New Version of “ Facebook is Stalking You” is Now Available on Your Phone

We all know Facebook stalks you all the time. It knows so much about you: from your basic personal information to your friends groups; from your likes and dislikes to your daily life events… But that’s not the whole story. Last week, Facebook announced a new advising platform: Atlas.

Whenever you are browsing the internet, you can see some ads of products which you probably have searched them through search engines or viewed them on online shopping website before. This is what Google, the current dominance of the online ads space, does all the time, using “cookies” to track your search record and present you the one and only featured ads suggestion. The problem is, while cookies can work well on computers, they might not be able to work effectively and accurately on smartphones and tablets, which are the primary devices people are now using. 

All marketers are desperately tracking every consumer. Like we discussed in class, advertisers need to keep control of the latest trend, consumers’ taste, behavior and psychology in every moment in order to make optimized marketing decisions and thus maximize their profits. Since people spend more time and more money in mobile, Atlas, aiming at gathering mobile data base, provides advertisers with the new best advertising intermediate tool.

Think about it: a mobile based advertising platform that interacts with Facebook. I cannot deny this is a powerful tool. Facebook and other marketers claim they want to build a people-based market and I have to admit I agree this is a very effective way for them to make marketing strategies.

But is it really good for us, the ultimate consumers? First of all, we can easily question the privacy problem. Honestly, I feel anxious when strangers know so much about me. And will all our information stay safe with them? But secondly, how will it affect our purchasing habits? If marketers and advisers take such dominant positions in the consumption process, consumers are likely to be oppressed. By tracking and presenting, even compelling us with all these ads, we can easily tell ourselves we need these goods and eventually, we will lose the ability to choose on our own and buy what the marketers want us to buy. I am worried about that.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/articles/facebook-extends-reach-withad-platform-1411428726

Who Doesn’t Love FREE Items?

While browsing my Youtube home page today, I saw many advertisement videos from all kinds of brands: ranging from fashion, cosmetics, etc. to technology and even snacks. That moment, I realized where those brands come from: GIVEAWAY videos.

My eyes sparkled with excitement whenever I noticed a giveaway video. I remembered wondering how generous those people were! Think about it. Are you willing to give away $10 to a complete stranger, let alone a backpack full of school supplies, cosmetics, technologies, etc. or even a brand new MacBook Pro?

Yet, everything comes with a price.

In order to enter their giveaway events, you need to subscribe their Youtube account, give your comments below and share their videos. For the time being, the more subscribers they have, the more comments they receive, the more often their brands will appear in Youtube’s popular video list. More and more people will notice that giveaway video and get excited the way you did. Most importantly, when you share something, you give your credits to that product. That’s the free and most effective advertisement that every producer desires.

The trick in this advertisement tactic is that you are grateful to advertise for free. People love free items. People feel gratitude to the givers. Then, it is a common sense to want to do something to pay back. It is way simple and quick to do some clicks with a view to maybe receiving those unbelievably valuable free items! What a smart method to trick our psychology!

I must admit I both admire and contempt this strategy. It costs companies a lot cheaper while receiving better reaction than traditional advertisement does.

Put your make up on

More and more companies want to counteract the image of the perfect human portrayed in the media. Marketers try to make their company look more natural , artless and opposing to the photoshop society. Companies like Dove for example started a campaign showing the natural woman embracing her body.  

Following this example, some celebrities invented the #iwokeuplikethis and posted pictures online of them not wearing make up. One of these famous people showing themselves without any make up or hairdressing is Zooey Deschanel (picture below). Celebrities want to become more human, more normal by posting pictures showing them in a situation without any adornment. 

The singer Colbie Caillat chose a different way to clarify her feelings about the situation. Colbie Caillat made a huge statement with her last single from june 2014. In her song „Try“ she sings about the pressure on women to be the best version of themselves. 

Nowadays everybody wants to be perfect and no one wants to show any flaws (like pimples or any other beauty problems). Partly the media is the cause of this problem. Woman around the world only see the perfect female in commercials or movies. And it seems to be so easy in the media world. But in reality all of the pictures shown by marketers are photoshoped or are enhanced by some other computer tool. Portrayed in the media is a machined reality and that is a huge problem for our society. 

Children nowadays try to be perfect as the people they see in the world invented by the marketers. They do not feel pretty or handsome enough anymore. Boys and girls want to be as flawless as the model in the commercial. Even though that goal is unreachable. More and more teenagers have anorexia or other illnesses which reflect the pressure  of being perfect, which they feel from the outside. 

Colbie Caillat wanted to state her disgust with the situation, but did she really go all the way? When you see the video (posted below) you will witness that the women will take off their mask (for example make up or the wig), but is that enough? 

When I first listened to the song by Colbie Caillat I was excited to hear that someone actually decided to stand up and sing about this, but then I started to research a little. One thing which came across my mind was that Colbie Caillat did have great success with this song and with her new cd, especially because this is a commercialized topic. Everybody listens to the song, me included, because it has these powerful lyrics. The music itself is actually not really creative but rather simple. It is the lyrics which make it special. By listening to the song you show your support, but do also show that you like the music? 

One thing which really struck me as wrong is the cover of the single. It is a photo of Colbie Caillat being perfect and flawless. If you look at the song and the music video this does not make sense. It seems like the singer went half the way and then was not strong enough to finish through the finish line. 

(photo1 http://blog.muchmusic.com/the-best-celebrity-iwokeuplikethis-selfies-2/

video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXoZLPSw8U8

photo2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Try_(Colbie_Caillat_song)#mediaviewer/File:Try_Colbie_Caillat_single_Cover.jpeg)

If You Can Run A Mile....

The classic Nike Slogan of “Just Do It.” was recently revamped with a new commercial. The ad raises the bar for Nike’s clientele, by telling them to not just do it, but to do more. The ad starts off with “if you can run a mile, run a race,” and that same sentiment continues throughout.

            Inspirational ads are nothing new to Nike, but this ad seems to almost limit its clientele. Its target appears to be athletes only. As if Nike is trying to move away from the people that wear their clothes only to run to the grocery store, and because they’re comfortable. This is understandable, especially if Nike wants an exclusive image. However, this is definitely a risky move. It jeopardizes alienating a lot of people that are willing to spend money to by their clothes and accessories. At the same time, Nike has almost a monopoly on athletic clothes, and has the power to do what it wants. Its popularity is so strong that people will always be there to by their products.

            As a supporter of Nike and a huge fan of all their inspirational ads and commercials, this most recent one did not disappoint. I enjoyed it and it left me immediately wanting to get up, lace up my shoes, and get going. This is the feeling Nike wants to leave people with after watching the ad, because people being active and working out more will ultimately lead to them buying more of Nike’s products. For those people that are already active and already buy Nike products, well the motivation is just an added bonus, and hey, you can always buy some more Nike.

Women Shouldn't...

Simple. Different. Strong.

This ad shows what society still thinks about a woman's role and purpose. We have come a long way from being able to work to having the choice of obtaining a higher education. However, this ad shows exactly how long of a way we still have ahead of us. In this advertisement women of different ethnicities are represented, which makes the overall advertisement very powerful. But we all know that women are not united, we strive to find the differences between one another. Though we want equality, we cling onto the looks, accents, history, and values that makes us different. So this is my question, when will it be enough? When will women not only stop suffering from discrimination from society but most importantly of ourselves? When will womanhood and sisterhood stop having borders?

P.S. This ad is more than just about what society wants to limit us of, it is about the fight that we have yet to win because we are limiting ourselves.

#TheNewIndependance

The Chevrolet commercial shown above was released in early July of this year but is still played during commercial airtime. It is part of a series of commercials created by Chevrolet under the theme "TheNewIndependance to advertise their new car, the Chevrolet Cruze. This commercial shows the passenger in the Cruze showing off his high tech phone that is, "the first of its kind," feeling embarrassed when he finds out the car he is in has 4g connectability, thus making it much cooler than his new phone that he's trying to show off. The driver seems happy when her passenger discovers how amazing her car is and how truly "first of its kind" it is for having built in 4g LTE wi-fi.

This commercial seems relevant to what we have been discussing in class and what I covered in my paper, because it shows that one of the main reasons people buy is to stay on trend and how advertisers exploit that desire. People will always want the most relevant items, not because they need them but because they want to stay current and own the best things available. Certainly no driver needs the additional distractions that come with having wi-fi in a car, but that added feature is a good selling point to make it seem like buyers are getting something truly revolutionary. The use of the term "the first of its kind" emphasizes how crucial it is for buyers to start buying the new car soon so they can be at the start of the new wi-fi car trend.

Generally, at the end of car commercials there will be very brief coverage of information on the advertised car's mpg, pricing, or other key features, but Chevrolet doesn't include any other information at the end of this one. Maybe because they wanted to only pay for a 30second air time or maybe because they know that the most understandable selling point to consumers will be the wi-fi. The average consumer may not know how mpg compares or if the car is good for the starting price, but once they find out that they are buying a revolutionary car with wi-fi they'll immediately be attracted to it and compelled to buy because they already know they love having wi-fi on their laptops and other devices and the idea of having it in their car too can be exciting. Do you think it was smart of Chevrolet to construct cars with built in wi-fi or is it an added feature that will end up doing more harm than good?

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAhcdxo0D2Q&list=UUSVpCNZzOeMekuMiFze3fnQ

Be Dior

Dior is a French luxury goods company that designs and retile ready-to-wear, leather goods, fashion accessories, footwear, jewellery, timepieces, fragrance, make-up and skin care products. Over the years, Dior has created a brand image that sells the idea that wearing Dior will make you elegant, romantic, confident, powerful, luxurious and feminine. So in their newest “Be Dior” flap bag campaign, who better to select than Jennifer Lawrence, who is known for her refreshing and authentic attitude. 

Jennifer Lawrence, if you don’t already know, is practically a household name at this point. She is very well known for her roles in The Hunger Games, Silver Linings Playbook, which earned her the Academy Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role. In the entertainment industry where women are highly sexualised, drop-dead gorgeous and demure, Jennifer Lawrence brings a breath of fresh air with her quirky personality. She is known for being witty, clumsy and best of all, she is like most of us girls. However, there are times when JLaw has shown us that she can still be a polished, elegant and powerful woman. 

I feel that Dior made use of the characteristics and traits that are associated with JLaw to portray the brand image that comes with the "Be Dior" flap bag. Dressing JLaw in pantsuits and pushing back her short hair gives her a sense of power and authority that is very rarely portrayed in fashion. This suggests that Dior is expanding their market and using the advertisement to target women in the late 20s and early 30s who are making their way up the business ladder. 

http://www.fashiongonerogue.com/jennifer-lawrence-be-dior-bag-miss-dior-fall-2014-ad/

http://www.dior.com/couture/en_us/womens-fashion/leather-goods/be-dior