Mamma Chia

As this semester flew by, one of the presentations due for my direct marketing course was to create viral marketing on Facebook and Twitter for an emerging company called Mamma Chia. Mamma Chia is a chia vitality beverage that is "fun for your mouth and great for your body!"  I love this product, it tastes great and the benefits of chia seeds are really amazing. Thank goodness I was assigned a product that I truly am passionate about, it made things a lot easier.

One of the main focus of the project was to make Mamma Chia's Twitter timeline more interesting. I came up with a Twitter contest for Mamma Chia to promote hashtag #mammapicCHIA. Contestants were to tweet at @mammachia1 their creative photos of their Mamma Chia drinks along with a creative title, hashtag #mammapicCHIA and they must be following Mamma Chia in order to be entered for a chance to win an iPad2. This would help Mamma Chia's timeline stay interesting as they retweet their favorite entries and if followers wanted to see the rest of the entries, they can just search the hashtag. Loyal consumers of this product already tweet pictures of their Mamma Chia beverage on Twitter constantly, therefore, I thought it would be a great idea to keep them engaged and have a chance to win something that they would really want.

Here are some examples of the "pic-chias" :)

 

^ This is mine!

I also mentioned that Mamma Chia should start using Klout. Klout is a website that provides free social media analytics on how users influence their audience. For a company, this is important because the whole point of having social media is to influence consumers to buy your product or become aware of your brand. Not to mention, it's also a great tool for spying at competitors, keeping track of how they are doing with their influence towards their audience.

I am so proud of the video my group members and I recorded for this project; we worked so hard and did so well, I wanted to share! :)

Successful Marketing? Make it Cause Related.

Cause related marketing is one of the most successful forms of marketing. People have a hedonistic need to feel involved and part of something. A brand that sells a certain lifestyle or movement are the ones who last in the competition.

We can look at examples such as Livestrong bracelets, Toms shoes, anything that is pink to support the Breast Cancer Awareness campaign and more. When consumers purchase these items, they are willing to pay a little more than they normally would because they feel as though they are doing good. If a consumer buys a pair of Toms shoes, they know that they are helping a child somewhere because Toms donates a pair of shoes for every pair purchased. If you're going to support a brand, why not support a brand that gives back?

The founder of Pura Vida Bracelets was a guest speaker for my Direct Marketing class today at San Diego State University, and I was really intrigued at the meaning behind his brand. Pura vida means "pure life" in Spanish. When you purchase a bracelet, it helps provide more jobs for artisans in Costa Rica along with reminding yourself to enjoy life slowly, celebrate good fortune & not taking anything for granted. There is more to the story but the meaning behind the bracelet was what got me; I am now a supporter of Pura Vida Bracelets. :)

Isn't it just so amazing how consumers are happy to pay for a bracelet made of waterproof strings with a small charm attached because the brand stands for something that the consumer feels represents them?

Cause related marketing = success. Point blank period.

The Secret to LinkedIn

Although we all may have a LinkedIn, most of us don't use it to its full potential. With over 135 million users on this social media site world wide, we need to take advantage! It's a great networking tool to have, on top of your Twitter and Facebook. Here are some useful tips to make the most of your LinkedIn profile:

• In order for your profile to be more searchable, it needs to be at least 85% completed. Just remember, "first impressions are everything, and skimping on your personal profile will quickly decrease your value."
• Don't think that you can only connect with people you personally know on LinkedIn. There are over 135 million users to connect with, start connecting with aquantiances and HR reps to maximize your network. It will help you create more business opportunities.
• Keep your LinkedIn profile updated. You never know who may land on your profile, and as I mentioned earlier: first impressions are everything.
• You can customize your LinkedIn URL. Just click on the edit profile tab to change it. This is my URL: http://www.linkedin.com/in/trinhstephanie
• Don't forget to recommend! As Business Insider stated, "The more you give, the more you receive. A solid recommendation can potentially save someone's else life by setting them up with their future employer."
• Follow and join as all the groups that you are interested in so that you can stay up to date on these companies/organizations.

Now go out there and network!

From Business Insider

Cause Marketing Night 2011

The event turned out great! I had an amazing time and I was able to meet many new people including the founder of Pybob, Shelly Bowen. She is definitely the sweetest person ever. :)

There were many great paintings donated for the event and it was a lot of fun being able to watch bidders go through bidding wars for their favorite artwork - so much excitement and cheering!

 

Here's a photo from the auction.

The Masterpieces from Cause Marketing Night 2011

Recap of Cause Marketing Night 2011

Ad 2 San Diego

I've recently joined Ad 2 San Diego, an organization for people who are 32 and under and are in the San Diego advertising, marketing, and communications community. Ad 2 San Diego helps create future advertising and marketing industry leaders through education, leadership development and networking programs. I'm part of the communications committee and part of what we do is blogs, newsletters, promotional emails, etc. I had the honor of posting my first blog post about an upcoming event Ad 2 San Diego is hosting, Cause Marketing Night 201, and I am excited to share it with everyone!

Click here to see my blog for Ad 2 San Diego!

Google+

Do you have a Google+? If not, then what are you waiting for!? It is definitely going to be the next best thing since Facebook. It took Facebook 2.5 years to get 18 million users. It took Google+ only 21 days.

When you add friends on Google+, it automatically asks you to place them in a listed "circle" and when you post updates, you choose which circles you want to the post to be visible to. This is perfect for mixing business and pleasure! Now you can add your coworkers and family and not worry about them judging your posts that were meant for friends only.

Also, when you download the Google+ app onto your Android, every time you take pictures, those pictures automatically upload into a private photo album for you on your Google+. I find this to be very convenient, and I love it!

This is what my Google+ looks like:

... and yes, I'm following Tyra banks on Google+.  :)

What is Social Media Marketing... exactly?

 Social Media Marketing is not just about updating a company's Twitter, or posting Facebook posts. Anyone can do that. Social Media Marketing is about trying to see how much traffic can be gained through these social media sites and interacting with fans. Having followers on a company's social media site helps bring more brand awareness and keeps the consumer up to date on special promotions and news about the company. Not to mention, the more followers or "likes" you have, the better you look.

When a company posts links up on their social media sites, it is of their best self-interest to be able to track how many people have clicked on the links. There are ways to track the links, and a company's main goal is to get a lot of clicks because that means that the company is doing a great job at engaging their fans.

I use bitly.com to shorten my URL links for Twitter and it also allows me to view the stats on how many times the link has been clicked on. An account will need to be created to keep track of the clicks, but you can also sign in through Twitter or Facebook. Bitly.com is a great resource to have for marketing; plus, it's completely free!

Twitter. Make it More Personal.

I was volunteering at Marketing Melodie's Digital Media Now seminar and I learned quite a bit about personal branding from Melodie.

Here are some helpful tips I learned about Twitter:

When using Twitter, it is important to know that interacting with the your followers and creating hashtags to track what people say about your brand (ex. #marketingnerd) are some things that help bring in more traffic and followers to your Twitter account. You don't want your twitter to be boring and sound like a spam page, personalize it a bit! Create some dialogue with your followers. Post/retweet information that you found useful, and is related to the industry that you are interested in. Intrigue your followers, ask them questions and get them to interact with you. Give your Twitter some personality, but don't break the rule of being professional. You can do all this and still keep it professional. ;)

 www.marketingmelodie.com

Why Marketing?

I find marketing to be a very fun and creative industry. There is always so much to learn and everyday is a new adventure - It's not just the same transactions being performed from day to day. Also, marketing is very broad and it pertains to so much that being bored will never be an option. That packaging on your cereal box, the commercials you watch on T.V., the surveys you take online, the business page you just "liked" on Facebook, the contest you just entered - they're all marketing! My main focus and passion is on social media and advertising. Social media can be used for so many different purposes, it's amazing. For example:

Twitter - Customers are able to follow businesses on Twitter to stay updated on sales and promotions. Also, if you have a question, give the business a tweet and they will tweet you right back with an answer. Simple and easy. Not to mention, businesses could also add a little excitement into their timeline by having contests with fun prizes which will make the customers feel more involved.

Facebook - Facebook is similar to Twitter. Ask a question or leave a comment on the business's page, and receive an answer. Contests can also be run on Facebook to get more brand awareness out. Additionally, I find Facebook to be a great way of getting free marketing for businesses because although students usually don't click on the ads that run on the side, they do enjoy tagging themselves into places they visit. If many of my friends were tagging themselves at some new restaurant in town, and writing about how amazing the restaurant is, I'll now be aware of this new place and potentially go try it out. Heck, if I really love it enough, I'll even "like" the page.

Blogging - Blogging is just another way for consumers to get updated detailed information about the company and how it's doing. I admire Starbucks and the way they use their social media because they use it very well. Here is an example of one of Starbuck's blogs.

YouTube - Great place for commercials and any videos that may help advertise the brand. Right next to Google, YouTube is the second most used search engine - now that's pretty impressive.

Well we get the point of how effective social media is when it comes to marketing a brand. The whole point is to get brand awareness out to the consumers and with my generation being addicted to social media, it's not difficult to get the job done. As for advertising, who wouldn't want to help create billboards and commercials? That has got to be the best job ever! If you weren't considering a career in the marketing world, I hope I've helped influenced you so that you are now, it's a great industry! :)

thinkLA Advertising Career Day

I went to the thinkLA Advertising Career Day on October 21 and had so much fun! I'm glad that some of the SDSU Ad Club members and I decided to show a lot of dedication by driving all the way up to L.A. for one day to be able to tour one of the agencies and meet some others. I had the pleasure of being able to tour Horizon Media, the largest independent media agency in the industry. The place was beautiful, definitely everything a Marketer could ever dream of! I didn't get pictures of the place, but I was able to get a picture in front of their logo. Lol. It works.

 The girls and I at the thinkLA event

At Horizon Media

Getting Involved

Within the last month, I've finally made the commitment to join a club at school. I joined the SDSU Advertising Club, and it's probably the best decision I've made so far in college besides declaring as a Marketing major. I've already learned so much, the guest speakers that come to the meetings are inspirational and amazing, and my networks have definitely expanded-which is the most important thing. Marketing is all about networking, so meeting new people is good, and I also love making new friends!

On top of joining the SDSU Ad  Club, I also joined AD 2 San Diego which is chapter of the San Diego Ad Club. These clubs will keep me busy and on my toes which is what I like, so catch me if you can, I won't have much spare time for awhile!

Aztec for life, baby.

For the past three years, I've attended one San Diego State football game with my family and every game just gets even better. It's my last year at San Diego State University this year so I guess we can conclude that this game was the most sentimental of all the games. Great times with family, school spirit and a whole lot of cheering for my favorite team. I will definitely be an Aztec for life. And to top it all off, the fireworks show after the game was breathtaking, better than Disneyland's show if you ask me.. I love my school! I love my team! Go Aztecs! Do what you do, and keep winning!

Summer 2011

...was amazing. Usually during the summer time, I would take two classes for summer school. However, this summer I decided that I wanted to take a break and be able to enjoy my summer vacation - one of the best decisions I've ever made. I made many new friends, had first-time aquatic adventures and got a really nice tan from all my outdoor rendezvous. The Del Mar Fair was amazing, Aquarium of the Pacific was just as great, and baseball isn't usually my sport, but I attended the best Padres game this season (Padres vs. Dodgers, and Padres won!). It's sad seeing that summer has finally come to an end, and school has once again started, but I'm sure more fun adventures will be on its way for the next year this time around.

 La Jolla Cove

 Old Town

 Sumu-Wrestling fun

 Marine Street - La Jolla

 Del Mar Fair

 San Diego Padres vs. Dodgers game

 Aquarium of the Pacific - Long Beach

Sailing @ Mission Bay