Is social media worth it?

After spending time in class focusing on social media platforms and doing blogging and similar things, I am wondering if any of this stuff really affects anyone? Personally, I feel that all of these platforms and websites are pretty stupid except for the rare occasion. I have heard many horror stories with Facebook and employers and schools, sexual predators on Myspace and now drama everyday with some stupid comment that athletes or movie stars make on Twitter. Do the benefits ever outweigh the problems that these services cause?

Response to the Two articles

What are some of the benefits of direct mail compared to electronic means of marketing? Bar codes (addressed in one article) seem so promising, but what are some of the possible concerns with their use? Do you think e-marketing techniques will replace traditional forms of marketing (direct mail, phone calls, newspaper ads/promotions)? Besides the types of business and examples that are mentioned in the article, what are some other companies who would benefit from direct mail efforts? How would they benefit?


Personally, I hate to receive electronic mail, and I rarely read it. Direct mail might cost more, but it is much more personalized and if the mail was created properly it will catch someone's eye and let them know that a company is thinking about them and trying to start doing business or retain their business. As William Kapas, president of J.C. Kapas Real Estate Co. said, "I think it's easier to delete the electronic junk mail without taking a second look." Unless I am expecting an e-mail from someone or it is from an e-mail I know I usually delete it. Plus, when people receive mail it usually is unexpected while I know that every day I am going to have spam mail in my in-box that I am going to have to delete and it becomes bothersome.
On the subject of bar codes in magazines to help identify items, those are never going to work. The technology is available, but I highly doubt that anyone is going to take the time to read a magazine and if they find an item with a bar code that they want, take out their phone, buy/download an app, take a picture of the bar code and wait instead of just googling the product or going to the companies website. Remember that Americans are really lazy and desire to do as little work as possible? I do not believe that there are going to be enough people with subscriptions to these special magazines who also have a smart phone and are willing to pay for this new service, because lets be honest this is going to cost money either through the magazine or through the cost of the application.
E-marketing will never replace the good old mail system. Sure, e-mails have taken a chunk out of the bulk and spam shipping's, but having a physical letter or flier will always trump an email, even when companies have a small budget. As said in the second article that we read, Ms. Settle noticed that she "started hearing from customers that they never got their 'reminder' in the mail." People definitely take notice to changes like this and they do not want to be shortchanged or stiffed just so a company can save a few thousand dollars.
Some companies that would benefit from direct mail efforts would be companies like JCPENNY, Sears and Staples where they send out catalogs to their customers and can physically see what the company is offering and what the prices are. Some companies that would benefit from increased mailings would be any graphic design company producing advertisements, any shipping company and any paper or stationary company.
Lets think of this idea from a different angle, with the huge boom in cell phone usage, why have people not switched or turned off their landlines? It is the same idea that they want a physical and direct connection to the source, and what happens if a satellite gets destroyed and there is no more cell phone reception? It all has to do with the paradigm of people liking what they are use to and everyone is use to mail. I'm sure that in the future mail might become obsolete, but it will take a long time for people to get use to their bills being sent through an e-mail as opposed to a letter.

In Response to Chad Brown's Tiger Woods Post

Do you think that by Nike continuing to sponsor Tiger Woods they are making a statement that they approve of what he did?


I do not believe in the crap that is going on with Tiger Woods. The media has portrayed him in a manner that he has murdered someone. Yes, it was wrong for Tiger Woods to cheat on his wife but a lot of people do it and many, many famous athletes and movie stars have done the same thing but never were forced to hold a press conference and go to sex therapy. Tiger Woods is still the most dominant athlete in the world and if I was the president/CEO of Nike or any company with money to endorse Tiger Woods I would still do so. Everyone is human and makes mistakes, the only reason that this ridiculous press conference was covered by 300+ media people shows how popular and widely followed Tiger Woods is. Does it really matter to you or me that Tiger decided to cheat on his wife? Is it going to affect you buying a pair of shoes or your favorite golf balls?

What should Toyota's next move be?

Over the last three or so months, Toyota has been facing the single largest car recall in US history. However, for the last 10 years or so Toyota has been known as very safe, reliable and affordable cars and because of that Toyota has grown exponentially. Now it is up to their marketing, advertising and P.R. departments to save the company and hopefully not lose the safe and reliable tags associated with Toyota cars. What can/should these departments and the management team do to encourage consumers to buy their vehicles and reinforce the ideas that their cars will not kill them?

Response to Bob's Shiny Suds Blog

I agree with what Bob said. The advertisement/spoof got the point across well, however even to me it seemed overdone and a little creepy. I can see why some people are upset by this, and this is where I feel that the marketers should have been especially sensitive to the viewers. They could have dialed this down and still get their point across well. Do you think that the producers of this ad chose to make it racy and provocative like this so that hit would increase the talk about this?

Superbowl Marketing

One of the largest events and oppurtunities for marketing companies has just passed; the Superbowl. It was the largest telecast ever and there were over 105 million captive viewers for marketing departments of large corporations to showcase their product/service. The commercials are almost just as anticipated and talked about the next day a the watercooler as the actual Superbowl. I also find it interesting that most "regular" commercials are usually hated, but these are not. Do you believe that it is worth the ourtrageous amount of money to have a commercial even when they are made more to entertain rather than market/advertise their product?

Type B- Response To Kevin McArthur's Environmentalism post

I like how you brought a real life event into the the discussion of the question whether environmentalism is a threat or an opportunity to marketers. I agree with what you have said, however I am a skeptical person by nature and I feel that marketers are deceptive.
To answer the question that you asked at the end of your post, "Do you think that the world will ever become a completely "green" planet, and can marketing have an effect on that decision?" No, I do not believe that the world will ever become a completely green planet because not everyone will buy into the idea of recycling or treating mother nature with respect. Marketing is however moving to the forefront of starting/increasing the speed of the "green movement". They are contributing to this movement whether they are trying to save the planet or marketing a product to people who embrace this idea.