Research, done by the American National School Boards Association (NSBA), shows us that 96 percent of the American students are using social networks. The students claim to use these social networks mostly to discuss schools subjects. These research findings are particularly strange because most of the schools deny access to these social networks.
Is the rapport reliable, or did the students who entered the online test, take the test knowing that they should put social networking in a positive daylight?
Michael Wesch of the Kansas State University made a short movie about the most important characteristics of the 20th century student. The film starts with a quote of Marshall McLuhan from 1967. If you watch this film it will give you a far more interesting view into the heads of students.
Tuesday
Wednesday
You can’t handle a bigger logo!
Virals are no longer just commercials for companies. Nowadays anyone can create a viral (short movie) to make a statement or just to open up a discussion about something. With the coming of uploading and watching online video-content comes the possibility to visualise your ideas to other people.
Marketingfacts has a weekly poll where they search for the top ten virals of the week. This week a funny voice-over made it to third place. The viral tells us something about branding and the importance of ads. The movie which has been modified is: A few good men. I am not very likely to be intrigued by a voice-over with a serious undertone, but this one deserves to be highlighted. (Pay attention to the accuracy in the voice of Jack Nicholson)
Marketingfacts has a weekly poll where they search for the top ten virals of the week. This week a funny voice-over made it to third place. The viral tells us something about branding and the importance of ads. The movie which has been modified is: A few good men. I am not very likely to be intrigued by a voice-over with a serious undertone, but this one deserves to be highlighted. (Pay attention to the accuracy in the voice of Jack Nicholson)
Thursday
Wie O What?
There is a new search engine called wieowie.nl. It is a website which searches through websites such as google, youtube and Hyves for the name you enter. If you want to know where a specific person has an account, you can fill in the name of that person and you will find results from major community websites.
I thought: Well this is interesting, let's do some usability testing.
I wanted to try it out with Rita Verdonk. I set out to eventually find the explanation for the name of her new political organisation. For some particular reason she called her new organisation “Trots” (proud), so I wanted to see if I could find other information next to personal information about this subject.
I typed in her name and got lots of results. On the image you can see that she has got Hyves and that there are lots of tags which are attached to her name.
In the end I could not find a good link to a website, so for searching other information then personal information I would always use Google. Unless you are looking for a specific person, wieowie is not very functional for finding information on the web. When trying to locate an old friend wieowie is the perfect outcome.
I thought: Well this is interesting, let's do some usability testing.
I wanted to try it out with Rita Verdonk. I set out to eventually find the explanation for the name of her new political organisation. For some particular reason she called her new organisation “Trots” (proud), so I wanted to see if I could find other information next to personal information about this subject.
I typed in her name and got lots of results. On the image you can see that she has got Hyves and that there are lots of tags which are attached to her name.
In the end I could not find a good link to a website, so for searching other information then personal information I would always use Google. Unless you are looking for a specific person, wieowie is not very functional for finding information on the web. When trying to locate an old friend wieowie is the perfect outcome.
Tuesday
The Level of HBO Education
Two weeks ago field research was done on HBO students and teachers, to establish the level of education. The enquirers wanted to know if the level of education being taught was at a high enough standard to proceed on with being a HBO education.
As a senior year student this cannot affect the level of my diploma, but nevertheless I started to think about how this can affect my chances on the market. It is no icebreaker to solicit at a company, saying you graduated at a school which is dropped from an HBO to a MBO level.
I started to do some research on the Web, to see if there are more schools with similar problems. On Molblog.nl I saw a post on how many HBO educations cannot cope with the speed of developments in the Multimedia world.
According to some teachers it is difficult to teach students about the new developments. When a development submerges, there is no telling if this development is going to last, or if it will fail. It is very hard to give an exam about a development, which has not yet proven to be successful. The only thing teachers can do is discuss these new developments in an objective way, so you can judge for yourself whether the development will be successful or not.
The post on Molblog.nl led to quite a discussion about the way that a HBO student should work. Some say that the education gives you a basis from which you are accepted to watch out for new developments and learn about them yourself. Others believe that there are flaws in the education, preventing the students from developing to an HBO level.
I for one believe that the education does give you a good basis. They teach you to do a lot of research and watch the market for any new developments. Although it happens, that a student has to explain something to a teacher, we must not forget that an HBO education is all about self-reliance and learning to deal with the problems you encounter.
As a senior year student this cannot affect the level of my diploma, but nevertheless I started to think about how this can affect my chances on the market. It is no icebreaker to solicit at a company, saying you graduated at a school which is dropped from an HBO to a MBO level.
I started to do some research on the Web, to see if there are more schools with similar problems. On Molblog.nl I saw a post on how many HBO educations cannot cope with the speed of developments in the Multimedia world.
According to some teachers it is difficult to teach students about the new developments. When a development submerges, there is no telling if this development is going to last, or if it will fail. It is very hard to give an exam about a development, which has not yet proven to be successful. The only thing teachers can do is discuss these new developments in an objective way, so you can judge for yourself whether the development will be successful or not.
The post on Molblog.nl led to quite a discussion about the way that a HBO student should work. Some say that the education gives you a basis from which you are accepted to watch out for new developments and learn about them yourself. Others believe that there are flaws in the education, preventing the students from developing to an HBO level.
I for one believe that the education does give you a good basis. They teach you to do a lot of research and watch the market for any new developments. Although it happens, that a student has to explain something to a teacher, we must not forget that an HBO education is all about self-reliance and learning to deal with the problems you encounter.
Dove Against Fake Beaty.
Making a product or brand successful is not following the competition, but being unique and choosing your own path. A brand that does this very well is Dove. In 2004 Dove started a campaign called: Campaign for real beauty. In this campaign they try to reset the image of what the industry believes us to be beautiful and focus on the bigger group of people who do not fit in to that category.
Dove makes a clear statement towards these people. Do not try to change, because you are already beautiful in your own way. This is a daring thing to do, living in a world of plastic surgery and a longing to be as beautiful as the people in the ads. Dove try’s to tell people that the image set by the beauty industry is a fake one.
The commercial where they show how an average model turns in to a supermodel by make up and Photoshop has done well and has opened a discussion about true beauty. Media is a very strong and convincing way to get people to listen to you. It is a shame that these ads still assure great sales numbers, when there are many girls getting low self esteem often followed by anorexia or even plastic surgery by watching these commercials
The question of course still is; Do we want to see beautiful women in commercials. Men will often say yes, but men are not the target group of these commercials. Women are and where some women idolise them, many women get low self esteem and will buy the products just to make them feel better.
The latest commercial Dove has made features a young girl and the changes the industry can make to her when she grows up. The slogan is: Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does.
Dove makes a clear statement towards these people. Do not try to change, because you are already beautiful in your own way. This is a daring thing to do, living in a world of plastic surgery and a longing to be as beautiful as the people in the ads. Dove try’s to tell people that the image set by the beauty industry is a fake one.
The commercial where they show how an average model turns in to a supermodel by make up and Photoshop has done well and has opened a discussion about true beauty. Media is a very strong and convincing way to get people to listen to you. It is a shame that these ads still assure great sales numbers, when there are many girls getting low self esteem often followed by anorexia or even plastic surgery by watching these commercials
The question of course still is; Do we want to see beautiful women in commercials. Men will often say yes, but men are not the target group of these commercials. Women are and where some women idolise them, many women get low self esteem and will buy the products just to make them feel better.
The latest commercial Dove has made features a young girl and the changes the industry can make to her when she grows up. The slogan is: Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does.
Wednesday
A Wave of Pink
I was working in a Primafoon store last Saturday when a new navigation system popped up on the computer screen. The new Garman Nüvi 250. It was a pink version designed (as the company says; especially for the lady’s). But is making your product pink really enough, for a woman to buy your product?
The answer is no. Many women think it is absurd and feel offended by the way certain male designers make pink products for them. Making your products pink will maybe help you to sell products to girls up to 18 years old, but they cannot drive a car and will not buy a navigation system. Many women argue that the designers do not take their needs in account.
According to Saatchi & Saatchi a diversity of company’s is loosing an estimated 900 million dollars on profits. More then a third of the interviewed women say they are willing to spend more money on products if the designers would focus more on the needs of the average woman. No pink glitters but well designed and functional gadgets.
Because I am writing an Essay on man and how they cannot design for women, I thought this would be an interesting product to write a post about. Because men often do not understand women they design their products to work for a “stereotype” woman. In most cases, the stereotypes he thinks is a typical woman may be very rare.
Tuesday
ITV from KPN
To continue on my latest post about personalisation, I wanted to write a post on ITV.
I work at Hamilton Bright. Our latest assignment is promoting ITV in Primafoon stores. I give demonstrations showing the customers the product and letting them experience the unique features ITV has to offer.
For those who do not know what ITV is I will give a short explanation. Because many people (especially youth) watch TV programs on the Internet, TV has become less wanted in households. The ability to watch whatever you like on the time you feel like it is exactly what people want and because there are no commercials there are large groups of people that prefer watching shows on the Internet.
ITV gives the user the same opportunity. With ITV you can pause your TV, fast forward commercials and watch programs at different times as they would normally be on. A question I ask customers frequently is: How late did you watch the eight ‘O’ clock news yesterday?
ITV fits the description of TV 2.0, giving the user back its freedom to watch whatever he likes. In my opinion, this is nothing revolutionary. It is just a logical product which follows the trend of personalisation, making sure that TV will be here for generations more to come.
Personalised Searching
Over the last years, the choice of the user has increased to the point where u have a choice for just about anything. Do you want your sandwich with cheese or without it? Do you want the Nokia N95 or do you want to see one of the other twenty competating mobile phones. As you can see, the choice of products has almost gotten to large. It has reached the point where really strong products still need very keen and expensive campaigns to have any chance of success.
The future of selling products is personalisation. The key of being successful is no longer giving the user choices, but remembering the choice and adapting your future products, services and advertisements to it. This way you will take the difficult choices the user has to make in the little free time he has and make the right choice for him.
Searching online is not easy for everyone. You have to enter the specific keywords in order to find what you are looking for. These are some of the improvements which will be integrated in the future of searching online, according to SearchEngineLand.com:
• Personalized search: Personalising search results, by using search history, surf history, social networking, etc.;
• Local search: Adapting search results to location preferences of the search engine user.
• Universal search: Integrating multiple media types and sources as search results. Examples are video content, blog posts, podcasts, etc.
These changes will make sure you find what you need in the future. Integrating these features makes for a more complete search every time. SearchEngineLand.com, thinks that these changes will be made by 2010, but some of these features, like video content, are already beginning to show on sites as Google.
The future of selling products is personalisation. The key of being successful is no longer giving the user choices, but remembering the choice and adapting your future products, services and advertisements to it. This way you will take the difficult choices the user has to make in the little free time he has and make the right choice for him.
Searching online is not easy for everyone. You have to enter the specific keywords in order to find what you are looking for. These are some of the improvements which will be integrated in the future of searching online, according to SearchEngineLand.com:
• Personalized search: Personalising search results, by using search history, surf history, social networking, etc.;
• Local search: Adapting search results to location preferences of the search engine user.
• Universal search: Integrating multiple media types and sources as search results. Examples are video content, blog posts, podcasts, etc.
These changes will make sure you find what you need in the future. Integrating these features makes for a more complete search every time. SearchEngineLand.com, thinks that these changes will be made by 2010, but some of these features, like video content, are already beginning to show on sites as Google.
Monday
Cinema Gaming
Gaming has become more interactive. Just think of the Wii where the user is put to work physically to achieve the goals of the game. Ubiquities Computing is a term which is used more frequently lately and it describes the way computers should interact with people in a natural way instead of typing codes and clicking to achieve a reaction from the computer. Through motion sensors computers can register movements from users and respond to the movement.
This is done by MSNBC which had organised a stunt in an American movie cinema. In the time that the audience have to wait before the movie starts they started a game, which was controlled by the movement of the audience. I can explain the whole thing, but you can better watch it for yourself. Quite amusing!
This is done by MSNBC which had organised a stunt in an American movie cinema. In the time that the audience have to wait before the movie starts they started a game, which was controlled by the movement of the audience. I can explain the whole thing, but you can better watch it for yourself. Quite amusing!
TV 2.0
In a world where there is an overload of information, the new generation wants to watch programs they like in their precious free time. Narrowcasting seems to be the new way to interest your target group. With the upcoming of YouTube and many other websites where you can watch shows at any time you want, people intend to watch from their computer screen rather then the TV.
Broadcasting is the opposite of Narrowcasting and is a billion dollar business that seems to be collapsing as we speak. Due to the fact that people no longer want to be overloaded with commercials that are of no interest to them, TV (the most common broadcast medium) is becoming an old medium in a world that is moving on to personalised advertising.
Because of this change, TV makers want to create a solution without losing too many viewers. A short while ago the internet was socialised by Web 2.0. Now there is a new standard of TV which is being developed. It is called TV 2.0 which is not the most creative name, but sends a clear message to the user of what they can expect. TV 2.0 will give the user on demand content; so that they will no longer have to rely on time to watch their favourite shows.
For more information check:
Fyber.com -> televisie2.0.pdf
Broadcasting is the opposite of Narrowcasting and is a billion dollar business that seems to be collapsing as we speak. Due to the fact that people no longer want to be overloaded with commercials that are of no interest to them, TV (the most common broadcast medium) is becoming an old medium in a world that is moving on to personalised advertising.
Because of this change, TV makers want to create a solution without losing too many viewers. A short while ago the internet was socialised by Web 2.0. Now there is a new standard of TV which is being developed. It is called TV 2.0 which is not the most creative name, but sends a clear message to the user of what they can expect. TV 2.0 will give the user on demand content; so that they will no longer have to rely on time to watch their favourite shows.
For more information check:
Fyber.com -> televisie2.0.pdf
Sunday
Pecha Kucha
On Wednesday 27th of June I went to the Off-Corso in Rotterdam where there was a Pecha Kucha night. For me it was very interesting to see so many different styles of creative work and people exchanging their new products and ideas to one another.
Pecha Kucha Night is an intimate gathering that offers everybody the chance to present fresh and creative work, ideas or concepts. This can be a newly finished building, a new piece of furniture, an ad campaign, a fashion line, a new event or any idea the world needs to know about.
There were many interesting company's that gave a short presentation. The presentations where very visual with slides that automatically changed after 20 seconds the speakers had to maintain a flow in the story to keep up with the slides. The Japanese term ´Pecha Kucha´ roughly translates as chit-chat or noisy chatter.
Pecha Kucha Night offers the audience the experience of a dazzling range of speakers and images in the course of one evening. Breaks will be filled with drinks, music, images, and off course: chit-chat (so bring your business cards).
Pecha Kucha Night is an intimate gathering that offers everybody the chance to present fresh and creative work, ideas or concepts. This can be a newly finished building, a new piece of furniture, an ad campaign, a fashion line, a new event or any idea the world needs to know about.
There were many interesting company's that gave a short presentation. The presentations where very visual with slides that automatically changed after 20 seconds the speakers had to maintain a flow in the story to keep up with the slides. The Japanese term ´Pecha Kucha´ roughly translates as chit-chat or noisy chatter.
Pecha Kucha Night offers the audience the experience of a dazzling range of speakers and images in the course of one evening. Breaks will be filled with drinks, music, images, and off course: chit-chat (so bring your business cards).
Saturday
Viral Friday
This is the weekly blog of Marketingfacts about good viral campaigns. Every week they select the ten most remarkable virals which they show on their blog.
I am making a paper about Emotional design and how it can be part of a viral campaign. What is it that makes a viral a success? This is the question I will awnser in the paper and Viral Friday is a good website to pay attention to. Viral campaigns often consist of a game which the user can play and win prices with. By sending it to friends they can earn credits to play again, or have a competition against some friends. Viral Friday on the other hand is only about movie virals which is also a good way to show your product or service.
COSTOSO
There are many different opinions about the new Website called COSTOSO. It is a given fact that there are plenty of websites where you can sell or buy second hand objects. COSTOSO is a new one but the question is whether there is room for another second hand website that can compete with all the others like marktplaats.nl and speurders.nl.
COSTOSO have made the website with a different approach. By giving the advertisers a fee for uploading an advertisement they are expecting to get nice objects with good value for the money. I have asked myself if this is enough to prevent the website from getting bad advertisements. COSTOSO positions itself as exclusive and valuable. The word Costoso is Latin for precious but i wonder if a 5 Euro fee will do the trick.
The complaint that people have against COSTOSO is that it has been designed like a simple frameset. Why make a really regular design with buttons and frames if the positioning is precious and exclusive. The other complaint was that the website launched without any advertisements on it. The website was totally empty. Maybe the designers should have made a start and ask people what they would want to sell. This way there would have been a start, from which other people would have reacted.
I am really curious whether this concept is going to work. But we will have to wait a few months to see if there will be an increase in advertisements.
COSTOSO have made the website with a different approach. By giving the advertisers a fee for uploading an advertisement they are expecting to get nice objects with good value for the money. I have asked myself if this is enough to prevent the website from getting bad advertisements. COSTOSO positions itself as exclusive and valuable. The word Costoso is Latin for precious but i wonder if a 5 Euro fee will do the trick.
The complaint that people have against COSTOSO is that it has been designed like a simple frameset. Why make a really regular design with buttons and frames if the positioning is precious and exclusive. The other complaint was that the website launched without any advertisements on it. The website was totally empty. Maybe the designers should have made a start and ask people what they would want to sell. This way there would have been a start, from which other people would have reacted.
I am really curious whether this concept is going to work. But we will have to wait a few months to see if there will be an increase in advertisements.
YouTube
In my Blog I use a lot of YouTube movies. It is easy and and you can put a movie from Youtube on you website for free. The Website is totally free and like other free community's the number of people that use it is getting exponentially higher. This can be related to the increase of media exposure the website is getting, or just the fact that the new generation of teenagers prevers to watch "TV" online instead of in front of a TV.
After research from Hitwise it is clear that YouTube is by far the largest free movie website and it's value is 50% larger than the 64 biggest free movie websites after YouTube. From Januari to May, The number of people which viewed the website has increased with 70%.
After research from Hitwise it is clear that YouTube is by far the largest free movie website and it's value is 50% larger than the 64 biggest free movie websites after YouTube. From Januari to May, The number of people which viewed the website has increased with 70%.
Wednesday
Visual Walkthrough
Over the past year I have learned a great deal about the best way to visualise your product or service to investors. Explaining how your product works by giving people a boring Powerpoint presentation is not doing the trick anymore.
If you look at the way big company's like Nokia and Google are placing their products in the market, you can see that there is no lack of creativity. The best way to sell your product is by having people believing in it, therefore they must fully understand the need of the product and more importantly, how the product works. Sure, you could still try to tell them by using images to visualise what you are saying, but in a world where there are so many products already u should trigger you’re possible investors and make them more excited about the product then yourself. Taking a person who is part of the target group and having him walk through the product proves to be a good way of doing that.
Google has made a visual walkthrough through Google Mapping, which gives the users a clear image on the functions and the usability of the product. Think it works? Just watch the movie and judge it yourself!
If you look at the way big company's like Nokia and Google are placing their products in the market, you can see that there is no lack of creativity. The best way to sell your product is by having people believing in it, therefore they must fully understand the need of the product and more importantly, how the product works. Sure, you could still try to tell them by using images to visualise what you are saying, but in a world where there are so many products already u should trigger you’re possible investors and make them more excited about the product then yourself. Taking a person who is part of the target group and having him walk through the product proves to be a good way of doing that.
Google has made a visual walkthrough through Google Mapping, which gives the users a clear image on the functions and the usability of the product. Think it works? Just watch the movie and judge it yourself!
Tuesday
Woman Marketing
Woman are getting more power and taking on more responsibilities. The purchasing power of woman has grown rapidly in the last twenty years and woman make eighty percent of the decisions when it comes to household purchases.
Truly a market to pay attention to. The image of a woman taking care of the kids and the house is already faded and because of the new trend woman marketing, woman are more likely to take matter in their own hands, getting successful in business life and being proud of their body and appearance.
View presentation
Truly a market to pay attention to. The image of a woman taking care of the kids and the house is already faded and because of the new trend woman marketing, woman are more likely to take matter in their own hands, getting successful in business life and being proud of their body and appearance.
View presentation
A day in 2020
Where do you see yourself in 2020? Will you have a job which will associate with your current education? Will you be married and have kids? or will you be exploring the world and taking on whatever challenge you encounter?
Knowing your Archetypes can help you to create an image of where you will be in 2020. Offcourse you can never create a realistic image of how you will be living, based on your imagination. What you can do however is create an image of where you want to be and what you would like to do. Here is a moodboard of me spending a day in 2020.
Knowing your Archetypes can help you to create an image of where you will be in 2020. Offcourse you can never create a realistic image of how you will be living, based on your imagination. What you can do however is create an image of where you want to be and what you would like to do. Here is a moodboard of me spending a day in 2020.
Wednesday
Defqon1 Sold Out!
Produced by Q dance, Defqon1 is considered to be one of the greatest Dutch dance music events. This is the 4th year and the event is gaining popularity every year.
This would have been the third year for me, if it wasn't for the lousy way Defqon1 tickets are being sold. The ticket sale was started at 6 pm last Saturday at Ticketonline. Because of the animo for the party the maximum was 4 tickets per person. I went to the website around 7 pm to book tickets for Defqon. The website did not work because the server was to crowded. At 8.30 pm I could finally enter the website, not knowing yet that the tickets were already sold out. Last year it took 5 days to sell the tickets and this year 35.000 tickets were sold in 2,5 hours. This aroused my suspicion.
A few days later, searching for tickets I came on a website called TicketUnlimited. They had 93 Defqon1 tickets for sale at a price of 145,- each (normally 53,-). I am really wandering how they could get their hands on so many tickets, while you can only get your hands on a maximum of 4 each person. Until this moment I still have a strange feeling about all this and being a fan of Defqon1 I am not pleased with the way they do business.
One step closer to Google OS
Google has announced to have taken over Tonic Systems, which is a company that made tools for document management and presentations. Google bought TS but the price they paid is still unknown. With the purchase of TS, Google has now got a complete office package consisting of: Google Mail, Google Docs & Spreadsheet and Google Apps Premier, which is a presentation program like Microsoft Powerpoint. Now Google has the ability to start competition with Microsoft.
This purchase is a next step towards what I believe will be total OS. Google is trying to buy as many programs as they can to create a wide inventory of programs. The idea is to create an online operating system which contains all programs a user needs. There are many speculations about Google creating an OS, but Google never gave into it. My opinion is that Google wants to keep this information for themselves, which is very clever if you are trying to be ahead of your competition.
My guess is that when Google has enough programs to be a complete OS, there will be the chance to create accounts and put all your work and personal files online. There will be a giant workspace for all the users and you can locate your files on every computer for all your work will be online.
This purchase is a next step towards what I believe will be total OS. Google is trying to buy as many programs as they can to create a wide inventory of programs. The idea is to create an online operating system which contains all programs a user needs. There are many speculations about Google creating an OS, but Google never gave into it. My opinion is that Google wants to keep this information for themselves, which is very clever if you are trying to be ahead of your competition.
My guess is that when Google has enough programs to be a complete OS, there will be the chance to create accounts and put all your work and personal files online. There will be a giant workspace for all the users and you can locate your files on every computer for all your work will be online.
Desocialization
People in the Netherlands have spend 5.2 milliard on products and services through telephoning this year. This was written in a press letter from VCN (Vereniging Contactcenter Nederland). This is due to company’s who call people on an active basis as well as people who respond to bargains from flyers and order by telephone.
Buying products by telephone is very easy, quick and has the ability to be a very long-lasting way to buy your products. People don’t have to go outside to order a product, less paper is being used and the traffic could be slightly reduced. Just like buying online, buying through telephone is gaining popularity in the Netherlands.
But is this trend really good for people in general? Can we call it positive that people don’t go outdoors to shop anymore. I for one believe that it is not. I think that these initiatives to order products from your home are good for people who cannot get out of their homes. For normal people these methods just support laziness. People of the Netherlands are getting fatter and unhealthier by the day. "So let’s create a way so that these people don’t need to go outdoors at all". I think shopping is a socializing thing, which is good for you. It is an experience and it could even get your mind of things that are troubling you.
If you ask me, these company’s only care about profiting. We should be more concerned with people’s health and wellbeing and make sure they get out the house often. Therefore I think, in order to stop the desocialization, these methods should not be extended any further in our society.
Buying products by telephone is very easy, quick and has the ability to be a very long-lasting way to buy your products. People don’t have to go outside to order a product, less paper is being used and the traffic could be slightly reduced. Just like buying online, buying through telephone is gaining popularity in the Netherlands.
But is this trend really good for people in general? Can we call it positive that people don’t go outdoors to shop anymore. I for one believe that it is not. I think that these initiatives to order products from your home are good for people who cannot get out of their homes. For normal people these methods just support laziness. People of the Netherlands are getting fatter and unhealthier by the day. "So let’s create a way so that these people don’t need to go outdoors at all". I think shopping is a socializing thing, which is good for you. It is an experience and it could even get your mind of things that are troubling you.
If you ask me, these company’s only care about profiting. We should be more concerned with people’s health and wellbeing and make sure they get out the house often. Therefore I think, in order to stop the desocialization, these methods should not be extended any further in our society.
Tuesday
Looking for a course
I came across a video while searching on Youtube. It is a second year interactive media student looking for a course. His idea was to promote himself, making a video and putting it on Youtube. He makes a statement that he like to come up with creative concepts. His idea was to make it look like he is beeing held hostage and in need of a course at a company.
At first I thought that it was a very original way to get a course. Then I went to search on the internet. It became clear to me where the student had found his inspiration. I found a very big stream of "hostage videos" made by people who weren't really held hostage. Some of them were worked out much better than the one of the student. First of all the camera is still, there is no sound coming from the hostagetakers and the background is not original, but has been molded into the video. This creates an almost funny scene, which may have been the idea of the student. Still i think it could have been a lot stronger, making it look real and frightening, giving the possible course company's something to think about.
At first I thought that it was a very original way to get a course. Then I went to search on the internet. It became clear to me where the student had found his inspiration. I found a very big stream of "hostage videos" made by people who weren't really held hostage. Some of them were worked out much better than the one of the student. First of all the camera is still, there is no sound coming from the hostagetakers and the background is not original, but has been molded into the video. This creates an almost funny scene, which may have been the idea of the student. Still i think it could have been a lot stronger, making it look real and frightening, giving the possible course company's something to think about.
Wednesday
PC Zapper
PC Zapper is a music/video portal where you can watch live streaming from various international resources. PC Zapper even gives the viewer the chance to watch live streaming movies. The PC Zapper community is growing fast and the latest add is Hyves, which will expand the target group and help the community get even bigger. There are allready 100.000 members of the PC Zapper community and it's getting lager by the minute. PC Zapper gives you the opportunity to navigate through the very easy structure of the program giving you the possibillity to watch your favorite show any time you want.
I think that in ten to twenty years, people will watch TV on their computers, making the TV unneccesary to watch your favorite shows. About 80% of the stuff that is showed on TV, is of no importance to the viewer and because of the individualisation, people want to decide what to watch themselves. You could say PC Zapper is a form of narrowcasting, because the user only sees what he is interested in. PC Zapper is all about giving the user the exact right information he wants, within three klicks.
PC Zapper is a very good initiative, but the competition is not far behind. Large company's such as Philips, Sony, LG, Thomson etc. have put there heads togheter to create a new standard for watching live TV streaming on there computerscreens. These new developments are creating a new way of watching your favorite shows in the future.
I think that in ten to twenty years, people will watch TV on their computers, making the TV unneccesary to watch your favorite shows. About 80% of the stuff that is showed on TV, is of no importance to the viewer and because of the individualisation, people want to decide what to watch themselves. You could say PC Zapper is a form of narrowcasting, because the user only sees what he is interested in. PC Zapper is all about giving the user the exact right information he wants, within three klicks.
PC Zapper is a very good initiative, but the competition is not far behind. Large company's such as Philips, Sony, LG, Thomson etc. have put there heads togheter to create a new standard for watching live TV streaming on there computerscreens. These new developments are creating a new way of watching your favorite shows in the future.
Tuesday
Scribd. Combining old methods with new trends
While I was scrolling the internet for a document on narrowcasting i accidentily came across Scribd.com This is a new Website where you can share documents with other people. You may be wandering why this is a big deal, and you are right. It is not. The reason I have posted an article about this subject is the fact that sharing your personal files with other people almost seems to be a new trend. Because of modern applications like Youtube it is possible to reach thousands of people. I remember the quote from Andy Warhol very well. "In the future everbody will be famous for 15 minutes". Applications like Youtube makes this possibe for everyone. Scribd is a website were you can make a profile and upload documents like: PDF's word documents, .TXT's and recorded MP3's. It is a nice website for people who are interested in other people's writings and ofcourse writers themselves. Still I don't think the website attracts a large target group. Most people want to read about a certain subject and find this in blogs allover the internet. Here they can read short enthousiastic story's rather then boring long essays and they have the possibility to interact with the writer by commenting on a post. I understand the mission of scribd very well. Going along with new trends in different ways. I just don't think Scribd is going to grow to be a community site like Youtube.
Monday
Dynamic Presentation
Making a presentation is very important. Ofcourse you want to impress your target group, so that they won't forget your idea. Making a presentation in Powerpoint is history if you want to make an impression.
The future of presentations lies in dynamics. Keeping your watchers interested by visualising your product. This way you can make your product real by just giving your target group a dynamic preview
If you make a presentation dynamic, you will keep your target group focused. Even a Presentation about statistics can be very exciting this way! If you don't believe me you must see the video. Bouncing statistics and a good storyteller make this 20 minute presentation about statistics well worth watching
The future of presentations lies in dynamics. Keeping your watchers interested by visualising your product. This way you can make your product real by just giving your target group a dynamic preview
If you make a presentation dynamic, you will keep your target group focused. Even a Presentation about statistics can be very exciting this way! If you don't believe me you must see the video. Bouncing statistics and a good storyteller make this 20 minute presentation about statistics well worth watching
If you have any comments about the movie, or you want to know more about the presentation, just write me.
Sunday
Branding
I was looking into some brands, as they try to give a personality to it. Ofcourse there are brands that are known just for a certain sentence. Just do it, is a good example of one.
But where do you draw the line when it comes to branding?
I was shopping last week and I came across a Funky House shop. I like their style so I went in to look for shoes. It was a new outlet and the inside of the shop, looked just like a living room. They had couches, closets, chairs and a fireplace. It was just like u were walking into a living room, which was also a shop. Ofcourse the reason why the owners had dressed the shop this way was because of the name: Funky House. So they try to make a new kind of recogniton to the customers. They will remember the weird, livingroom looking, shop and think what was that again? Very soon they will think, ooh jeah! it was the Funky House.
You can think that it is a brilliant plan, but where does branding cross the line with functionality? If there wouldn't be so many furniture, there would be more space to present your clothes. At the end of the day that's all that matters. Selling your clothes.
So in my opinion it is a good thing to make your brand stand out. U could do this by promotion, designing a new style, or even a new logo and mission for your brand. But it is not an option from my point of view, to change your product, so it fits better with the name of it. This is the point were i think that the brand has become more importent than the product, because it is not the brand that's being redesigned, but the product itsself.
I would like to know where you stand on this item? Do you agree with me, or do you think otherwise. Please let me know and maybe we can begin a discussion about this subject.
But where do you draw the line when it comes to branding?
I was shopping last week and I came across a Funky House shop. I like their style so I went in to look for shoes. It was a new outlet and the inside of the shop, looked just like a living room. They had couches, closets, chairs and a fireplace. It was just like u were walking into a living room, which was also a shop. Ofcourse the reason why the owners had dressed the shop this way was because of the name: Funky House. So they try to make a new kind of recogniton to the customers. They will remember the weird, livingroom looking, shop and think what was that again? Very soon they will think, ooh jeah! it was the Funky House.
You can think that it is a brilliant plan, but where does branding cross the line with functionality? If there wouldn't be so many furniture, there would be more space to present your clothes. At the end of the day that's all that matters. Selling your clothes.
So in my opinion it is a good thing to make your brand stand out. U could do this by promotion, designing a new style, or even a new logo and mission for your brand. But it is not an option from my point of view, to change your product, so it fits better with the name of it. This is the point were i think that the brand has become more importent than the product, because it is not the brand that's being redesigned, but the product itsself.
I would like to know where you stand on this item? Do you agree with me, or do you think otherwise. Please let me know and maybe we can begin a discussion about this subject.
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