Advertisements wouldn't be complete without sex

The purpose of advertising is to convince people that the products being featured are of use to them. Advertising is quick, it does not have the time to go into great detail within an ad as to why the consumer needs to purchase this product; they need to capture their intended audience quickly. There are sexual undertones within almost any advertisements. Using sex within advertising a product is an effective way to draw in the consumer. Majority of the time using sexual ad’s works better on men than with women, it is easier to set up a sexual connection with men. Men have minimal criteria for sexual desire. If the ad has a physically good looking woman in it, men will associate purchasing the product with getting the woman as well. In advertising it is easier to get a man’s attention with a woman’s body, this is playing on his instinctive rather than his intellectual. On the other hand women are less concerned with mere anatomy as opposed to men. Women are looking for more. Now let me not say women do not have a sexual connection to ad’s featuring half naked men. We all remember the Calvin Klein ad featuring Mark Wahlberg. See below for exhibit A, doesn't he look great?

He made every woman want to run out and buy a pair of Calvin Klein briefs for their significant others in hopes that they look the same way in the briefs. Women have an instinctive sexual reaction but their intelligence has a strong affect on their decision buying process. Sexual desire for a woman is a mixture of factors; this is quite difficult to put all into an ad in that time. It is more effective to get in touch with a woman’s desire for romance through an ad. Take for example ads for jewelry. The jewelry is intended for women and bought by the men in their lives, but ultimately the woman has the purchase decision. It is not likely that a woman will purchase a diamond ring for herself. Knowing your audience when creating your advertisement is key.

Advertisers need to feed into their consumer’s mind of what will draw them into the stores. An ad for beer will not capture a man’s attention if it is just men within the ad; almost every beer ad features beautiful women being attracted to the man drinking the beer of preference. Regardless of what your brand is, always know who you are selling to and find a way to feed into not only their instinctive nature but as well as their intellectual.

- Amanda C

Is there such a thing as a valuable internship?

As the saying goes, “If you are good at something, never do it for free”. This quote speaks volumes to myself as I reflect on some of my internship experiences I have had over the years. In the business world our skills and knowledge is what pushes us forward in our careers, so why would we allow our skills to be used without compensation within the job market?

This may be taken a little harsh, so let me explain better. Nothing in this world is free, we can all agree on that. Currently in college many of us do not realize what our worth is out in the job market. We struggle to receive internships, unpaid ones at that, just to add a nice name to our resume. I am very much guilty of that and I have learned all of this the hard way. We as consumers assess value to certain products based on how much we are willing to pay for them. Work that you are willing to do is a tangible good that employers are willing to pay for, but if they are not willing to pay for it you need to reevaluate the position you are in.

Consider this, is the work you are doing benefiting or adding real value to the company? Internships are used to let inexperienced individuals gain real world experience; it sets them up for better opportunities. But if your work as an intern has no real value and does not matter to the employer, are you really going to receive more opportunities? We have also used internships to gain contacts and networking with executives within a field we desire to work in, we hope to get recommendations from our superiors. As an intern, would you like the recommendation from an employer who does not value you enough to pay you?

Many will argue that some companies just do not have the money to pay interns, which is completely understandable; but if an intern is doing the same work amount as an entry-level position they should not be doing this for free. We have been taught in school that we need to build up our resumes and get real world experience and I couldn’t agree more, but wasting your time at an internship that is unpaid and has no real future for you, is not time well spent. We shouldn’t be afraid to ask for compensation for our hard work; even if this is a part-time internship it should be a paid one at that. Never offer your business services for free, those skills you have in the business world is what will make your career and push you further.

- Amanda C

Personalization can never hurt your business

A personal pet peeve of mine is receiving any sort of mailing whether print or online and it being addressed to “Current Resident” or “To whom it may concern”. How can you expect a consumer to be drawn into your advertisement if it wasn’t addressed to them in the first place? Mass mailings are extremely impersonal and companies are beginning to see the downside of them. Besides the fact they are overspending on mailings they are not seeing the benefits of bringing in new clients. Personalization is key to engage the client. Sites like Groupon have been tailoring their deals to their consumers based on their preferences as of last summer. This has brought an increase on their deals being bought. Not all of these daily deal sites have fully grasped the personalization factor; I received a deal for a getaway at a hotel on South Beach, which granted if I was from anywhere else would have been great, but living only twenty minutes from the beach didn’t draw me in.

The more emails or brochures I receive that seem to be oriented to someone other than myself, the less likely I will address them and the more likely they will end up in my trash. When reaching out to potential leads or clients, add that personal touch. The personal touch can vary from speaking on a first name basis or tailoring your companies’ message to that client’s need. This will make the client feel that they aren’t just another one of the thousands that received your mailings (even if they are). Some feel that getting to know a client on a personal level is unprofessional. Being able to speak to them on a first name basis does not take away from the business; this actually makes the client feel that they can relate to you. This will open up the doors to a constant business relationship and evidentially grow your networking.

- Amanda C

Understanding the consumers mind

Have you ever counted the amount of hours you spend on the Internet? The efficiency of the Internet is incredible, the massive amount of information you can find within seconds still amazes me. I can Google the size of Michael Jordan’s hands and find out instantly, it is 12.25 inches from his palm to the tip of his middle finger, in case you were wondering. The internet can give you the answers to your finance midterm, that your professor was dumb enough to let you take home or connect you with your best friend from 3^rd grade that you lost touch with. Regardless how you use the Internet there are a lot of benefits, marketers roles in e-commerce has increased greatly with the advancement in technology.

Let’s use for example online shopping. Many companies use behavioral targeting to predict a consumer’s thought process during the time of purchase. With online technology that has advanced over the years marketers have been able to not only monitor what a consumer purchases but how they came about to this purchase. Online there is a record of your purchases, when you purchased it, the amount of time you spent on a page prior to clicking to see more information and other products you viewed before you decided on one. Marketers have been able to see all this information using cookies, they are small bits of information that your browser saves on your hard drive, this can be accessed later to determine a consumer’s behavior. On one hand behavioral targeting can be seen as good, this allows for companies like Apple through iTunes to give you a list of similar songs that were purchased by consumers that enjoy the same kind of music as you. This can expose you to new artists you may have never known of before, advertisements will be directed more towards your likes rather than filling your email inbox with offers for Bosley’s male hair transplant, when you’re a 22 year old female with a full head of hair.

On the other hand, behavioral targeting can be seen as an invasion of privacy. In my personal opinion, how can this be an invasion of privacy? Our generation, the social media generation, has grown up with LiveJournals, MySpace’s, Facebook’s and Twitters in which we can share where we are, what we are buying and whom we are with. This is prime information for marketers; by being socially connected marketers engaging in behavioral targeting can learn via social media and our web browsers, our interests. Behavioral targeting will have big effects on the web in the future and our personal experience on it; just because I browsed through an article on finance within CNN.com doesn’t necessarily mean I am ready to engage in stock trading (I barely passed finance, I don’t want to go back down that road). In the past I might have been pigeonholed into that category, but behavioral targeters are testing out various demographics and creating algorithms that will determine a consumer’s depth and various interest. This will evidentially give them a broad spectrum of choices.

Don’t feel that you are losing a bit of your privacy; view it as the Internet is being molded to your interests. Behavioral targeting has immense potential on changing the way we search for information.

- Amanda C

Keeping your brand top of mind

Ever bypassed a coffee shop in your neighborhood just to visit a Starbucks ten minutes out of your way? Coffee is coffee, the 20 something college student at Starbucks is making the same coffee as the lady at the coffee shop right next to your home. What is the difference? We’d like to think the large chain corporation offers us a “better” product for some odd reason. Could your brand be getting bypassed as well for a larger corporation?

To truly keep your brand on the consumers mind you need to have a differentiated brand from the rest of the market. A successful brand has that special quality that separates them from others, to continue bringing the consumers back. To be a leader in your market niche, as an owner you need to focus on improving the customer’s experience with you. This can be not only for a store or restaurant but also for entertainers. How can you expect the consumer to continue supporting your music if their experience has just been ordinary? Do research on your-self, take a chance and Google reviews; see what consumers are buzzing about this week. Most importantly focus on the word of mouth in the area. This will be the only form of advertising that won’t have you breaking the bank for. The difference between a mom & pop company and well Apple, is the personal touch your company can add to the consumer experience each and every time. Do not let your company get passed up on for “something better” when you are just as capable of assisting that customer. Keep your brand first and always on the consumer’s mind. If the consumer forgets you exist then one day you just might cease to be you anymore, and remember if you’re not first then you’re last.

What are you doing to keep your brand on the consumer's mind?

Re-evaluate your marketing plan, have a fresh pair of eyes examine it. See if there are any new ideas that can be implemented into your brand.

- Amanda C

What does your Social Media say about you?

Many of us use social media as an escape from our everyday mundane life. Spending countless hours in front of a computer at work isn’t enough; we must spend even more time at home staring at our twitter friend count increasing. Whether you use social media for personal reasons or to spread the word on your newest business endeavors, what you post on your individual page can speak volumes about you. The 140 characters on your Twitter bio says a lot more about yourself than you would ever think. “My name is Amanda, I enjoy long walks on the beach, mocha Frappuccino’s and well of course anything & everything having to do with Marketing” Hopefully I’d be attracting some fellow marketing lovers to build up my networking but unfortunately the Twitter bots will send me spam offers to take a trip to bora bora and win a free cup of coffee.

The idea of truly capturing yourself in few words is a challenge on its own. 140 characters may not seem like much but with the proper phrases and wording you can eloquently express who you are and what you can offer. Taking yourself too serious and coming across uptight will only scare off potential new connections, it is after all SOCIAL media. Use your social media to network and position yourself to increase your contacts. Social media continues to grow within the last 10 years, without an end in sight. Traditional networking events have begun to diminish, if you are tech savvy and only interesting online, use this to your advantage. Be brief, witty and have fun with it “Amanda is the name. Marketing Consultant. Sales Pro. Social Media Guru, well that’s what my mom tells me at least”

- Amanda C

E-marketing and my bank account; match made in heaven

E-marketing has hurt my bank account. I can not deny it, I am a compulsive shopper. I feel that it progressively gets worse as the years pass. I mean I can't deny that I have good taste when it comes to picking the perfect pair of high heels - but the fact that the internet has made it ohh so easy to click a few buttons to purchase several items has diminished my hard earned money. Receiving email blasts on offers to buy one get one half off of leather jackets makes me want to buy a jacket even if I do live in Miami and it is 90 degrees outside every other day. E-marketing has found a way into our brains that triggers are needs and turns them all into wants.

The first step in the buying decision process is need recognition, e-marketing has revamped the way a consumer decides on which products they would like to purchase. Take for example social media websites. Your favorite celebrity (insert name here) has just posted on their facebook/twitter/blog about their amazing new pair of shoes they have just bought, the desire to look/have the same product that the celebrity owns triggers our mind to go from just wanting such thing to needing it. Social media sites allows us to feel that we are in connection with actors or musicians, and being able to say we have the same jeans or t-shirt as them makes us feel as if we are like them.

Prior to becoming a social media fiend I would have to ask friends, family or even random strangers at the movies for advice on trying a new restaurant or checking out a new club. With the rise of social media it allowed for consumers to communicate with a larger group of people at the exact same time. The second step in the buying decision process is need development. Events like Miami Spice is probably one of the best times of year here in Miami. It is a way to try all those extremely expensive restaurants that of course you'd have to save up a weeks worth of your paycheck just to enjoy, but on a budget for the less fortunate. E-marketing has allowed for the Miami Spice event to reach out to various types of customers through emailing and blogs to inform them of all the different restaurants involved in Miami Spice month. They give you a detailed description of the price range of the restaurant, the menu that is available for you as well as best time of day to go. This has made the decision making process easier, takes the work out of guessing as well as trial and error.

A huge reason e-marketing has changed the way consumers purchase is for example when stores give out online only coupons. This makes consumers like me who prefer to actually try on a product bypass this and just go straight to buying online. The last step in the buying decision process is need fulfillment. Seeing my receipt emailed to me and knowing that my newest purchase will be arriving at my home in 4 to 5 business days, brings great joy to my life. Many e-marketing campaigns have included for a consumer to do a short survey or questionnaire on their buying experience to receive future coupons. If I have enjoyed your service and the experience I had with buying from you, I like to comment on your blogs or fill out a survey to let future shoppers know what it was like. Commenting on such websites then allows for the next consumers to see such comment and it might trigger a need recognition for them, thus re-starting the entire buying process.

I might have exaggerated when I said e-marketing has ruined my life, it hasn't. It has greatly changed the way I plan out my future purchases and sometimes triggers impulse buys. I can never pass up a deal.

- Amanda C