In this time of tight budgets, new media seems to be popping up everywhere in the Wichita school district—because it’s free and so accessible to parents, teachers and students alike. Plus, a PEW study shows that every age group from millenials to the G.I. generation (74 years and older) has increased its Internet and social networking use since 2008.

According to Susan Arensman, Communications Specialists for the district, 259 is considering starting a Facebook page. “We are looking into using Facebook as another tool to inform parents and community members about our district,” Arensman said. “We are researching how other school districts across the country use Facebook and if they have any policies in place for using social media.”

Arensman understands the benefits of using social media. “Many parents use this as application and it would be a quick way to get information out especially if we close school because of snow or want to remind them of an upcoming community meeting, provide enrollment information, etc.”

However, she also says there aren’t many school districts using social media at this point, and feels there are some issues school districts face when it comes to having a Facebook presence. “[It] takes additional staff time to post items and to monitor the comments to make sure there isn’t anything inappropriate posted. [Plus] Facebook is blocked by our district web filters, so we will have to find a way to go around the filter to post items,” Arensman said.

Other districts across the US are using social media as a free and accessible way to connect with parents and students. In Mansfield, Texas, for instance, more than 6,600 people “like” the Mansfield Independent School District page. It’s purpose is to inform people about what’s going on around the district. Anything from enrollment information, to recognition of outstanding teachers and students, to posts asking for ideas on naming a new high school can be found on their page.

It seems Mansfield was well-prepared to start a Facebook fan page. In one of their notes, they list the “Rules of Engagement” they expect their fans to follow.

Read the rest of this post »

If you’re into the hit AMC show Mad Men like I am, you probably have some idea of how the business of advertising used to look. Men in suits drinking whiskey. Women in skirts playing the role of secretary. Creative people in one section of the building. Copywriters in another. Clients being schmoozed in a local fancy restaurant. 

Last Tuesday, I visited Wichita’s Sullivan Higdon and Sink (SHS) with my fellow Comm 660M classmates. When I found out we would be visiting the local ad agency, visions of Don Draper wining and dining me danced in my head. Unfortunately, he never showed; but I did get a free meal and had the privilege of listening to some other advertising professionals: Lathi Desilva, Greg Standifer and Tom Bertels.

After seeing some of the work they’ve done, learning the steps they take with each client and taking a tour of the building, I could see SHS has definitely moved beyond the old way of doing things. They’re taking advantage of the new digital tools available to them and have worked to stay ahead in a world where many traditional advertising companies are struggling to keep afloat. Their slogan, “We hate sheep” fits them perfectly, as they definitely do not follow the flock.

One example of this is how they have set up their offices. They’re as far from a Mad Men set up as they can get. Instead of traditional offices with solid walls and doors, employees are separated by doors on wheels. Yes, doors on wheels. Sounds strange, but it’s so smart. At any moment, one can rearrange the space so she can meet with a team member to solve a problem or toss out an idea. There is definitely a team culture there, a culture change that came when they moved to their new office four years ago. And this is just one aspect of SHS that sets them apart from the flock. 

Today things are definitely changing for advertising companies. In some ways they are changing for the better, in some ways for the worse.  

 

Change for the better

Today’s advertising companies have access to a plethora of tools to help in every stage of working with a client. They have access to free social media sites and analytics. They have access to relatively inexpensive equipment like digital recorders, video cameras and editing software, so creating a quality podcast or video in house is not as impossible as it once was. And getting their messages out to the public is free if they want to use YouTube, Facebook or Twitter.

SHS uses these tools to their advantage, but more impressively, they’ve also experimented with new ways to market products. During the visit, Standifer, a man who loves his meat and who works as a team leader on Cargill ads, explained that he and his team had the task of launching an unknown brand of natural beef to consumers in Super Target. Seems easy enough for an ad man, but there was a catch: he couldn’t use any of the traditional advertising strategies—no printed ads, no brochures. “They said ‘All you can use is your product,’” Standifer said.

So, like any good advertiser would do, he conducted some research and got creative. After looking at the target audience, he found that many of the people shopping for this type of product own smart phones and do their research on brands before buying. They also take their time and see grocery shopping as more of a leisurely activity than a chore. Taking all these things into account, Standifer and his team decided that the product placed in the meat case would include a sticker containing a two-dimensional barcode. If a customer used his smart phone to scan the code, he would be connected to a 20 second YouTube video explaining more about the brand. 

The best part of this was that the barcode was a free tool from Microsoft. Standifer mentioned that Golf Digest is a magazine leading the way with this barcode technology, but said “we were the first ones to take this in to the meat case.” The barcode also came with analytics that helped SHS track the numbers and locations of people who viewed the video. 

SHS has also recently worked with Coleman to promote a new grill designed by a Paul Teutul Jr. of American Chopper. Paul Jr. was going on a summer tour of 12-14 cities in an effort to promote the product. Apparently, Paul Jr. has an online following, so SHS was presented with the challenge of getting his followers to show up when he stopped in their cities. They used Twitter as a registration tool—if someone re-tweeted their message, they were registered to win a free grill signed by Paul Jr. They also used meetup.com where people can set up events like this one. “Obviously, from a cost perspective, very little production value. They had their tour bus, but from a collateral piece, we didn’t do anything [but] fliers they hung up at Home Depot and Dick’s Sporting Goods,” Standifer said.

With all these new tools, there are definitely more ways to reach consumers. Danielle Sacks (The Future of Advertising, 2010) says “Thanks to the Internet and digital technology, agencies are finding that the realization of their clients’ ultimate fantasy—the ability to customize a specific message to a specific person at a specific moment—is within their grasp.”  It’s hard to believe just how targeted advertising can be, but it’s because of these digital tools that this has become a reality for advertisers like SHS.

Change for the Worse

All these tools offer innovative ways to reach consumers, but ad agencies are also finding their presence a hindrance.  Sacks explains that it’s no longer easy to advertise. “The death of mass marketing means the end of lazy marketing. At agencies, the new norm is doing exponentially complex work.”  If clients want YouTube videos, print ads, web sites, social media presence and all the newest forms of connecting with consumers, traditional ad agencies may not be able to provide every service. In other words, advertising agencies are trying to do more work with less money and fewer people—a pretty difficult task.

In order to satisfy their clients, some agencies are reducing their own staff and partnering with other companies who specialize in these areas. After all, if these large agencies want to remain viable, they have to be willing to admit that they can’t be all things to all people and that others can do things better.

A big problem in the advertising world is that with all of this new technology and internet advertising, agencies are struggling with monetization. Gone are the days of the “fat 15% commissions they used to score off of a client’s media spend, a spend ballooned mostly by television commercials. Today, agencies really have no clue as to how they should get paid,” says Sacks. Fortunately, measurement tools like analytics and metrics are becoming more detailed and may eventually help ad agencies figure out a good system of payment.

As the industry changes, so do the expectations for entry-level professionals. College grads can certainly expect a competitive job market. “Students will be expected to have more applicable, real-world experience,” says a contributor to 11 Public Relations Trends for 2011. This means that students will be required to take on several internships to gain experience in a variety of areas if they want the experience it takes to get a foot in the door of an ad agency—which means even more student loans to pay back as many internships are unpaid. What else can entry-level professionals expect? SHS looks for the following traits in new hires:

• Writing skills
• Verbal skills
• Presentation skills
• Story-telling capabilities
• Uniqueness and personality
• Knowledge and use of new or unique tools
• Knowledge of the market
• Internships and volunteer work for non-profit companies
• Involvement in community organizations
• Clean social media
• A professional resume

 

 

A few years ago, my  husband and I decided to cut the cable bill and start watching our favorite TV shows on Hulu. Since he was going back to school, we wanted to save money in every way possible, so it seemed like a good idea.

Our monthly bill dropped from $45 to $15. We were satisfied with “going basic” until we realized many of the shows we loved (Top Chef and Project Runway for me and Sports Center for him) were not available on Hulu. After searching YouTube I was able to find 5 minute segments of Project Runway and ended up watching an entire season that way. I soon found it much more convenient to turn on the television and settle for basic cable shows like The Biggest Loser rather than to huddle around the laptop and search for more appealing shows.

So we chose to upgrade to the extended cable package again (we decided the convenience was worth it, afterall) and can often be found watching the television while browsing the web on our laptops.

As of today, my husband is still a graduate student, so we’re still a one-income family; however, when he graduates in May I have dreams of us upgrading our entire entertainment area to combine our television and internet devices. How great would it be to access television shows and YouTube videos online and view them on a large TV screen?

Mark Suster (The Future of Television and the Digital Living Room, 2010) mentions a few options for people like me who would like to combine these forms of media. 

Google TV

Several months back I remember seeing a commercial for the Logitech Review starring Kevin Bacon. It’s a clever and hilarious commercial that shows a regular guy who loves all things Kevin Bacon searching for “Kevin Bacon” on his Google TV. The funny part is that this guy is actually Kevin Bacon. 

The humor drew me in at first, but upon viewing it a second time, I noticed the actual product and that you had the option to Google anything and be presented with a list of options from TV and the web. So cool, I thought. Upon further investigation, I found out you could actually watch TV in one window while surfing the web in another. And there’s a customizable homepage, so you can have access to your favorite channels and websites as soon as you turn on the TV. You can even use your smart phone as a remote control. 

The best part of Google TV?

“The coolest thing about Google TV is that we don’t even know what the coolest thing about it will be."

Knowing Google, the possibilities are endless.

Other companies with products to offer include Apple (Apple TV) and Boxee. Both offer similar features as Google TV, but Boxee comes as a free download on your computer, so I think that is what I will start with before paying for any hardware.

Virtual viewing parties

Back in 2004, my roommates and I held a Friends finale watch party where we watched the final episode, ate some appetizers and guessed at what was to come next. We laughed together and then we cried together (sounds lame, I know—but we really loved that show).

Suster thinks the future holds virtual viewing parties. I have no idea what that will look like, but I know people already communicate with one another as they watch TV. My husband, for example, exchanges text messages with my brother during all K-State sporting events. I guess it’s the next best thing to actually being in the same room with someone.

Bravo has hosted virtual viewing parties for their Real Housewives series finales where they invited fans to tweet and Facebook chat as they watched. They even had two of the housewives tweet back and answer fan questions throughout the episode.

I’m not sure how much more real it could get than having live tweets and chats. Suster thinks “you’ll likely see applications that draw you into interactive experiences, connect you to your social networks, help you browse your TV better, and create a richer media experience overall.” 

Read the rest of this post »

It was only a few months ago when I caught wind of a frightening rumor. The state board of education made plans to cut funding to high school journalism programs. Really? I thought. Are newspapers really dying? 

I know the print medium is slowly losing ground to digital forms, but that doesn’t mean newspaper organizations are dying—they’re just being forced to change to keep up with their consumers. If they don’t, it’s likely they’ll end up like Borders, the bookstore chain that recently filed for bankruptcy and began the process of closing several stores. 

Why? According to msnbc.com, “The largest U.S. bookstore chain, Barnes & Noble, has had success with its Nook e-reader and online store, allowing it to stay in contention with online book pioneer Amazon.com. Borders has lagged well behind.” 

In other words, they couldn’t give their customers what they wanted. With any business, staying one step ahead of (or at least keeping in step with) your consumer is the only way to stay in the black.  

And that’s what all newspapers must do to stay in business. Listen to their audience and try to keep up with their wants and needs. And in order for my students to succeed in their future careers, they need to learn those basic communication skills and be trained in digital media. Lucky for me, when the state board announced the funding cut, some key people from Kansas secondary and post-secondary schools (WSU included) stepped in to fight for scholastic journalism programs. With a few changes to our courses we will be able to continue training students for future careers in media.

Last summer, I had a chance to spend a week at the Wichita Eagle as an observer (aka tag-along). I had been a regular on their website and loved reading the Sunday edition, so it was exciting for me to get inside and see how everything operated. Plus, I knew my students and I needed some help taking our paper online and  wanted to see how the Eagle kept their website so up-to-date.  After that week and then spending some time with a few Eagle employees recently, I became aware of how the Eagle has managed to continue to be a strong player in the Wichita market.

Read the rest of this post »

Have you seen the Johnny McEntee trick shot video? Want to see that Volkswagon Super Bowl ad again?  Or what about Katie Couric’s entire interview with Sarah Palin from 2008? Maybe you just want a snippet from that interview, perhaps the part where Palin discusses Alaska’s close proximity to Russia. Or you’re looking for Tina Fey’s impression of Sarah Palin and the original interview all in one video. 

Ten years ago seeing any of these videos on demand may have seemed impossible, but now? There is one place to find all these things: YouTube—a one-stop shop for almost any video you’re looking for. Ten years ago I wouldn’t have dreamed of a website like this. I remember downloading music from Napster (well, I remember my friends doing it) and streaming video. And now? I can’t really understand how we lived without it—and I don’t even use it as much as most people I know. In most cases, I use YouTube to share videos of my growing son with family members on the East coast. I know, I know. Exciting stuff. Unlike the impressive McEntee video, my videos have anywhere from 2 to 30 views.

Since it’s start in 2005, YouTube has changed the world. People like Barack Obama and the Pope use it regularly to broadcast speeches. Amateur singers and actors use it to launch their careers. Teachers use it to access video clips relevant to their instruction. Many (including my high school students) search for their favorite artists and songs to avoid the fees associated with iTunes.

Levinson (New New Media, 2009) discusses a few ways YouTube has changed our world.  

Impact on politics

During the 2008 election season, CNN decided to change things up a bit and have viewers submit questions for the presidential candidates via YouTube. Levinson said that although CNN chose which clips to air during the debates and that some clips were probably “coached and perhaps even prepared by surrogates for the candidates,” these debates “marked an important step forward in the democratization of the debate process” (60). By adding real American voices and faces to the debates, YouTube improved the election process.

Prior to the debates, YouTube made another major contribution to politics: “Crush on Obama,” a music video that may have inspired young people to get out and vote. Levinson explains that the same group of 30-year-old voters that did not turn out for the 2004 election showed up to vote for Obama in 2008 (59). In fact, two to three times the number of voters under the age of 30 turned up at the primaries and caucuses that year, and “at least 50 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds voted in America for the first time since 1972” (60). Coincidence? Maybe. But Obama also used social media as a way to get in touch with Americans. I have to admit, I did not see this video until I searched for it last week (only after reading about it in chapter 3), so I was not one of the 2.3 billion people who viewed it during its first month on the web. I suppose at that time I lived a sheltered, uninformed life. Even though I missed out on that particular viral video, I still managed to vote that year.

After Obama Girl made her YouTube debut, other videos began popping up. Hillary Clinton and John McCain fans created videos showing love for their candidates as well. This “answer” video is common on YouTube, as are parodies.

Keeping people honest since 2005

One of my favorite things about YouTube is that it helps keep people in the public eye in check. Anyone with a camera can easily record an event and then upload it. That’s exactly what happened to Sen. George Allen. During a speech he referred to a man in the crowd as “Macaca,” which can mean monkey or can be taken as a racial slur against African immigrants. Of course, Allen later explained that he did not know what the word meant, but because his words were captured and uploaded to YouTube where hundreds of thousands viewed it, “Allen lost his bid for reelection to the Senate that year and, along with it, his position as a likely contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008” (64). Perhaps this insult was a one-time deal and the senator really didn’t mean anything by it, but it is just as likely that he should have left office long ago and had just never been caught making these remarks on camera. Either way, one could definitely argue that YouTube has some power, and not just when it comes to politics. Hollywood celebrities are being impacted as well.

Remember Michael Richards? What a disaster his career has become, and it’s all thanks to amateur video being posted on the web.

Here’s the thing about YouTube: Anyone can put videos out there for all to see. And as much as they’d like to, politicians and celebrities can’t take them down or get rid of them altogether. Even if they could, there would be no way to be sure those videos were actually destroyed because anyone can make a copy. 

Even footage that first aired on television is out there, much to Sarah Palin’s chagrin, I’m sure. Paraphrasing Jonathan Alter of Newsweek, Levinson explained how things have changed in just a few years: “ In 2000 a videotape of a politician talking would be in some vault in some network backroom somewhere, after its airing on television. But nowadays—in 2008 and thereafter—anything a politician says can be up in the bright, unblinking lights of YouTube minutes later, out of the custody and control of both the network and the politician” (64). This, alone, is helping to improve democracy by keeping people honest.

Read the rest of this post »

I have to admit, I never thought I would be a blogger. After all, I’m not the kind of person who has a strong opinion about much of anything. I’m a moderate and a pretty easy going person, so I can’t go online and rant about my extremist views on politics or religion. Plus, I’ve never felt like enough of an expert on one particular topic to actually write about it and then display it for all the world to see.

But, having read Paul Levinson’s chapter on blogging (New New Media, 2009) I have discovered that like every other human being with an internet connection, I have the opportunity to be a part of the changing world of media. I can join in on the conversation—or, better yet, I can start a conversation about ANYTHING. Levinson says, “Although there are still more readers than writers of blogs, any reader can become a writer either by commenting on someone else’s blog or, with just a little more effort, by starting a blog of one’s own” (18). A little more effort—I ask it of my students all the time, so why not ask it of myself?

As I studied journalism as an undergrad, I didn’t hear much talk of blogs, YouTube or Facebook. Sure, blogs have been in existence since 1997, but it wasn’t until late in my undergrad experience when sites like Facebook and YouTube were launched. And it was several years after that when the university added “digital media” to its list of degree options. While I was pleased with my training in print media, I wish I could have some kind of formal training in electronic media. 

Clay Shirky (The Shock of Inclusion and New Roles for News in the Fabric of Society) provides an interesting and accurate metaphor to explain the difference between 20^th century and 21^st century journalism practices. He says  the “old” way of providing news and information worked like a pipeline, “where reporters and editors would gather facts and observations and turn them into stories, which were then committed to ink on paper or waves in the air, and finally consumed, at the far end of those various modes of transport, by the audience.” Twentieth century journalism was organized so that professionals and amateurs were separated. “Reporters and editors worked ‘upstream,’ which is to say as the source of the news. They created and refined the product, decided when it was ready for consumption, and sent it out when it was, to readers or listeners or viewers.” The audience then received the news in its “final, packaged form,” and could discuss it with one another and maybe even write a letter to the editor if they so desired. Even then, we needed permission from the pros, who had to be convinced to print our letters.” This is how it worked for a very long time, and at many newspapers (including my student’s newspaper), it still works this way. However, within the last few years, the roles of professional and amateur have begun to intersect more and more each day (18), and I hope to help my students learn how to operate in the 21^st century of journalism.

To do this effectively, I feel that I must first immerse myself in new new media. I’m already familiar with various forms of social media like Facebook, YouTube, MySpace (though I deleted this account a couple years back) and Twitter (something I rarely log onto), and like 53% of social networking site users (PEW) I, too, get news through Facebook, whether it comes from Kansas.com or from my non-journalist friends sharing links to interesting news stories. To become even more involved with new new media, and to become a contributor rather than just a consumer, I must participate in what Levinson calls “the oldest and easiest to use of new new media,” blogging (12).

Read the rest of this post »