Creatives: Rethinking and Reinventing

To creatives and designers alike, the industry is shifting into a more fluid and innovative landscape. Old mediums of the past are being thrown out; human focused design and art are paramount to achieving an effective creative voice in today's market. We'll look at two articles that detail this tumultuous environment.

Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Salon 94

The first article details artist, Laurie Simmons first foray into makeup with a limited edition red lipstick. Simmons speaks of her intuition and inspiration from everyday items around her. Lipstick was a big part of her life and identity in the 70s (where the picture above is from) and so she began to include it into her photography works. Pushing boundaries of art and what it means for a display to be considered art, Simmons has created a cosmetic that reinvents both makeup and artistry, solidifying her creative voice and influence.

Credit: Jonathan Knowles/Getty Images

The second article discusses the changing nature of the creative director role. Penston talks about how, like much of the marketing industry, most creative directors are stuck in the past, doing things the old way and ignoring the fluidity of today's modern creatives. Brand identity, Photoshop and repeat is their mantra. Penston states that UX (user design) is one of the most important facets of the creative director role today. As brands find the need to seem genuine, relatable and human, consumers become the paramount focus. In order to maintain a loyal following, your product or service must consider and reflect your efforts at designing a user friendly experience. Knowing your customers' interests, hobbies, needs, desires and how they engage with content is more important than ever. In order to maintain a creative voice and show that your brand is not just a bland machine, it's imperative to consider human interaction when designing anything these days.

Consider the following to build your own creative voice:

Quality over quantity: Now, more than ever, content must seem carefully crafted and personal instead of just another piece of content to be lost in a sea of media.

Design for life: Design should maintain practicality and be focused on user friendliness while remaining aesthetically pleasing.

Don't be afraid: Creativity is synonymous with innovation and requires a pushing of limits to be successful.

Teachers: 3 tips to help become a more culturally focused educator

To educators who want to improve and continue to be culturally competent teachers. Here are two articles from Geoff Master and Kathy Deady that establish easy steps towards a better classroom.

In his article “What is ‘equity’ in education?” Master shows that it is better for classrooms to be fair than to be equal. In a perfect world children are in conditions where they all have the same starting point, but there are going to be students who need extra resources. For students who have learning needs or unequal socioeconomic backgrounds, teachers recognize that students will need extra assistance and an equitable education is giving them the resources to make excellent progress in their learning. Students can’t choose their paths in life but educators can take steps to giving each student the opportunity to excel.

Photo from: https://www.profellow.com/fellowships/18-teaching-fellowships-abroad/

As more than 50 percent of public school students will be POC (People of color), Kathy Deady explores different tools to becoming a more culturally responsive teacher. Deady's 5 steps to becoming a culturally responsive teacher details the importance of being aware of the mindset you bring into the classroom and of the community. In the classroom it makes a big difference when you get to know students and create a space where students can become critical thinkers. Once you start thinking about the content you will teach its vital to involve multiple learning styles and cultures so that student can receive as much context as possible.

Based on these two articles and my own experiences as a student I have developed three action items you should consider…

·         Think Fairness- Recognize that being a good teacher means understanding which students need extra attention/ resources to attain a quality education.

·         Reflect on Identities- Examining and reflecting on how the identities you hold affect a classroom dynamic, is a big step towards becoming a better educator.

·         Vary your Content- Students have different learning styles, so being flexible provides your students the best chance to succeed.

The teaching landscape is quickly evolving and becoming a culturally competent teacher will give you the confidence to uplift the next generation of students.

Fredrick Bugyei is a Northwestern senior studying Radio/Television/Film. He enjoys building community through his work as an RA and is involved with improv and a Capella groups. He plans to be a teacher through Teach For America 

Sports journalists: Three tips to improve your ability to sidle

For sports journalists, building a rapport with athletes is a great way to get scoops. As an undergraduate student with an interest in sports journalism, I found two articles that discuss how reporters "sidle" next to NBA players for one-on-one interviews.

The Art of the Sidle: The Slickest Move in NBA Media; Bryan Curtis; The Ringer

This article includes several interviews with NBA reporters on how they approach players for interviews. The reporters talk about the challenges of getting players alone and how to build relationships with them. It also mentions how reporters get annoyed when their colleagues intrude on their one-on-one time with players.

Golub: Controlling the NBA media; Jack Golub; The Stanford Daily

This article explains how reporters are controlled by NBA players. The author uses the example of Jimmy Butler's situation in Minnesota to support his argument. He also responds to the first article and offers a different point of view.

Based on these two articles and my experience at Northwestern, I have developed three action items you should consider the next time you’re thinking about approaching an athlete for an interview.

• Build Unique Relationships - Don’t risk becoming a mouthpiece for an athlete when talking to him or her one-on-one.

• Ask Bold Questions - If you’re trying to get a scoop, don’t be afraid to approach an athlete with hard questions.

• Don’t Disturb Colleagues - When a fellow journalist is getting one-on-one time with an athlete, respect them and don’t join the conversation.

The next time you’re thinking about approaching athletes, use these three action items to improve your ability to sidle.

Chris Grismer is an undergraduate student at Northwestern University. He studies journalism and integrated marketing communications. You can follow him on Twitter @Chris_Grismer.

Brand Manager: 3 Ways to Make Influencer Marketing Work For You

As a content marketer interested in how influencer marketing works, I've found two articles on the topic that my fellow marketing professionals will find interesting. I've had my fair share of experience with influencer marketing as both the brand and as the influencer and these articles make a great case for the benefits of utilizing influencers.

Source: https://www.thenational.ae/lifestyle/comment/bloggers-or-floggers-social-media-moves-to-wise-up-on-influencers-1.720130

Article one, titled “Influencer Marketing: How To Make Human Connections Work For Your Brand," comes from Forbes CommunityVoice contributor and founder & CEO of Sway Group Danielle Wiley. Wiley starts with the facts: 82% of those in the U.S. trust recommendations from people they know, according to Nielsen's Global Trust in Advertising report. So why do consumers trust the buying advice of influencers, who are often total strangers? Well, when influencers build genuine, human connections with their audiences, their audiences in turn come to respect and trust the influencer's opinion, as if they were a friend. Wiley argues that the reason influencer marketing can be so successful is because the personal connections that influencers can build on behalf of you will connect your brand with consumers in a way you can't do on your own.

Source: Shutterstock

Article two, titled "Why Influencer Marketing is the Game Changer for Business," comes from Entrepreneur contributor Amber Dermoudy, senior social strategist, APAC, Spredfast. Dermoudy posits that the days of push marketing are over; consumers are too savvy. Now, consumers pay less attention to a brand unless it is being promoted by a trusted source or friend. In fact, 92 percent of consumers say they trust an influencer more than traditional advertisements. Dermoudy argues that influence social media stars already have over their audiences is a game changer for businesses.

Based on the above articles and my own experience using influencer marketing - as well as being a microinfluencer myself - I have developed three recommendations you should consider the next time you’re thinking about whether influencers can help your brand.

-       Get Personal – Creating familiarity with an audience is key to engaging in deeply personal, meaningful ways.

-       Be Authentic – Genuine stories and images are more interesting than brand imagery.

-       Use Influencers – Consumers today are smart and rely less on traditional marketing and more on their peers to make buying decisions.

Madison Blanchard is a senior at Northwestern University studying journalism with a focus on digital marketing. Follow her on Twitter | Connect with her on LinkedIn 

Social Media Marketers: 3 Ways to Use Wendy’s Tweets to Fortify Your Twitter Game

Social Media Marketers are tasked with the incredibly difficult job of marketing in a digital environment that is ever-changing, due to constant technological industry changes. As both a student at Northwestern University’s Medill and a Creative Marketing Intern at Moblty Inc., with an interest in digital marketing, I found two articles that provide fascinating information on how Wendy's established and maintains such a successful social media presence. 

The first article I think you should look at, titled Wendy's Roasts its Way to Social Media Stardom, was published in QSR Magazine and written by Kevin Hardy. The article opens by establishing that Wendy’s is branded with a confident, playful, and positive tone targeted at consumers who don’t take themselves too seriously. This tone adopts an unapologetically snarky edge when interacting with competitors and consumers on Twitter, where Wendy’s functions as an entertainment destination. Hardy explains that Wendy’s is much sassier on Twitter than it is on other social accounts because the Wendy’s social media team mindfully adjusts the voice based on each platform. He closes his discourse by suggesting that Wendy’s should optimize social media platforms, other than Twitter to increase engagement, which fosters traffic and customer loyalty. 

Source Link

           The second article I recommend reading is Wendy's Amazing Social Media Team Shares The Secrets to its Success, which was written by Entrepreneur Media’s Staff Writer Nina Zipkin. In the article, Zipkin discusses how Wendy’s social media team shared valuable information about their content production process through a Reddit AMA. Despite the care free nature of Wendy’s tweets, planning and approval are sometimes required prior to posting, especially if the subject is Mcdonald’s. She notes that the team occasionally has to refrain from posting tweets that may cross the line and sometimes receives criticism from executives regarding content. Zipkin emphasizes that Wendy’s social media team is constantly aware that they toe the line between sassy and too sassy and consequently go through mistakes.

          Based on these two articles and my work experience in the digital marketing industry and at Northwestern University, I developed three action items that you should consider the next time you think about social media marketing and establishing your persona.

·     Find Your Voice - People want to interact with an authentic, consistent, human voice that acclimates to each social media platform accordingly.

·     Push the Envelope - Wendy’s social media presence is famous for its honest and edgy tweets, not for playing it safe; you must be reasonably bold with your voice to gain attention and establish yourself in the social media realm. 

·     Optimize Your Presence - Social media is an opportunity to establish yourself and become known; in order to do so, you must optimize social media platforms through the use of a uniform voice and presence that is conversationally tailored to each platform.

Try to keep these tips in mind the next time you work on creating your persona on a social media platform through tweets, posts, and more.  

Amara Wahby is a student at Northwestern University’s Medill, studying Journalism and Integrated Marketing Communications.You can connect with Amara on Twitter or LinkedIn.