Valentine’s Day: Ads Can Help or Hurt Companies’ Image

It’s Feb. 14, which means for the past month television and the internet have been overrun with red hearts and fluffy animals. Yes, it’s Valentine’s Day.

Some of you may be very excited to share this day with your significant other, and some of you may curse the day that this became a yearly tradition. Whatever the case may be, Valentine’s Day can be a big day for advertisers. But while some of them are promoting themselves very well, others are a total disaster.

The good 

Have you seen the Google homepage today? If you haven’t its a roller coaster that has arrows pointing to a heart. It’s cute, and Google always does a good job of promoting holidays and fun things on their page. Nissan and Volkswagen are taking advantage to promote shiny new red cars, and tell you not to forget your “first love” (a Volkswagen). Absolute vodka is advertising the  “Absolute Valentine”, and companies like Edible Arrangements and countless flower shops are all scoring big today. But not all companies have a firm grasp on how to show themselves or their products in a good light for Valentine’s Day.

The bad

This year McDonald’s thinks the the way to a girl’s heart is to propose with a Big Mac. I beg to differ. The Bronx Zoo suggests naming a cockroach after your Valentine for $10 is the ultimate romantic gesture. Don’t even think about it. But the company that I felt was the worst is actually a very popular and well known one. Axe body spray is known for having somewhat interesting advertisements, but this is just dumb. The Valentine’s Day “Axe Effect” has something to do with an upside down heart that looks like, well, see for yourself.

I know today is a national holiday, so companies want to get their messages out there. Some companies did a great job, but some of them may want to consider hiring some new people. I mean come on, some of these are just silly and weird. What ever happened to a commercial about a nice card and some flowers?

Scoring Your Dream Job: The Do’s and Don’t’s of an Interview

Is there one clear cut way to act in an interview? No, but there are some general rules that need to be followed if you ever hope to get your dream job. As I get close to graduation, I am beginning to feel the pressure of going out into the world to get an interview and land my big-girl job. But I feel that with the right information, job interviews don’t have to be so scary.

I actually had a very good experience with an interview the summer before my freshman year at OhioState. I wrote an essay for the Lehman Scholarship and I was one of only a few people to be admitted for interviews to choose the winner. I had to meet with Sally and William Sitterly so that they could judge whether or not I would be qualified to receive the scholarship that they have been entrusted with. The second that I walked into their home to meet them, I immediately gave my most genuine smile and gave William a firm handshake. His response was, “That’s quite a handshake you’ve got there, I like you already.”

DO

As I said above, the most important thing you can do upon meeting a possible employer is have a good handshake. No one wants to grasp your limp clammy hand. You want to dress your best without overdoing it (ladies, watch the neckline), and you want to SMILE. These three things are absolutely the most important parts. Of all employers, 33 percent  know within the first 90 seconds whether or not they want to hire you. You also want to make plenty of eye contact, (without overdoing it and seeming creepy) and you must do your research on the company beforehand. What’s more embarrassing than getting asked, “What do you like about this company?” or “What do you know about us?” and then drawing a blank?

DON’T

Don’t skimp on the research. I can’t stress this enough so it’s in the do’s and don’ts. Do not show up without enough knowledge about the company. Don’t try and act different to try play into what you think they are looking for. Be yourself. Don’t use unprofessional language. Don’t fidget, play with your hair, cross your arms, slouch or seem uninterested. Would you hire someone like that?

Basically, be as professional as you can be, be enthusiastic, be knowledgeable and be genuine. Like I said before, the first 90 seconds are your biggest hurdle. Employers can sense if you are the right person for the job. Make your very best impression and don’t forget to try and have some fun. It’s your dream job after all.

What is Twitter Doing for You?

If you name all of the popular social networks that have come about in the past decade or so, I’ve probably joined them. Myspace, Facebook, Instagram and most recently, Twitter.

I created my Twitter account in 2010 but I never really paid much attention to it. I was still stuck in the Facebook frame of mind, and was more concerned with status updates than making career connections. I liked the layout of Facebook; I liked having all of that information right there. Twitter seemed so plain and I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with it.

I, like many others, thought that Twitter was strange and confusing and that it didn’t really do a whole lot for me. What is the point of a hashtag? Who should I follow? What should I tweet? That’s probably why it took me so long to get the hang of it and actually start posting tweets (the first of which were mostly pictures and random thoughts).

In the past month I’ve learned a lot more about Twitter and how to use it to my advantage for professional blogging and connections. I am now following a lot of news sources, internship profiles and professional accounts that could be advantageous to me. I think that in the line of work I would like to get into with PR, Twitter will be a huge asset. With the fast pace of everything these days and the constantly changing information we receive everyday, Twitter is a great way to connect with all of that and keep up to date on the newest trends and news.

The more I learn about Twitter and the more savvy I get with using it, the more I realize that even after my class Twitter assignment is over I will continue to use it and build my following/follower list to help me professionally. 

The Associated Press Style

What is AP Style?

Before I became a communication major this semester I had no idea what Associated Press style was. I’ve grown up with American Psychological Association style and Modern Language Association style my whole high school and college career. When told that I needed to get to know this new style I though “Why? What’s so different?” Turns out there’s a whole lot.

There’s a reason why there is a handbook that you can pick up when you have a question; there are a TON of rules. I’ll start by saying that AP style is the writing style of journalists and of media law. It is a way to make sure that anyone involved in media and writing writes the same way. If you want to get into journalism or public relations, you are going to have to know how to do this to avoid looking like you haven’t educated yourself on the subject.

What’s in the book?

Almost anything and everything you need to know about media writing is in this book. How to write numbers, addresses, TV show titles, and what the difference between a burglary and a robbery is, are all things covered in the book. It certainly seems like a lot, but when you’re on a tight deadline and you hand a story over to your editor, you need to both be on the same page to get it edited and printed quickly.

Difficulties

I find that the book is extremely helpful when you need to look something up. There are a lot of rules in it that I think are pretty commonsense and easy to remember. But there are also a lot that are not.

Should I get into a position where I am writing press releases and editing papers I may need to be able to recall that information without looking at the book every time. That seems to be the hardest thing for me. The constant rule changes are also something that I think I will struggle with. I do follow AP Stylebook on Twitter so I get updates, but It can be hard to keep up with.

Hey, I’m new to the game and it will take some getting used to, but everything important takes a little time.