Archive for November, 2011
Fueling The Fan Base
By Chelsea Sontra
When people think “America” one of the first things they think about is sports. As a competitive nation, we love our sports. America is baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet, right? We love the game, and maybe even more than that we love our favorite teams. Take it one step further, and as a celebrity-obsessed culture we also really love our favorite players. Luckily for us, social media outlets provide fans with a multitude of ways for fans to interact with sports, making us more than just spectators.
Maybe the most obvious form of sports-related social media interaction is Twitter. How many players tweeted about the NBA lockout being over? Let me tell you, a lot! But it’s more than just providing us with information. Being able to follow our favorite players via Twitter allows us to have at least the illusion that we know them personally. We build relationships with them as we get to hear about their daily lives and understand their personality by discovering what makes them laugh or get irritated. While we often worship the ground these athletes walk on, social media humanizes them a bit for us.
As a general rule, sports are social. We want to be around fans that like the same teams and players as us, and in this way we build bonds with people we don’t even know. One of the best ways that social media does this is by making us feel like included, even if we’re not at the game. A specific example of this is the Patriots’ Facebook tailgate that takes place before the game. Fans get to talk about whatever they feel like sharing about the team, creating virtual energy of excitement you might otherwise miss out on. It’s things like team Facebook pages posting crowd photos during the game, or seeing what Tim Tebow’s game day Bible verse is gets people gathered around a common interest and brings them together to support a common cause, no matter where they are.
Social media also does a great job of making sure they are constantly feeding fans with news about teams, players, fan opportunities, etc. Even in the off-season we can check in on Facebook and see behind the scenes photos, videos, player updates, etc. Days when there aren’t games are the perfect time to interact with the fans, whether it’s holding a contest or asking their input about a question or telling them to post fan photos.
Any way you slice it, sports are a team-building exercise, be it the players themselves, or the camaraderie of fans, and social media is a major tool for fueling inclusiveness.
Thankful for Online Shopping
By: Aden McNelly
Black Friday is officially over! How many of you got amazing deals?
With earlier openings and better prices it looks like retailers are finding hope! Sales were better than the previous year according to the Wall Street Journal. It could mean that our economy is slowly recovering or we are all struggling to find the best deal and save money.
Today was Cyber Monday, and looking at all the Facebook posts and journal blogs, it seems to have been a successful day as well. As a retailer, it’s the busiest time of year and that means making sure your website is easy to navigate for those online shoppers. At 4th Avenue Media, we understand how important it is for your business website to be a cohesive image of your company. Personally, I didn’t even try shopping this weekend. I’d rather buy something full priced than try shopping in the crazy mob of people. I did, however, search businesses websites to see what sales were happening, how their websites were laid out, and how easy it was to find the deals. After my searching, here are some tips going forward into the Holiday season to get the best results from those millions of online shoppers:
First, make your website mobile. More and more people are shopping through their mobile devices! Second, making your website cohesive to your brand. Your website is an extension of your brand and it’s important that everything related to your business is the same. Finally, having the sale items easily accessible online. It’s confusing and consuming to have to navigate though multiple tabs when you are trying to get that super sale item on a time crunch.
Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Black Friday! There’s nothing like getting that adrenaline rush when you find an amazing deal or having a wonderful nap after eating too much turkey!
Image: http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-QS943_BlkFri_G_20111125095153.jpg
Thankful
By Chelsea Sontra
thank-ful
1: conscious of benefit received
2: expressive of thanks
3: well pleased
Aside from Thanksgiving, there is so much to be thankful for each and every day! This year I am especially aware of how thankful I am for relationships. Relationships with family, friends, and the wonderfully talented team at 4th Avenue Media. We can all be thankful for the wealth of social media means available for us to take advantage of, which allows us to maintain relationships. If you won’t be seeing your family this Thanksgiving, make a call, send a text, dedicate a tweet or Facebook post, send an email, or do something to show you are thinking of them.
From all of us at 4th Avenue Media, have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving holiday.
Custom Holiday Greetings from 4AM
By: Aden McNelly
Is your company in need of holiday greeting cards? 4th Avenue Media will design custom holiday cards for your company! It’s an easy way to stay connected with clients and spread the holiday cheer! Check out our sample cards below:
If you would like to order your custom holiday greeting cards: Call 425.454.4442 or email us at info@4thavenuemeida.com
Placing Products In Consumer Hands
By Chelsea Sontra
It’s that time of the year again! The holiday catalogs started arriving in your mailbox about a month or so ago. Maybe you’re a kid waiting for the moment to dog-ear each page in the toy catalog, circling the item(s) you want on it with a thick Sharpie. Maybe you take the romantic approach and savor looking through each and every page slowly as you are wrapped up on the coach with a blanket and a gigantic mug of something warm. You may also be that person who has each website bookmarked, wish lists ready to be sent to loved ones.
Businesses know you’re busy and that you may not make it out to the crowded shopping malls. Many prefer to just always shop from the comfort of their own home, period. But what happens when you need to see a product before you buy it? Most people don’t feel comfortable buying electronics, for example, online because they aren’t able to visually check and make sure it has all the right features or will fit into a designated space. Holding or touching a product makes it real, and one company is allowing you to do just that.
Tesco, a British retailer, is combining new media with the old. They’re making home shopping more than a click and buy type experience. Through Internet technology Tesco is placing products in your hands quite literally. After installing a browser plugin on your computer, you can activate a 3-D image of a product by simply holding up a printed image (available on their site) to your webcam, placing the image on the paper and virtually in your hands. By maneuvering the piece of paper you can rotate the floating product to get 360 degree and zoomed in views of it on your computer screen, increasing your knowledge of the product as well as your comfort in buying it online.
Internet technology is expanding the way the world does business by putting you in complete control. In doing so, you can guarantee that you’ll be more likely to buy a product, leaving both yourself and businesses satisfied.
Click here to see the Tesco video: S5QDRoxuHtk
Fashion-able
By Chelsea Sontra
Fashionable men and women of the world, rest assured, the iPad now has an app just for you. It’s free for you to download until December 31, 2011 (after January 1, 2012 you will have to sign up for a New York Times subscription for complete access) and provides you with full coverage of the latest in style and fashion. Best of all, it’s all available to you at the power of your fingertips, literally.
The Collection, an iPad app from the New York Times, allows for fully visual navigation. This makes it easy to scroll through the five categories it offers: News, Trends, Street, Runway and All. By providing fashion industry updates, exclusive interviews, the latest photos from world fashion capitals, new beauty and cosmetic trends available in stores, shopping videos, and fashion reviews, The Collection has got every base covered.
Use of this iPad app doesn’t just have to be for your personal knowledge only, unless of course you wish to purposely hide this information from your friends so they aren’t as up-to-date on the latest trends as you are. If you’re feeling generous, you can share the wealth by posting articles, videos, and slide shows from The Collection directly to Facebook, Twitter and email.
As seen here, social media is making great strides in providing people with an array of information that satisfies all of a person’s interests. It is making it easier to spread a greater variety of information and reach a wider group of people. As social media outlets team up with big businesses like the New York Times, people are able to pursue their interests in a way that is personal and interesting.
So go ahead, let your inner fashionista out. With the help of The Collection, you’ll be doing just that in no time.
Thankful Art
By: Aden McNelly
Thanksgiving is next week! My mind is already on turkey, mashed potatoes and, of course, pumpkin pie! I’m starting my Thanksgiving early by saying I’m thankful for 4th Avenue Media and all the staff. They are the most fun, honest, down to earth people I have met and I’ve been so honored to intern for them! Okay, now to inspire you, here are some amazing pieces to decorate your dining room table with for your turkey meal. I think these centerpieces are beautiful. I just love all the neutral tones!
Are you inspired? You only have a week left to decorate!
Want to find more decorating tips check out HGTV.com
Pillow Technology
By: Aden McNelly
Who would have thought we would have smart pillows? I never think about pillows; when I go to bed I just know they are there ready for me to lay my head on. Picking out pillows doesn’t get much more complicated than picking soft or firm, until now. One University in Toyko is using pillows to help individuals with snoring. This smart pillow starts rubbing your head when you are snoring! Creepy? Yes maybe, but it awakes the individual to inspire them to roll over.
My dad, for example, has always snored. He has never been a light, soft snorer, more like a loud, hippo snore! When I was younger it would keep me up at night and he was even two rooms away. We later found out he has sleep apneaa, but if this technology was available back then, it would have been a perfect “gift” for him.
The bear pillow, called Jukusui-kun, monitors snoring through a microphone and a smaller bear sensor monitors oxygen through the fingertips. Once the bear pillow and the oxygen monitor detect snoring the bear is in motion. It lightly lifts it’s hand and starts rubbing the head of the individual to wake them up. The whole system is wireless which is perfect for those people who toss and turn.
It’s not yet on the market but I could see this pillow easily being sold to spouses who married a snorer or family members who have had enough sleepless nights! I know I would have bought one for my dad.
Check out the bear in motion by following this link!
Source: http://mashable.com/2011/11/14/robotic-bear-hits-you-when-you-snore/
It Starts With Providing Opportunity
By Chelsea Sontra
Doesn’t it seem like everywhere you go, people’s hands are glued to their smart phones? While these gadgets can often be distracting, there is no question that they provide users with a plethora of useful and enlightening information. Whether it’s checking email, catching the latest score of a favorite team, or seeing how many points the Dow Jones dropped during the last hour, there seems to be no limit to what we can access on the Internet. Although it may seem like just about everyone has expensive handheld devices these days, 68% percent of Americans don’t even have a home Internet connection. This harsh reality extends to the rest of the world as well.
Many of us are used to having limitless computer and Internet access, and we probably take for granted how much it has improved our lives. Think about all of the people you maintain relationships with through email or video chat. You would probably be less inclined to keep in touch with them as often as you do if you didn’t have easy communication outlets on the Internet. What about in the job field? Many companies these days will only accept online application submissions. How about education? In schools, children are learning basic skills such as reading and math by using programs designed to teach in fun and interactive ways.
Having information leads to knowledge, and those who do not have access to tools that provide this are getting left behind. This is in turn creating a social divide among those who can and cannot climb up the ladders of society, education and economics. What can be done to make sure people, specifically the youth generation, are not handicapped by their social situation? How can we help people be able to compete in the global economy? It starts with providing opportunity. That is where several major tech and media companies come into play.
Online news site Mashable has featured five major companies that are making a long-term difference. These include Microsoft, Intel, the combined team of Comcast and the FCC, Time Warner Cable, and Hewlett Packard. They are globally impacting youth in ways that are intentional and specific, doing everything from providing low-income youth with PCs to education software for kids and digital resources that have trained millions of teachers. By providing necessary tools and skills, a lot of good is being done to level the playing field and bridge educational and economic gaps. The hope is for a world that has equal opportunities available to its citizens.
Learn more about these companies by exploring here: http://mashable.com/2011/11/04/tech-philanthropy-education/
Leaving A Lasting Impression
By Chelsea Sontra
Competition. It’s not always about winning an ultimate prize. Oftentimes the greatest reward is gaining positive recognition for what you do. When talent and skill are displayed, individuals and groups are singled out for achieving exceptional levels of greatness. Being publicly recognized allows you to show the fruits of your hard work and commitment to excellence. The byproduct is inspiring.
No, I’m not talking about sports or anything of that nature. I’m talking about design and digital media. This week, 4th Avenue Media shared that we have been featured in Letterhead and Logo Design 12 by Rockport Publishers. Oxide Design Co. has collected and curated this collection of everything from logos to labels, and business cards to envelopes, and it’s available for purchase from all the big name book and e-book retailers. By being creative, inventive, and original, 4AM has proven that fresh approaches to digital media marketing will leave a lasting impression. This honor will only motivate us more to find outlets through which we can share what we do with everyone. That’s the power of design and digital media. That’s the power in making yourself vulnerable to critique, and finding yourself as the recipient of positive response.
What’s stopping you from doing the same? Find a market to display your hard work and inspiration and allow people to appreciate and be inspired by it as well. Whether it’s playing music at a local spot or entering a video essay contest, sharing your creative vision can have powerful effects.
Story Creators. Message Makers. Vision Shapers. That is 4th Avenue Media.
