Is advertising altering our memories?

Remember that day back in the summer where you sat out on the beach on a hot day with your good looking friends, laughing, listening to good music and enjoying an ice cold, glistening refreshing coke?

 

 

 

Yeah me too, because its been implanted in my brain as well. 

 

I recently read an article discussing the idea that advertising is altering our memories, claiming that 

 

“Vivid commercials are incredibly good at tricking the hippocampus (a center of long-term memory in the brain) into believing that the scene we just watched on television actually happened”

 

Pretty much, you can watch an advertisement on TV and subconsciously believe that it actually happened to you! And that got me thinking, how many of my memories have been altered or completely created by advertising? When I picture myself doing something as simple as going the movies the memory I recall is of an outsider, watching myself sitting in the chair, 3D glasses on, popcorn in hand, laughing with my friends. I’ve never seen myself do that, I can just picture it in my head. 

 

And thinking further on it, I pondered how it can extend to digital advertising, especially through social media. The number of advertisements displayed throughout Facebook are staggering and the effect that it seems to be having is people trying to recreate these moments in their own lives. How many times have your friends (or even you) posted a photo similar to that one above, one that could have come straight from an advertisement? (Guilty)

 

Advice given from the article was that 

 

“As a result, consumers need to be vigilant while processing high-imagery advertisements.”

 

Personally I feel like the advice could be more along the lines of “don’t brainwash people” but thats just me…

 

What do you think, are your memories real? Or just fabricated advertisements replaying in your mind?

 

– Todd

What the hell is user-generated content?

Last week I was speaking to a friend of mine, who works in social media, about my recent foray into blogging. After asking me what I would be blogging about (digital marketing) he told me that I should write a post about user-generated content (UGC) as it was such a huge deal in the digital marketing world right now. I smiled and quickly agreed that it was a great topic to write about while trying to hide the fact that . . . I have basically no idea what it means. 

Which is ridiculous! Surely a marketing student should have a pretty good idea of what UCG is! I mean I get the general idea of it, but if someone walked up to me and asked me for a definition and an explanation they would be met with a blank stare while I slowly backed away. So I decided to get my head firmly around the concept by attempting to write a blog about it.

The simplest way to define UGC would be to say that it can be any data or media that is contributed/created by individual users of a publication, particularly websites. Pretty much it is the production of content by the general public rather than by paid professionals. 

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For example..

Write a product review? = UGC

Comment on a business’ Facebook status? = UGC

Make a video on YouTube? = UGC

Interact on social media? = UGC

Write a blog about UGC? = UGC

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Content that is created by users is becoming increasing popular in the digital world, with many of the most frequently visited sites on the Internet being primarily user generated, such as Wikipedia and YouTube. Other websites like Amazon and eBay utilise UGC to augment their already existing websites through reviews and user interaction. 

The interesting thing about UGC is the change it has had on the relationship between consumers and companies, with organisations now shifting from influencing consumers directly through advertising to instead mediating the influence that consumers have on each other! So, instead of a company spending money trying to make you buy/like their product, they instead create the opportunity for YOU to tell/influence other people to like the product. By creating UGC, consumers’ choices and opinions become more transparent while their actions and decisions shape the behaviour of other consumers. 

Watch how Sears in the US uses UGC to their advantage

Who knows where UGC will progress to in the future! What do you think of UGC, is it a handy tool for marketing? Or an unreliable mass of random information?

 – Todd

You want to WHAT?

Did I just read that correctly?

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This won’t be the first time you’ve heard this today, but it seems that the issue of terms and conditions breaching consumer privacy has blown up via the Facebook messenger app.

 

Like the vast majority of people within this class, I like to use Facebook. I like to use it a lot, and I find that it has begun to replace many other forms of communication that I frequent, such as texting and calling. It’s just sometimes more convenient to start up a Facebook chat. This is apparently being made even easier by the release of the Facebook messenger app. This app combines the ease of text messaging with the social connection of Facebook and, best of all, its free.

 

Yet, when I was at last ready to succumb to the pressure to download the app, my news feed became awash with cries of protest against it and the repeated sharing of this picture.

 

 

WHAT THE HELL?

 

You are taking some serious liberties here Facebook, you want to send SMS messages without even asking me? Why don’t I just sign you over my power of attorney as well.

 

Yet when I asked others what they thought of the terms and conditions, many were quite unfazed, claiming that, while it looks bad, it’s no more invasive than 90% of the other apps you’ve already downloaded on your phone.

 

 

Thinking on that I realised that it could well be true. How many times have you downloaded an app and clicked “I agree” to the terms and conditions without reading them or putting any thought into the consequences? Most of the time I wish there was a “remind me later” button that I could forever push, excusing me from having to commit to agreeing. I personally was just too distraught at the thought of missing out on the phenomenon that is snapchat.

 

 

You might be thinking here, how does this relate to digital marketing?
It totally does!

 

A lot of the time these terms and conditions are set up so that the organisation, such as Facebook, has the power (and your permission) to use or sell information that it gathers to other parties, such as advertisers. However, when it comes down to it, do you really care if Facebook puts you in a category of people that like soccer and consequently you see an ad for soccer boots on the side of your page?

 

It is also worth considering the impact that such terms and conditions could have on YOUR organisation/brand, should you choose to use them.

 

If you go and check out the messenger app on the app store, the amount of 1-star reviews is staggering, with many of those stating “I don’t know how to give a 0 star review and this was the best I could do.” Is it worth writing terms and conditions that are so invasive if it is going to push away or upset such a large portion of your customer base?

 

What I want to know is, should I really care about this or is it a necessary and inevitable way of the future?

 

Or on the flip side, should Facebook just back the hell off and design an app that isn’t going going to be so invasive on my personal life?

 

You tell me.

 

Am I a marketing dummy?

Welcome to my very first ever blog post! To date my online writing content can be pretty much summed up to posting a Facebook status every so often and once having a heated online discussion with a troll on youtube.

However times have changed and I am now entering the online world of digital marketing. Now, while this blog was created mainly for the purpose of assessment, it also seeks to answer the very important question.

 Am I good at marketing or just another marketing dummy?

Our old mate Albert Einstein once said that “if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” Therefore, throughout this semester I will aim to critically discuss a range of digital marketing topics in a way that is interesting, thought provoking, and hopefully simple enough to understand.

If I can succeed in this endeavour (and hopefully gain a not-so-bad mark) I shall forever label myself a not-marketing-dummy.

Lets make good old Alby proud, it begins.