As this chapter comes to a close and I move into my senior year at The University of Texas, I have come to appreciate so many of the valuable lessons I’ve learned along the way. Professionally, I have gained numerous skills and knowledge in the marketing and communications sphere. Personally, I have been pushed to challenge my boundaries and turn opportunities into accomplishments.
As a student at UT’s Moody College of Communication, I am exposed to many amazing opportunities and professionals with vast experience in the industries of journalism, media and public relations just to name a few. This past week, I had the privilege of attending a lecture by Christopher Ferrel, the Director of Digital Strategy at The Richards Group for one of my courses, Technology, Marketing, and Advertising. After listening to his presentation, I was mesmerized by his concept of a new era that is bound to change the course of digital advertising. The Skippable Era, as he classifies it, is characterized by a feature we all love and embrace; the skip button. To better understand how marketing trends and consumer engagement have shaped digital practices of our current era, Chris poses three essential questions for advertising gurus to consider.
As technology develops and its applications and features increasingly grow in the age of the internet, it is hard to imagine a new platform that could change it all. Currently, we live in a world built upon intermediaries for many of our industries. Originally created for the digital currency, Bitcoin and Bitcoin trader login option, blockchain was developed as a way to bypass this system and directly connect consumers to their value. Similar to the platform of GoogleDocs, imagine this technology as a shared server where instead of saving a document in Word then sending it to another individual via email or fax, the document is already shared and updated with the other party.
F8 is Facebook’s annual conference for developers and entrepreneurs that build around and for the site. This year the 2-day event took place on May 1 & 2 in San Jose, California with over 50 sessions and interactive demonstrations for attendees to learn about what’s coming up for Facebook in the future. Day 1 opened with a keynote speech from none other than the creator and CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. Naturally, he focused most largely on the company’s newest privacy feature, “clear history”, which will allow users to “clear your browsing history on Facebook — what you’ve clicked on, websites you’ve visited, and so on.” Although he did caution that this may degrade the Facebook experience for those that choose to wipe their data, the site will have to relearn their preferences and become familiar with each profile once this feature has been used.
With the rise of the iPhone, our society has quickly shifted in many respects. The ways we interact, the ways we find information, the ways we work and the ways we occupy our time have all been impacted by not only the advancement of mobile technology but the introduction of apps into our everyday routines. Now entire businesses revolve around the model of customer interaction via phone applications. Mobile traffic has given the opportunity for hundreds of thousands of companies to reach their audiences with more ease and efficiency, making transactions, and communication in general much more streamlined. By 2020, the predicted number of apps to exist will be 5 million (Perez, 2017), and the possibilities don’t stop there.
So you’ve heard about it and have seen the hype about its revolutionary developments for the technology sphere, but do you actually know what 5G is? If you don’t, you’re not alone. Short for fifth-generation wireless systems, 5G is the latest iteration of cellular technology that your devices will run its system programs off of. These developments allow for network splicing, which enables multiple channels to run on a singular network. As a result, many benefits will be brought to your use of all those devices our lives revolve around.
We’ve all been touched by the iconic Budweiser Clydesdales, entranced by superstar endorsers like Britney Spears, and become hooked on brands like Apple through futuristic imagery. The biggest game of the year means the greatest chance to reach millions of viewers between plays. As one of the most important opportunities for marketers to reach large audiences and create buzz about their products, Super Bowl spots have long been an integral institution of the game itself. Super Bowl LII will not disappoint, and we have an early look at some of the most anticipated advertisements to watch out for this Sunday.
This year, we saw a one-minute Super Bowl spot from Toyota featuring a Paralympic athlete and the journey she took to increase her chances of winning a gold medal. Heartwarming and inspiring—no cars were featured in the ad, which promoted the phrase, “When we’re free to move, anything is possible.” So what does this say about what we value as consumers? Are features and benefits our main concern? The fact is, in a world with so much variety, availability, and interconnected commerce, we subscribe to the brands we choose to invest loyalty in, not the products we choose to buy.
As we all know, SXSW is just around the corner, which means expansive opportunities for the exchange of new ideas, the introduction of multiple industry advancements and crowds of the biggest and brightest innovators of our day and age. Keeping up with the constant stream of developing media and technology can be a big task. Fear not. This time around, we’re bringing you the top 5 panels that will aid in staying on the cutting edge of branding and marketing. Learn what makes these some of the most instrumental topics for the future of our industry.
Have you ever walked into a bar, enjoyed the activities and amenities, then come to find out that it was only a temporary pop up pub? Been looking for that perfect atmosphere for a cold one that you swore was on that corner next to your hotel? Companies are utilizing the flux of marketing, technology and media obsessed crowds during this upcoming week to promote their products by temporarily renting spaces in and around downtown and setting up shop.
