So long blogging world, its been real

This blogging experience was interesting.  I have never blogged before this assignment and am not an avid reader of any blogs in particular.  So basically I was very unaware of the world of blogging.  However through this project I ended up checking out many blogs and have come to appreciate them more. 

While the, in my opinion, pointless blogs that just include the happenings of someone’s daily life still do not interest me there are some very helpful blogs that really can better people’s lives.  One in particular I found was called The Simple Dollar, which was founded to help people save money in all facets of life and learn how to get the most out of their dollar.  The founder of this blog started it out of the goodness of his heart and just to share the tactics he used while in financial trouble as well as new strategies he learns of daily.  If I was to start reading a blog on a daily basis it would be one like The Simple Dollar, where I can actually translate what is blogged to my daily life and benefit from it.  This is one main reason why the coupons, promotions, and contests topic interested me.  I felt that if I could search the Internet for contests of all types that would interest many different people then put them all in one spot such as this blog then everyone would benefit.  I would learn about cool new promotions across the market as would other consumers, while the products and companies gain even more coverage on their contest as well as potential loyal customers.  Another benefit to this topic was that I was learning about recent contests that were still in effect so if it was something I was especially interested in I could sign up for the contest and try to win free stuff.

This blogging topic still influences my life because for 2 times a week for 10 straight weeks I was researching promotions and contests, so now I’m wondering what kind of contests are going on while I am no longer searching multiple times a week.  I am curious whether or not a product or brand that I am interested in is having a contest that would be worthwhile for me to enter.  Also during the 1o weeks I was telling my friends about the contests I was researching which is even more free publicity for the contest and could have influenced people to go and join the promotions.  Also in terms of connecting to our class, this blog on coupons, contests, and promotions led to the idea of sponsoring events for the Godiva Liqueurs campaign and deciding to capitalize on this market by adding a coupon for the product to DVD box sets. 

Now on to the exciting world of coupons, contests, and promotions that I was devoted to since the start of 2008 which now seems so long ago.  There is a very interesting dynamic to the Internet world of promotions.  What I found was that brands can pretty much ask anything of their consumers in exchange for a years worth of chicken, an ugly ipod, or a Swiss army watch valued at $115.  Consumers are absolutely driven by free gifts and coupons.  My very first post way back in January basically blew my mind while I was posting.  Chick-fil-A offered the first 100 people in line a year’s worth of free chicken sandwiches, and in return over 100 people stood line for days in order to be part of that 100.  However the beauty of it is they made it a social event with bbq’s and even dancing.  All of this for free fast food chicken sandwiches that are probably worth about $1. 

Another trend I noticed is that consumers have created a contest culture.  For Chick-fil-A there is a loyal group of people that participate for the atmosphere and the free chicken, Tide’s ugly ipod contest started a blogging stream of hundreds of people, even an Idaho potato display contest draws in a crowd every year.  While people like me just seek out any random contest or promotion and might enter if the application doesn’t take too long, but these people are loyal to a brand and will do anything for discounts or free stuff.  The loyal followers, bloggers, and contest seekers keep the contests coming and also make brands get creative with their promotions.  Adding to the culture are blogs such as The Simple Dollar and the website Everyday Loopholes that encourage people to seek out and share deals or contests they hear about.  Because there is this culture however, brands need to get innovative with their promotions or they wont stand out amongst the clutter.

Standing out amongst the clutter is something that is very important in advertising and something we’ve been talking about in the medium pros and cons.  Clutter is a major downfall to most notably television and newspaper.  Also the Internet is full of clutter, and online contests need to be innovative and include an element that sets them apart in order to draw people in and want to enter the contest.  When I was searching for promotions twice a week it was sometimes really hard to find a contest that was at all different.  Luckily, brands are getting innovative in the terms of their contests or what they are asking consumers to do and I tried to only choose the ones that included something different or promoted an unknown product.  The promotions and products I found most innovative was the gas station television network and the vending machine coupons.  Vending machines to me always seem like they’ve been there forever and that the concept has never changed, however now they are being updated and really moving with other products into the 21^st century. 

Who would have ever expected a television station specifically created to target people pumping gas? This is an innovative concept that needs to be field tested to see if it catches on, but with such a new concept people are drawn in to learn more about it and become part of new innovations.  I’ve developed a theory through blogging, there are two types of contest people: those who enter for free stuff no matter what it is and those who actually put effort into producing something to submit for seemingly more valuable free stuff like in the GSTV promotion.  This also largely defines the promotions market because the more commercial products such as Tide or Dunkin Donuts create a no hassle contest that doesn’t require the consumer to produce anything.  Then the more alternative outlets such as Netelligent or Fuel the Change have the ability to create contests that require people to be creative and actually put effort into submitting something.  However there is a distinction because Dunkin Donuts or Chick-fil-A cannot really ask people to produce a video because all they can give in return is a free fast food coupon, while promotions such as the Woozyfly band contest can ask way more of the participants because their offering a cash prize of $1,000 and a great opportunity for an unsigned band.  This kind of just adds to the whole culture of contests because there is kind of a pecking order as to what brands can do. 

            Like I mentioned earlier, this kind of information can help in daily life and in future jobs.  My blogging experience is definitely being used to add weight to an advertising campaign and make it as effective as possible with the use of coupons.  Also when creating ad plans for other classes in true to life situations I am searching the Internet more effectively using Google News, checking out blogs on the topics, and searching for any promotions the brand has done in the past.  I think the habits I’ve picked up and the fact that coupons now have more of an established role in my life will help in my future employment.  I think this can help if I’m working in the budget aspect because I am now familiar with blogs that discuss money saving tactics, it can also help in the strategy department creating promotions for products and the theory I created could also lend itself nicely to real life situation.  Also just general knowledge of areas to seek out coupons for my daily well being and keeping them in mind so everyday I can save some money.  Well that’s all for me!  Coupons, contests, and promotions you really have influenced part of my life :)