#Politicians Are Trendy(ing)

After logging into Facebook, and Twitter today I was quickly notified that Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) had finally joined Twitter, and would be keeping the people up to date on the Vice Presidents campaign trail for Decision 2012. Even with disclaimers explaining that Joe Biden isn't actually tweeting live, and the account is run by campaign staff, in nine hours of being live the account has already reached 54,125 followers. Of the top 100 people followed on Twitter, President Barack Obama ranks at #8 with over 13 million followers.

The article looks into the possible regulation of politicians using social media in Australia, which was interesting to compare to what is going on in the United States, with the spread of politics across the board with social media. The article explains that restricting the social media use among politicians in Australia could hinder the political debates, and overall reputation with getting information out there. Obviously there are still going to be publicized debates on television, but with the politicians wanting to target the younger generation, going to where they are is key.  Most young people, who aren't incredibly political savvy, most likely won't sit through a two hour debate on television, on the contrast if say Obama posts a link that would be interesting to the voters, they may look at it through Twitter.

While I do have an interest in politics, and do generally tune into televised debates among candidates, I also follow Barack Obama and Joe Biden on Facebook and Twitter, along with receiving emails from their campaign staff about what is going on in their plans for the future.

Would I be as interested in politics if it weren't for social media in general?

Honestly, probably not. You see it everywhere now.  Facebook friends are always posting interesting links about their choice politician, or an interesting law or bill that has been passed recently. It is widely known that we are constantly affected by the people around us, and what they think, say, and do. As a generation, we are online.  We are tweeting, posting to Facebook, blogging on Tumblr, and pinning to Pinterest.  If the politicians want to be successful and known among the generation that is beginning to take over the country, they need to go where they are at.  This generation is online. This generation is partaking in social networking.

For them to be successful whether we're talking about American Politics, or those abroad being a member of a social media network is a key to success among young people.

Ashley

This article was found using LexisNexis:

Australian Financial Review
April 3, 2012 Tuesday
First Edition
Politicians all a-twitter about tweets

BYLINE: Emily Parkinson

Macy's Millennials

Macy's, who beat JC Penny, and Kohl's in gains of sales in the past year is working to target a new group of shoppers, the millennials. Their goal is not just to target these shoppers between the ages of 13 and 30, but to also improve the speed and ease of their decision making. 

Macy's has discovered that despite their spending power, millennials are not shopping at Macy's.  Because of their large spending power, they have developed a three year plan to target these individuals.  Their plan involves six aspects:

1) Reorganize the corporate organization to allow for more collaboration2) Better identify customer preferences so that they can market to them better3) Make the merchandise more relevent to the local market4) Use technology to make a more seamless buying experience5) Create more engaging internet content6)  Improve the in store experience through better training

Thus far, Macy's has implemented more attractive brands for this specific demographic, to prevent the retailer from becoming old and out of style. The article mentions that this millennial demographic spends    large amounts of money on clothing and other textiles, to which Macy's is missing out on because of their marketing power.  

Personally, I don't generally have Macy's on the top of my shopping destinations.  I think they have noticed this gap in their marketing and spending power among consumers in time to rectify their challenges.  I don't think of Macy's the same way I think of Dress Barn, or Ann Taylor.  While the articles insinuate that they are becoming "out of style" and "old" I don't think they are past the point of no return.  They've both noticed the gap, and begun to make changes to bring this demographic into their stores. I am personally interested in seeing these millennial specific brands they have brought in, and may just stop in to see what this is all about.


Ashley


Links:
https://blogs.lt.vt.edu/bit5414/2012/03/24/macys-goes-all-millennial/


http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46810098/ns/today-money/t/macys-has-new-mindset-millennials/#.T3n1plHU7zI