Looking Back

This semester has been crazy. I got the chance to experience new things. Thankfully, this year is almost over. I only have three finals next week and I will be done with my junior year! Before finals week begins, I want to look back at some of my favorite moments of spring semester.

The first thing I did this semester was the 20th anniversary dance concert. I got to perform in a body percussion dance, which was so much fun. It reminded me of STOMP, which I saw in New York during fall break. The excessive snow resulted in two cancelled rehearsals, but everything came together in the time we had. It was a blast and I would love to do it again.

I was pretty busy with Tau Beta Sigma. I became a big sister to two wonderful new members, Olivia and Kay. In late February, our chapter also held its 50th anniversary celebration. Although the actual anniversary isn't until May 17, it was easier to get a large amount of people if we held the celebration during the school year. 

The following month, we hosted the North Central District Convention! For this, we worked with the Kappa Kappa Psi chapter on campus. We promoted the convention through traditional mail and social media. The chapters in our district received a letter about convention. A Facebook event was created, and numerous emails were sent prior to convention. In the end, we held a very successful convention.

The other big thing was looking for an internship. With my interest in social media, I did countless searches online for anything that sounded interesting. I applied for a few of my favorites and waited for a response. During spring break, I got an offer for a trial internship with Dumblebee, a social network and advice forum. It would be a week so I could see if I liked it, and I would be evaluated at the end of the week. I am happy to say I am an intern with Dumblebee! If you're in need of advice, check out Dumblebee and get the advice you want.

I was a little nervous during my trial week, but it wasn't too bad. My first day, I got a package in the mail and it contained two t-shirts, two mugs and a little bag of business cards. I was really excited and it pumped me up. How can you resist the bumblebee?

I am really excited to finish up my junior year. At the same time, I'm nervous because I'll only have one more year of school. However, I won't worry so much about that right now. My main goals are to finish this year, complete my internship and enjoy life!

An Analysis of The Face-to-Face Book

The-Face-to-Face Book was very different from the other two books in Digital Branding. While the other books stressed the importance of online communication, this book explained how offline communication is an important tool. Authors Ed Keller and Brad Fay seemed to be against social media as a good marketing strategy. 

I thought The Face-to-Face Book was assigned because Keller and Fay discussed word-of-mouth and real relationships, compared to online communication. While the class focused on online branding, the book explained how word of mouth is important, and can help or hurt a brand. When a company is talked about positively, it helps promote the brand. On the other hand, negative word of mouth allows others to share their bad experiences, hurting a brand. It also helps to have an integrated strategy for marketing. There should be a mix of online and offline communication for a successful marketing strategy. Some people may favor offline communication, while others prefer online communication, such as reviews and ratings.

Keller and Fay discuss how a brand becomes talk-worthy, which can apply to digital branding. Through influencers, word of mouth, and relationships, people learn and talk about different brands. Influencers share their knowledge with others and tell people about the brands they advocate. Word of mouth can be done in multiple ways. People can talk to others, or share their thoughts online. Finally, brands should focus on creating relationships with their customers. If brands do this, the customers are more likely to be loyal to the company and talk about the company.

There were things I liked and disliked about this book. I liked how Keller and Fay included case studies of the concepts they discussed. Instead of just explaining a concept, they provided examples of how the concept was utilized in real life. One interesting example was Target's first store in New York. The ad included Target's logo, but did not reveal the company. This allowed Target fans in the area to feel special and "in the know." I did not like how the book seemed to only favor real-life communication and not social media. While it is important to actually talk to people, there are other ways to promote and discuss a brand, such as online reviews. Plus, if companies are not online, customers will still complain. These complains will grow, while the companies still believe they are doing a good job, although online comments may give a different opinion.

I think this book should stay on the Digital Branding reading list. While it focuses on oral communication, it can still apply to the online world. People can spread word of mouth online, either by writing a review for a product or discussing a company on social media. It gives readers another perspective on branding that may not be a main priority today. This book gives a mix of online and offline communication that can be beneficial for companies.

A main idea of this book is relationships between a company and its customers, which is a main idea of the other two books I read for this class. When a customer experiences a problem and writes the company about the problem, that person shouldn't have to wait for a solution. It is important for the company to act quickly to fix the issue. 

Companies should have an active presence on social media. Current and potential customers are online, so companies should follow suit. It is also important for companies to check what is being said about them. If they don't, they may be unaware of negative feedback, like Dell experienced in 2005. Also, when customers complain or ask questions, the company should answer in a relatively quick manner. If not, customers may become unhappy with the company and take their business to another company.

Although this book sparked more discussion, it was interesting to read. New perspectives to marketing allow for new ideas to form, which could help companies in the future.