Khue Ngo Blog #2

My take on Current Events: Phone Bloks vs. “Shownership”

I saw this video the other day in AdAge’s Viral Video Charts: 

It shows a concept for “a phone worth keeping”. The idea is to have a base part that can connect changeable feature parts. This way, every time you have a change of needs you can adjust your phone and equip it with the newest technology.

Then, I read this article on the New York Times website about the new iPhone 5C and the concept of “Shownership”: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/16/rethinking-the-iphone-5c/?ref=technology

I realized that this points in the complete opposite direction of Phone Bloks. While the phone worth keeping promotes the idea of less electronic waste and still having the newest technology at one’s hands, the NYT article basically predicts that this concept won’t work. People want to show off their new phone as a status symbol. The iPhone 5C is only to a small extent a technological advancement, but it is still considered as the latest thing on the market. Thus, people want to have it. In contrast, having a new feature part in the Phone Blok, even though it might be the best and newest technology, won’t be visible for other people.

Not very long ago one would get a new phone every two years with a contract. Today, AT&T or Sprint are offering a new device or phone every year as stated in their advertising campaigns. This clearly shows that nowadays, people’s appreciation of a new object drops as fast as the pace of change in technology accelerates.

Therefore, I think, even though an innovative and future-oriented idea, the concept of Phone Bloks won’t be very successful – at least not in today’s dominance of “Shownership”.

My TTIY Observations

As mentioned last week, I signed up for their rewards program and now regularly receive e-mails from them American Eagle. These are sent out every day around 9 am. The subject line always contains the promotional message so that you do not even have to open the e-mail in order to know their offer. One for example says "25% OFF EVERYTHING starts TOMORROW".

This way, they can convey their message even when people only scroll through their inbox.

The e-mail itself always contains one big picture of people wearing AE and their main promotional message.


Furthermore, they sometimes include a video in which AE’s Director of Styling “Preston” reports about a special outfit that is worn by a young girl or guy who fits right into the target audience. The videos are very New York-specific, so I can imagine that they used the ZIP code (which I had to enter for the rewards program registration) in order to send the right “city videos” to the customers living in that area.

The e-mails also always include the #liveyourlife hashtag so people can post and connect their posts to AE. However, when checking out this hashtag on Twitter, you do not find much about American Eagle. People use this hashtag very generally when tweeting about their life as such, as it is not very AE-specific and can apply to everything.

Apart from that, I also receive e-mails from the AE Reward program telling me about my current point balance and how many more points I need to get a bigger reward.

The AE twitter account tweets three to six times a day, complementing the information that was already sent out via e-mail. Furthermore, they tweet about ongoing contests and projects that AE has running, specific products including their prices, and some questions in order to interact with the audience.
Their Facebook posts are very similar to the Tweets, but include pictures of the clothes. The interactive questions, however, are not featured on the Facebook fan page.

I haven’t had a chance yet to go check out their in-store or shop window promotions, but I will do that in the coming week. I also just found out that they have an “AE Blog” at which I will take a closer look as well.

My Recap

I think our visit to TargetCast was very insightful and helpful, and it was the best way to learn what media agencies actually do. I read about media agencies in the textbooks during my undergrad studies, but to hear it from working professionals and to learn about their real-life examples is much more valuable and tangible than the dry theory.

What intrigued me most is the integrated approach that TargetCast is offering its clients. The possibility to develop and plan an overall media strategy that includes every available channel sounds like a very challenging but at the same time highly interesting task.

I did not expect interactive TV to already be at such a highly advanced state. So when Heather and Colette told us about their new “app” for interactive TV, I was really surprised. However, it seems to me like there are only a few steps missing until the TV becomes a large-sized tablet with a remote.

My biggest aha moment was when I realized how blurred the lines between the different kind of media have actually become. I knew that the different media channels have grown closer, but I was never fully aware of the fact that they have actually merged.

I really enjoyed our visit at TargetCast. When walking through the agency, you could feel that the ambience is very personal and friendly; two attributes that are very important to me when it comes to the work environment. You could also see that open-mindedness and respect are highly valued in the company’s culture. I loved the fact that Steve Farella stopped by and spend a few minutes of his precious time telling us about TargetCast’s history – something that would most certainly not happen at a large-sized company.

I find TargetCast’s field of work very interesting and would definitely like to find out more about it. Strangely enough, after I learned about media agency work during my undergrad studies, I did not feel like it would fit my interests. Now, however, I would definitely consider it an option. Apart from that, the size of the agency and the resulting relationships between colleagues and possibilities to grow are very appealing to me.