Drive your Car on the Times Square Big Screen
How’s this for a great idea: Hyundai is letting you use your iPhone to play a Veloster video game on the 80 inch big screen in Times Square, New York.
Things like this always make me wish I was in a bigger area than Belleville. It would be AWESOME to stand in Times Square and play a game on my iPhone for all to see.
Could be embarrassing if I sucked at it though….
I wonder if they will let people play it on New Year’s Eve?
Red Turns White, White Turns Red
A few weeks ago I was with my fiancé watching the newest Twilight movie (yes I’ll admit it!) One of the commercials that are now ever present at movie theaters was for Coke turning their cans white for the cute cuddly Polar bears.
I said to Ashley “That’s a neat idea! And works great because everyone knows Coke and polar bears.”
Well, turns out that prima facie judgement was all wrong, people hated the new cans! Kudos to Coke’s branding department for creating such an emotional impact with the red can. Minus for not researching consumer reaction to new cans.
From Diet coke confusion to a different taste, the complaints were everywhere. Sadly, the polar bears are going , going… gone from shelves now.
Perhaps Coke should have stuck with a red can, and white polar bears on it. Perhaps they should have just donated the polar bear money and not changed the can. Whatever the case I thought it was a great, although flawed, execution and at least Coke is willing to be daring! (New Coke anyone?)
One Year Anniversary!
Over one year ago, this blog was created, as a class project for Loyalist PR. However, I immediately realised that this blog was way more than a class project. I began showing up on Google, people started talking to me about blog articles I wrote, and I got in touch with local politicians about Downtown Belleville.
When I went for interviews, hiring managers had already heard about me because of my blogging and social media outreach. I’ve attended events and can start the conversation with “Hey, I saw you on Twitter!” and they can respond “I read this blog your wrote…”
It’s been a great adventure, and admittedly work has gotten in the way of my blog (as noted by my month long absence) but I am still here, and still blogging (and also blogging professionally). So stay tuned, and thanks for making this first year so great!
Consistency is Key!
While looking at my LinkedIn profile, my WordPress plugin stuck out like a sore thumb: “posted 28 days ago.” I guess time flies when you are having fun, especially when consistency is so important with any form of communication. Any people who view my profile, no matter how good/bad my blog posts are, will see I am out of date, and not committed to my blog (I am, I swear!)
It just reinforces one of my key mottos: consistency is key! No matter how good you perform, no matter how good a product is, no matter how great of press release you make, you have to be consistent. A great post won’t stand the test of time, as people always want more and they want the more to be just as good, if not better.
In an ever growing and competitive world, being consistent is key to your company and brand succeeding. Have a consistent message, logo, image and events and with a bit of hard work and luck, you will perform.
The worst thing I see companies do is a constant shift in messages. They will try something for a few weeks (or less) and see no results, so they give up. This is exemplified perfectly by the vast amount of Facebook pages left abandoned after only a few updates.
So whatever you do, be on target and keep your brand consistent. Heck, be consistent in life too and you’ll be on your way to success.
University= High Scool Rd. 2
Recently the Globe and Mail (here and here) has published a few articles pertaining to the declining lustre of the Bachelor of Arts degree. As a holder of said degree and soon to be a graduate of the Loyalist College Post-Grad PR Program, I am the focus of their articles.
University (and to a lesser extent, College) is required for many job postings and positions. 20 years and even 10 years ago, any applicant with a Degree was a highly qualified applicant, who stood a good shot at getting a job.
Now, things are different. Most have an undergrad degree or college diploma. You don’t stand out if that’s all your resume has. University/college has become the new high school. Students are now flocking to masters, professional programs and colleges to acquire even more credentials and skills.
I think this is great (albeit there are a few worries: mainly $$$). The more education we receive the better. Although it is a shame that on the job education is not being offered to students (since companies won’t hire unless you have experience) having formal training is great to keep individuals motivated and learning.
The cost of this training is my main worry. Each year of education is easily 10 grand, and much more if you go to a professional school. Learning is great, but being unemployed and 30 with $80k+ student debt to repay is terrifying. It limits who can go (the rich get richer?), and increases household debt to high levels.
Education has now reached a point where one post-graduate diploma/degree isn’t sufficient. I hope we as a society can combat the overwhelming costs associated with this trend.