VIVOO: A Brand Review
I recently came across a relatively new product/service called Vivoo that I find quite interesting. It is a very simple way to get some personal health tips. Simply-put, it is a stick that one urinates on, and gets a whole lot of information back about their health within minutes. This is done through a mobile app, that can be downloaded on any smartphone. I found this product to be quite unique, and so I’d like to share my thoughts on this start-up, to help you evaluate whether or not it is something you may want to invest in.
For starters, Vivoo seems to be a quality brand. From the package design of their product, to their site, they maintain a very consistent, classy design. The package that a Vivoo stick comes in, is very simple, yet effective. It comes in a little bag that is easy to open. And tucked inside a tri-fold pamphlet. The pamphlet contains minimal writing, however, it does a good job of explaining how to use the product. It also comes with a more in-depth instruction manual with images to help someone who may not be too familiar with technology.
The Vivoo application used to retrieve your results is quite efficient. It is very simple, and straight-forward to use. You must first make an account, which only takes a minute or two, and then you upload a picture of your stick. The picture uploaded very quickly, and within a minute, I had all of my results. Your results, and tips in order to improve your results are all listed, and explained, in a way that is extremely easy to understand, even for someone who doesn’t know a lot about health.
Vivoo’s website is also put together very nicely. As I mentioned, it contains the same imagery and mood as the product itself, and appears very professional. It has all the information on the company a potential customer may want, such as more about the company and product, blog posts about health and ways to improve health, and a direct way to purchase the product.
Their social media accounts seem to focus mostly on the customers, which is good. All of their social media accounts consist of mostly photos of their customers with their product. This shows that they care about their customers, and shows that people are buying their product, however I do think they could do more on social media to expand knowledge of their brand. For example, they could post some more humorous posts, or respond & interact with users more, rather than just reposting.
Overall, I found Vivoo to be quite interesting, and I think I will use this product again in the future. The results it gave me seemed to be accurate to me, based on what I know of my daily lifestyle, however, there is no way to know just how accurate these sticks are yet. I think they can be a great way to get a baseline check of your health status every once in a while, but don’t let Vivoo replace your doctor!
Visuals In Advertising
Visuals and video have long played a massive role in the world of advertising. They are used by advertisers in order to capture the attention of the audience. As humans, we are much more visually attracted to images, or moving images (video) than just plain words. This simple fact encourages advertisers to incorporate some kind of visual into all of their advertisements.
This has essentially always been a common practice in advertising. Among the earliest advertisements discovered (which age back to biblical times), we see images etched along with written advertisements. As technology advanced, the visuals used in advertisements did as well. They went from simple etchings in rock, to bold, ink illustrations on paper. When the printing press was invented in the 1400’s, the industry took a major leap; they were now able to produce an abundance of image-containing advertisements in a short period of time.
As time progressed, so did the industry. When the television was invented in the late 1920’s, the advertising world began to plan for its next major leap, and in the early 1940’s the first video television ad was shown. This opened the gates for the future of advertising.
Since then, we have seen countless major technological breakthroughs. These breakthroughs have changed the way that we live our lives, and how we consume our content. If we look back 50, 30, or even just 20 years, we can clearly see how our daily lives have changed at the hands of technology. Humans used to consume most of their content via physical outlets, such as newspapers, magazines, books, etc. Then technology caused us to start consuming more content via television, radio, and other basic digital outlets. Now, in 2019, most people consume the majority of their content through digital outlets, such as television, the internet, and phone applications.
Due to all of the modern advancements in technology, visuals are utilized now more than ever. Certain programs that we have today, such as photo editing software Adobe Photoshop, and video editing software Adobe Premiere Pro, make it rather easy for professionals in the industry to create and edit visuals. Using these programs, advertisers can virtually create the appearance of pretty much anything they desire. These visual editing programs have given advertisers more creative freedom than ever before, which has led to an extremely competitive battle for viewer attention. These programs, or similar programs, are used in some way, big or small, in nearly every advertisement we see today. They may be used for small touch ups of a photo/video, such as covering blemishes on a model in a makeup ad, or whitening the teeth of a model in a toothpaste ad, in order to showcase perfection. They are also commonly utilized to completely change the appearance of an ad, such as creating a non-existent setting, or creating the appearance of a talking animal, in order to consiously, or unconsciously snag a viewer’s attention.
The importance of visual aids in advertisements is undeniable. Throughout the history of advertising, visuals have been used to captivate the attention of an audience. This is more evident than ever in today’s day and age, as we see visual advertisements constantly throughout our everyday lives. Advertiser’s have always adjusted with the times, and have found ways to more effectively use visual ads, and they will always continue to do so. As our daily lives further evolve at the hands of technology, so will the advertisements we consume.
(Prep) Job Hunt
Jordan Retail Brand Manager
Company: Nike
Link: https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=59189f1b834a7646&tk=1do7s875f0g42002&from=serp&vjs=3
Skills & Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Visual Merchandising / related field or a proven track record within the sporting goods / retail industry
- 5+ years’ experience in retail, visual merchandising, retail space planning and event design
- 3 years’ employee or team management experience
- In-depth knowledge of the North America Marketplace
- Understand the competitive market, customers and retail trends
- Strong verbal and written communication skills, including meeting facilitation and presentations
- Demonstrate management capability, including ability to motivate and mentor others within a work group
- Demonstrated ability to lead initiatives and project teams
- Capable of driving timelines and handling budgets
- Ability to balance creativity with organization and discipline in fast moving, ambiguous environment
- Passion and/or expertise for the Jordan Brand is preferred
- Strong understanding of a matrix organization
- Strong understanding of Jordan Brand product lines is preferred
- Background in building retail experience is highly preferred
- Results driven, proactive self starter, organized and focused
How I can become more qualified:
- I will gain work experience in retail and visual merchandising by getting an internship with Nike, or a similar company doing anything in the advertising/marketing department. This will familiarize me with industry terms, trends, etc. in order to have a better understanding of the field.
- I will also minor pick up a minor in marketing. This will give me a good understanding of the North American Marketplace.
Expert on Demand and Social Media Support Manager
Company: Nike
Link: https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=3b55302f965db8c3&tk=1do7s875f0g42002&from=serp&vjs=3
Skills & Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Business or Management
- A minimum of 5- years’ experience in commerce drive industry or Management role in a corporate or agency setting.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills, including meeting facilitation and presentation.
- Strong understanding of digital, retail e-commerce, user experience best practices and modern digital technologies.
- Ability to apply deep understanding of systems and processes to recommend creative solutions to operational challenges.
- Prior experience operating in a fast-paced, rapidly evolving environment requiring agile decision-making and ability to remain composed under pressure.
- Ability to work both independently, and in high collaboration within a diverse team environment
- Experience working in the digital agency space, or within a member loyalty program for a consumer brand is highly desirable.
- Periodic availability outside of traditional business hours to support delivery of specific consumer, product or brand initiatives.
- Strong computer skills, including experience navigating the internet and using PC and Windows-based software (Microsoft Office) required
- Online research skills with the ability to follow and track data relevant to the brand and consumer required
- Demonstrated industry and Nike product knowledge required
- Proven desire to adapt an Always On mentality to serve a business that is 7 days, 365, EST to PST
How I can become more qualified:
- I will take a summer class offered at GRCC on modern technology programs, in order to further expand my existing knowledge of programs commonly used in Advertising such as Microsoft Office, and Adobe Photoshop. This will make me a better candidate because being efficient in a medium gives you more room for creativity, possibility, and accuracy.
Associate Data Scientist SNKRS
Company: Nike
Link: https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=a404da0bd71fb292&tk=1do7s875f0g42002&from=serp&vjs=3
Skills & Requirements:
- Ability to work in multiple data environments and perform complex joins, data cleaning, and feature creation using SQL or SQL based languages (Hive) is required
- Experience with statistical software
- Experience working with real-world, structured and unstructured data
- Experience with data visualization
- Experience analyzing and manipulating data sets to understand patterns and provide insights
- Excellent communications skills, in particular, the ability to communicate technical content to general audience
How I can become more qualified:
- I will take at least one more statistics course at Grand Valley after I get my bachelor’s degree to build on my existing stats experience. I will start by taking STA 216 Intermediate Applied Statistics, which is the next statistics course offered after the one I’ve already taken. This will better familiarize me with data analyzation and statistical software programs such as SQL and NCSS.
GUCCI Marketing Manager – Wholesale Timepieces & Jewelry
Company: Gucci
Link: https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=fce5bd5d9632b301&tk=1do7t035i0g42000&from=serp&vjs=3
Skills & Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree;
- Minimum of 4 years’ experience in a marketing and advertising related position;
- Experience working for or with a retailer or wholesaler;
- Highly proficient in Microsoft Word; Excel; PowerPoint: Outlook; Adobe Acrobat;
- Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills;
- Appreciation and understanding of the luxury fashion industry;
- Strong written and verbal skills;
- Detail-oriented;
- Positive and focused professional team player;
- Domestic travel as needed.
How I can become more qualified:
- I will gain work experience in retail by getting a job or internship with Gucci, or another high fashion company in order to give me a better understanding of this market, after I graduate. This will also help me understand the differences in high-end markets compared to more generic markets, since the target audience, and brand expectations are much different.
- I will also take a summer class offered at GRCC on modern technology programs, in order to further expand my existing knowledge of programs commonly used in marketing such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc.
Gatorade Sports Marketing Assistant Manager
Company: Pepsi Co.
Link: https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=08246030ec5034f6&tk=1do7tdlij0g42000&from=serp&vjs=3
Skills & Requirements:
- Must have a BS/BA degree along with 4-6 years of direct, full-time work experience. Qualified candidates will have demonstrated the following skills through specific work experiences and identifiable business results:
- Strong project management skills and attention to detail
- A strong results orientation
- Superior relationship building and management skills
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Cross-functional project team experience
- Ability to influence and lead others, including those outside of the marketing function
- Negotiation experience
- Sound strategic thinking
- Willing to travel 20% of the time
How I can become more qualified:
- I will work smartly in future jobs in order to gain this position down the road. I will start at a popular retail brand such as Nike, or Polo Ralph Lauren, in order to learn as much as I can about advertising and marketing a well known brand with high expectations from consumers. Once I learn the ins and outs of the industry, I will work my way up until I have an opportunity to display leadership and make meaningful decisions. I will use all the knowledge I learn from that company to work a high level position at a global corporation such as Pepsi.
Inside Advertising Sales
Company: Most Valuable Publications (MVP)
Link: https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=7877be2a00bc2dc7&tk=1do7tf7ra0g42000&from=serp&vjs=3
Skills & Requirements:
- Previous sales experience is preferred but not required
- Sales life cycle experience—from lead generation through business closing
- Proven track record in achieving and exceeding sales targets
- Competitive and able to handle a fast paced work environment and adapt quickly to change
- Self motivated and financially driven – Our inside sales representatives are goal oriented and understand that their hard work results in financial success
How I can become more qualified:
Social Media Coordinator
Company: Create Music Group
Skills & Requirements:
- Tech savvy and passionate about digital media
- Driven towards a career in the music and entertainment industry
- Regularly immersed in hip hop/urban/rap/EDM, social media, and influencer space
- Well-versed in Internet culture and social media platforms (YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
- A self-starter with a high-autonomy attitude
- Detail-oriented with a knack for organization and planning
- Able to work amongst multiple teams
How I can become more qualified:
Manager, Digital Marketing
Company: Warner Music Group
Skills & Requirements:
- BS or BA in Marketing, Communications, or similar
- 2-5 years of Digital Marketing experience
- 2-4 years of music industry experience preferred; other related experience considered
- Working knowledge of interactive technologies and communication tools including email, social media, and viral marketing techniques (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, SoundCloud, Snapchat, etc.)
- Experience and knowledge of streaming platforms
- Some experience with Photoshop, basic HTML, social media publishing tools and video editing
- Juggler & multi-tasker extraordinaire! Proven excellence in prioritization, time management and follow up skills with an attention to detail
How I can become more qualified:
Social Media Manager
Company: EMPIRE
Skills & Requirements:
- – Familiarity with current music trends in hip-hop, R&B and Pop music
- – Must have extensive knowledge of social media and community management including hands-on management of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube
- – Ability to cultivate creative and innovative social media engagement from our audience
- – Demonstrated ability to quickly adapt to emerging trends
- – People management skills; relationship/client management skills
- – Ability to work in fast-paced environment with short deadlines
- – Ability to manage multiple tasks
- – Flexible, committed, and willing to work nights and weekends as needed
- – Proficiency in Adobe Photoshop a plus
How I can become more qualified:
Urban Marketing Manager
Company: Red Bull Records
Link: https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=f5ad3d3be20a2324&tk=1do7tr9na0g42001&from=serp&vjs=3
Skills & Requirements:
- Must thrive in a team environment, but be able to take initiative and work independently
- Excellent oral and written communication skills are a must. Candidate will be collaborating and communicating with a broad audience inside and outside the company.
- Candidate must be well organized, detail oriented, and able to multitask and constructively solve problems while working under pressure.
- Awareness and knowledge of current cultural trends and creative & technological innovations.
How I can become more qualified:
The Bill Simmons Podcast Review: Ad Evaluations
I recently listened to an episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast that I found quite interesting. This particular episode is titled “Could China Cancel the NBA? Plus, Fox’s ‘Smackdown’”, in which Bill Simmons, Jason Gay, and David Shoemaker mostly discuss a situation that is currently going on between the NBA (National Basketball Association) and China.They also briefly spoke about a similar situation that the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) recently had to deal with.
Bill starts off by explaining what is going on between Hong Kong and China. He explains that Hong Kong is currently, technically a part of China, however it has its own government, which is financially independent from China’s central government. In a nutshell, the people of Hong Kong feel that they are being unfairly treated by China’s central government, so they want to become their own independent nation. The people of Hong Kong have been protesting, and things have gotten pretty ugly between them and the rest of China.
Last week, Daryl Morey, a general manager of a very prominent NBA team, tweeted a photo that read “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong” to his personal Twitter account, and soon-after deleted it. Since China provides a massive market for the NBA, this message did not go unnoticed. Many people in China were not amused with Morey’s political stance, and made sure to voice their extreme disagreement. The NBA was put in a position in which they had to do something, since someone from their association started this controversy, and the fallout could be extremely detrimental. Two days after Daryl Morey tweeted his support for the people of Hong Kong, the NBA released an official statement saying that Morey’s tweet does not represent the NBA, and that the NBA respects China. This statement was met with an abundance of criticism by American fans, as people questioned the morals of the statement, and accused NBA commissioner Adam Silver of depriving Daryl Morey his freedom of speech.
Jason Gay, a guest on the podcast, brought up the similarity between the situation the NBA is currently dealing with, and one that the WWE is on the tail end of. He describes that the WWE had committed to do a number of events in Saudi Arabia, then the news broke that a Saudi Arabian journalist who worked in the United States was brutally murdered by the Saudi Arabian government. The WWE had to decide whether or not to cancel their commitments, and how to handle the backlash. Ultimately, they decided to go on with the events, and not release any statements to defend their decision, and that this turned out successful for them. Bill Simmons argues that although there are similarities, the situations are very different, and that this would not be a good route for the NBA.
Overall, I found this podcast to be quite informative, and entertaining. I think that Bill Simmons did a good job picking guests who were educated on the topic that they were discussing that day, and being well prepared himself. They did a great job giving the listener a good understanding of the situations that they were discussing and debating. They also constantly challenged each others’ views and opinions, which gives the listener many things to think about, and consider.
The advertisements throughout this podcast were minimal. Throughout the whole podcast, there is one graphic on screen, which reads “The Bill Simmons Podcast”, along with the podcast’s logo, followed by the words “presented by ZipRecruiter”, along with ZipRecruiter’s logo. Bill also mentions ZipRecruiter at the end of the episode. ZipRecruiter is the only brand/company advertised throughout the episode. I believe that this is a good platform for ZipRecruiter (an online service that makes it easy to apply for jobs) to advertise through. The audience of The Bill Simmons Podcast is likely made up by a majority of young people, with an interest in sports. If someone is technologically sound enough to be listening to a podcast online, there’s a good chance that they are college aged, and have a care for knowledge. This is the exact audience that a service such as ZipRecruiter would want to market their service to, since high school and college students are likely to switch jobs much more often than adults.
I think that several companies such as ESPN, Hulu, or Fox could benefit by advertising through The Bill Simmons Podcast. I think that this would be a good platform for these companies to market their subscription services to. The people who enjoy watching sports related movies and specials (which are offered by services such as ESPN+, and Fox Sports Go), are the same people who would watch a sports podcast. Both of these services are online, and based on knowledge and deeper meaning within sports.
You can watch the episode here: http://bit.ly/2nMzzUy
The Many Uses of Digital Platforms
Digital platforms play a massive role in our society. They are changing the way we live our daily lives, and I’m going to show you just how much of an impact they are having on the world.
There are several major players of the digital age, and many are well known, but there’s a good chance that you’ve never heard of some of the platforms people are using to keep the digital age going strong. I am going to go over the top platforms used to create content, share content, as well as the platforms people use to do some of their shopping these days.
Although we are all familiar with some of the platforms used to share content, many people are unfamiliar with how this content comes to be. Businesses, brands, companies, and even individuals use a number of different platforms/websites/applications to create content, take a look:
Once someone uses platforms such as those shown above to create content, their next step is to head to one of the following platforms in order to share it, and get it to their target audience:
Technology has changed the way we shop drastically. Thanks to the following applications, as well as similar ones, it is now easier than ever to purchase new goods:
As you can see, these numerous digital platforms are taking the world by storm. Millions, and even billions of people are using some of these platforms in their daily lives, to do countless different things, all the way from creating videos and podcasts, to buying their groceries. This goes to show you just how much of an impact technology is having on the world.
Social Media in Society
Social Media has become a staple in our lives. Regardless of who you are, there’s a good chance that it has some kind of an impact on your life. Weather you are an avid user of one or more platforms, or just check in every once in a while, there’s no denying that we have reached a point in time in which you really can’t escape Social Media. Older generations that used to frown upon the use of technology have even given in to its benefits, and younger generations can’t keep their eyes, or minds off of it. With that being said, what does this increase in the use of Social Media mean for our society?
Personally, I try not to use Social Media much, but I can admit that it’s not an easy task. I decided to delete all Social Media apps off of my phone, and really make a serious effort to cut back on my time spent on these platforms over the past year or so. I made this decision due to the fact that like many others my age, I felt that it was completely consuming my life/time. The use of platforms such as Instagram and Twitter have become so widespread in today’s society, that you can really feel out of the loop if you aren’t following the daily trends.
With the constant expansion of the industry, and constant improvement of existing platforms, people are always finding new uses for Social Media. In its early days, Social Media was used as a simple means of communication. Early platforms such as AOL, and Myspace, were pretty simple, with their main purpose being to connect, and communicate with people you already know. Now we use a number of different platforms for different things. For example, people may invite others to an event via Facebook, tweet out reminders as the event nears, live stream the even on Instagram, and then post pictures of the event to their Instagram after the fact; and that only shows a select few of the countless things we use Social Media for today.
Businesses have also taken advantage of the benefits offered by Social Media. Thanks to all of the diversified platforms, it is now easier than ever for a company/brand/organization to reach the public. Since Social Media is how we get most of our news these days, it is extremely convenient for these organizations to slip information into our feeds. Companies spend an absurd amount of money on advertisements on Social Media platforms because they know that people will see them. It is also easier than ever to target the correct audience thanks to data. Companies purchase data off of social media, as well as internet providers, and analyze this data in order to ensure that they are advertising to the right people.
There’s no denying the increase of Social Media use in our world, but what does it mean for our society? The increase in use offers us many advantages in the way we communicate, advertise, and numerous other ways, however, it can take away from the things we get done in our daily lives. The way I see it, there’s definitely pros and cons to using Social Media, but it’s not going anywhere, so we might as well familiarize ourselves with it the best we can, and learn to combat, and avoid the cons the best we can.
The Reliance of Technology In Advertising
Technology is slowly taking over our lives. I remember when I was younger, creating an account on Facebook, only to be met with ridicule by my parents. This was a new platform at the time, and many people, especially older generations, did not understand it. They saw it as something negative, and possibly even dangerous. Fast forward ten years, and I no longer have a Facebook account, however, my parents can’t go an hour without checking theirs.
Technology is forever changing, and society is finally starting to come to terms with its benefits. I went from hearing “Don’t spend too long staring at a screen!” to a paperless highschool in which we did all of our work on a macbook laptop. This is due to the fact that schools are starting to realize the importance that technology will play in our future. In the past, technology was widely frowned upon. It was thought to be something extra-curricular, or something we do for fun, rather than something that could help make our lives easier.
The workforce is a major player in the advancement of technology. We are at a point in which people are creating new technologies that can either replace us, or enhance what we are doing in the workplace. For example, think back to 20 years ago, the vast majority of advertisements we saw were physical. Such as billboards, flyers, etc. Now, the majority of advertisements we see are digital. This has caused the advertising industry to do a 180. Working for an advertising agency in 1990 would be completely different than working for that same agency in 2020.
Another way the advertising industry has been impacted by the expansion of the tech world is through the creative process. Back in the day, there was not a whole lot of options when creating advertisements, but those options are constantly expanding along with technology. For example, it is now so simple to create a website, when in the past that was a very tedious process, with much less room for creativity. Another way technology has impacted the creative process in the advertising world is through graphic design. Thanks to programs such as photoshop, and many other applications similar to it, it is now relatively easy to create intricate logos, images, and other designs for your company.
Even the resources of the world are changing because of the advancement in technology. Oil has been widely accepted as the most valuable resource in the world for over a century, but not anymore. The most valuable resource is not even a physical object anymore, it is digital facts and statistics, also known as data. This change plays a major role in the world of advertising and public relations. Companies are now purchasing data from other websites, applications, and internet providers, and analyzing that data in order to better target a specific audience.
Technology is advancing at a faster and faster rate every year. These advancements are changing the way we function in our work environment, and how we live our daily lives. Rather than run from these changes, we should embrace them, and continue to learn more about them. If we focus on the positive things that technology can do for us, it can continue to provide us with new benefits, and help us live more efficient lives.
My Digital Reputation
Before
I had no expectations for my reputation score, so I’m not really shocked. This makes sense because I do not put a whole lot about myself out there on the web, so I can see why I have a score right in the middle. However, I plan to work on my online footprint throughout this semester. In about 90 days, I will revisit this score and see if the changes I’ve made to my online presence have improved my BrandYourself score.
After
Using the recommendations given to me by BrandYourself, I was able to successfully boost my rating from ‘Fair’ to ‘Good’. 90 days ago when I first checked my reputation, I had no positive, or negative feedback. I had no feedback because none of my social media accounts were connected. I added several accounts, such as my Twitter, Youtube, and WordPress, and completed the optimization steps for each through BrandYourself. I then cleaned up a few old posts on twitter that contained profanity. These two tools helped boost my score 103 points in just 90 days.
I don’t believe this score means a whole lot for me right now, but it is definitely a tool that will be essential for me in my future. When I began my career, it will be crucial for me to monitor what results come up under my name, because in this day and age, those results can make or break an opportunity. I am now aware what sorts of things produce negative results, and I know to avoid those things, and vice versa for the positives. I will check in on BrandYourself every once in a while, probably every six months or so, and see if my score is still good, or if it is dropping. This will let me know if I need to make any changes to my uses of social networks, or continue doing what I’m doing.
Katsiouh 