Prezi.com

So I  happened to stumble upon this super cool presentation-making website that allows me to make super cool movie-like presentations! not only is it fun to watch, its fun to make!!

Aerial 7 on Prezi

I made this for my group presentation for Aerial 7 (our client). COOL HUH? The Client was Aerial 7, a really cool headphones company with funky designs (http://www.aerial7.com/). Our campaign was based around creating more online sales and brand awareness.
All graphics in the "print ad" section, gift cards, TVC, point of sale display were done by me :) (oh and also creating this entire presentation)

रिमझिम

Writing about community on a community based platform. this should be good.

What does the word community mean for your profession and will its meaning change in a decade?

Definition of community: In simple terms, a community is a group of people working together, collaborating together and doing things together for an outcome. On a deeper level, these communities look out for each other and communicate amongst themselves and other communities to increase their knowledge about different topics in the world. There are 2 segregations of communities: geographic, where social relationships operate within specific boundaries or locales and ideological, where members share a sense of common character, identity or interests (Brand, 2010). Examples of geographic communities date back to pre-evolution times where humans and animals alike would group together based on their functionalities and similarities; hunters would hunt together and gatherers would perform similar tasks together. Using the same principles, for ideological communities, examples would include religious, sport, online, virtual, educational communities etc. The members of these communities share a common interest communicate about similar topics but may not live in the same geographic locations.

In the marketing and advertising industry, community plays a vital role in determining sales, product popularity, brand recognition, product life and much more. As the world is embracing digital at a break-neck speed, more and more communities are moving online and thus encompassing a larger audience. An example of how community plays a vital role in marketing and advertising is forums. An online forum is a “web application that provides for online discussions” that exists as part of a website and invites users to start topics and discuss issues with one another. According to Bickart and Schindler (2001), online forums host a plethora of topics that could range from product benefits, product reviews, help and information about a product function, where to buy it, how much to buy it for etc. On the other end of the spectrum, it could also contain information on the faults of the product, negative reviews, cost discrepancies etc. These online forums can make or break a brand positioning of a product and can carry a very high cost with them. These days, people look to forum as a platform to find information. A very famous approach to forum topics is brand comparisons. Members of the general public share their view about 2 different products in different mediums e.g., videos. This video depicts the difference in mobile phones over the ages and takes a funny look at the competition between Apple’s iPhone and the Blackberry mobile phone.

Globalization: Members of these communities merge together from different backgrounds to talk about a certain topic that holds their interest. Due to globalization, forum discussions have reached a wider audience aka a global audience. People from around the globe are able to share their ideas from different cultural perspectives thus broadening the knowledge base. However, some people might not have the knowledge on how to behave on online forums. For example, by sitting behind a computer screen, their identity is hidden thus they become bolder in their expression of words. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIyr5TXqe8Y (Embedd code disabled by user). This video gives a tutorial on how to behave on online forms. Forums can also lead to the production of new products in the marketplace based on the wants and needs of consumers and the functionality of current products. 

This video shows a product that is not in the market yet but is needed by the male community. With over 360,000 views on YouTube, it works as a by-product of a globalized community.

In conclusion, it is evident that communities have been around from pre-evolution times but have evolved into more dynamic, global, informative platforms in recent years. Communities can help build relationships and also destroy them in regards to consumer goods, human relationships etc.

References

Bickart, B. & Schindler, R. M. (2001). Internet forums as influential sources of consumer information. Journal of Interactive Marketing. Vol 15:3, p31-40.

Brand, J. (2010). Digital Media and Society. Bond University, Australia.

Hammond, M. (2000). Communication within on-line forums: the opportunities, the constraints and the value of a communicative approach. Computers & Education. Vol, 35: 4, p251-262.

WorldiQ (2010). Definition: Internet Forum.