Response to Ariana Barone's Post!

To be honest, I did not have the time to watch the Superbowl. However, I did catch an recap of the commercials this morning on GMA. I agree with you that the Budweiser commercial featuring the trainer and the horse was probably one of the sweetest things I have seen in a commercial, besides those save the animals in the shelter ones. It's shocking that just 30 seconds of commercial time costs around 4 million dollars, 8 million for a minute? That's insane. But think, how many people watch the Superbowl? Some tune in solely for the commercials. It is important to impress viewers. From the over view I saw, I was not too impressed. I use to always look forward to the Gatorade commercials featuring athletes Gatorade filled perspiration. Or Britney Spears dancing barely clothed for PepsiCo. The network is said to generate a total of  $75 million from running the commercials. That's a large chunk of change. Hopefully it is selling a lot of product. Visuals are what speaks to consumers so if the product looks good enough to satisfy the consumer on television than why not head to the closest store and purchase the product before it suddenly sells out. But really, $4 million for 30 seconds..oh?

How would you fill 30-60 seconds with a budget of $4-8 million? Would you make an ad crazy enough to catch viewers attention? Such as the ad by Budweiser with a horse galloping through downtown times square New York City?

Using Social Media To Market A Business

Lately have you noticed that when ever you see an ad for a company that rather than sending you to the companies web page that it is now sending you to it's Facebook page instead? According to Yahoo.com as of December 2012 Facebook has over 1.01 billion users. Now that's a lot of visitors. Visitors who could potentially gain knowledge about a company through Facebook. With options such as "checking in" to a business or "liking" a business other users can see where their "friends" are shopping, dining and staying. I think that it is a brilliant way of marketing yourself through Facebook. That many users? Why not? Many companies are also jumping on the Twitter craze to "tweet" the next good deal or promotion taking place. I work at Dicks Sporting Goods and I remember on Black Friday we ran a promotion if you liked a certain post you would receive 25% off an item of fitness equipment. Deals like these are what draw consumers to Facebook or following businesses Twitter pages. I know as a consumer that I am always looking for the next deal.

Do you think that using forms of social media such as Facebook and Twitter is a wise way to market yourself as a business? What are the benefits and are there any drawbacks?