Last week I had the pleasure of attending a talk given by our own Professor Dan Wolfe where he talked about how much the entertainment industry (TV and movies) has opened up. This is largely brought on by the online streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, and Apple who are creating their own content. We’ve moved into an era where more competition has opened up greater demand for content. For comparison, Professor Wolfe compared the number of feature films created by Disney last year (12) to the number created by Netflix (200+). It’s never been a better time to create desirable content because content is king and if you’re creative their is demand for your services. His talk was posted to YouTube and is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waLwGPXs-uk
Category Archives: Advertising
Blue-Light Glasses (Social media marketing)
For our social media marketing class the students were tasked with coming up with a product that we can sell via Shopify using dropshipping. The product that came out on top was blue-light glasses. The had was shown on Facebook from coast to coast and generated dozens of views. If you want to view our online store and actually purchase the blue-light glasses or see the advertisement created by Daniel Pan (UMW 2020) please click on the following link: http://www.glassesblues.myshopify.com.
Dropshipping – selling something that you don’t own to people you will never meet
The dropshipping phenomenon is expanding daily and while the business model will likely change and morph into something different than it currently is. It represents a very interesting way for people to make money by connecting manufacturers with sellers. In a nutshell, thousands of products are sold by manufacturers via marketplaces such as Aliexpress.com
There are millions of products that are sold very inexpensively, shirts for $1, sunglasses for $2. It’s the same prices you would pay if you had a physical store and was buying the goods from the manufacturer. As a dropshipper what you do is connect the manufacturer with consumers via your online store. So you don’t own the goods and you don’t ship the goods (the manufacturer does that) but you will market them and determine the price that you want to charge. Consumers can them buy them from your store and them shipped directly. It’s an interesting model where the emphasis for the dropshipper is to market (and sell) products that others have made. We will be learning more about it in Marketing 471E (social media marketing).
Some of the best augmented reality advertisements from this past Fall
This is the third year that my Principles of Marketing (Mktg 301) class has used augmented reality to create advertisements. Similar to years past, there were many outstanding advertisements. The students were challenged to really use augmented reality and not simply create an advertisement that could have easily been a QR code. The following two ads are a sample of what was created.
Ad 1: Aspetto
The group that created this advertisement also created a flyer for Aspetto (founded by two UMW alumni). The ad wanted to showcase the clothing options and prices consumers have at Aspetto.
Directions to activate the AR feature:
- To view the ad, first download the HP Reveal Application for Apple devices or Android by clicking on the respective links.
- Create a user profile. You only need a username, email, and password to do this.
- Search for mgilchrist17, the Aura will appear and to follow the account you simply need to click on the star, this means that you are following the account.
- Open the HP reveal app on your phone, the app should have seven dots with one in the middle and the other six moving in and out of the middle dot.
- Hold the app over the picture in the middle of the ad above and you should see the advertisement come to life.
Ad 2: Jack’s Tattoo Revival
The group that created this ad had the idea that a tattoo can be more than an image, it can provide vital information in case a person is having a medical emergency or if someone is unable to communicate.
- To view this ad follow the same steps as above but this time search for khirad10 and follow this account. Then open up HP Reveal and put your phone over the picture above.
SOME OF THE BEST AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) ADS FROM THIS PAST SPRING
My Principles of Marketing Class (Mktg 301) has been completing AR advertisements for two years now. The students come in with little knowledge of video editing and even less knowledge of augmented reality (AR). Augmenting reality is the merging of physical and virtual and companies such as IKEA and Disney are investing heavily in it. Students in Mktg 301 gain knowledge of AR by creating their own AR infused advertisements, I’ve posted two projects from the Spring 2018 semester.
Ad 1: UMW Galleries
The first ad takes a work of art and then transposes the artist on to the ad so that you can hear the artist’s motivation behind the piece. The idea was to make a piece of art more interactive. To view this advertisement please click on the following link.
Ad 2: Wet’n’Wild Lipstick
The second ad wanted to give consumers who are considering purchasing a lipstick what the colors will look like based on different skin tones. It took a static advertisement and made it come to life.
Directions to activate the AR feature:
- To view the ad, first download the HP Reveal Application for Apple devices or Android by clicking on the respective links.
- Create a user profile. You only need a username, email, and password to do this.
- Search for LaurenVann, the Aura will appear and to follow the account you simply need to click on the star, this means that you are following the account.
- Open the HP reveal app on your phone, the app should have seven dots with one in the middle and the other six moving in and out of the middle dot.
- Hold the app over the ad of the three girls above and you should see the advertisement come to life.
