My News Choice

I feel watching the daily news or nightly news is just way more feasible for me and my lifestyle as a college student. Watching the local news station is convenient for me because I can tune in to things that I want to listen to or easily turn the station when I feel it' something that doesn't relate to me.

New York Times and BBC have too much of a complicated layout to me. Although News Week breaks down each different category depending on your interests I feel I don't really have the time to fish for information. The local news is usually to the point and updated with current information.Although one thing I do not like about local news is the way sometimes they will keep you waiting on a breaking story until the news is almost over. By that time I'm frustrated and ready to stop watching completely.

New York Times and BBC both have a lot more than what the local news offers. they have news on what's going on all over the world including if you want to archive and read about past events. I also like the way you can look up sports events, access weather, health, science, whatever you decide you want to read about. You don't have that option with news on television.

Reading national and local news is something I never really thought about doing unless I just happen to be on the Internet on my phone and I see a news heading that really catches my eye. Reading news more often like New York Times and BBC is something I definitely might start doing just be a little more informed on what's going on in the world around me. As much as I access the Internet a day I really need to catch up on ad least 5 minutes of daily news!!!

What's In Your News?

There are many different ways that people receive their daily news. New York Times and BBC are two of the many popular sources for receiving news. I prefer to watch my daily local news to receive information about current events and issues that effect my life. I like to watch my local news because it is a habit. I like the easy access of turning on the television versus going onto the Internet and searching for information.

I like to watch my local news however, New York Times and BBC offer more options to viewers. While observing the websites I had more control on what topics I wanted to read immediately versus waiting on the news anchor to talk about it. On New York Times website they have many categories that can relate to different people's interest. There were blogs about different topics. I also like that they had a list of the most popular topics because that helped me realize what topics were recognized the most. BBC had the option for viewers to listen to the news by audio.

Overall I believe that the New York Times and BBC are good sources to receive news. They have the current news topics on their front page. These sources are helpful for viewers who can not wait for their local news or they want to know about current events immediately.

Halloween Serves As a Great Advertising Vender

I have noticed that Halloween is not only a big holiday for children but for adults too! When I was younger I saw costumes that reflected just a few characters such as pumpkins, witches, ghosts, and clowns. There are more costume selections that are offered now. Adults have decided to join in on this holiday by having costume parties, and dressing in character on their jobs. Halloween has become a day of advertisements for many brands and celebrities. I saw several people dressed up as celebrities. Some people might have dressed as celebrities because they are fans, or they just wanted to poke fun. While others noticed different costumes, awareness and reinforcement of a particular person or a product was developed at that moment. So whether you thought about it or not you gave your character great publicity as you went out last night which was a great benefit for the various brands!!

Advertisements......How Effective Are They?

Today in my intergrated marketing class we disscussed ad messages and their effectiveness towards consumers. As we observed several commercials we were able to determine the different messages that brands were trying to reveal to consumers. My favorite commercial that we watch was the "Magic of Macy's-Morning". I enjoy watching this commercial because Macy's does an excellent job of telling the consumer about the different brands that they have at their department store. Many department stores offer different name brands, but Macy's will be the first to "pop" in my head because of this commercial. You can view the commercial at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ud92ZLccrY

I learned some specific points that make advertisements effective:

• they are understandable
• they have recall & recognition
• relates to the target market

Avatar???

Well honestly I thought I didn't know what an Avatar was until I recalled back to a day my friend pulled up her Avatar on her computer. I thought it was really cool and looked just like a mini image of herself but I was not to interested in finding out what exactly this Avatar was all about!! I feel Avatar is really creative and fun but I don't think yahoo has done such a great job of letting it's users really know what Avatar is about and stands for. I know it's suppose to represent me when I'm sending an email or IM but what's the purpose and why should I use it? Maybe it's just me but sending emails and IM's are not at the top of my list as things to do so maybe Avatar is not marketed for me anyway. But for the people who enjoy creative, innovative technology and spending all day on yahoo this is perfect!!!
I feel yahoo should definitely advertise Avatar more to all ages. Maybe put a advertisement on yahoo homepage, or create an article about what Avatar is exactly and why we should use it. They could also do like a little sample trial where your able to create this Avatar without setting up an account but just playing around with the different features to get people interested in really creating one for themselves.

Yahoo Avatars!!

The unique advantage about using Yahoo email accounts or applications is that you can create an avatar. Avatars are cartoon figures that an user can create that represents their identity for free! There are many options for avatars that includes different color hair, color eyes, color skin, hairstyles, and clothes. I have created my avatar to be a reflection of me. My avatar is a college student. She is shown with her books in her hand standing in a library because that's where I am or should be a lot during the school year!

I enjoy having the option to change my avatar. I am able to put different outfits on her and show her in different scenery. I think that this is a great opportunity for college students to participate in because it is fun and you can create your own person. College students also like to engage in different technological activities. I have noticed in my class that a lot of my peers did not even know what an avatar was. I think that Yahoo needs to market this feature that they provide. More college students will become interested in creating an avatar if Yahoo:

• make college students more aware of avatars by advertising ads on facebook and my space
• include more background scenery that is relevant to the target market
• provide popular clothing trends for the avatars to wear
• create phrases for avatars to be able to say

These features can help add more buzz about avatars because people will be excited to show and tell what they have created!

Vogue Goes to India!

The fashion bible known as, Vogue is looking for new customers so they decided to promote their brand in India. Vogue wants to encourage guilt-free consumption for consumers in this country.The magazine is going to be 400 pages that includes ads from Gucci to Louis Vuitton.
If the brand succeeds there will be great potential for growth because the population is constantly increasing in this country.
The obstacle that Vogue might face is the consumption of magazines in India. According to figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulation, about 6 million people subscribe to magazines out of a population with over a billion. Vogue has to market this brand so well that the consumption rate for magazines will increase. They should put there magazines in places where their target market goes to on a regular basis. The cover of the magazine can promote more people to become interested if they see someone who is very influential in their society on it.Vogue has a lot of work to do in India to make sure that they will become a successful magazine. What kind of marketing ideas do you think will help with the success of India's acceptance to Vogue?