WEB 214 Blog

Now more than ever with so many people using social media, it is crucial to have procedures in place to handle public relations for your business. Just as described in the module, communication with and about your brand happens in real time now, and businesses do not have the time they once did to take corrective measures before the bad publicity hits the press. Knowing this, I think the first thing I would do with my brand is to set up a public relations department, even if there is only one or two people in the department. I would seek out training for the team to be able to effectively react and respond to crisis situations that may negatively impact the brand. Part of the responsibilities of this department would be to handle the social media platforms that the brand utilizes and respond quickly to help mitigate the negative impact to the brand. Again, they would receive training in how to properly address the situation on the social media platforms, and how to compose posts that will take responsibility for any actions that have led to the crisis situation, express regret and remorse for such actions and provide a clear plan to remedy the situation and to ensure that such actions will not be tolerated, and take necessary measures to dismiss any employee or employees responsible for such actions. 

The brand that I chose to write this post about is Nike. I am looking at them on Instagram. They use photos and videos to put their message out on social media. Their message, not just being the brand that they are, but the message that Nike is socially conscious of current events in our world that they feel need to be addressed, and to express their position using Instagram. They do of course feature sports and offer motivation to be active and be a part of a team, but in the posts that I read, it was less of an advertisement for specific products that they sell, and more of movement to be inspired and to be socially conscious as well. 

o   What platforms do your audience use? 

My audience for my activewear ecommerce store is 60% women and 40% men, ages 25-44. Given this data and comparing it with the Pew Research Center’s data on social media platforms, Facebook and Instagram are the platforms most used by this audience, with Facebook being the most popular.

o   Where did you get this information?

I got my information from blog.pipecandy.com and linchpinseo.com.

o   What were their usage statistics?

79-82% in this age group use Facebook and 28-55% use Instagram as of the Pew Research data from 2015. 

o   How do you plan to use these platforms together to reach your audience?

I plan to use both Facebook and Instagram to reach my target audience. I would use Facebook to create an ad campaign promoting my site and products. I would use Instagram in the same way. I’ve noticed more and more sponsored ads in my Instagram feed lately and they are for products that I am interested in and frequently look at online.

o   How do you plan to use these platforms to meet your goals?

I feel that the reach that these platforms have globally would allow my brand to have the exposure necessary to grow my brand and be able to expand my business.

o   How do these platforms align with your SWOT analysis?

My goals are to learn more about website development and to be able to create quality websites, to finish this degree, and to make a point to always try to learn something new. 

Strengths - I am a hard working person that is dependable and strives to make sure the job is done as it should be. I get along well with people and I feel that I work well with the public. 

Weaknesses - I think my weaknesses would include the fact that I am not currently working in this field, and that makes learning some aspects such as the coding, more difficult for me. 

Opportunities - The opportunities that have come my way include being able to come back to school at CCC to be able to learn more about programming and web development, and also to have the opportunity to work on a website for a co-worker to gain some real world experience in the field.  

The goals of my brand, Reaction Sports, are to provide athletic wear for men, women and children, which would include name brand apparel as well as less expensive generic apparel, and to expand the products offered once the brand is established. 

Strengths - The strengths of my brand are that we will offer quality products and service to our customers. 

Weaknesses - The weaknesses may be that I will not have the brand presence and exposure initially to generate significant sales that would allow the business to grow quickly. Also, our social media presence may not be at the level needed to drive traffic to our site. 

Opportunities - The opportunities that I see are that athletic apparel is very popular these days, not only for the fashion aspect of it, but also the fact that it is very comfortable to wear. Also, you see people wearing it most everywhere you go. So I feel like this is a very broad market. 

Threats - The threats that I see are the competition that is already established in the market, also that the big box stores can offer the apparel at lower prices due to the volume of sales that they already have as well as vendors that they can source products from. Also, the competition most likely has more money to spend on their advertising. 

Since I don’t have my own business, I will use a fictional business. The name of my fictional business is Reaction Sports Athletic Wear. This will be an eCommerce website that will feature all sorts of apparel for a variety of sports and physical activities. The store will sell name brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour and also generic athletic wear. The logo for the store is below. I haven’t come up with a tag line yet, I’m still thinking on that. 

If I had to describe my personal brand, it would be a  somewhat nerdy, sports loving, proud Mama. I think that would look like a woman checking out the latest tech on the computer one minute, playing a variety of sports the next (either for her own fun, or with her children), and finally finishing her day in the kitchen preparing dinner for her family. I think the brand awareness level would be very familiar to most people, from personal experience to portrayals of Moms on TV. 

The product that I would like to talk about is SunDrop. This is a refreshingly delicious soda that has been around as long as I can remember, and I’m 54 years old. I have been drinking this soda as long as I can remember as well. 

This is the logo, and it just radiates golden drops of deliciousness. 

Here’s a description from the SunDrop website...”It’s like a giant pipeline of refreshment channeled directly to you, for the sole purpose of quenching your thirst.”

How did you choose your topic?

I chose my topic based on something that I have been involved in, but that I feel like should be shared. 

Did writing a script help?

Yes, writing a script absolutely helped. It seemed that I was able to stay on point and focused by having a script. 

Why did you pick audio? Or Why did you pick video?

I chose audio, because I like the idea of podcasts, and would like to learn more about making them in the future.

What are your thoughts on audio and video social media?

Audio Script

For this assignment, I chose to do an audio file. My topic today is the Senior Games.  I’m 54 now, and about 4 years ago, I decided that I wanted to get back to playing softball. My children were grown, and I had some time on my hands and I just knew that I would be able to find a church team to join. To my surprise, there were no women’s slow pitch softball teams playing in the area. I just couldn’t believe it. Back in the day every church had a softball league. One of my co-workers told me that the Senior Center had a league and that I should check into that. Well, first of all, I couldn’t believe that she even suggested the Senior Center, like I’m a senior citizen or something. Sidenote, she and I are the same age, and we were 50 at the time. I told her that I did not want to play in a senior citizen’s league because mainly, I didn’t think I was one, but she informed me that 50 counts as a senior citizen for that league. So, I met a lady through my work that actually plays on the 60+ team and she encouraged me to start a 50+ team. I practiced with the 60+ team while I was trying to get my team together. By the way, those ladies are serious about their softball! There is also a 65+ team too.

This is how I became involved in the Senior Games. They are held every spring, except last year due to the pandemic. There are a number of events to participate in, such as softball, tennis, pickleball, swimming, track and other field events, just to name a few. You can find out more about the complete list at nealseniorcenter.org and you can get information about the rules and registration process. Each county has their own senior games and all counties compete at the state level after their local games have concluded. The state softball tournaments are held in Cary NC in the fall. There are lots of teams and it is so much fun. There are men’s teams and women’s teams. Cleveland County doesn’t have a men’s team right now. My 50+ team isn’t playing this year. We didn’t have enough players, so I’m learning to play tennis now. I am definitely not ready to compete this year, but I plan to play tennis in the Games next year.

Another part of the NC Senior Games that is offered is the SilverArts. This allows people 50 and over to showcase their artistic talents. If you are an artsy, crafty person, then SilverArts may just be for you. Some of the categories in the SilverArts are quilting, crocheting, painting, needlework and woodworking just to name a few.

https://twitter.com/AngelaSGreene

#emptynesting

So, I have had a Twitter account since 2013, when I had to get one for a class that I was taking at the time. I don’t tweet that much, but I do like to look at my feeds to get information. I will say that I don’t look at Twitter everyday now like I used to. 

I chose #emptynesting as my theme because that’s what I have been experiencing since August and September 2019. I didn’t realize just how much of an adjustment it is when your kids leave home. 

My experience using Twitter has always been good. It is very easy to make posts and add photos if you want to. 

I found some posts from people using emptynesting as their Twitter name, not many and some with no posts at all, just emptynesting as their name. 

The photos that I chose tell the story of my empty nest situation starting with my youngest son leaving for college and my older son getting married the next month and leaving home. The other photos show what I have been doing with myself to cope with the fact that my children are grown and not at home with me.