China at it again

China Firm "Hijacked" Data

     My last blog of the semester will come full circle from my first blog at the beginning of the year.  The article I am writing about today is the charge that a Chinese company, China Telecom, routed about 18 minutes of 15% of all Internet traffic through their servers in April,  including branches of the U.S. armed services, the U.S. Senate and companies like Microsoft.  Of course China denied it, but China Telecom is a state-owned company and China has been known to actively participate in electronic esponiage, especially against the United States.

     This is a good recap for everything we've learned this semester.  The digital economy has propelled our country and the world to a higher standard of living and great, rapid progress.  What we have to remember and realize though, is that whenever you digitize a majority of things in your country and rely on the Internet for normal day-to-day business, there will always be someone out there that wants to steal your information and use it against you.  Whether it be for business or national security.

    

    

How to Sell on YouTube, Without Showing a Video

How to Sell on YouTube

     The article for my blog this week is about how small businesses are using YouTube to sell their products and gain customer awareness/reviews.  We are probably all familiar with companies using social media such as Twitter and Facebook to advertise products or promotions.  There is a trend lately to use YouTube not only to upload advertisment videos, but to comment on videos that regular people post, reviewing a product.

     For instance, some random person may post a video in Youtube about how product X is really great but they can't figure out how to do a certain function with it.  Product X will then post in their comments and explain to them how to complete this function.  This means that everyone that clicks on the video and reads the comments will see the post.

     Another technique is for small companies to follow chatrooms and forums that pertain to the product they sell.  They will find trending topics or discussions relating to what they sell and then post a Youtube video to answer the question or show the highlights of a new product they have introducted.  This keeps them very close to the needs and discussions of the customer base.

     I hope this has enlightened you to new ways companies are using social media, in this case YouTube, to increase customer awareness and cheaply advertise.

Using Social Media to Draw Shoppers

Gap Turns to Social Media to Draw Shoppers

     [Gap] "The San Francisco company, which also runs Banana Republic and Old Navy, gave away 10,000 pairs of jeans Friday to people who “checked in” at a Gap using Facebook’s new Deals feature. The social network unveiled the program this week, letting local merchants offer deals to its 200 million mobile phone users."

     "Shoppers who weren’t able to get a pair of jeans received a consolation prize: 40% off a full-price item."

     Gap, the US's largest apparel retailer, has recently hit rough times and is trying to use the attraction of free items and social media to create a buzz and ultimately more business.  I think it's absolutely genius.  The price of the jeans and discounts they gave away is a small price to pay for the tens of thousands of Gap "check-ins" that took place on Facebook.  I think the "check-ins" will definitely create positive advertising and buzz that will lead to more business for Gap.