Retail Brands Can Have Fun Too!

Being that Instagram is the social media platform I check most often, I am surprised I haven't written about it yet. Well, here it goes! Let me tell you about my most recent experience with the platform. Recently I started following a few different retail Instagram accounts (I am starting a career in retail come July). I felt that following some accounts from the industry could give me some insight into a few things before starting my job. I was actually very impressed by the posts that Macy's was posting. The creativity and photograph quality was much better than I was expecting. There are a variety of posts done by them including: posts pushing product, posts about what is happening around the world, and posts about what Macy's themselves are doing outside of selling product. Their posts are done at a consistent rate, about once a day, which is great for the brand. Sunday started the #macysflowershow in their Herald Square store. I had never heard about this event, but thanks to Instagram I now am super intrigued and look forward to seeing the posts of the show. The ones so far have been absolutely beautiful. I've learned that retail is not all about just what the store sells, but can be about the fun events they get to host! If you have brands you love, go follow them on Instagram! You might learn something new about the brand that makes you even more loyal. 

Generation Like

I recently watched a video about the influence of social media on PBS called 'Generation Like'. It gave me so much insight as to how marketers can use social media to benefit their brand more efficiently. Here are a few things I learned form the video:

Consumers use social media for a variety of things such as empowerment, to become 'liked' and to be well known nationwide. Consumers want to feel a sense of satisfaction with themselves when they post something and get a certain number of likes. Social media is influencing consumers to be interactive to the extent that the consumer is the marketer for brands. “Social Currency” means the amount of clicks, likes, and page views, that a video, page, or picture may receive. This correlates into money for companies, because it is the venue in which marketers are able to reach their target markets. Brand engagement is crucial to all brands investing in these young You-Tubers. The whole reason for the brands to invest is so that these people will engage with their brand more. When the consumer's attention is caught by the videos or posts being made with the brand involved, the consumer then becomes curious about the brand. These You-Tubers bring the consumers to the websites of the brands to allow them to learn more about the brand and want to buy it

It is very positive to me to know that as an individual if I wanted I could potentially reach such a large amount of people with the information I want. The possibility and potential social media gives is beyond imaginable, which is exciting. 

Generation Like Video: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/generation-like/ 

The Power of Pandora

While outside running one day, I was jamming to my Pandora station as always. Typically I hear a couple songs each time I exercise that I have never heard before. I always look to see who the artist is and research them to see what other songs they have. On this particular day the artist I came across was Kortney Jamaal Pollard also known as "Mali Music". His voice intrigued me, and I wanted to learn more about him and his music. The first song I heard was called "I Believe". It spoke some very truthful concepts going on in this world in relation to religion and beliefs. I immediately connected with his music and listened to his entire CD. I believe is truly a beautifully written song about continuing to believe in Christ in this world of chaos. The beginning of the chorus "I Believe" says: 

"I'm just one ah them ole people who's got to hold on 

Sometimes I can't see but I still believe"

Those words are so simple, yet so meaningful in my life. Mali Music is now one of my favorite artists and it all came about through Pandora. This shows the power of Pandora for new and upcoming artists. This social media platform is a way for them to be heard by listeners that choose to hear genres similar to the type of music they produce. None of my friends had heard of him, and now they have all because one Pandora listener heard his song. Word of mouth is the most effective form of marketing and thats exactly what I did when I found out about Mali music; i told everyone I knew. I even posted it on my Instagram account. (and as you see am writing a blog about it). 

I dare you to take a few minutes and check him out: http://www.igrooveradio.com/meet-kortney-jamaal-pollard-singer-songwriter-producer-mali-music/