Journalists: increase your article impact with social media and new technologies

Journalists, you know, your editor knows, even the editor of you editor who retired 20 years ago knows: new technologies and social media are impacting the ways our readers relate to your articles. As a graduate student in the Northwestern Medill Media Strategy and Leadership program, I have found two articles you will find interesting. The first one is about automatic writing and the second is about social media.

Earlier in September, the British newspaper The Guardian has published an article that may scary old school reporters. The journalists who never sleep presented a few examples of companies that are working with artificial intelligence to develop automated writing. In this article, the author Yves Eudes (@YvesEudes) shows that a text can be completely written in English without any human interaction. What’s more: the text can be so good that any reader would realize it. A tool called Quill, designed by Narrative Science, was programmed to import data from different data-basis, convert this data into structured data, promote a narrative analysis and, at last, generate a narrative in almost any particular subject. Quill developers defend that the artificial intelligence will enable, in the future, every user to read an article tailored to his/her own interests.

On October, the Nieman Lab (@NiemanLab), an institution specialized in studying new journalism paths, released the article Where you get your news depends on where you stand on the issues, discussing a research about the Americans’ news consumption behaviors. The author Justin Ellis (@JustinNXT) presented many relevant data concerning the intersection of ideology in media consumption habits. The most important takeaway of the research is: if you are liberal, you tend to follow liberal vehicles; if you are conservative, you tend to follow conservative vehicles. These findings may seem silly in the first look, but they mean that people are every time more stuck in their own bubble of interests. This trend is even clearer in social media. In Facebook, most people just interact with posts containing a political view with which they agree. See above a chart with Facebook users’ behavior towards ideology.

After reviewing these two articles and drawing on my studies in the Northwestern Journalism program, here are three action items you should consider.

1. Understand data. Improve your analytical skills to always offer more complex texts than pre-programmed tools are able to produce.

2. Use social media. However, be careful to not be stuck under your bubble. Going beyond and trying to reach audiences outside your peers may be a competitive advantage of your work.

3. Don’t be afraid. Technology is here to help. Our jobs are not at risk. Yet.

Patrícia Gomes is pursuing her MS in Media Strategy and Leadership at Medill/Northwestern University. As a journalist in Brazil, she worked for Agence France Presse, Folha de S.Paulo and lately at Porvir, a news agency specialized in innovation in education that she co-founded. She is passionate about education, journalism, and innovation. She believes those three themes are a way to empower citizens to achieve a better life. Want to get in touch? 
Twitter: @Paty_Gomes_
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Marketers: Learn How to Handle International Markets

Marketers: Learn How to Handle International Markets

When you are addressing how to take your marketing strategy worldwide, there will be the temptation to use a cookie cutter approach; this temptation must be squelched.   As a student in integrated marketing at Northwestern University, I have seen how understanding a nation’s cultural values will allow your strategy to truly flourish.

A Look At Marketing In Brazil

           

            Finding the right product for a unique marketplace means having to invest far less in your offering, as the product will match up with the wants and needs of your target market.  For instance, open a new page to look at Metro’s article on this Brazilian offering: http://bit.ly/1mYdoSi. Outsiders see a ridiculous luxury item.  Brazilians see a chance to cherish their heritage in their beautiful game.  The upcoming 2014 World Cup will sell a unique souvenir: Pele’s hair crystallized into diamond form.  The soccer superstar’s hair is taken and transformed into 1,283 diamonds (equaling his goal tally) and will be on sale for £4,500. 

Brazil's spending on Consumption Shows Great Promise

            Coca-Cola shows a second example of understanding an international market, more specifically the feelings of said market.  Coca-Cola plans on scaling back its upbeat marketing campaign leading up to the World Cup.  Coca-Cola realizes that if there is a discord between their campaign and the overall sentiment of Brazil, their company image will suffer.  Take a second to look at Fox’s article on this strategy in a new page: http://fxn.ws/1iuunpI.  As a result, Coca-Cola moves stride in stride with their target market.

            So, marketing internationally must align the values of the market with the offerings of the company.  When looking at how to move forward, a CMO and marketing department must work to fulfill these points:

1.     Market Towards Specific Markets: Like Pele's diamonds, if you find a way to focus on what your target market desires, the selling point becomes much easier

2.     Capitalize on Current Events: Partnering your company with major events in your market is a great way to permeate the market

3.     Sync marketing strategy with market emotions: Consumers want to see that the company they are buying from understands them.  Take a page out of Coca-Cola's book and partner your company's status with the state of your target market

Seamus Naughton is an Economics and Integrated Marketing Communications student at Northwestern University.  He is interested in both business internationally and more specifically in the Lusophone world.  He studies the Portuguese language and operates a twitter feed on the topic.  Follow him at @Lusophonenews on Twitter.