You Are What You Watch/Read/Like/Tweet: The Importance of Media

In both lives, this one and the last one, I always found myself struggling to answer that seemingly easy question that always came up in conversation: Who are you? 

Having spent a lot of time with the subject matter and observing the history of, it  always came as a shock to me when I came up empty handed attempting to answer a simple question about myself. Straining my brain for the answer never helped, neither did asking others (because we all know there are two sides to every story and even more sides to forming perceptions of personal identity - four to be exact). Only able to really see it from my side of the glass, I found myself dumbfounded and narrow sighted.

Who was I [before]? Who am I [now]? and Who do I want to be[in the near future]?

These were all tenses of that same question that hedged my investigation to define myself. Did these questions exist on a continuum or did they exist in isolation, completely separate from each other? I guess that would have to depend. 

And then it hit me one Thursday afternoon  in the confines of my media planning class.

Applying the cardinal rule " you are what you eat", I've concluded that we are what we do and what we do as consumers of information and data is: watch, read, tweet, blog, and status update; we are the media we consume [sorta, kinda, maybe.... I think].

By this definition I used to be a lot of things, productive not being one of them. As it was, I used to consume a lot of useless media in my past life. Not to say that this is a bad thing - in my opinion it is a good thing to consume a healthy dose of Jersey Shore with a side of Citytv News. The only problem was that I only ever did the former and never the latter. A consistent exposure to such media left my brain in the dark and my neurons free to pursue other things like... absolutely nothing or death.

As it is currently, at Sheridan in the Advertising program, I'm exposed to a rich variety of  material. Forced to keep up with the marketing/advertising times and relevant material featured on class slides, I am slowly becoming an advertising specialist.

As I have mentioned in a previous post: profound are the ways our environment shapes us. As active consumers left to our own demise, we are lucky that we get to choose that environment. This information is particularly useful from a marketing or advertising standpoint. What we (consumers) do in our actions gives insight to: our personal goals, interests, aspirations, personality, humour ; it's the crystal ball providing a holistic picture of ourself.

And that, kids, is why media is so important.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A SELF PORTRAIT THROUGH THE TIMES:

Following the format of my other posts, please enjoy these gif's - they provide a timeline of personal media consumption; letting you know a little bit more about me and where I'm coming from.


Who was I [before] : A child who watched a lot of whatever was on TV at the time .... [ the lazy thug]

Who am I [now] : A bit awkward and competitive in nature. [Mrs.Cooper-Lahiri]

Who do I want to be[in the near future]: Awesome [the dream state]

Also, happy Monday!

Why I plan on Selling Myself Short: Developing An Elevator Pitch

In my previous life, elevators had no place among pitches. They belonged in buildings meant to serve humans in times of need when it did not please them to shake what their Momma's gave them up to the appropriate floor level. In my previous life, I was a great abuser of elevators that fit the definition provided above and I plan on continuing the practice moving forward.

In this life, elevators serve as a social gathering opportunity for networking, which is not always a physical elevator. The elevator in this lifetime is symbolic of a time when you and a stranger are trapped in the same quarters because you both decided that everyday doesn't have to be leg day, or that you should both support human inventions in order to promote more inventions.

The idea is that the time spent together in an elevator [approximately 60 seconds or so] should not be wasted; it should be crammed with all information possible spoken in one fluent nicely annunciated spiel.Upon said spiel, it would be determined whether or not you and this stranger are meant to be. Or less intense, whether or not this person wants to buy what you're selling. Which is not always a physical good but could also be: yourself, your friendship, Pokemon cards, drugs, your body, your employee services, an idea- anything!    

At any rate, I've realized the importance of both types of elevators: physical and symbolic. I've drawn the conclusion that physical elevators will take you to the _______  at which point you will have to sell _______ using the symbolic elevator.

At another rate, I'm finding it highly difficult to craft my own elevator pitch and I'm due for another blog posting. And so, I'll revert to what I know: observing and analyzing those people who are good at elevator pitches, and looking for the bright spots (a term learned from Chip and Dan Heath, some of my favorite authors). Let's have a look below at the following elevator pitch case studies and the tactics professionals use that make them so successful.

PLEASE OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING:

From Mr.Grey, I think that we've learned that some people are  born with an innate ability to captivate audiences with their being. In most situations, I think this means we must rehearse. I also take that good hygiene and confidence are important.

From this scenario, I think Buddy strives to illustrate the fact that sometimes you will need to buy yourself more time in order to make a good impression.

From Psy,I think we can learn that pitches should be entertaining; bright visuals that make a lasting impression should be considered as a tool.

 In this case, I think Mr. Man (first name Spider) is trying to illustrate the principle of transparency and that every successful elevator pitch should represent ourselves.

From Mr.John Doe, I think it should be noted that elevators can be deceiving and that opportunities are disguised; we must seek them out ourselves.

By contrast, I think Joseph Gordon Levitt demonstrates the power of non-verbal cues. A smile would be nice.

All in all, I think I won't know what tactics will work for sure but these role models all make good points. I'll let you know what tactics work after my presentation this week [if you ask]

Thank you for reading, please have a nice week :)

I'm down with PMB (Yeah you know me): A Mean Girls Story

Who's down with PMB? (Every group-matey)

In a previous life  I would like to claim that  I was misinformed (or rather, I was stuck in my own ignorance which, FYI did not provide bliss). I was lead to believe that the studies of theories and factual information alone would be a large predictor of success after graduation; that my degree entitled me to a job in the industry.

Boy, was I wrong!

Upon graduation and entering the next life (meaningful employment attempt #1), I quickly realized that my degree meant nothing if I couldn't speak to it's relevancy in an interview situation. Which I couldn't. Particularly because most interview questions weren't structured to do so. Anyhow, this lifetime, meaningful employment attempt #1 was short-lived and somewhat irrelevant and painful to discuss. The point was that I did not have the interview skills, nor did I have the knowledge of industry pertinent software required by most employers to be employed.

In the last days of this life, I dreamed of acquiring that knowledge and I scrounged the internet in search of how I would be able to obtain it. On my own I had attempted for a month or two to learn the software via fan made videos shared on Youtube, but the reality was I didn't know where to start. Then I came across the Advertising Account Management Program offered at Sheridan.

Applying for the Advertising Account Management certificate marked the end of the sad unfulfilled life (a.k.a meaningful employment attempt #1) and the beginning of a new life.This new life seemed promising, rich with experiences that would equip me with what I needed to succeed the second time around (meaningful employment attempt #2). The curriculum discusses a lot industry pertinent software mentioned in job postings including Adobe Suite and data analysis software like ComScore , PMB Clear Decisions and DataCOMB Suite.

BEFRIENDING THE NEW SOFTWARE: MY INITIAL ENCOUNTER WITH PMB

Fast forward to Semester 1 and I had the pleasure of meeting PMB. Introduced to me at the beginning of my cumulative project, I was told that I needed her. When we first met she wouldn't shut up, spewing all sorts of secrets she had derived from consumers she had befriended - things that  I didn't even want to know about.

She told me about the male demand for beauty products, their usage patterns and even described their psychographic profiles. She was a real piece of work. While I feared her great statistical analysis capabilities and knowledge, I wanted to be her friend as I knew she would make me popular among the employers. So I infiltrated her crew of close knit variables by learning what they meant, learning their meaning helped me read her like an excel table.

A descriptor of PMB... if she were in fact a high school girl.

All fictional stories (based on true stories) aside. I have Sheridan College to thank for my knowledge of PMB. It's a practical, highly useful software for any marketer/advertiser. Having known this software will make me much more visible in a sea of valid candidates in competition for a job.