Tweet Tweet: Have Advertisers Found A Marketplace in Twitter?

The concept of social networking is nothing new to us. We comment on photos, 'like' status, and even tweet about our daily routine. So why shouldn't advertisers try and utilize social media to their advantage? Well, advertisers have already seen success in using Facebook as a medium for their ads. The social network even has a program that will only show ads to match its users interests listed in their profile. And from my personal experience and that of others I know they find this to be an invasion of privacy. But what about Twitter?

We know that Twitter is yet another network that marketers have been trying to infiltrate with advertisements and promotions. And so it begs the question...how do people feel about this? According to a market research survey conducted by Lab42, 24.8% have seen promoted tweets on Twitter and not been bothered by them. That's nearly twice the amount of Twitter users who have a positive experience with product ads on the social website. 

This is good news for Twitter and here is why:

1) Users aren't overlooking the social media because of advertisements. Generally speaking large businesses are worried that this will hurt their usership...Twitter has no such problems at the moment. 

2) A good group of users actually like the ads on Twitter. This means that Twitter can expand into other methods of advertising and promotion on its site.

Personally I feel that ads on Twitter are less evasive than on Facebook. The ads on Twitter can be regulated based on what you follow and many organizations have Twitter pages exclusively for promotions. Facebook on the other hand advertises its site heavily. The side bars of your news feed are cluttered with ads and while you may be interested in what the ads are selling, it doesn't appeal to me ascetically. But what do you think of advertising in social media? Do you love it, hate it, or not mind it at all? I think I fall into the category of not minding the ads so much because you have the option of ignoring them if you choose to. Either way, Twitter has joined other social media and made its advertising presence known.

For more information about users reactions to Twitter's advertising click here 

South Africa Bans Alcohol Advertisement

South Africa will soon no longer see advertisements for alcohol such as the one pictured above. While there has been much speculation for some time now regarding this move--according to the country's health minister, Aaron Motsoaledi, the ban will definitely be taking place. "It's just a matter of time -- it's not an issue of whether, it's an issue of when," Motsoaledi told reporters and delegates on Tuesday at a World Health Organization (WHO) conference on violence prevention.

The urgency in the ban is correlated to the amount of violence within the country. Besides HIV, violence and injuries caused by violence are the top killer in South Africa (HIV kills 1.7 million, while violence kills 1.5 million people a year). Motsoaledi feels that "the driving factor behind [violence] is alcohol, the harmful effects of alcohol."

I feel that while this sounds like a drastic step in taking a stand against excessive drinking, Motsoaledi is only doing what he feels is best for the people of South Africa. I realize the harmful effect this will have on alcohol companies and establishments that sell alcohol, which lead to the overall stimulation of their economy, but the urgency of saving lives from violent crimes far exceeds the financial aspect. The only way to tell if this type of movement will be effective is to see how the events pan out over time.

Click here for the full article on South Africa's alcohol ban

Our Nation's Addiction

The United States is a nation addicted to happiness.

We constantly seek instantaneous happiness, and over the years, have come to believe that the quickest and easiest way to solve our "problems" and make us happy is to simply take a pill. Or two. Or three. Take one pill to solve each problem and go back to being happy. Our addiction to happiness has lead to an addiction to pharmaceutical drugs, thanks in large part to the pharmaceutical companies' use of direct-to-consumer advertising.

Pharmaceutical companies are notorious for their method of advertising their products: Direct-to-consumer advertising. Direct-to-consumer ads give information of a product directly to the consumer, which, in theory, can help the consumer make a more informed purchase. However, the advertisements themselves have been designed by the pharmaceutical companies to promote certain information about the product while hiding others.

While watching direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ads, I've noticed that the actor portraying a patient talks directly to the consumer about his or her problem and how the drug has made his or her life a lot easier and happier as it effectively solved the problem. When listing possible side-effects, however, a majority of the ads cut to scenes of the patient enjoying being symptom-free with the drug, and the ads even play pleasant music over the message. It seems that pharmaceutical companies have manipulated direct-to-consumer advertising in order to coax consumers into taking their drugs to find a fast fix to their problems, and so return to being happy.

The pharmaceutical industry has become too dependent on direct-to-consumer advertising. And as we account for over 42% of the world's spending on prescription drugs, we as a nation have become too dependent on their products to solve our problems (DukeSchoolOfNursing).


Anti-Depression Add-On Treatment Ad


SOURCE: DukeSchoolOfNursing Direct to Consumer Advertising by Pharmaceutical Industry video

Be a Man

Old Spice commercials are some of the most memorable and interesting to watch on TV. For as long as I can remember they have employed this idea that if you do not use Old Spice products, you are not a man. But their advertisements do not appeal to just the male population. In order to illustrate for the public what the "perfect" man is, Old Spice depicts their actors in a way that a woman would consider to be ideal. But their commercials are not at all serious. The humor is partly what draws the consumer in.
In this particular advertisement, Old Spice is telling the consumer that if you want to be a man you must smell like a man, and the only way to do that is to use Old Spice. All of their advertisements send the same message: using Old Spice products will make you a man. These advertisements, in my opinion are very effective. However, they could be argued as being too idealistic and setting an unattainable standard for men. The Old Spice ads depict the perfect man as being hansom, tall, muscular, and having a deep manly voice. But they also show him as being wealthy, creative, smart, and powerful. Unlike ads directed towards women, the Old Spice ads do not focus on physical attributes alone. To me this is what makes the Old Spice ads stand out among the rest.