Monica Nguyen Blog #2

TargetCast

Our visit to TargetCast was very interesting and I really enjoyed having an in-depth view of their company. I was particularly intrigued with our discussions with Colette and Heather. They were really open about answering questions and explaining terminology and advertising lingo I was not quite clear on.

They shined a light on things I have never thought of before such as how advertising online tracks our cookies and as a result cater to us personalized advertising that targets our interests.

Colette and Heather did a wonderful job of presenting the process of advertising and explaining how both traditional and digital media channels are needed in order to successfully implement a media campaign. I also found it refreshing that they both were so honest about their own backgrounds. Colette was a political science major who started as a secretary and is now a VP. She also left the company but came back and was open about her experiences. Heather went to NYU for graduate school so it was nice to have someone to relate to and how she thought graduate school was helpful for her in her career.

The most unexpected development for me was that TargetCast is a mid-sized company that I never heard of before but they have big-name clients like hotels.com and 1-800-flowers. I also did not realize there was so much math involved and thought it was really smart of them to have an advertising placement be more precedent during a certain time of the year. For example with hotels.com, they would start advertising a couple months before summer when they knew people would be more prone to book a vacation.

It was also inspirational to have Steve Farella come in to talk to us and explain how he started the company from the bottom-up. People told him he couldn’t do it and he proved them wrong.

New media emerged and consumer media consumption habits changed so Colette and Heather discussed how they are adapting to that and have to evolve their advertising strategies. My “aha” moment was when they talked about how Shazam is being implemented into television commercials. Taking that extra step and being able to “tag” a product or company changes the way viewers will consume media.

I got a sense of openness, honesty and fun from this company. The company seems to be growing at an extremely fast rate. Elizabeth told us that they recently added a new floor because there were not enough seats for everyone in the office. When we went on the tour, we saw many empty seats and she said that they soon would be filled. I also noticed that those who were working seemed happy to be there.

I can definitely see why someone would like to work for a company like this. However, I cannot see myself working there. I have interned at a PR agency before and the structure was very similar to TargetCast. While I do see the benefits of working for an agency, I personally do not want to work for an agency. I feel that I would prefer to work for a corporate company that has their own internal communications or public relations department. I am keeping an open-mind though and am looking forward to visiting more companies and learning about them from an inside perspective. 

The Target is You: IBM Smarter Planet

With my research on IBM Smarter Planet, I have since followed them on twitter and facebook. I’ve also added their blog and tumblr to my daily feed. Their tumblr called IBMblr (insert cute emoticon reaction here) is more about IBM in general and has a few snippets of IBM Smarter Planet in it. Scrolling through their past images, they are extremely creative and have created .gifs for events such as the US Open stating the winner and ending it with the IBM Smarter Planet Logo and the tag “Let’s build a smarter planet.” IBM Smarter Planet's branding is recognized through their logo of the enlightened planet so constantly reinforcing it in fun and creative ways is key.

IBM Smarter Planet is also very strategic in what they post on Facebook and their other social media outlets. They share content that they think will interest their followers as well as post their own content. 

This was one of their own posts this week linking to an infographic (created by GOOD but content is IBM's) that particularly spoke out to me:

Also most recently, IBM has released an article and press release about the Yarra Trams in Melbourne. It discusses how the world’s largest tram network, transforms operations and passenger experience with IBM Smarter Infrastructure and Mobile Technology.

I found out about this campaign on their facebook page where they posted:

As I mentioned last week, the Smarter Planet campaign 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.

IBM Smarter Planet wants to engage the public and give them an in-depth view on the IBM technology involved in our everyday lives.

“We have all been there—a broken down train stuck on the tracks, or delays that result in missed meetings or being late for a personal event. The good news is that now, technology can help by translating the data that infrastructure already creates into meaningful insights. These insights empower public transit organizations to better understand performance, maintenance needs and the overall health of their network.

Yarra Trams is an industry leading example of how unlocking the insights from data generated by infrastructure and technology can transform an organization.”

With IBM Smarter Infrastructure technology, Yarra Trams has been able to consistently exceed its key performance measurements around tram service and punctuality. They have their entire story on the IBM Smarter Planet blog as well as an interactive graphic. 

Moving to NYC recently, I definitely felt that I could relate to this particular campaign when they mentioned the experiences of having your public transportation break down at the worst moment. I was interested in learning more about how technology can empower public transit organizations to better understand performance so that they can effectively implement more effective service.

I am excited to keep up with IBM Smarter Planet's content and continue sharing throughout the upcoming weeks.