Monica Nguyen Blog #1

With the Communications Practice program and particularly the Evolving Industry class, I hope to learn about different opportunities that a career in marketing and communication provides and to obtain an in-depth perspective on them through the site visits that we will make as part of the class. While I am searching for hands-on educational experience and internships to sharpen my skills as a communication practitioner, I remain open as far as finding a specific industry sector to launch my career. I have done many PR internships in the media and entertainment industry in Los Angeles ranging from a boutique PR firm to a PR agency to actual corporate PR. I have worked for many exciting clients and have thoroughly enjoyed each of my experiences. I have been fortunate to have had learning opportunities in the entertainment industry by virtue of having lived in Los Angeles. Now that I am in New York City, I am ready to open my learning horizons to different industry sectors .

I believe that this course provides the coaching, mentoring and guidance as well as the skills and practical knowledge that will help launch me into a fulfilling career.

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For "The Target is You" final project, I would like to follow the brand IBM Smarter Planet. I chose to follow this brand because I think it is remarkable how a company that was founded in 1911, focusing solely on enterprise IT and corporate business for the major part of the 20th century, manages to effectively increase its relevance to the lay public and the young generation of this century.  I am so impressed with the Smarter Planet campaign and how it turned IBM--a pure IT company which the average man has no idea about the role that it actually plays in our daily lives —into a trendy and socially conscious company that engages the consumer and the public.

 

On the IBM Smarter Planet page, they describe a smarter planet as one that is “Instrumented. Interconnected. Intelligent”. Instrumented so that all events and information can be captured in real-time, Interconnected so that they can be aggregated, communicated, contextually reported and analyzed, Intelligent so that they can be processed to automate decision making and predict outcomes.  "On a smarter planet, we want to change the paradigm from react to anticipate." For five years, IBMers have been working with companies, cities and communities around the world to build a Smarter Planet.

There have been enormous advances, as business leaders are using an explosion of data to transform their enterprises and institutions through analytics, mobile technology, social business and the cloud.

We've also seen how this new era has changed the very nature of business.  They’re changing how their decisions are made. They're redesigning how their teams work and reassessing how to serve their customers.

Since introducing the smarter planet concept, IBM has collaborated with more than 600 organizations worldwide that each does their part in making this vision a reality.

IBM Smarter Planet's branding is recognized through their logo of the enlightened planet. Each Smarter Planet concept is mirrored after that logo. IBM Smarter Planet also does a thorough job on social media outlets and has segmented Facebook pages such as People for a Smarter Planet and Students for a Smarter Planet. Their graphics and interactive marketing is also phenomenal and really drew me to look up what they were in the first place.


I am truly "fan-girlin" on their designs because their videos and graphics are so fresh and innovative and really appeal to the public and me as a graphic designer. I hope through this Journal I can dive in deeper to see how IBM is using IBM Smarter Planet to set itself apart from competitors and how it has established its image in the minds of the next generation.