06 Aug

Posted at 17:07h in Advertising

shutterstock_288055130I personally think you cannot sell anything that you do not understand or  introduce it to the people. Have you ever noticed when you go to buy a well-liked brand’s product, do you ever stop to ask yourself, how did they become so trustworthy and admired?When used correctly Brand activation delivers measurable result focusing on Return on Investment.

personally, think you cannot sell anything that you do not understand or  introduce it to the people. Have you ever noticed when you go to buy a well-liked brand’s product, do you ever stop to ask yourself, how did they become so trustworthy and admired?When used correctly Brand activation delivers measurable result focusing on Return on Investment.

What is this brand activation?

Engaging with  consumers at an emotional level and action through experiences and interaction with the brand or product. The aim is to get consumers to react, and give either positive or negative feedback immediately and generate instant sales,to make brands active in their markets and build a reputation for the product or service.Brand managers need to communicate their core brand values to their target markets to distinguish their brand from competitors and create a long time impression in the customers minds.

 

 We have a few types of Brand activations

Consumer promotions-convincing consumers to purchase a product or a service by offering free sample or reducing a price to stimulate the demand for the product promoted and awareness.Example: Girls are usually sent to outlets to do brand awareness they give either offering a product to consumers to try it out and convince them to buy by offering a free sample a discount. Experiential Marketing, invites and encourage consumers to participate in the evolution of the brand and connects the brand and a consumer. In-store retail marketing activations can help a customer choose one brand over another inside a department store. It helps to enhance the image of a product or brand and as well as feature the benefits it offers or introduce the lifestyle associated with purchasing the product. Example :Branded event stimulates positive emotions in people then they are more likely to associate those emotions with that brand. This encourages brand loyalty and the stronger possibility of sales further down the line.Digital campaigns- marketing of products or services using digital, mainly on the Internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising, and any other digital medium.Sampling Campaigns-giving free product away sampling strategy has always prioritized quantity over quality. Example: Most magazine usually has samples inside of either new products or newly packaged product.

Benefits of Brand Activation

Brand activation strengths the relationship between the brand and consumers when the clients love the brand and understand it they tend to be more brand loyal and the company can establish a clear vision that reflects an individual needs of clients base. Generally, brand activation creates a buzz much bigger than false media stunts in the industry and make your marketing much more successful. Gives you feedback on what to change or improve as they are communicating  with you and it be can bring life into a dying brand.

02 Aug

Posted at 08:05h in Thought Leadership, Video Marketing

https://youtu.be/hOiEYLHKv2g

Overall Look & Feel:  We decided to revise our BWD Marketing Podcast’s look & feel with a fresh modern design. We chose to keep it out of the box with our stunning 3D intro and then keeping it clean with our choice of minimalist lower thirds. We also took the opportunity to keep our viewers up to date with what’s happening at BWD by dropping interesting links throughout the video.

Description: We interview our super talented animator Nikita Garagh to find out how was her experience at BWD.

 

Video Production Team

Video Editor: Thabelang Nthaba
Director Of Photography: Sibusiso Radebe
Camera Men: Venus Bambisa, Thabelang Nthaba, Sibusiso Radebe

 

Video Transcription

Hi, my name is Nikita Garagh, and I’m currently in my third year at AFDA School of Motion Picture Live Performance, and I’m studying screenwriting and animation.

Well, I didn’t actually choose animation. In the beginning, I wanted to do something else, but animation sort of just fell in with everything. And I learned that I really liked it. And I feel like when you’re in university, you sort of discover who you really are and what you really love and animation is one of those things for me.

I learned a lot of things during my internship at BWD namely how to communicate better with people, how to problem solve because that’s really important, how to problem solve. When you come across something and you’re like, “Oh jeez, how do I solve this out?” How to be efficient when it comes to that and also I learned…I picked up a lot more skills on a lot of the programs that I have been using, and I feel like practice is a big part of that. So the more you use something, the more skills you acquire when you use it.

I believe that the skills and knowledge that I’ve learned during my internship will add value to my future projects by enhancing whatever I’ve started with. So it will make my communications skills stronger. It will make my animations skills stronger. It will make my people skills stronger. So I feel that whatever I’ve learned here will add a lot more value to what I’ve been doing and what I plan on doing in the future.

I really enjoyed working with the BWD team. I feel like they’re all really great people. They all have their own different essence of what they bring into BWD. I feel like it’s just one big family, you know. It’s crazy. They’re fun. They’re really friendly. They’re helpful beyond words. They’re never too busy for you. They’re never too unresponsive. The feedback they give is great. They’re always ready to give feedback, and I think that’s very important for an intern when venturing into the industry.

So there are many important factors when working in a team. I feel that communication is one of them. It’s very important to communicate effectively and efficiently when working in a team. I feel that it’s also important to know how to compromise when you’re in a team. So it’s not all about you. It’s about the bigger picture. It’s about the project. And when you’re working on a team, you don’t get just one-sided advice or one perspective of what you’re doing. You get everybody’s feedback, and you get everybody’s input. And I feel like that helps. It helps the project grow. It helps the project deepen and that’s really important. Teamwork helps that. It enhances that.

So advice that I would give to aspiring third-year students would be, look for internships early. They’re really helpful. And I know it’s scary because you’re like, “Oh, I don’t know enough,” but that’s not the point. You’re going for an internship to learn and grow. And I feel that that’s really important for you, especially in the industry of multimedia. Internships help break into that industry. They help mold you into the creative you’re supposed to be and that you have every potential of being.

So internships really help with that kind of thing. It’s cool, it’s fun, it’s exciting. You meet new people. You get exposed. You learn a lot of things that you will carry with you into the future. So good luck finding those internships and have fun.

02 Aug

Posted at 07:35h in Thought Leadership

Overall Look & Feel:  We decided to revise our BWD Marketing Podcast’s look & feel with a fresh modern design. We chose to keep it out of the box with our stunning 3D intro and then keeping it clean with our choice of minimalist lower thirds. We also took the opportunity to keep our viewers up to date with what’s happening at BWD by dropping interesting links throughout the video.

Description: We interview our super talented copywriter Edmond Hlophe to find out what he does at BWD.

 

Video Production Team

Video Editor: Thabelang Nthaba
Director Of Photography: Sibusiso Radebe
Camera Men: Venus Bambisa, Thabelang Nthaba, Sibusiso Radebe

 

Video Transcription

[music]

My name is Edmond Hlophe. I went to Vega School of Branding and I did a BBA in Brand Management and Building. I guess I grew up enjoying books and reading and stuff, and that kinda made me want to study something related to English. But I had to find a career field that would still interest me but not be solely focused on just the language and reading obviously. So I discovered my passion, I guess, for branding later on in life, and copywriting was kind of the marriage between branding and the love for language and books.

I guess I’ve learned basics, like work-context-related basics, like content loading onto website and stuff. But more importantly, I had learned…one of the things [inaudible 00:01:21] always emphasizes is practice, practice, practice, and yeah, that has kind of been drilled into me and it has been an important lesson.

I mean, obviously, having the experience helps in your job and performing job duties, and in that regard, I’ll be more prepared. But also, one of my, like, character flaws, one of the few character flaws is that I am not a good communicator, but the experience has pushed me to force myself to better express myself and communicate.

Working with the BWD team has been the best experience. Everyone is welcoming and the environment is very open and inviting. I was nervous at the…during the first week and the team welcomed me, and yeah, it’s been a pretty cool experience. There’s a lot of fun in the office and jokes and house productivity when you’re relaxed and confident, yes.

Communication is a most important factor for me working in a team, but also not just communication but effective communication. So we are all humans, there are emotions that we feel and go through, but when you come to work and…that should be your focus and that should be…your end-goal is to be effective in your job and delivering the best results. So you need to communicate with as little personal and emotion as possible, so yeah.

The best advice I could give for students who are looking for internships is that firstly, you should start looking early. As soon as you start third year, I would recommend that you start looking for internships because the sooner you start, the more chance you have of getting exposure to as many different agencies as possible. But also, I had like the misconception that it would be easy to get an internship because of the value I’d be…that would be recognized by a company, a prospective company or agency, but the reality is that there are a lot of people applying for jobs and internships, so you need to make yourselves stand out somehow and I don’t know, you just need to find a way of making yourself stand out. And lastly, I’d say, apply to BWD.

[music]

01 Aug

Posted at 15:53h in Video Marketing

There are several types of corporate videos each with their own agenda. In this guide, I will be addressing the process of creating a standard interview style corporate video. Depending on the type of corporate video that you wish to create these steps may vary slightly, but the overall process will be very similar.

Brief

The corporate video production process usually begins with an inquiry from the client. During the initial briefing the client will give you all the necessary information, this includes the purpose of the video, the intended audience, what they want to communicate, and how they would like to communicate that message.

 

Budget

 

One of the things that you will need to establish starting with the production is understanding the client’s budget. In video production, there is always a triangle of quality, time and budget. So a client can afford to spend less may be able to have their video produced faster. If the client has a budget, it can be possible to do something amazing for them but it may take a little longer to produce.

 

Concept Development

The concept of the video will be developed in more detail. This will involve communication between the video production company and the client. The audience that the client is trying to target and the best way of reaching them will be identified during these conversations. Establishing the best way to reach your target audience is critical. The audience does not want to have their time wasted. They will watch a video only if it delivers something of value to them.

 

Time Frame

Deadlines for the video production will need to be organized. These will take into consideration the feedback that a client will give to the initial draft of the video and the time necessary to incorporate them into the final version. At Bold Content we use scheduling software to ensure that the video is produced according to the timeline established at the beginning of the project.

 

Location Inspection

To make sure that the best video is captured the video production company will often perform an inspection of the location where filming will take place. Things to look for include glare from the windows or background noise. Another consideration will be foot traffic coming through the office. This will involve selecting the best place to conduct the interview so that it causes the minimum disruption to the office while capturing the best quality film.

 

Preparing for the Video Shoot

On the day of the shoot, the production house will set-up for filming before the client arrives for interviewing. This is to minimize the amount of time that they need to spend before interview. This will include pre-lighting the scene and identifying any potential sound problems, for an example a noisy air conditioner or telephones.

It also important that when the video production house is setting up that they are observing all of the property safety and health parameters and being respectful of the client’s workspace. When the client arrives at the set for the interview they will be equipped with a Lapel mic and a quick sound check will take place. The director will work to put the client at ease so that they are completely comfortable about appearing on film.

 

Lights Camera Action

Preparations done prior to shooting the amount of time required for the client interview is usually relatively short. A client interview can typically be conducted in as little as half an hour. Have at list two camera shots to give different angles used before the subject enters the room.

 

Post Production
After the shoot is done the footage is then sent out to the editors. The first draft edit will be sent to the client, at this point the client should provide as much feedback as possible. This is time for the client to talk about everything they want changed with the video. These suggestions will be incorporated into the second draft of the video.

 

The second draft should only be minor changes that need to be made to the video. During the final stage of the video edit, the render will be in full master quality. The client will then be provided with the opportunity to view this final version of the video for their approval.

 

Need Your Own Corporate Video?

 

Don’t hesitate to visit Breeze Website Designers for more information on how to acquire for a corporate video.

30 Jul

Posted at 18:19h in Thought Leadership

Identifying problems and opportunities through web analytics header

I am not an expert in digital analytics but I deal with analytics on our website and clients websites as well almost on a daily basis which has given me some perspective on how analytics work and how do they help?

 

Find the stories they tell

If a picture is worth a thousand words then numbers are worth way more words.

Like most accountants if you give them financial numbers to your company they will be able to come up with some deductions or stories about the state of your companies and it’s performance financially. Just like website analytics within those numbers that you see there is always a story to tell about how well the website is performing. From that you will be able to formulate a story that is informed by different measurements you chose look at.

 

Identify the problems and opportunities

It is not enough just to know that some thing is wrong, for example when you go to a doctor you don’t expect to get a diagnosis without the doctor asking you a couple of questions and doing some tests. In the same way the story that you get from the analytics test and questions will help you determine the problems with your current website. From the problem you will be able to come up with a solution and within this solution there are opportunities to consider as well.

 

Factors to consider

Just like most investor want to know what is the return on investment of any investments they make, there are specific measures you have to consider to get the information you require.

Website content

The first thing you what to consider

 

 

Visitors behavior

How visitors daily, weekly, monthly and yearly?

Do the come back and how often?

Are they male or female?

What age group are they?

 

Desired outcome

Secondly the behavior of the people visiting your site which include

How long the stay on you site?

Which pages do the visit?

Lastly are they converted?

How many people fill in the form or buy your product?

How many people view the conversion page?

 

 

Having looked at digital analytics for websites you get different information from the analysis. After you have identified the problem and opportunities you are better about to formulate a strategy that will help you maximize your website’s potential

27 Jul

Posted at 07:27h in Thought Leadership

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-O6X2T3lcQ

Overall Look & Feel:  We decided to revise our BWD Marketing Podcast’s look & feel with a fresh modern design. We chose to keep it out of the box with our stunning 3D intro and then keeping it clean with our choice of minimalist lower thirds. We also took the opportunity to keep our viewers up to date with whats happening at bwd by dropping interesting links throughout the video.

Description: We interview our super talented graphic designer Zwelethu Gamede to find out what he does at BWD.

 

Credits

Video Editor: Venus Bambisa
Director Of Photography: Sibusiso Radebe
Camera Men: Venus Bambisa, Thabelang Shane, Sibusiso Radebe

 

Video Transcript

Lexi: Hi, everyone. Welcome to the next edition of the BWD Marketing podcast. Today we’re going to be speaking to Zwelethu Gamede. Hi, Zwelethu.

Zwelethu: Hi Lexi.

Lexi: How are you today?

Zwelethu: Fine, thanks. Yourself?

Lexi: I’m great, thank you.

Zwelethu: Excellent.

Lexi: So, Zwelethu, tell us a little bit about your background. Where did you grow up and where did you study?

Zwelethu: Yeah, Soweto [00:00:40] born and raised. Very passionate about the arts. Always will be found with a pencil and a sketchbook from the age of, I think if my mother described it, from four years old. So, yeah, that’s a bit about me, but I’ve always been focused and had a great attraction towards anything creative.

Lexi: Uh huh. And where did you study?

Zwelethu: I studied at the design school of southern Africa. This was my tertiary education, but that’s not where I realized that I had what most people would call a talent or an inclination towards the arts. I picked up at, I think, at high school in Glenvista during my second year there. That I might end up taking a career in the arts.

Lexi: Oh, good. So, after finishing your studies, what did you pursue as a career? What do you do now?

Zwelethu: Currently I’m a graphic artist and an illustrator. A creative, and I think I prefer saying storyteller, but if you can’t describe your career in five words, you don’t have a career, so I’d say that it’s graphic design.

Lexi: Okay. As a graphic designer, what is a typical day involve for you?

Zwelethu: A typical day for a graphic designer is anything from sales, which is meeting your client, collecting a brief, to conceptualizing the brief, and straight to execution. And at the end of the day, most of the time you would have to deliver an output. Either be it creating a website or printing a final document.

Lexi: Tell us a little bit about your favorite projects in the course of your career.

Zwelethu: Some of my favorite projects, I think my first one was working on a illustration project where we created about 60 books, which amounted to close to a hundred thousand and a half to about 2,000 illustrations. I don’t remember the exact number, but I do remember that there was a lot of sleepless nights.

Lexi: I’m sure.

Zwelethu: Yeah, the other project that I worked on that was very rewarding, recently, was…and it’s a miscellaneous project because it’s not necessarily things I would typically do in south Africa as designers and illustrators, was being part of creating some concept art for a production car for motorsport racing. So, yeah, that was pretty interesting and also, I guess, one of the things on the bucket list that chipped off, I guess.

Lexi: What do you think is your defining factor as a creator? How do you sell yourself?

Zwelethu: Well, I’m multi-faceted so that means I do a lot of things from your photography straight to your illustration. And being able to respond to any creative brief with a lot of versatility is usually a very good sell to any client ‘cuz most of the you find that you would start off doing one thing and end up receiving a lot of work because you can cover a lot of their requirements. Also, having the ability to tell stories through some visual form is also very good and I think a strong point, so being a good storyteller.

Lexi: What do you practice on a daily or even a weekly basis that you feels help you grow and the industry grow?

Zwelethu: I think one of the things that I do pretty often as an illustrator is to sketch and to collect a lot of visual reference. It doesn’t necessarily have to be drawings or drawings of other people. It is more an exercise. The more you do it, the more your momentum builds and the easier it is to execute at the end of the day. So, that’s one of the things that I do. The other thing I do is to take up one proficiency every year. It will be something necessarily not related to the industry, probably taking up pool and trying to really understand and master maybe that. Or even something within the culinary arts. So, it’s always something creative, but not necessarily things you do at work here.

Lexi: Where do you see yourself in the near future?

Zwelethu: I’ve always been interested in bridging the gap between creativity and commerce. The other thing that I’m also interested in is becoming a social entrepreneur. So, i wanna pursue that once I’ve actually reached what I would define to be my success. Yeah.

Lexi: Uh huh. Well, I’m sure we all look forward to seeing you progress in your career in the next few years. Thank you so much for talking to us today and letting us know a little bit about yourself.

23 Jul

Posted at 10:43h in Thought Leadership

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZZ0jtarzE8

We interview our super talented graphic designer intern Sabelo Sibisi to find out how was his experience at BWD.

Video Production Team

Video Editor: Thabelang Shane
Director Of Photography: Sibusiso Radebe
Camera Men: Venus Bambisa, Thabelang Shane, Sibusiso Radebe

Video Transcript

My name is Sabelo Sibisi. I was born and bred in Soweto. I’ve always had a knack for art. I’ve won a couple of art awards in primary school. Went to high school at Hyde Park High School. That’s when I kind of decided that I wanna venture into a career within the arts field. First I thought I’d do architecture, but then after I left high school I kind of realized that nah, that’s not gonna work for me. Then ultimately I did my design degree at Design School Southern Africa, which I’m currently busy with doing the third yeah. Yeah.

The kind of designs that I do are very modernistic, very powerhouse kinda approach where you find that shapes are very geometric, flat colors, clean, very structured kind of designs.

Arts has been my thing since I’ve been growing up. Obviously I knew it then decided that I’m gonna just pursue a career within the arts faculty. So I thought, hey, I mean, design is the best way to pursue this talent that I have. My father has been an artistic guy. He’s probably my first influence. In high school, I was schooling with very talented artistic guys when I took art with them. So I figured, “Hey, I’m just gonna pursue this career. This is what I love doing. This is just the passion that I have.”

During this time I’ve learned that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Keeping it simple really works. Always do what the customer or the client asks for even though you think as a designer you think it might be better. But yeah, that’s what I’ve learned. Team work is very, very important. Learn how to take criticism, very, very important. And yeah, workplace is fun.

I had an opportunity to work with the BWD team over the past week. [inaudible 00:02:41] was a very fantastic experience. People were very welcoming in the beginning. People were kind in terms of like when you ask for help, they’d be able to help you very efficiently even though they were busy with their own projects. I also learned that they actually respect their craft and they respect other people’s crafts. So yeah, it was a very fantastic experience [inaudible 00:02:37].

What I think is important working in a team is you get to cover more work much more quickly. You get to be criticized, obviously in a positive manner. That way you improve in your craft. Yeah, that’s basically the most important things. And time efficiency. It saves way more time, and you get to learn from your other colleagues during your projects.

What I think is important for learners to first consider when they’re gonna take upon an internship is that they need to first research on the company that they wanna work with to make sure that it correlates with their craft. And secondly, they definitely need to be humble. Carry on with the work that they’ve been tasked with. Very, very important that they practice, practice, practice their craft every day. Do as much as possible. Read, read, read on your craft as well, and always ask for advice and learn how to take criticism. That’s very important.

Hey guys. I hope you enjoyed watching this, and I hope you learned a lot in terms of what to expect in the working industry. And good luck for your ventures. I’m signing out. Peace.

Video transcription by Speechpad.com

21 Jul

Posted at 06:42h in Thought Leadership

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjFZ7xSxF7M

We interview our super talented graphic designer intern Kevin Kunene to find out how was his experience at BWD.

Credits

Video Editor: Thabelang Shane
Director Of Photography: Sibusiso Radebe
Camera Men: Venus Bambisa, Thabelang Shane, Sibusiso Radebe

 

Video Transcript

What’s up, guys? My name is Kevin Kunene. A little bit about myself. I would say that I grew up knowing that I was a creative. Within the family, I was the only one who did creative stuff around the house. For instance, I would design cards for my birthday, for my mom’s birthday, Mother’s Day, all those kind of stuff. Then from then, onward, I noticed that I had something creative within me. So obviously that had to be enhanced. So they took me to an art school. From then, onward, here I am.

The reason why I chose to become a designer, like I said, a brief description of my history, is knowing that the value that a designer has within someone’s life. For instance, with my mom being given all these creative gifts being handed down and stuff like that, the reaction that she always receives after receiving something that I’ve created myself kind of gave me the purpose to just take it and make it my responsibility to just make other people have that kind of reaction whenever I just give them my work or anything that I’ve touched.

But then most importantly, in a more advanced format, is that graphic design plays a very important role within the industry because we convey visual literacy. Without visual literacy, I, in my opinion, believe that it’s gonna be impossible for the world to actually operate. For instance, the billboards and everything, such as taste within a target audience… Another thing is that there wouldn’t be any target audience if there wasn’t graphic design. People like things because of the way they are presented, and that’s a graphic designer’s job to actually like something because of the way it’s presented and the way it’s suggested to the audience. So I would say that, yeah, that’s my take on it.

I’ve learned [inaudible 00:02:21] while doing my internship is that the important part is teamwork. I have learned that so much during my internship here. They have taught me how to work with people because, as a designer, that’s hard because, for instance, at school, you are being taught to handle a single project by yourself, or else when you get to a station like this or in a situation like this, you are being taught how to work with people, and then they’re gonna tell you what to do and what not to do, “This is right, and this is wrong,” as opposed to doing everything by yourself. So I would say that I have learned to pretty much take orders and, yeah, learn how to accept things and, yeah, to work with other people as well.

I believe that the skills and knowledge that I have acquired here during this internship is how they apply, obviously, within the industry. I believe that, like I said, working with other people, that’s very important as a designer. You can’t just be isolated and do everything by yourself. You need other people’s opinions. You need other people’s hands into doing things. So what I have learned here as a skill is to be applied within the industry. How it has helped me, obviously… Like I said, it’s impossible to work alone. So with that acquired skill that I have learned here, it’s going to help me improve as a graphic designer or as a designer in general, to be able to deal with other people and be able to work within the industry as a team, doing teamwork.

The most important part of working in a team is that you need to consider the fact that it’s a team. So a team is as big as its weakest link. So you need to make sure that you work really hard, so that you don’t slow down the pace within the working team. So that’s the most important part I have learned here at BWD, with working within a team.

The advice that I have for third-years who are trying to land themselves an internship is just do it. Go for it. You’ve got nothing to lose. It’s quite important because that’s how you get into the industry. That’s how you are introduced within the industry. So if you don’t do it, thinking that, I don’t know, some kind of miracle is gonna happen, you’re just gonna get a job, no. It’s through the internships because that’s the first phase that you need to go through. Then after that, your name is out there, and people know about you. So it’s important to just get through there and do the internships. So if you do land one, make sure you work really hard because they take things way too seriously, and you need to understand that. That’s how things are done in the industry. So you need to understand that and get things done.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the BW staff, most important people I knew who actually employed me here. Yeah, this has been a nice experience, and I would encourage everyone who’s watching this to just go for it. It’s an internship, and it’s a start from something small to something really big. So I would advise you to just get out there. Don’t take internships lightly. They are introduction to something big.

 

Video transcription by Speechpad.com

21 Jul

Posted at 06:41h in Thought Leadership

We interview our super talented graphic designer intern Nompumelelo Mdluli to find out how was her experience at BWD.

Video Production Team

Video Editor: Thabelang Shane
Director Of Photography: Sibusiso Radebe
Camera Men: Venus Bambisa, Thabelang Shane, Sibusiso Radebe

Video Transcript

[Music]

Woman: Hi guys, my name is Nompumelelo Mdluli, I’m currently a third year student at Boston Media House graphic, I’m studying graphic design and advertising. Yeah, that’s what I do on the daily so I’m in love with both. Why did I choose to become a designer? That was not really a choice, was it really a choice? Yes, it was. Okay, I guess so. Well I wanted to become a designer because I just wanted to help people communicate. You know, I wanted to help, because sometimes when you explain something verbally it doesn’t really make sense, but when you see it visually that’s when it kind of feels like, okay, wow, now I get it. So a lot of people have problems with verbal communication, a lot of that. So graphic design puts almost everyone at east because everything is self explanatory, so yeah.

I consider myself to be an illustrator designer, does that even? Yeah I think that’s how they call it. I love illustrations because everything has to go on paper first before execution and all of that. So yeah, I love drawing and illustrator does the best. It brings the art to life in a digital manner. So I don’t have to go in and color, color. Yes, so yeah, I love illustrations. What I’ve learned during my internship at BWD is that you have to be confident as a person or a designer, whatever it is, designer, copywriter, all of that you have to be confident. You don’t have to compare your work. Also that you have to ask for feedback so one of the staff, the colleagues was like, that advice that he gave to me was you have to dive fast so when you’re given a project you have to dive fast. Meaning that you have to execute it quicker and finish it on time or before time, actually, so that you can get feedback and move on, gain more experience by doing that. So yeah, and then another thing is that, what?

Yes, you have to have a great sense of humor because the BWD is like, they’re great people, they love laughing, making jokes and all of that. Yeah, so, and you have to practice whatever it is that you major in, you have to practice every day. Practice is important. Well, working with the BWD team is the best thing ever. Well, I’ve been with other companies before but their teams were like, okay, they’re teams. They’re like, okay. But the BWD team is like they’re fun, they’re fun people, interactive, you know you can never have a dull moment with them. And yeah, there’s this guy they call [inaudible 00:03:35]. Yeah, okay. He’s one of those, you know, he was, yeah, a crazy one. And he’s a fun person to have around. You name all of them, they all have different characteristics and they’re the best in their own individual ways. So, yeah.

I loved working with them and feedback was great, and yeah, they’re helpful in every way. They’re helpful. They can never say no, I’m too busy when you ask for something. Even though they may be busy, but they’ll never say no. They’ll just come and help you. So they’re great people. What I think is important when working with a team is communication. And yeah, communication is the best because I think it’s very important because you have to constantly communicate and interact with these people. There’s no saying that, I mean, if you had to play in a team, soccer team, you have to pass the ball, the soccer ball, to everyone else. You can’t just kick it to yourself. So what’s important is communication. That’s how you communicate so that you get feedback and all of that. Communication, yeah, it’s important.

Okay, my advice to the upcoming third year students who will be looking for an internship, I’d say when you go to a company, when you apply for one, apply at a company where, you have to know the company where you apply at. And another thing, when you got the internship already you just make sure that you learn as much as you can within the short period of time that you’re given. So yeah, learn.

Thanks guys, for this. I hope it was a great one and I hope it’s really helpful, and in the future when you see this, yeah I really hope it will score you some points and help you with your internship. Thanks.

[Music]

Video transcription by Speechpad.com

14 Jul

Posted at 11:52h in Social Media

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It’s difficult to believe that merely 13 years ago, the world of Facebook didn’t exist. Before the launch of Web 2.0 in 2004, the internet was simply filled with static web pages populated by a privileged few with HTML knowledge.

Today, the world of the web looks very different. The internet is driven by social media platforms, and these platforms are driven by a population of everyday people that generate online content every few seconds.

Facebook is one of the biggest drivers of our daily digital lives. On average, we spend 20 minutes per day posting, sharing, viewing, and liking on this platform. That equates to almost two-and-a-half-hours per week, approximately 10 hours a month, and nearly 5 days a year.

From bandwagon to ‘brand’wagon

Although Facebook was initially created as a social tool, this platform has evolved to the point where it’s a very powerful marketing tool as well. With more than one billion active Facebook users, it’s understandable that companies quickly jumped on this ‘brand’wagon to engage with its online population.

Consequently, over 50 million company pages existed on Facebook at the beginning of this year.

Unfortunately, many of these pages are doing more damage to their brands than good. And the biggest culprit responsible for this?

Content.

#OneSizeDoesNotFitAll

Marketing a brand on Facebook is a unique discipline. You cannot use the same content and principles as you do for other marketing and advertising mediums. Regurgitating copy you developed for your website is also not an option.

Over and above this, many brands make the mistake of treating social media as one generic medium. Twitter has its own language, dynamics, and audiences. The same holds true for Facebook. Don’t write one message and share it on various platforms; what works on LinkedIn might not resonate on Instagram. With this approach, a brand might very easily come across as impersonal or ignorant. It is therefore imperative that messages are tailored.

Presence vs. Persistence

In my opinion, the biggest problem with the majority of company Facebook pages is that the focus is merely on presence, not persistence.

According to recent statistics, 87% of posts to Facebook pages go unanswered. This clearly shows that there is a lack of commitment from many brands to keep their pages ‘alive’, relevant, and engaging.

The purpose of having a company page on Facebook should be much broader than simply having a Facebook icon on your marketing collateral. This is why it is so important to have a clear social media and content strategy before a Facebook page is opened, and this can only be developed if you have a clear objective from the start.

Facebook is not a megaphone

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Robert Rydefalk, a blogger for Meltwater, warns that companies shouldn’t engage in monologue marketing – the tendency to speak to your audience, instead of having a conversation with them.

No other medium (but Facebook) allows companies the opportunity to have a dialogue with the people who are fans of the brand. Thom Fox from BrunoFox Group puts it bluntly, saying that “social media isn’t simply a megaphone for your brand, it’s a two-way street — hence the ‘social.”

The only way to ensure there is a dialogue (not a monologue) between you and the target audience, is through posting engaging and original content that is true to the brand. This can only be achieved by understanding your audience, and then developing a clear content strategy based on this understanding.

Face your mistakes and move forward

If you are guilty of committing some of these social media sins, don’t despair.

Here are some tactics to make sure your Facebook posts start to attract, resonate, and most importantly, build you brand:

Show some personality – In a social media setting, it is acceptable for brands to use a less formal tone. This doesn’t mean it can be unprofessional, but consumers want to feel like they are interacting with a person, not an entity.

Seplling – There are a number of things that could result in your brand being perceived as unprofessional. Spelling and grammar errors rank high on that list. Unfortunately, most social media platforms don’t have a spell check tool in place. To avoid mistakes creeping in, rather write your posts in Word format, run a spell check, and then upload it.

Put some effort in – Sharing news from other sources has its place, but this should be done selectively. A lot of effort and thought is put into creating marketing and advertising material. The same should be true for your brand’s social media posts.

Don’t give up – As mentioned before, many brands focus on presence vs. persistence when it comes to social media. Companies will open a Facebook page, and when they don’t get thousands of ‘likes’ within a few months, they lose their enthusiasm. Ultimately, the upkeep of the page becomes the responsibility of an intern that has no guidance or training to run a social media page. Don’t fall into this trap. Although social media is instant and fast-paced, building up a relationship with your audience is a long-term commitment.