Passionate Student Seeks to Make a Difference

Taylor Crumpton is not your average joe college student. Taylor, a junior social work major at ACU, has been granted many opportunities and unique experiences during her time at school. She is a student with passion who pursues these passions to make a difference in the world and in her community.

Taylor is most passionate about the achievement of basic human rights and dignity for all people regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic lines, or country of origin.

Making a Difference in the World

Taylor is currently a Young People for Under the People (YP4) for the American Way Foundation. She explains that YP4 educates and trains millennials to create sustainable social change in their communities. Within this fellowship, she is in the Votes and Courts Cohort. The Vote Cohort requires Taylor to complete a voting education or registration drive on her (ACU) campus. The Courts Cohort allowed Taylor the opportunity to submit an amicus brief for the Whole Women’s Case which was heard at the Supreme Court in March.

Through YP4, Taylor was granted a huge opportunity to make a difference for what she is passionate about. She explains that she was able to advocate on behalf of the 5.4 million women of reproductive age in Texas at the steps of the Supreme Court. Through her speech she was able to show that young people, including young people of color, have a voice in reproductive rights.

“I was honored to be able to share my personal experience as a young woman of color in Texas who witnessed the harmful effects of HB2 that shut down over half of our state’s abortion clinics, which negatively impacted low socioeconomic and immigrant communities,” Taylor said. “I’m thankful to my fellowship for helping my voice be heard. It was a life changing experience and I hope individuals and communities took notice of the power that young people have.”

Involvement on Campus

Aside from Taylor’s responsibilities and involvement with the American Way Foundation, she also remains extremely involved with on campus affairs and associations.

At ACU, Taylor is the Vice President of ACU College Democrats, the Justice Week Community Organizer, and the Student Leader for ACU Feminists. She also held the position of Service and Activism Representative for Student’s Association.

Through partnerships with faculty, Taylor was granted the unique opportunity of conducting research over the intersections of race and politics, presenting that research at a conference.

“Through my advocacy and activism on campus, I’ve been able to have conversations with faculty and staff about how our campus is going to adapt to these social issues currently in our society, like creating safe spaces for LGBT students,” Taylor said.

The role ACU plays

Taylor explains that ACU has encouraged her to speak for the voiceless and care for all of God’s children, just as Christ did. “My faith is the foundation for my advocacy efforts and I’m grateful to have the foundation to be enriched at ACU,” said Taylor.

Being apart of a Christ-filled environment is a blessing for Taylor because she knows everyone is going to treat her with love and respect.

“It’s something I’m going to miss when I graduate because there’s no greater sense of home and community than being surrounded by a Christian community,” she says.

Goals for the Future

After graduation, Taylor plans on obtaining a dual degree in Master’s of Social Work and Public Policy. After obtaining her degrees, she plans on working for a think tank in Washington, DC. Taylor then plans to go to law school, eventually working for congress.

Social Media Promotion

Recently I applied for an internship with a company called Bloguettes. I started following them on Instagram because I liked their pictures, thought their aesthetic was cool and didn’t really look into it much further until they posted looking for summer interns. When I looked further, the concept of this company completely captivated me.

Bloguettes help companies learn how to promote themselves through social media. The teach small businesses the in’s and out’s of social media, and how to gain followers (customers) through different outlets. I specifically  applied for the events intern, which helps put on workshops to teach and events for business owners to attend and network!

I am very interested in this aspect of the industry that I want to go in to. I love that their are companies to help other companies, and that I can get into that with event planning.

A New Platform For Advertising

Advertisers are always trying to find new creative ways to reach and engage with their audience. This can be accomplished by using traditional media, which can include: television, radio and newspaper. Advertisers also have the opportunity to benefit from new media.

Although transitional and new media are great and effective, we have to keep up with trends and be able to capitalize on the opportunities that these trends set. So what is the new trend advertiser need to start taking advantage of? Ever since the immerse popularity of the investigative crime podcast, Serial, that aired in 2014, podcast have made an impressive comeback. Raw Voice, a company that specifically tracks the popularity of different podcasts and the effectiveness they have on their audiences, claims that the number of unique monthly podcaster listeners has tripled from 25 million to 75 million in just a few years.

Podcast have become a powerful tool to reach niche audiences and tends to be highly engaging mediums for delivering messages. I think it’s important to acknowledge that podcast really do target specific segments. People will choose to listen to a podcast because they actually like listening to the host discuss topics that interest them. Once advertisers know who their target audience is and why they are listening to certain podcast, they can capitalize on this medium by expanding their brand awareness.

Podcast are able to draw more engagement to a brand while delivering the message effectively. Podcast is an old yet revolutionized medium that advertisers should start using in a greater capacity.

Serving up Suspension

Last week I discussed the Tiger Woods scandal and how he was able to hold strong to his Nike endorsement. Despite the infidelity taking place in his personal life, his professional life was held to a different standard.

The news over the past week has been swirling with the Maria Sharapova scandal and her drug use coming to light. The use of drugs for a professional athlete is something that is career shattering. Because of this, her endorsements are in deep waters.

The difference between the Woods scandal and the Sharapova scandal boils down to the affect on their game. Having multiple affairs is frowned upon in society, but at the end of the day the actual act has little to no affect on Woods’ game (though many could argue it made him play worse, but that is simply speculation). Taking drugs to improve your game, set you above other players, directly affects your game as well as your athletic status.

Sharapova has served as an icon to tennis players around the world. She has inspired young girls to pick up a racket and push themselves to become the best they can be. But companies like Nike cannot justify supporting an athlete who has used drugs to enhance their game. Nike is a brand committed to athletic performance. Performance comes from hard work and endurance (and possibly a pair of AirMax’s), not from drug use.

I completely back Nike in their choice to suspend Sharapova’s contract. It’s nice to see a company putting athletic ethics before a dollar sign, and placing the game first.

Great Products v. Ads

You’re walking down the street and you see it. That bright orange handbag on the shoulder of a random stranger. “What designer was that,” You ask. Later on, you look on every site possible to find that purse. As a result, nothing. Just imagine, a product so fetch, that you have no clue exist until you see it. The old saying goes, actions speak louder than words. Does that same concept work for advertisement? Can a product speak louder than an advertisement.

According to Outspoken Media, “…There is a direct relationship between being buzzworthy — earning word of mouth — and how much you’ll have to pay to promote yourself through paid marketing.” The understanding I grasped from this article is that a great product creates its own buzz. As for a not-so-great product, companies have to pay a crap ton of dollars just compensate for the quality of their product.

I agree with this blog to a certain extent. Just because a product has advertisement doesn’t mean the product is trash. The projected reach of a product may be greater than that of another product.

Huffington Post wrote about 10 brands that do not advertise. Companies such as Zara, a higher end fashion company, do not have a budget plan simply because they use their funds for more expensive vendors. Jiffy, corn muffin mix doesn’t advertise either. the company believe word-of-mouth is best advertisement.

From a higher end fashion company, to a three step cornbread mix, not every company advertises. That does not make the product any less great.

 

 

National Boys and Girls Club Week

This week marks the end of National Boys and Girls Club week. I love that not only am I a staff who gets to participate in this celebration, but I am also an avid  follower of their blogs and newsletters that go out every week. The BGC has done an amazing job since the early 1900’s in helping kids reach their full potential at an after school program. They have an amazing outreach with these children teaching them arts, technology, and abstaining from substance abuse in a program call SMART. Many companies, such as Lowe’s, AT&T, and Family Dollar, have jumped in on helping this non profit through sponsorships and different ideas being implemented into the 4,100 clubs across the US.

Right now the Boys and Girls Club is doing a social media campaign starring the hashtag #risetogreatness. They are striving to instill leadership and service into the kids and encouraging them to achieve great things in life. The hashtag is being used on facebook, instagram, twitter, and pinterest in order to reach each club and its members. This has been an amazing way to make an impact on their lives as they grow up in our club.

I find it great that BGC does not just talk the talk in their social media but actually plays it out. I have gotten to reach into so many kids lives through this after school program along with many other staff members. This is a great effort being done in order to help keep children safe while having fun in our clubs.

 

Don’t Swipe!

This goes right along with Rachel’s latest post involving Prank Advertising as well.  It came from an interesting article in the Advertising & Branding section of AdWeek.  It was originally posted this time last year, but it was boosted to the recent feed, and I assume it is because of its subject matter dealing with South by Southwest–which is happening this week.

So, apparently what was happening, is that there was a profile on Tinder that was floating around the local Austin scene.  The profile was of, Ava, a 25-year-old woman from New York, New York but was currently using Tinder in the Austin area.  The picture above is an example conversation of what would go down.  To the dismay of her “swippers”, Ava did not apear to be real, and her Instagram had only one photo and video as a promotion for the film, “Ex Machina”.  Although we can sit here and feel bad for the guys who remained dateless, they became a product of some genius advertising in my opinion.

It turns out that that the woman pictured as, “Ava”, is actually one of the main characters from the film being advertised, and to top it all off, the movie was happening to have its premier that Saturday night in Austin.  To some, this may feel like a giant scam, and you would think this sort of tactic would drive away whoever you are targeting.  However, I would love to know how many of those dudes ended up going to see the movie just because they realized that the beautiful woman they thought they were “swipping” was actually going to be in the film.  Genius.

-Josh Levinson

Stay Thirsty My Friends

Everyone knows the “Most Interesting Man in the World,” but sadly, his reign as the spokesman for Dos Equis is coming to an end. The beloved adventurer is set to take one last grand voyage: a one-way trip to Mars. After 10 successful years, the company has decided to give their ads a reboot in an effort to preserve the relevance of the campaign. This isn’t the end, it’s a new beginning.

While we haven’t been told the details of what will come next for Dos Equis, chief marketing officer Nuno Teles does reveal that they are “looking for a more modern take on the character that will appeal even more to young people.” They want to keep things fresh and even include social media in their ads. Teles further explained, “Jonathan as the ‘Most Interesting Man’ is always looking back. He’s always referring to what he did in the past. We believe there’s space to be more relevant for current consumers as well as new customers.” Thus begins the transition from the original man we all know and love, to the new and improved Dos Equis campaign.

It’ll be interesting to see how this transformation plays out. With such a famous character, maybe even iconic, it might be difficult to move on to something else and leave the “Most Interesting Man” behind. I personally loved this campaign, and while I understand why this change is occurring, I’m skeptical if Dos Equis can follow it with something better. Teles seems to be confident that they can do it and said, “Why do you change something that is working? Because we can do better. Because we know that we have a way to evolve.”

http://mashable.com/2016/03/09/dos-equis-end-most-interesting-man/#eGwEn7gOjgq2

The Appeal of Prank Advertising

Real people, not actors. A single chance at the perfect execution. Prank advertising is risky, but when done right, it’s awesome.

This week, Heineken released a brilliant ad revolving around an elaborate prank at a soccer game. The ad introduces four soccer-loving friends who always watch the big game together. Then, one friend gets a single VIP ticket and tries to sneak away from game day traditions with his friends. Unbeknownst to him, his friends were in on the scheme, and ready to call him out in front of the entire stadium.

This is certainly not the first time advertisers have conducted a complex scheme to sell a product. The question is—what’s the appeal?

I would argue prank advertising is a straightforward and entertaining way to weave a narrative into an advertisement. The use of real people, real places, and real reactions only makes the story more relatable to consumers.

For example, soccer lovers can easily insert themselves or their friends into Heineken’s campaign. The ad is believable because it is actually real. For brands like Heineken trying to evoke a down-to-earth, authentic identity, the prank advertising approach is affective.

However, prank advertising certainly won’t work for every company. Brands attempting to evoke a high-brow, elite image would probably not benefit from prank advertising because prank advertising tends to speak more to the commonality of us as people rather than the distinctions of elite society.

All in all, prank advertising is a creative way to promote a brand and advertise a product. There are endless possibilities.

Using Social Media as a Learning Tool

During Dr. Bacon’s PR writing class on Thursday, our class had the opportunity of Skyping with ACU alum, Nathan MacDonald, about his professional career. Nathan currently lives in Seattle, Washington where he is the Marketing manager and handles college relations at Edmonds Community College. Nathan explained to us what it is like to be the marketing and PR professional for the college he works at. Along with explaining his job to us, he discussed the importance of social media in both his career and personal life.

During graduate school, Nathan started a successful blog about his weight loss journey. Nathan has now lost over 100 pounds and continues to post to his blog. Along with keeping up with a successful blog, Nathan keeps up with all his personal social media accounts.

After our skype session with Nathan, Dr. Bacon encouraged our class to follow him on social media and friend him on Facebook. After friending him on Facebook, I discovered that most of Nathan’s posts to his personal account have to do with his career. From Tweeting about Delta Airline’s poor Twitter replies, to posting about MIT’s creative college admissions video, Nathan has a very strong social media presence.

I have learned a lot through Nathan and his social media/ blog accounts. I hope to continue following career related accounts and creative blogs in order to build a strong, professional social media presence.