Wednesday, 5 January 2011

Early thoughts and research (now irrelevant).

I have included this random thoughts and research page in the blog because it gives an idea of my thought processes from early on in the project.

These below techniques were taken from random websites offering advice on how to successfully promote a business.


Get your domain printed onto umbrellas and give them away in a city centre
one day when it’s raining.
www.sussexpromotions.co.uk offer such services

Forward your website to all your friends on Facebook & MySpace,
and ask them to forward it to their friends.
Only a small pass along rate can still result in sales.

Get onto all the social bookmarking sites such as Stumble Upon,
Digg, Delicious, simpy, etc and spread the word that you exist.

Try SMS advertising, it’s another cost effective route to promoting
your business, companies such as www.textmarketer.co.uk offer this service

Social bookmarking buttons are very useful. Try www.addthis.com which gives
you buttons & a list of all the main BM sites, then it’s just a matter of
going through each of them and submitting your site details. Great button
for your site as well with data options to see how many are bookmarking you.

Guerrilla Marketing is getting more popular.
Non-damaging forms of advertising are picking up lots of press,
such as those offered by SAS http://www.streetadvertisingservices.com/

Buy expired domains similar to your own that are already generating traffic,
redirect them to your own site. Such as www.expireddomains.com

Research new ideas for advertising your business & site,
try www.adcracker.com/creativeideas to get those creative juices flowing!

Offer an affiliate programme for your product or services,
there are tons of programmes out there to chose from that will get your
n/ame and products out there.

Peg your business on Google Maps, and put a description and link down
so people know what you’re all about.

Set up an eBay Shop and do a very detailed Me page – the search engines do pick these up.
Link back to your site wherever you are allowed to.

List your business in yell.com

Whilst on this topic, list in other main directories such as Thomson local,
thebestof.com and other similarly popular sites.

Try Facebook advertising, their latest offering is cheap and very targeted.
Highly recommended.

Facebook advertsing is actually a very effective method and can cost as little as a £1 a day!

It targets exactly the audience you want in the desired area you want which would provide fantastic exposure.

Get your domain printed onto umbrellas and give them away in a city centre
one day when it’s raining.
www.sussexpromotions.co.uk offer such services

Forward your website to all your friends on Facebook & MySpace,
and ask them to forward it to their friends.
Only a small pass along rate can still result in sales.

Get onto all the social bookmarking sites such as Stumble Upon,
Digg, Delicious, simpy, etc and spread the word that you exist.

Try SMS advertising, it’s another cost effective route to promoting
your business, companies such as www.textmarketer.co.uk offer this service

Social bookmarking buttons are very useful. Try www.addthis.com which gives
you buttons & a list of all the main BM sites, then it’s just a matter of
going through each of them and submitting your site details. Great button
for your site as well with data options to see how many are bookmarking you.

Guerrilla Marketing is getting more popular.
Non-damaging forms of advertising are picking up lots of press,
such as those offered by SAS http://www.streetadvertisingservices.com/

Buy expired domains similar to your own that are already generating traffic,
redirect them to your own site. Such as www.expireddomains.com

Research new ideas for advertising your business & site,
try www.adcracker.com/creativeideas to get those creative juices flowing!

Offer an affiliate programme for your product or services,
there are tons of programmes out there to chose from that will get your
n/ame and products out there.

Peg your business on Google Maps, and put a description and link down
so people know what you’re all about.

Set up an eBay Shop and do a very detailed Me page – the search engines do pick these up.
Link back to your site wherever you are allowed to.

List your business in yell.com

Whilst on this topic, list in other main directories such as Thomson local,
thebestof.com and other similarly popular sites.

Try Facebook advertising, their latest offering is cheap and very targeted.
Highly recommended.

To really capture an audience with your message try something such as
www.itflys.co.uk – floating media products. The BMW 1 series
floating around the shopping centre is captivating.

Think about using laser shows and outdoor projectors during the winter time
as it gets dark early.


My Random Notes.

DESIGN ISSUES

VISUAL STYLE

-USE OUTDOOR PROJECTORS IN STUDENT HOTSPOTS.
-USE AFTER EFFECTS AND CINEMA 4D TO CREATE MOTION GRAPHICS.
-USE THESE TOOLS TO PROMOTE THE VIDEO ON YOUTUBE AND OTHER WEBSITES.
-MAKE THE VIDEO RELEVANT TO A WIDE RANGE OF PROFESSIONS.

The use of public advertising such as student hotspots and what media would be the most effective
to get the message across?

USING THE INTERNET TO COMMUNICATE TO STUDENTS IS PARAMOUNT TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PROMOTION. STUDENTS OF ANY AGE AND/OR
PROFESSION WILL HAVE DEFINITLY FAMILIARISED THEMSELVES WITH A COMPUTER AND THE INTERNET IN THIS DIGITAL AGE.

USING THE OUTDOOR PROJECTORS WILL GENERATE A CURIOSITY BECAUSE IT WILL NOT REVEAL THE REASON FOR ITS PRESENCE. THE ONLY WAY
FOR THIS REASON TO BE REVEALED IS BY SEARCHING YOUTUBE FOR A "KEYWORD". SO, SOMETHING LIKE, "YOUTUBE - VCDUNDEE" WOULD BE
PROJECTED IN STUDENT HOTSPOTS ALONG WITH SOME EYE CATCHING EFFECTS USING AFTER EFFECTS TO MAKE SURE THE MESSAGE IS SEEN.

How to use advertising and promotion to inspire?

BY USING A FAIRLY RARE TECHNIQUE IN OUTDOOR PROJECTION, THIS WOULD SPARK INTRIGUE AND WOULD
PERHAPS GIVE AN INCREASED AWARENESS AND INSIGHT INTO VOLUNTEERING AND ITS BENEFITS. MOREOVER, IF THE VIDEO CAN SHOW VALID REASONS
WHY VOLUNTEERING WOULD GREATLY BENEIFIT STUDENTS IN THEIR PURSUIT OF FUTURE EMPLOYMENT, THEN THIS CAMPAIGN CAN BE SUCCESSFUL.


POSSIBLE AVENUES OF PROMOTION

OUTDOOR PROJECTOR ON UNION WALL OR SIMILAR PLACE?
TRAILER PLAYED BEFORE FILM AT HMC CINEMA AND DCA?
USE OF VOLUNTEER LOGOS STUCK TO REVOLVING DOORS OF UNI?
OUTDOOR SECURITY LIGHT TURNED INTO A LOGO PROJECTOR?
START A FACEBOOK VCD PAGE?
RADIO?
PROJECT OUTSIDE COLLEGES?
USE WHITESPACE MONITORS?
USE WHITESPACE COMPUTER SCREENSAVERS TO PROMOTE THE YOUTUBE LINK TO THE VIDEO?

Early Infomercial thoughts.

get someone holding another person in their palm while speaking


use green screens to do this

use typography to illustrate the spoken words

make thought bubbles

have a theme tune

get an interview with volunteer centre chief

get an interview with volunteer

come up with a set of questions to ask them
possible questions
what are the main benefits of volunteering?

what are the sort of things available?

who can volunteer?

do you need experience?

can you gain employment through volunteering?

how easy is it to get into?

 
More Thoughts
 
An investigation into the design issues of developing new media branding on a


limited budget campaign



This would obviously mean that money for production of any sort would be extremely

limited with regards to advertising - posters, postcards, stickers, the use of

airtime on radios and newpapers etc since these things all cost money (print costs etc)



The aim would most likely have to be using a free source of advertising such as online networking

such as facebook, youtube, vimeo and gumtree amoungst others.



Though that is the digital side of it, using these tools are useless unless you can

make people aware of the the various links they can go to on the internet.



An even bigger challenge is making people WANT to find out about it.



CURIOSITY should perhaps then play a big part in the promotion side of this new media

element.



Bearing in mind the new media element is an animation which must, to some degree,

captivate the viewer so that they are entertained at the same time as receiving

information that is both useful and can motivate indivduals into at least considering that

the option of gaining valuable work experience is readily available.
So what would be a good a approach?
What kind of design issues do I face?
FUNDAMENTALS must be adressed.
TYPOGRAPHY - I need to think about using an appropriate font that does not seem too formal

as in my own opinion, people should not think of volunteering as something that is overly

formal and something that comes with any kind of pressure like paid employmet would as,

ultimately volunteering is about learning what the workplace is like in the area of what

you are studying.
A fontface can be a deciding factor into how any individual percieves the information they are given.
ACCESSIBILITY - people want information at their finger tips and do not

typically want to go looking for it (unless they are curious). Using promotional techiniques to do so where the

information is directly put to them is probably the best way to do this.


Other Design Issues


Audience appeal


Theme - Dont want it to feel like the audience NEEDS to consider it; rather make the audience

BELEIVE it could be considered to be an option.


Colour Schemes - Obviously make it accessible to everyone regarding colour blind users etc

Only Visual? - Should it just be an animation that is designed for those who can see? Should

it have a narrative explaing the information also in a different medium?



Motion - How will the animation flow in such a way that it will keep the audience intrigued?



Creativity - If something is seen as out of the ordinary, good or bad, it generates curiosity,

which in turn will generate awarness of any given subject that curiosity is associated to.


Possible Solutions? (relevant to my project)

OUTDOOR PROJECTOR ON ABERTAY UNION WALL OR SIMILAR PLACE? free

TRAILER PLAYED BEFORE FILM AT HMC CINEMA AND DCA? free?

USE OF VOLUNTEER LOGOS STUCK TO REVOLVING DOORS OF UNI? 12 Stickers would cost much?

OUTDOOR SECURITY LIGHT TURNED INTO A LOGO PROJECTOR? Again, wouldnt cost much?

START A FACEBOOK VCD PAGE? Free

RADIO? Perhaps Free?

PROJECTOR OUTSIDE COLLEGES? free

USE WHITESPACE MONITORS? free

USE WHITESPACE COMPUTER SCREENSAVERS TO PROMOTE THE YOUTUBE LINK TO THE VIDEO? free

More Research



Internet traffic on YouTube has grown to represent 20 percent of total traffic including the streaming of 1.2 billion
videos per day. And tellingly, blogger.com is now the seventh most trafficked site on the web.

bill roth
president of NCCT
http://www.cleantechgrowth.com/
Extract taken from http://www.entrepreneur.com/management/greencolumnistbillroth/article203936.html

This shows the sheer volume of users passing through youtube which indicates the potential awareness factor it can have on
a brand if their promotional video was effectively communicated to the audience.

New research from Sky and the Internet Advertising Bureau in the UK on the branding effectiveness of online video
indicates that consumers are keen to investigate brands in their own time and are more open to receiving ads that are
located around quality video content.

Extracted taken from article Sky/IAB study looks at online video's branding effectiveness.

@ http://www.businessandleadership.com/marketing/item/25921-sky-iab-study-looks-at-onli

This robust study explains the effectivness of online video branding such as using youtube. It proves that it is a sound avenue
for new media branding promotion.

No comments:

Post a Comment