Saturday, December 20, 2008

It’s Our Final Week



What a past nine weeks! We have explored new avenues of marketing that many of us probably take for granted. Yes, I receive email messages daily from marketers, both at work and at home. I see banner ads and have noticed ads on search engines, FaceBook and how marketers reach our youth. We have discussed the ethics of all of these and many in my class have different thoughts. We have definitely explored a new world of marketing.

Even with this blog, we managed to put our thoughts down and maintain this throughout the past nine weeks. When I started this class, I never realized the power blogs have in marketing. Now, because of this class, I see them more apparent on consumer websites. Blogs by corporate presidents making a more personal connection to the consumer, as if he/she is talking personally to them. One of our assignments a few weeks ago was to find a blog, respond to the blogger and send the example in our writing assignment. I selected Marriott Corporation’s president Bill Marriott and made a few comments on selected subjects. In return, I received last week, a happy holiday message from Mr. Marriott himself, personalized to me using my first name and everything. As a Marriott rewards member, yes, it made me feel like they cared about my opinions and want to offer me the best hospitality they can.

We also discussed the topic texting. While this is a more popular form of communication among teens and those in their early 20s, it is catching on to others. While I don’t have free texting, I do receive free messages from cell phone provider and also from another group which I am not exactly sure how they got my number. Nevermind though, they only send them out every couple of months. This will be our next form of mobile marketing. I think this will become more popular than other forms but there will be an ethical line that marketers must never cross.

The last nine weeks has been a busy nine weeks, but the time has flown. We are definitely seeing a world evolve from traditional media to emerging media and I think it’s awesome that we get to be a part of this new marketing phenomenon.

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