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Curiosity, Energy, Risk, Openness

The four fundamental elements of a creative spirit are essential factors that have to be practiced in order to be more creative within ourselves. After learning the four fundamental elements and what each of them mean, I have taken note that I am strong in some areas but need room for improvement in others.

Below I have ranked the four elements:

curiosity= 7/10

I have always been a fan of asking questions. I am always curious hearing opinions from another perspective and using that knowledge to better critic my work . I gave this a seven instead of a ten because sometimes I struggle with voicing a question that I may have because of the fear of

energy= 8/10

Because I am a morning person, I do most of my work and homework in the mornings. With this class being right at 8am, I feel as though I am able to be my most energetic self and bring upon a positive attitude during the class lectures.

risk= 4/10

Taking risks has always been something I have struggled with. Getting out of my comfort zone and expressing my own thoughts can sometimes be a struggle for me because of the negative criticism that I could receive. My main goal for this class to to learn to be comfortable with my thoughts.

openness= 9/10

I am very open to all criticism that my classmates have about my work. I enjoy hearing other peoples ideas and using there judgement and opinion to better my work.

The two forms of social media that I have used most frequently during the semester would be Instagram and Tik Tok. These implications are important factors to the fields of advertisement and communication because of the way these platforms present their content to viewers. In using these two platforms, I have learned more about brand awareness, marketing my content, and how to create raw and original content for my viewers. In using these learned methods, I have been able to increase my following count on Instagram by 3,000 and my Tik-Tok by 20,000 in the past couple of years. So how did I do it? How was I able to spread my content and gain a following so quickly?

            To begin, Tik Tok is the platform I spend the majority of my time on compared to others. It starts with being able to communicate correctly and in a beneficial way with your target audience. Tik Tok is a short-filmed, video sharing app that allows users to create and share fifteen second, 30 second-, or two-minute videos on any topic. Tik Tok is a fairly new social media platform that took over a previous competitor called Musically just a couple of years ago. I use Tik Tok the most out of all my social media accounts, spending around 1.5 hours a day sliding through my “For You Page” or “FYP”. A “FYP”, in summary, is Tik Tok’s recommended videos for your viewing from accounts based on who you follow and what you like the most. This essentially is an algorithm designed to keep you on the app entertained by your own preference while also promoting people’s work at the same time (making them money)! I truly believe that Tik Tok is the best platform for advertising and selling product to their target audience. I believe this because of Tik Tok’s ability to track and record how much one user spends on a particular category, meaning more videos like the one’s that the viewer is watching is going to be added to their personal “FYP”. This gives Tik Tok a major advantage to the other social media platforms because they can advertise product on your page based on the users interests that Tik Tok has recorded. Although it is a very efficient tactic and successful business operation that Tik Tok utilizes, this can be very dangerous to the public regarding personal privacy but is now still the most profitable social media platform. 

            In addition, I can also use this as a great source of communicating with my peers. Based on the similar posts that appear on my social media page, will also appear on another individual’s page with a comment and direct message tab. This results in individuals sharing a common commonality with each other. As I first started out on Tik Tok, I thought that if I compiled and posted a bunch of the most viral “trends”, I was going to get famous. As it did get me some views, I began to realize that I was just blending in with my audiences’ views. With some thinking, I learned that posting viral trends with a “twist” was a key to success. For example, I would take that common trend, and add original content that expressed my character and who I was as a person. This added personally and showed a newness to the audience viewing my posts. Tik Tok has taught me that in using my original self in my content, I am better able to communicate and relate to others. 

            On the other hand, Instagram is an important platform that works wonders for brand awareness. Instagram is a very famous and commonly used social media platform which is popularly being used as a marketing tool these days. On average, I spend up to 4 hours on Instagram per week, so roughly around 20 minutes per day on Instagram. Ever since I have had Tik Tok, I have always had my Instagram page linked in the bio.  After gaining followers from my content on Tik Tok, companies would reach out to me on Instagram. Through this, I have learned that Instagram is a better communication tool because it helps individuals deliver visual direct messages or public posts to many recipients conveniently. It is also simply more formal than Tik Tok. Companies use a more selective audience to advertise their product to sell. Posting visual content over text- based content processes faster, resulting in more attraction and attention to the brand consumer. Therefore, brands are better anchored and advertised in the memory of a brand campaign, sponsorship, and/or collab of a product. On Instagram, you can now create a business account on Instagram and then use photos, videos, reels, and hashtags to market your business. This is an important factor because it can also can quickly and easily get the customer engaged and easier in touch with the consumer with questions or concerns about the product they are selling. 

This is an added addition to Top Golfs app. This will include an extra tab that is available for Top Golfers to video themselves, track their process, and keep track of their scores. You will also be able to get your accurate swings, ball speed, Apex, and the distance the ball goes in yards. This will help give the Golfer pointers and will benefit improvement. Camera stands will be available at the golf stand.

By: Claire Vaughn

The “Live for Now” Pepsi campaign was launched on April 4, 2017, in an attempt to promote Pepsi as being a friendly brand whose goal was to “protect a global message of unity, peace, and understanding”. In trying to execute this goal, Pepsi came out with a two-minute-long video, showing an ethnically diverse, but color- coordinated crowd of young individuals starting a protest. In this video, Kendall Jenner steps in with a can of Pepsi for the police officer in an attempt to “save the day”. Due to the numerous amounts of criticism from social media users claiming that this advertisement was co-opting protest movements (such as the Black Lives Matter) for commercial gain, Pepsi had to pull the campaign from being aired to the public less than 48 hours later. One can say that Pepsi is still a popular brand to buy from, but I could argue that this campaign may have damaged their globally- recognized brand name forever. 

            It is no secret that Pepsi’s marketing strategy consumes of well-known celebrities and sponsorships to promote their brand. The Pepsi company uses these well-known celebrities to appeal to their target audience, who consist of teens, young adults, and early middle-aged adult consumers. With Kendal Jenner being the star of this “Live for Now” Pepsi campaign, Pepsi attempted to execute their goal of reaching the target audience by using star Kendal Jenner. This commercial shows supermodel Kendal Jenner posing for a photoshoot where she is wearing designer clothes and dark lipstick, giving a youthful and energetic appearance to the viewers. We see her change into a denim outfit and take off her wig to hand to a perplexed woman. In the end of the commercial, Jenner approaches a police officer and cracks open a can of Pepsi soda for him to drink. The officer then drinks the soda and the crowd cheers. Pepsi did succeed in reaching their target audience (me), but in a negative way.

            The Campaign Objective of the “Live for Now” Pepsi campaign was aimed to target the youth audience to stand together in our world’s protests, regardless of genders, race, and status in society. The protest was a movement that was intended to promote and unify individuals of different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. Pepsi also claimed that the opening of the can was used to remind the audience how nice and simulating it would feel to hold a can of Pepsi, but I thought it meant more than that. In my opinion, I thought Pepsi was trying to make it seem as though protests and disagreements in our society can be a quick fix. Doing a small task like drinking a Pepsi, was a simple cure to all real-life problems and protests. This campaign was clearly meant to explain to the youth audience that there are better and more important things going on in our life other than protects and political differences. I have a problem with that statement because I believe this country needs to fight for what we stand for. We live in a society where there exist numerous distinct ethnic and cultural groups, so different voices of opinions are going to be expressed across the media. Pepsi should not promote to the younger generation that there is an easy way of creating an equal change.

            The failure of creative and media strategies is a prime example as to how Pepsi’s company failed to research and communicate with each other when trying to promote this brand idea. The criticism that Pepsi got for creating this campaign shows us that Pepsi failed to reach out to a diverse audience before publishing it to the public. This concludes to my belief that Pepsi went against their own “Live for Now” Pepsi campaign because they failed in the focus of their intended message. Instead, their focus was gaining success in their company, instead of trying to also spread awareness to our country. This concludes that Pepsi failed to share their ideas with a diverse range of individuals before publishing and because of this, they almost got canceled. 

No pain. No gain.
Claire Vaughn

Hot enough to fry an egg on!

Body language is used by everyone daily. Ever since I was a little kid, my parents have always criticized my body language, claiming that I need to stop hunching over, and sit up with a firm and tall posture. I have always thought my parents reasoning for telling me to sit up straight was strictly to make myself look more presentable. After listening to Amy Cuddy’s ted talk “Your body language shapes who you are”, I have learned how impactful and influential body language is on myself and the individuals around me. The way we hold ourselves says many things about who we are before we start communicating and even presents a first-hand judgement from the audience around us. When expressing nonverbal communication with the presentation of my body language, I would evaluate myself as being scrunched up, hunched over, and my legs always being crossed. My body language stays in those forms most of time time, but can change depending on my environment. For example, if I am working out at the gym, I tend to hold my head high, stand up straight, and communicate with the people around me more because I have confidence in an environment where people workout. In regards to school, my goal is to present myself in the same way that I present myself when I’m working out. This would easily give me a voice of confidence in my creative ideas and encourage myself to share them with others. After listening to this Ted talk, I have learned that the way I express nonverbal communication in most of my daily life displays a lack of confidence and power. Cuddy teaches us that we have the power to trick our brains into making ourselves feel a certain way. After hearing this, I have concluded that if I could change my body language, it would be to simply sit up straight and hold my head high like I do at the gym. Even if showing confidence is a forced effort I must make in the workforce, it is proven possible that my presentation will have a positive effect on me gaining confidence and the way that other individuals interpret me. 

By: Claire Vaughn, Maddie Howell, Fabiola Leon, and Dabney Howard