Advert Addiction?

Welcome! Since the last blog I have decided to go on a Facebook detox...which gives me more time to spend on my blogging, assignment and actually talking to people!

Today's blog is looking at the wonderful world of television adverts! This became my focus after watching Foyles War (yes, I am cool) and ITV only advertising their own programmes for a whole hour...how and why? 

At the moment, I am finding several adverts VERY annoying. Now, this could be because I have been watching too much telly or something but still, here are a few of the adverts which have my list (this is not a good place to be)...

• You buy one, you get one free...I said you buy one...Safestyle Windows must have had this advertisement going on for a good 10 years? My sister and I know the number off by heart though, just in case you do actually want them!
• Meerkats have become a family favourite with Compare the Meerkat - but have they become a victim of their own success? A man standing in his pants seems to suggest so! Fetch me my angry trousers!
• A crying garden shed...know the one I mean? What on earth are we gaining from this advert? Other than Cuprinol calming down my shed, what else does it do? Oh wait, there goes my garden shed crying again, be right back.............
• ............. And for goodness sake, will the nation ever be saved from the singing Welsh man? What do you want from me!!

Rant over.

There are also some adverts that I love at the moment, and I guess they deserve a mention too!

• Have to completely agree with this little girl...I would want to swap a brother for a kitten too! Meow.
• This makes me think that moving in with someone will be okay
• And if I was a pony this is how I would spend my days #danceponydance

Thank you to those who commented on the last blog - it was lovely to hear from you!

Let me know if you agree/disagree/what adverts you love and hate :)

Ciao for now x

Let's get to know each other...

I stole this idea from the blog at work (shhh...don't tell!)

Look, you've been reading this for a few weeks now, the honeymoon period is over and I think it is time to get to know each other a bit better...

I have laid bare my LinkedIn profile and you can read all the random tweets I write.

Other key facts about me...

I am 21.
I love writing my blog to you lovely readers.
You can bribe me with some Revels.
Zumba is my favourite form of exercise.
Owls are my favourite animals (although I do love my cat - he is a bit like an owl!)
Having a laugh is my favourite way to spend my time.
Must haves include my phone, a chunky statement ring and my car.

Anything you want to know about me? Comment and I will reply! (Obviously lets be sensible here...)

But...I want to know about you! Comment and say hello, let me know who is out there and what you think! Think of this as a virtual cuppa and chat...!

Ciao x

Choo! Choo! The Social Media train is leaving from platform 6...

Before I start this I just want to make clear that I completely agree that kids should not be on Social Media sites under the age of 14 so anything I refer to hereafter is OVER 14 years old. Thank you.

I use to have a stereotypical view that anyone over the age of around 35 had a cynical view of social media, and they thought it was just for chatting to people or causing trouble. I could not have been more wrong! The average age of LinkedIn users is between 35 and 44 (source) and they post a wealth of information, communicate and have a full understanding of the opportunities.

So is there a cut off limit for the age on social media?

Personally I believe that anyone and everyone should be on there - why not?! All people need to do is embrace the changes in communication methods, I have heard a lot of older people claiming that it is too hard to understand and use, but they haven't even tried it!

Lots of schools, community groups and even Which? magazine offer courses, advice and guides on how to use social media channels, so there is no excuse! 

Within businesses there are so many opportunities once staff are involved. But this means you need to get everyone to jump on-board and join the social media train, which can be hard if they are not willing to even get a ticket (hope you enjoyed that train metaphor!)

Maybe I am just being too ambitious or something but I would give up my time to teach anyone who had a genuine interest and willingness to learn...

Ciao x

What is your weapon of choice...?

Much to the annoyance of some people, I am on social media all day every day. And this got me thinking about which social media channel people prefer to use.

The main channels that I use are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

LinkedIn

I love LinkedIn from a professional social point of view. The company pages are brilliant, especially for posting links to blogs and company updates. I haven't quite got into the discussions on groups yet but hopefully this is something that I will do in the future. I know a few people who have found this to be really beneficial. I don't think I would ever pay for the premium account though...seems like a slight waste of money?! (No offence if you have it!)

Twitter

This has to be one of my favourites. 140 characters to portray your thoughts - perfect! Short, sweet and snappy is what I love about it! I use this both for personal use and to follow interesting companies/people. In my opinion I don't have a problem with employers seeing this as I don't really write anything bad on there and it can give people an insight into who I am etc. Hashtags and tagging is a great way to connect to people and see how relationships can be formed. And of course it offers the odd cat picture - purrrrfect!

Pinterest

Fairly new to this so it is taking me a while to build up my boards and pin on a regular basis! I love the idea of an online pinboard - which I can share with my friends and build my ideas for different projects such as my house (I can but dream!)

And last but by no means least... Facebook! Well there won't be a link to my Facebook because I am going to keep that as private as possible! Where would my friendships be without good old FB?! I use this to keep in contact with my friends and post photos of our days and nights out. 

So...my question is what is your preferred method of keeping social? Does it differ between personal use and company use? It would be great to hear your thoughts!

Feel free to have a mooch around the links...connect, follow, repin!

Ciao x

A day trip to London well spent...

Yesterday I went to the highly anticipated Technology For Marketing and Advertising 2013 event in London Earls Court. Did it deliver? Hell yes it did.

As a placement student who had never been to an event like this before, it took me a moment to get over the overwhelming size of the venue and the sheer number of booths there, and I was amazed that everyone who had gathered under this one roof were the people I am inspiring to be!

As my job role and interest is primarily social media I focused on the seminars that would give me the most info about it.

The first seminar I attended was titled: "I'm social, my brand isn't...oops" which gave me an invaluable insight into thee differences between individual and business social media accounts. The speakers were so refreshing and I came out of the seminar ready to get the communication following and the relationships growing!

Secondly, I attended "The Social Break-Up" which gave me an idea into why contacts choose to unfollow/unsubscribe to companies.

Finally I learnt all about getting personalisation right. I learnt how the adverts on my Facebook page are supposedly targeted to me (although the adverts don't work on me!)

All in all it was a fabulous day and tweeting #TFMA throughout the day led to some lovely new followers on my twitter account.

Great minds really did come together!

I would love to know if you were there and what you thought about the day so please comment below!

Ciao x

Commercial Calendar - What's your favourite day?

With Valentines Day coming up I thought I would delve into the crazy world of the commercial calendar and whether we are falling victim to the ever-expanding pressure to shower each other in gifts for each of these days.

So far this year we have already "celebrated":

• National Bird Day - Jan 5th
• Cuddle Up Day - Jan 6th
• National Dress Up Your Pet Day - Jan 14th

Miss these? Me too!

Valentines Day has to be the most impressive though. I have never felt so much pressure to express my feelings towards someone, surely you can do this any day of the week?! It seems to me that Christmas finishes and straight away I am surrounded by hearts, flowers and teddy bears. I have never seen so many variations of cards before, there is something for everyone - boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, best friend, secret crush, cat, dog...!

We do have a few delights to look forward to over the next few months but my personal favourite has to be... Hug a ginger day - March 30th.

What do you think of all these days?

Ciao x

How do you choose a uni?

At college or 6th form? Wondering what to do next? Considering studying business or marketing at uni?

Four years ago I was in your shoes! At 17 I had no idea where I wanted to be in 5 years time, but I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in marketing and I wanted to go to uni. I had considered the other options of work-based learning or college but for me uni was the way forward.

The next task was choosing a course. After evaluating the different one available I chose Business and Marketing because I wanted to do Marketing and also get an insight into the other areas of Business.

I chose Sheffield Hallam because I fell in love with the city and the course.

I absolutely love my course and the whole university experience, and I would recommend it to anyone who was thinking about going - but I really do believe that the higher tuition fees should be considered too, there are so many other options to look into!

Top things to consider when choosing a uni course:

• Look into the modules for each year - do you like the sound of at least 90%? (I didn't like the finance but love everything else!)
• Is there a sandwich year available? (I cannot stress how much experience you will get from this)
• Do you think you want to study this non-stop for 3/4 years? (It isn't like A-Levels!)
• Do you like writing essays and reading around the subject? (It has to be done)

Ciao x