By: Allison Haworth In weeks past, there have been many occurrences of crisis communications at play. Debatably one of the most demanding sectors of PR, crisis communications is “the effort taken by a company to communicate with the public and stockholders when an unexpected event occurs that could have a negative impact on the company's reputation” (PR News Online). Most large companies outsource a PR agency to take care of all their PR needs. In one incident lately, NBC was in dire need of crisis communications for the host of The Today Show, Matt Lauer. After sexual assault allegations unwrapping this past week, the crisis communications team for NBC was hard at work considering Lauer was fired only 24 hours after the discovery of sexual assault accusations. One may think, how does crisis communications have time to alleviate the situation in 24 hours? A major part of crisis communications entails the reconfiguration of a company's image after a traumatic event has happened. In order to deviate this negative spotlight, crisis communications plans are implemented as soon as possible to recover from the impact. As for NBC, the termination of Lauer was most likely the first step in getting this out of the news. While there are many hidden steps to recover The Today Show’s reputation, one of the steps was to issue a public apology from Matt Lauer himself; To take responsibility for his actions and show that NBC doesn’t tolerate or value those actions. In just about any major negative news story, crisis communications departments are quick to react to recover and repair the reputation of the company at risk. Crisis communications is hard work but necessary to keep the negative news stories out of the media. Sources: http://www.prnewsonline.com/lauer-rose-and-the-new-face-of-crisis-pr/ http://www.preparedex.com/six-guidelines-for-ethical-crisis-communications/ =
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By: Lindsay Thomas
While you’re eating turkey and watching the football game this week, you are going to be surprised when you are interrupted with some not so traditional commercial breaks. Instead of your normal two-minute commercial blocks, you will now see six-second commercials taking up majority of the screen while the game is still going on in a small square on the side. What is Fox Sports’ reasoning for doing this nonsense? First and foremost, Fox believes that these types of ads are less disruptive to the viewer than normal commercials currently airing. And second, The National Football League has been struggling with its TV ratings as many viewers are unhappy with the frequency of commercial breaks and interruptions during the game. Ultimately, the goal of this initiative is to increase viewer satisfaction so viewers feel less annoyed when there are frequent commercial breaks. This new endeavor in commercial breaks is a test run to determine the success of engagement with ads and the overall satisfaction of viewers. There will be nine of these ads that will play during the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions Thanksgiving games, which will only replace one typical two-minute and 20-second commercial block. Depending on the overall success of these new advertisements, this strategy could become the new norm during NFL games. So this thanksgiving when you are stuck in your food coma, make sure to pay special attention to the commercials during the game! Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/business/media/nfl-six-second-commercials.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FAdvertising%20and%20Marketing&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=8&pgtype=collection&_r=0 By: Hannah Banas When Twitter first launched in 2006, it started gaining exponential popularity. It was a huge success with young people because it was a new and innovative way to communicate with friends. However, as years have passed, CEOs and business owners have started to use Twitter to promote their companies. It seems that as more companies are now tweeting than individuals. Even though people seem to be tweeting less, it is still a viable advertising technique for companies for these reasons. 1. Easy communication with customers People like being able to reach out to a company with ease to give them feedback and ask questions. The easier it is for a customer to connect with a company, the more satisfied they will be. Twitter allows for this quick interaction, so all companies should take advantage. 2. Spread the Word Quickly Twitter allows companies to spread their product or service to people who would otherwise not know about it. It is a cheap and easy way for companies to connect with possible new customers. 3. Free Analytics Since Twitter does not cost companies anything, unless they want their ads to be further up on peoples’ feeds, companies get information on reactions to their ads. They can see whether people like the product based on how many likes and favorites the Tweet gets. By Rachel Zetwick This past summer, I was a PR and Marketing Coordinator at the Ohio State Fair. During the first night of the Fair, a ride malfunctioned and killed an 18-year-old man and injured seven. As soon as I got back to my desk after the accident, I received calls from NBC’s “Today” show, CNN and multiple local news networks. While my team and I learned about the importance of crisis communication under very dire circumstances, we left with new skills we did not expect to gain. Here are my three biggest takeaways from my crisis communication experience: 1. Have a plan in place Before the Fair, all employees attended a crisis communication meeting to prepare for a variety of potential crises. We collaborated with emergency staff, created a group communication system and shared documents that detailed plans for all aspects of the Fair. 2. Treat media to the same standard After the accident, we created a staging area for the media to go live and take B-roll. We made sure that all networks and reporters had the same access to footage so we did not give anyone preferential treatment. 3. Think about your scheduled content During the months before the Fair, we scheduled numerous Facebook posts, press releases and blog posts. We immediately changed our editorial calendar so that we did not provide insensitive information to our audiences. By: Kiley Harris Public relations is a constantly evolving field. With new advances in technology and social media, public relations has had to adapt in order to stay current with the trends and continue to reach target audiences efficiently. With each year that passes, there are new trends in PR to look out for. Forbes published an article this year about 6 PR trends to keep an eye out for in 2018, that all aspiring PR students should educate themselves on in order to get ahead of competition in future classes, internships, or potential jobs. We have mentioned below three of the most important trends from this article for students to know and use to their advantage in setting themselves apart in the internship and job market. 1. “Personal branding and thought leadership will go beyond executives.” This PR trend is especially beneficial for those working in a company, but who do not hold a top position. This trend implements a more companywide approach that allows for greater reach due to more people working on a brand. This is beneficial both for the workers, and for the ability to reach a larger target audience. Since this is a growing trend, getting experience with branding and thought leadership as a student, will help you set yourself apart from your peers. 2. “Owning your digital landscape will never be more important to attract followers.” Developing a strong digital landscape will be very important in PR for 2018 because it is getting more difficult to attract followers with an abundance of content. Being able to maximize SEO so your landscape comes up first, as well as having a good grip on the digital landscape in general can help set students looking for jobs stand out from their competitors as this trend continues to grow. 3. “PR will need to understand business goals besides its own.” PR professional will need to be able to understand the goals of other areas that can use PR as a tool such as marketing, recruiting, investor relations, etc. This will allow collaboration between these areas with PR for more successful communication within a company. As PR students, it would be very beneficial to take classes in these related fields and expose yourself to them in order to put yourself ahead on the job market as this trend becomes more important. PR students must be curious individuals. Being curious and researching up and coming trends, and then acting upon them by gaining experience in those trends can help you really stand out from your peers, elevating you in the job market. Educating yourself on these trends above, the other 3 trends, which can be found in this article posted by Forbes, and on any other trends you research is an extremely beneficial and smart thing to do. This shows initiative and can help you gain experience you need to land your dream job. By: Kendall Cree With the new season of Stranger Things just coming out, Netflix decided to implement various marketing strategies in order to promote media attention. These strategies were able to make the buzz of the already popular show, even more hype. One of the best forms of marketing the show’s producers implemented was using interactive advertising. Netflix, the creators of Stranger Things, partnered with the company Lyft to provide an interactive experience for its viewers to promote the new season coming out. On October 26th and 27th nationwide Lyft users were able to change its map in which the cars would show up as common Stranger Things items in the show such as waffles, Christmas lights, trucker hats, and the show logo. In select locations, there was also an interactive car ride with pulsating ceilings, flickering lights, and many other show themed features. In addition, to partnering with Lyft, Netflix decided to use their social media to release trailers and other teasers. They released trailers about the upcoming season along with posters and a game for fans to download and play. This helped create brand loyalty and add more attention to the upcoming show. If this wasn’t enough advertising, along with the listed above strategies, Netflix also worked with Eggo brand waffles. Eggo claimed they were unaware of the iconic Eggo waffles being used in the show so frequently and were more than happy to help promote the season. Eggo used their waffles as an ad space for the show and even made recipes “to enjoy while watching the show”. By implementing all of these strategies, Netflix was able to advertise to many different demographics. Lyft is mainly used for 16-30 year-olds, social media and a video game is for the younger demographic, and recipes can advertise to moms who cook and could tell their children and family about the show. All in all, I believe Netflix made excellent strides towards advertising for their already successful show to help make it even more popular. Source- https://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/23469.as By: Kaya Speros Advertisements have taken on an entirely new role as of the past few years. Instead of hoping to reach the desired audience and attain the needed sales goals through TV commercials or print, social media has made advertising a much more prevalent part of our everyday lives. You want to reach a mass audience? All you have to do is post on your social media account and boom, 1,000 people see it within 24 hours. Companies have adopted this idea and developed the role of Brand Ambassadors. A Brand Ambassador is generally someone hand-picked by the brand who embodies the imagine they want to portray to the public. That individual then instantly becomes an advertiser for the company. Social media has made it possible for brands to constantly have their products in your feeds. If you are a retail store and your target audience is young girls, what better way to engage them than with someone they can relate to? Someone they look up to within their own group! According to oncampusadvertising.com, people are four times more likely to make a purchase if referred to by a friend. Brand Ambassadors are successfully bringing the brand to the level of their audience through people they trust. By: Isabel Mayoras Most people at some point think to themselves “my Tweets are so creative and unique I don’t know why I don’t get more retweets/likes?”, I know I have! We all see friends of ours who get a lot of Twitter interactions, and we wonder what they’re doing right. I’m here to tell you exactly what it is they’re doing, and how you can adopt those techniques for yourself! 1. Optimize your Twitter’s look People are very drawn to aesthetics. That being said, the first things your potential followers see are your profile photo, your header photo, and your bio. 2. Be #Searchable Hashtags may seem “lame” because it shows you’re trying to promote your Twitter, but it actually really helps! Doing it in silly ways that still make your tweet funny without begging for attention are key. 3. Be Relatable People love when a tweet describes themselves to a tee. Make sure your tweets aren’t too “you specific” and instead talk about daily struggles that many people can relate to! 4. Keep it Straight and to The Point! Most people on Twitter aren’t trying to read an entire 140-character tweet because that’s too much work. The best tweets are short and sweet but still get your point across. 5. Use Visual Aids Images and videos are widely popular on Twitter, even if they aren’t YOUR photo! There’s a reason Twitter has a feature that lets you search gifs while you’re writing your tweet… because they make the tweet better!!! Don’t be afraid to search for a gif that provides a visual representation of your tweet! Photo Source: http://blog.nycdatascience.com/student-works/twitter-scraping/ By: Joel Primack
A crisis can happen any time, anywhere when you’re least suspecting it. Similar to how firemen respond to a fire, each member of the team has a role to perform. When dealing with a crisis, you should have a team in place, prepared for when one arises. Your team should be comprised of:
To read more on this subject, check out this article: http://www.jaffepr.com/blog/crisis-management-preparedness-are-you-ready By: Chloe Tykal In a new advertising campaign, Barbie® is promoting its newest doll, a collaboration with fashion house Moschino. For the most part, everything looks the same: very pink, very fashionable and very Barbie®. One thing stands out very clearly from every other Barbie® ad ever made: the featured child playing with Barbie® is a boy. This is the first time in the 56 years of the Barbie® brand that a boy has ever been in an advertising campaign. Although he is featured alongside two girls, the boy is the face of the entire campaign. His face is the one featured on the Moschino Instagram, earning 15.4 thousand likes on the social media app. In the advertisement, the boy hands Barbie® her doll-sized Moschino bag and proclaims that “Moschino Barbie® is SO fierce” before winking at the camera. The limited edition dolls sold out in under an hour and are being sold online through second-party retailers for upwards of $300. Much of the doll’s success is being credited towards the diversity of the advertisement. Since the ad first premiered there has been an overwhelmingly strong social media response. Check out the full Moschino Barbie® advertisement here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TULVRlpsNWo By: Erin Antonelli On October 12, Facebook announced it would test out a new shopping feature on its site. The feature, called Canvas, will begin testing in select areas of the country. The idea behind Canvas is to cut out the middleman between Facebook and retailers. When users click on in-feed ads they will no longer be directed to the company’s website, but instead be able to purchase directly through Facebook. It also allows for users to browse through other items that the company sells. Currently, there are a limited number of brands. It is mostly larger retailers such as Target and Niemen Marcus. If Canvas is successful, however, the number of retailers could expand. Facebook developed the feature in response to the needs of the user. Many users no longer look at Facebook solely as a place to connect with family and friends. According to Facebook’s research, nearly half the people who visit their sites were actively seeking new products. This feature will meet their needs as well as drive sales for the businesses they are purchasing from. Facebook is not the first social media site to join in the e-commerce game. Both Pinterest and Twitter have seen success with shopping features. Facebook is, however, the largest with around 1.23 billion users. Adding a shopping feature could entice even more users or convince current users to spend more time on the site. By: Emily Lammers People across America rejoice as McDonalds rolls out its all day breakfast menu this week. With breakfast being the golden time of day for these golden arches, the all day breakfast menu hopes to capture a specific audience not only in the morning, but also all day long. Many argue that this breakfast breakthrough is a desperate attempt to bring in customers in the company’s lowest slump in decades. McDonalds has tried to produce a “healthy” image recently, which hasn’t done much for attracting a younger generation and has alienated their main customers. As McDonalds makes bold moves in order to recapture the drifting millennials, breakfast might be the perfect way to do it. Why? Its so simple. McDonalds is great at breakfast. They know how to do breakfast and might as well capitalize on it. This is a much simpler move for McDonalds since there is no “rebranding” necessary. However, there may be some downsides to this move that might negatively impact McDonalds profits. For one, rarity sells, if it’s only available in the morning, more people are going to go to McDonalds before 10:45am to ensure consumption of breakfast food. Therefore, there is now less incentive to visit specifically in the morning. Will you be rushing out to get your 3pm Egg McMuffin? By: Emily Lammers Thousands lined up on the morning of April 19 outside of Targets across the country. Since the January announcement of Lilly Pulitzer’s partnership with Target there has been endless buzz on social media and from preppy girls everywhere. Some expressed pure joy for the release; others quite aggressively said this move would devalue the Lilly Pulitzer brand. However, Target’s work with Lilly Pulitzer is turning out to be one of the most highly anticipated of the 150 limited-time designer partnerships it’s ever done. Target executives say the partnership’s success doesn’t have much to do with how many or how quickly products are sold. To Target it is already successful just by the buzz and excitement it has provoked. In January, it was a trending topic on Twitter and has continually been a popular subject on social media since then. The success of the partnership was no longer questioned as the collection sold out within minutes across the country and online. By: Paige Roberts I’m sure many of your may have noticed the recent update of having sponsored advertisements when scrolling through your Twitter feed. However, your Twitter profile may also be experiencing some major changes in the upcoming months. According to, recode.net, Twitter will soon be experimenting with including advertisements into users profiles. Some people are wondering how this will affect the future of Twitter. Will Twitter users continue the use of the app even when it’s turning into one big advertisement? Will this bring bad PR to the company? There are many factors to consider when making such a big change. One hiccup that the newest feature of the app is facing is the use of advertisements on verified accounts. Most celebrities are verified on the Twitter app, meaning they are the real and official account of the person. Along with being a celebrity many are sponsored by major companies. Recode.net noted that Twitter is avoiding the use of advertisements on verified accounts to avoid the collision of competing sponsors being promoted on a celebrity’s account. If Twitter did take the next step of using advertisements on verified accounts there would have to be extreme measures taken in order to avoid any mix ups of sponsors to certain Twitter users. By: Paige Roberts Public Relations and branding is everywhere; billboards while you’re driving down the highway, on the radio, television commercials; literally everywhere. But one source of PR and branding that has come to attention in recent days is, Will Ferrell. Yes, the comedy legend Will Ferrell is more or less a walking PR campaign for a number of different brands. However he does so in a rather discrete way. He isn’t starring in commercials in order to endorse a product or promote a brand. He campaigned for Wonder Bread in his Nascar inspired movie, Talladega Nights. He supported Lego by starting in their recent animated film. And even advertised for, Little Debbie by naming himself the newest face of the sweet treat during his appearance on the, Tonight Show. This unique branding technique inspired by Will Ferrell even has it’s own name. Adweek.com marked the term for this method as, “Ferrellvertising.” Some may think that it’s a silly way of branding for a company or even for Will Ferrell to be taking part in it. But when Wonder Bread went from being in bankruptcy to gaining $4.3 million in exposure (adag.com), who will really be laughing? Next time you’re looking to sell a good or service instead of turning to your traditional PR firm for branding techniques you may want to consider the, “Ferrellvertising” method. By: Paige Garty While the weather in Oxford is beginning to heat up, so is the attention that 72andSunny is getting. The LA-based advertisement agency was recently ranked in the Top 50 Most Innovative Companies of 2015. The CEO, John Boiler, believes that advertising is all “about behavior, not messaging.” And this is exactly the focus for the agency’s latest campaign. The “Ask the Google App” Campaign can be seen all over New York City. Frequently asked questions are posted all over the city’s landmarks to promote the usage of Google’s new app. The questions focus on the consumers’ behaviors and attitudes toward their potential, everyday thoughts. Where most companies would create a commercial to get their message out, 72andSunny submerged their ads into locations that correspond with consumers’ questions. Some of their ads include signs outside of art exhibits that read, “Ok Google, what is Conceptual art?” Every ad is positioned in specific location or on a certain item where a person might stop to ponder what they are actually looking at. 72andSunny’s campaign is just one way how agencies are making advertisements a more customary and common part of our lives. Want to know what the other 49 Most Innovative Companies are? Go here: http://www.fastcompany.com/section/most-innovative-companies-2015 By: Rosie Leuby Success stories can be the most powerful selling tool! The best way for any success story to be told is typically through word of mouth. For example, suppose a customer who you recently completed a project with speaks highly of your company to ten people. Then, those people recommend you to ten other people and soon it is posted on the web or it appears in the news media about your success story. Success stories are highly value way to market you and your company to customers. It is a way to transform a customer into a personal advocate willing to promote on behalf of you and your company. To launch a successful success story, you first have to ask yourself: 1. Are success stories right for us? 2. Can we get permission to “name names” of clients? 3. Is now the right time to suggest doing a success story? 4. What is the ideal length of a success story? Eggert, M. (2015, November 25). Success Stories: Your Most Powerful Selling Tools | ComPRehension. Retrieved March 4, 2015. by Elizabeth Robbins 1. Research keywords: A key component is to make sure that, when you are putting content on Google, to use the right terms that users most often search for. If you do not use the obvious terms that people always seem to be searching for, it is likely that your content will not be found. 2. Have those keywords flow into your meta tags:Make sure that your Title tag and your Meta Description tag are being displayed in the search results when a user searches a specific keyword. 3. Keep an eye on what the search engines are doing: Google is constantly making changes, some more noticeable than others. As Google makes changes, so should you. Stay ahead of the competition with these tips! http://www.prnewsonline.com/water-cooler/2014/11/18/3-tips-for-improving-your-ranking-on-google/ Nov. 18, 2014 by Jack Bernard Despite Instagram’s popularity around the world, many major businesses and brands are struggling to formulate a proper PR strategy on this social network. Luckily, a senior account executive from InkHouse Media and Marketing, Lee Glandorf, created a 5-step approach for businesses to increase their brand awareness on Instagram. 1. Update often. Be sure to stay active and update your account. Nike, for instance, has 7.3 million followers and averages at least one post per day. 2. Be concise. Attempt to stay at an average of 138 characters per post. 3. Tag others. According to Simply Measured’s research, a post that tags another Instagram account increases engagement by 56 percent. 4. Hashtags are important, but don’t over use them. 91 percent of brands use seven or less hashtags per post. Be sure to not overwhelm your followers. 5. Tag your location. Location tagged posts earn 79 percent more engagement versus those that do not. Is your business taking full advantage of the PR benefits on Instagram? References: https://twitter.com/instagram http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/17603.aspx by Sarah Emery In this media age, many websites encourage students to utilize social media to advertise for upcoming events, but is this really the most effective way? Here are some tips for some non-technological methods for raising awareness about events: Free Stuff! What college student doesn’t love a free t-shirt, water bottle, or treat? There are many low cost, mass produced gifts that can be distributed to eager undergraduates. Even if that pair of plastic sunglasses ends up in their bottom desk drawer, eventually they’ll find it again and remember your organization. Banner Signs! They’re fun and easy to design, inexpensive, and eye-catching. These sheet signs are perfect to place on the Hub or other heavily populated areas on campus where students walking by will definitely notice. This is a great method to reach a large audience who might not have time to stop at a booth or read a flyer. Visit a Student Org Meeting! Many groups, like the Residence Hall Association, invite speakers every week, so talk to a member of the executive board and see if you can attend a meeting. This is a great way to start a word-of-mouth campaign for your philanthropy or speaker event. Many groups will email their minutes to a ListServ- which can spark even more attention for your program. It is crucial to be creative, unique, and succinct and to always get permission for where signs or banners are placed. There are many other ways to raise awareness for events at Miami University (like posters and table signs)- next time you are planning an event, think about new and different ways to attract an audience that college students haven’t seen millions of times before by Tyler Olson Last week, an average teen named Alex had become the biggest Internet sensation, all because another female teen had posted a tweet with a picture of Alex checking out items and the caption saying “YOOOOOOOOOO”. People are questioning how and why Alex is becoming such a big sensation in such a short period of time. Is it his hair? Is it how he appeals to the public? Or was it how well he checked out his customers? Some might believe it’s because of the close resemblance to Justin Bieber’s hairstyle that had also created a worldwide Internet sensation. “This is the coolest thing to happen to Target lately, so brand managers better take advantage of it,” said Allen. This is a great opportunity for Target to take advantage of the situation and create brand awareness for the Corporation to prosper. Already, target has benefited from Alex’s Internet sensation by creating positive publicity for the corporation and boosting revenue in just the few days since the tweet had been posted. This tweet that had made Alex famous in just a couple hours shows how powerful social media is and the impact that it can have on any one individuals life. by Paige Roberts As hard as it may be, consider a world without social media. The early 2000s were the turning point for the widespread phenomena of social media. However, not only has social media changed the way we spend our time on the Internet, it also transformed the world of Public Relations. Before social media, breaking news stories would already be a day old once published in the next day’s newspaper. With the help of Twitter, breaking news can be tweeted out to an account’s followers in a matter of seconds. With the help of Facebook, there is less of a need for focus groups. Companies can use their Facebook account to have two-way communication to gain feedback from their users. Twitter and Facebook are only two of the popular social media sites that have been created. In a matter of 14 years, social media has managed to change the world of Public Relations from sending a “fax-blast” press release to sending a simple 140-character tweet. Having to collect a group of people for a lengthy focus group, to a Facebook chat with a consumer. What’s the next social media innovation coming our way? And what will happen to Public Relations when it comes? by Shannon Kinney If you happened to step outside yesterday, October 22nd, you probably noticed the hoards of people crowded around The Farmer School of Business. Contrary to popular belief, it was not the line coming out of Dividends. The massive amount of people standing on the corner of High and Patterson were protesting to display their disapproval of George Will, a Washington Post columnist, coming to give a speech. Many students didn’t like the idea that Miami University was paying is a whopping $48,000 to come speak after he published a controversial piece, “Colleges become the victims of progressivism” on The Washington Post, about campus rape and sexual assault earlier this year. As many people are well aware, sexual assault has been a reoccurring issue specifically on Miami’s campus. It is not something that is taken lightly here in Oxford, Ohio. The scrutiny of the matters regarding campus rape that was shared in Will’s column did not go unnoticed or unheard in this small college town. by Ellie Broaddus Within the past year, the coffee chain Starbucks has generated plenty of positive publicity through their positive and innovative Public Relations ideas, such as their Starbucks College Achievement Plan, in which they’re offering thousands of part- and full-time U.S. partners to finish their bachelor’s degree with a full tuition reimbursement. Recently, Kristie Williams, a Starbucks employee, has created a petition in order to grant Starbucks baristas permission to sport their tattoos and piercings while working. With more than 25,000 signatures from Starbucks employees all across the country, the dress code change has been approved, and Starbucks employees will soon have permission to sport visible tattoos and piercings while on the job—as long as they are deemed appropriate. It’s important for companies to pay attention to Public Relations trends as well as increase employee retention. In my opinion, Starbucks made the right choice in supporting the petition, as well as over 25,000 employees nationwide. Attitudes towards more relaxed dress codes for employees in major chain companies have become a lot more common during the past few years, including major companies like Peet’s Coffee & Tea and Petsmart. However, will more companies join the bandwagon in this growing trend? by Paige Garty You and your friends go on a hiking trip and to remember your good times you snap a ‘selfie.’ Later, you post that picture onto social media. Little do you know you and your social media followers are not the only ones who can see the picture from your hiking excursion. Ditto Labs in Massachusetts created new software that scans people’s photos from different social media sites for companies to track how their customers are responding to their product in everyday life. 1.8 billion photos are uploaded to social networking sites every day. This means 1.8 billion photos are being scanned every day from sites such as Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr. The software allows companies to track the logos and patterns on people’s clothing, the location of the picture, and even reads facial expressions to determine the satisfaction of the customer. The new program is a dream come true for marketing firms. They can now carry out extensive research with little effort and can find out vast information about their products’ consumers. Based on the results form Dittos Labs’ program, Advertisers can find out exactly how they should target their customers. You may be thinking that this is totally intrusive and simply cannot be legal, but the director of Big Brother Watch (a group that challenges policies which it believes threaten people’s privacy) says otherwise. Emma Carr told MailOnline, “Social media companies are well within their rights to scan photos for marketing purposes, which will certainly come as a surprise to many users.” I guess it is true what they say: be careful what you post on the Internet! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2791977/smile-advertisers-watching-marketing-firms-scanning-social-media-photos-clues.html |
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