Can you hear me now?

Shouting. Blurting. Yelling. These are all things that companies have been doing for the past couple of decades to communicate their message. During that time, “customers lost their voices” (Scott 198). It’s time for us to take back our voice.

http://pixabay.com/p-310399/?no_redirect

David Meerman Scott describes the evolution of conversations between buyer and seller in Chapter 15 of “Real-Time Marketing & PR”. Back in the day, buyer and seller used to battle it out face-to-face. Through the mid-nineteenth century, print media “began to assume an intermediary role between buyer and seller” (198). In the twentieth century, “business communication became a one-sided conversation” (198) with the seller talking at the buyers.

However, the tables have recently turned. With the power of social media, consumers have the means and platforms to voice their opinions. The “Web has actually brought communication back full circle” (199).

I think now is a great time to be a consumer. To be able to voice your opinion and be heard by the company is fantastic. There is a discussion that takes place showing the company cares about its customers and the customers demand quality from the company. Interacting with a company is as simple as a tweet or a Facebook comment.

It's time for the companies to start listening again. As we learned in "Groundswell," this is the most important in engaging with your consumers. I believe companies are embracing social media as a way to listen. 

Wind Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Groups, Oh My!

About a third of my time here at ONU has been spent with a bassoon in my hands. And that’s because I’ve been a part of the Wind Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra and other chamber groups since my freshman year.

Yesterday I played my 10^th concert with ONU’s Wind Orchestra. We played a whole program of Russian music, featuring works from Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Gliere. The ensemble had been preparing for this concert since the beginning of the semester. I think it’s safe to say that our hard work paid off from the comments I heard in the lobby afterward.

Being a part of these ensembles has taught me how to better manage my time. I usually have rehearsals at night, so I have to plan ahead for my studying. It has also taught me how to be a leader. This leadership experience was significantly different than my business class groups.

I have made some of my best friends through Wind and Symphony Orchestra. I was also fortunate enough to go to Germany this past summer with Wind Orchestra. I’m glad I joined these ensembles and had these unique experiences.

Below is my favorite piece that I have played in my four years here. Entitled “Stubernic Fantasy,” three percussionists were featured in this high-intensity piece. Enjoy!

Road Trippin’ ‘Round ‘Merica

Two of my favorite YouTubers, Grace Helbig and Mamrie Hart, did exactly what my title says over this past summer. They road tripped around the United States with social media as their guide and HeyUSA was born.

http://www.tubefilter.com/2014/06/26/grace-helbig-mamrie-hart-hey-usa-astronauts-wanted/

Helbig and Hart took to Twitter, Tumblr and YouTube comments as to what destinations they should visit. The cities that got the most social media buzz would be featured on the show. The two women travelled to Portland, New Orleans, Provincetown and Louisville, to name a few.

Over the summer, they filmed and posted three “teaser” episodes to YouTube for each of their stops. These individual teasers just focused on one of the many activities they did at each destination. At the end of each teaser, they promised the full episodes of HeyUSA would be available in October and released all at once so you can ‘binge-watch’ them all at once.

Helbig and Hart kept their promise. On October 15, all eight episodes of HeyUSA were uploaded and ready for binge-watching. I am guilty of wasting a whole afternoon watching these episodes straight through.

Of course, from the end of August until the release date, they kept their social media followers’ interest piqued with throwback Thursday Instagram photos from their time filming the show, links back to the teaser episodes and funny quotes we didn’t hear in the teasers. During the episodes, they would have a special guest (usually another YouTuber) and do a Q-and-A/Trivia with them using questions from Twitter. Helbig and Hart even met up with some of their biggest fans they met through social media.

These two women are social media queens. But, that’s kind of their job. They are basically professional YouTubers. So, they engaged their fans, followers and the YouTube groundswell in a very unique way and built a whole travel show around it. Helbig and Hart used social media in all stages of this project, which made it so much more personal, in my opinion. I highly recommend watching this series if you are a Grace Helbig or a Mamrie Hart fan…or you just like puns.

How Bakeries Use Twitter

Chapter 10 in “Real-Time Marketing & PR” by David Meerman Scott is one of the most informational chapters I’ve read in a long time. Entitled “Real-Time Customer Connection,” this chapter covers a wide-range of topics from marketing to your existing customer base, hotel email blasts, how Rizzo Tees uses Twitter to test T-shirt designs, how to successfully assemble a crisis management team, CEO’s blogging and inhabiting multiple communication channels and their life cycles. Scott cites many case studies along the way to give examples to these topics.

I especially related to the section entitled “Embracing the Tweet.” He gives examples of companies that use Twitter to engage their customers.

His first example was a bakery that tweets when they have fresh baked goods right out of the oven. They use a tool called BakerTweet to send these tweets. I looked a little more into this and now I wish I worked at a bakery. BakerTweet is a system of a box (installed on a wall of a bakery) and an app. From a mobile device, you can set up tweets to send out when different baked goods come out of the oven. On the box, there is a dial to select between each baked good. Once it is selected, you just press the button and the tweet is sent! Watch this video to see it in action:

How cool is this idea?! It is great for the bakers because they don’t have to take time out of their busy day to write up a tweet and send it out. It’s great for the customers to engage with the bakery in real-time and get some piping hot treats from their favorite store.

I also enjoyed reading about Kenko.com and TKTS. Kenko.com is an online drug store that uses Twitter to sell its pharmaceuticals that are about to expire. My Capstone is about this exact field and thought this was a genius way to get rid of pharmaceuticals that are about to expire and be destroyed anyway. TKTS is a service that offers discounted Broadway tickets the day of the show. They tweet what shows still have tickets available. I used TKTS when I went to New York City last fall and found it so helpful that I could plan my night before I even got to the ticket booth.

These were some quality examples of how companies use Twitter in real-time to engage its customers. From a customer standpoint, it is great to see companies use Twitter and other tools in real-time because it shows they care about their customers and want them to have the best before everyone else.

Top 10 Halloween Candy

With Halloween right around the corner and almost too many Buzzfeed articles to count, I thought I’d weigh in on my Top 10 Favorite Halloween Candy to get while trick or treating (and also that I enjoy now).  

10. M&M’s- The snack size bags of M&M’s just don't cut it for me. I love M&M’s but only in large quantities.

9. Whoppers- I love Whoppers, but I don’t like that they only come in packs of three. What’s up with that!? Where’s the carton?

8. 3 Musketeers- Sometimes 3 Musketeers are a little bland for me. If I need a quick chocolate fix though, this will hit the spot.  

7. Twix- Two bites and you’re done with this tiny candy bar. But, if your lucky enough to snag a full size Twix, consider yourself lucky.

6. Take 5- Pretzels in a candy bar definitely satisfy my craving for sweet and salty. However, these are a little more expensive, so they were hard to come by.

5. Pull & Peel Twizzlers- Obviously these are way better than the regular Twizzlers. You can tie these ones in knots and play with your food!

4. Hershey Mini Bars (Krackel, Mr. Goodbar, Hershey’s Dark)- If you get a handful of these on Trick or Treat night, it’s a great night. All of these candy bars are fantastic.

3. Milky Way Midnight- Even though I am not a huge fan of Milky Way bars, I seem to love these mini dark chocolate bars!

2. Kit Kat- Kit Kat’s are just classic. Nothing beats a good Kit Kat. Period.

1. Reese’s Pumpkins- Reese’s are my favorite candy, so the fact that they come in pumpkin, tree and egg form makes me feel festive.

What was your favorite candy to get as a kid? What's your favorite candy now?

For the list-maker in all of us

There’s a shiny new social media tool out there all about rankings and lists. It’s called Culturalist and it went into public beta just one month ago.

I found out about this through Broadway.com. It's first ‘conversation’ it created was entitled “Which B-way Stud Should Play Christian in a Stage Version of Moulin Rouge?” Intrigued, I followed its instructions and went to the website. I was greeted to a long page of pictures and gifs of Broadway leading men. I had to select 10 of these men to then rank from one to 10. I could easily switch the order by dragging the name. I published my list so others could see and like my list.

Every so often I find my way back to the site and explore the other lists and conversations people have made. They are sorted into categories, which make it easy to search for your interests. I’ve made lists for the “Best Halloween Candy,” “Best Olympic Poster Designs,” and “Best Movie Soundtracks of All Time.”

Broadway.com has made Culturalist part of their weekly Web show. It sends out a different list every week, then compile the results and share them on their video.

From a social media standpoint, it is easy to share your lists, make lists and create new topics for people to rank. I think this could take off if companies use it like Broadway.com has. It could use it to have customers rate their products or build brand awareness. If people make lists and post them to social, that’s even more awareness of your brand. Companies can listen to these conversations, which we learned was important from “Groundswell.” Brand ambassadors are sure to get involved with these lists as well.

Have we discovered the next shiny social tool?

Zero to International Sensation in Four Years

Hi, I am 21 years old and I love One Direction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Direction#mediaviewer/File:One_Direction_2,_2013.jpg

Yes, you read that correctly. And no, I am not ashamed. I am not afraid to hide that I love Harry, Liam, Louis, Niall and Zayn.

Two days ago my best friend and I dressed in our One Direction garb, trekked to Findlay and paid $15 to see the latest One Direction movie—“Where We Are: The Concert Film.” It was worth every penny. The movie was absolutely incredible. It was like going to a concert without being sweaty and pushed around by screaming girls.

The band filmed this on their latest world tour at their stop at the San Siro stadium in Milan. The Where We Are tour was a sold out worldwide stadium tour. My friend was lucky enough to see it live in Detroit. At this particular stop, the audience was very involved. For a couple of different songs, they held up signs of flags of the countries they were from and also different colored signs to spell out words.

No matter if you are a Directioner or you despise One Direction, you have to applaud them for their success. They went from five guys on the X-Factor to touring the world in merely four years. It is still crazy for me to think that if one little thing changed that day, they probably would not be together as a band. I guess we all have Simon Cowell to thank for this!

I will continue to be a One Direction fan for a very, very long time. Each one of them is a fantastic singer and great human being. Listen to their new single “Steal My Girl” now: