especially since I can have my name on a 20-ounce Coca-Cola bottle.

Ahmad E.

LinkedIn Campaign

Coming from a small town with not many big businesses or companies, it was pretty difficult finding a job in the small area of Battle Creek, MI outside of the health and factory field. So what do you do? Settle for whats available or keep looking? As an ambitious and tech savvy young man, I turned to the ultimate resource for helping with available jobs and recruiting, LinkedIn.

 

LinkedIn is a business and employment-oriented social networking service that operates via websites and applications technology. With technology use continuously growing and the social media phase being at a all time high, a number of companies and businesses look turn to social networking to expand their company and recruit the best candidates out their. The process of LinkedIn is very simple and is similar to setting up a FaceBook or Twitter account but on a more professional scale. You are actually uploading your resume for hiring businesses to see or submitting your resume onto a site for a business of interest.

One of the best features of the LinkedIn site is that you can search for jobs anywhere in the world. For me that made a huge impact because I am from a small city that doesn't have many big businesses so trying to network and grow from the small town came to be a little difficult. LinkedIn gives you the ability to network with thousands of other professionals just like you to connect with and possibly refer to companies for employment. 

Not only is this a great tool for individuals looking for employment opportunities but also great for companies that are hiring to look through professionals in that field. Businesses create profiles as well and have links to submit resumes for job postings. 

On the go but still like to get notified if any opportunities become available? Download the LinkedIn app and always stay on top of your recent submissions and also if any business found your profile as a match to any open positions they are looking to fill. I have been using the service since moving to Chicago and I fill that it is the best way to make connections and seek aid from other professionals.

Google Docs

Have you ever been working on a group project for class, work or even personal documents that you wanted to receive feedback/editing on from a peer or friend. Well Google Docs is a easy and convenient way to create, share and edit documents with anyone in the world with internet connection!

Google Docs is an online word processor that enables you to create and format a variety of documents and work with friends and colleagues on the same documents. Google Docs software is compatible for PCs, Andriod and Apple products and easy to download. Most importantly, it’s free!
To begin using Google Docs:
Search docs.google.com 
If you do not have a Google account you will be prompted to sign up. 
If you do have a Google account, sign in.
Once you're signed in you will be prompted to select start a new document and a variety of templates to aid you in the creating of your document. Google Docs equipped with many different features from voice typing to automatic saving. Any time that a letter is typed in the document it automatically saves for the convenience of the writer.

Once you have decided on your document you want to create and it is completed, sharing the document for proof or revision is done with ease.
In the top right corner, click Share. If you are sharing the document with someone with a Google account then search their name or email address in the “People” search bar. If you are sharing with a large group of people or anyone without email or a Google account Click “Get shareable link”. A link will appear for you to copy and paste into any email, group message or any site that allows posting. Just be sure to allow everyone to view  your document.Just that quick, you have created your document and have shared the document for reviewing, editing and revision. Once your partner is done revising and editing your work, they can simply follow the same instructions in the "Share Document" section to send the document back with their corrections.

I personally think this tool is great for any group project rather its work or academic based. Another amazing feature of this software is that it will convert documents for you as well. I am a Apple fan so I own an iPhone, Apple watch and mac book. When creating a document on your mac book, Microsoft word is not available for mac books unless you purchase the software. Google Docs will allow you to create any document and convert it into a Microsoft word document.