Final Project, Research Findings 6 – Referencing to Case Study (Johnson & Johnson), key points

Johnson & Johnson

New media publishing platforms > blogs/ podcasts/ online video, and Facebook and Twitter create opportunities for companies to tell their own stories.

J&J companies wrote blogs and used services like Facebook, Twitter.

With addition of new/social media channels, where those messages, claims, results can be retransmitted around the world with the click of a mouse button, companies must use caution when communicating publicly.

Using innovative ways to communicate with its customers.

Kilmer House

J&J company entered web 2.0 era (2006) with the introduction of its first blog (Kilmer House), named after the company’s first science Director – blog’s goal is to offer “… a way to tell some of the stories about the early days and history of J&J, and the people who worked here.”

- it’s posts are entertaining, fun, and frequently teach something.

The Kilmer House blog is the perfect way for a company in a regulated industry to enter the web 2.0 era. It’s topic is interesting and harmless.

J&J company lauched its second blog. J&J BTW – a 3 dimensional view of J&J in 2007

> The blog promises to be a voice for the company

>Topics covered by the blog varied, spamming from the human side of acquisitions, corporate philanthropy, to employee activities.

J&J BTW is used to tackle more urgent communications problems. In response to a marketing effort gone bad, Kathy Widmer, blog to apologize to those offended by a tongue-in-cheek marketing effort called Motrin Moms.

>Widmer’s blog post addressed the problem head on, and detailed a step-by-step plan for how the company would rectify the situation.

JNJ BTW became what it set out to be, a place where the company can join the online conversation about a subject that it knows lots about… Johnson & Johnson.

JNJ BTW contains a blogroll – links to other, mostly non-Johnson & Johnson sites.

> J&J is taking a page out of its history of public education by linking to other blogs that also share information about health and human welfare.

Amy Tenderich, San Francisco based woman diagnosed with diabetes

> started blog to “… connect with others, to offset the feeling of isolation with diabetes, and to sort out and share some of what I was learning”

JNJ repeating what it has been doing for years… offering public education in the area of health care.

YouTube

JNJ health channel is designed to host “videos to promote a better understanding of health, from the Johnson & Johnson Family of companies.”

… new material is produced either by corporate or the operating companies, to enhance our reputation as a trusted source of health care information as well as create awareness of some of the disease states for which we have products.

Comments on YouTube videos

-easy to see the emotional connection between the viewers and the subject

Distribution of videos may not cost anything through a service like YouTube, but there are other costs to consider

• money to create videos
• time to oversee aspects of channel

Important attribute of JNJHealth channel

> gives opportunity to engage with consumer public

> the experience of being in social media environments, will enhance our ability to communicate and engage going forward

Twitter

JNJ launched its Twitter channel in March 2009.

-been used to interact with other Twitter users, report live on executive statements to analysts, point to articles in the press,  help others tap into the information stored within the company’s rich online properties.

>Directs Twitter followers to other J&J – sponsored web properties such as safekids USA and baby.com

>almost 50% of its tweets – child safety, stories on safe biking, wearing helmets, child passenger safety

Facebook

Created in April 2009.

J&J is doing what it has done successfully in the past.. establishing a presence in a new area, adapting to the specific uses of each medium.

10 lessons companies should consider while developing social media strategies

1. There will always be excuses
2. Write about your history
3. Learn from the experience > There are hundreds of social media channels to choose from
4. Build your home first
5. Talk about the problems that you solve
6. Don’t be afraid to experiment
7. Measure everything
8. Adapt your plan
9. Cross-pollinate
10. Keep moving

Information taken from “Johnson & Johnson Does New Media” Case Study

Final Project, Research Findings 5 – Suicide Awareness Voices of Education

http://www.save.org/

Suicide Awareness Voices of Education is a global organization located in Bloomington, USA, which also provides support for the suicide and wishes to prevent suicide as much as possible. They are also an organization which is non-profitable, they strongly believe that suicide can be prevented as long as more people help by spreading about this organization.

SAVE Mission

To prevent suicide through public awareness and education, reduce stigma and serve as a resource to those touched by suicide.

Social Media Tools

SAVE also uses a number of social media tools to create awareness. Tools they use include, Twitter, Myspace, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr.

Twitter

http://twitter.com/youcantoo

They are quite successful in promoting their organization in Twitter as they have more followers than those they are following. They only have 66 tweets and they already have 129 followers.

Myspace

http://www.myspace.com/savesomeoneyouknow

They currently have 41 friends on Myspace. Their content are updated regularly as the latest update was on 3rd February. Their content are quite recent, so I guess they are quite successful in Myspace.

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bloomington-MN/Suicide-Awareness-Voices-of-Education/68728651081?ref=ts

In Facebook, they currently have 1,140 fans and their wall has frequent wall posts and there are fans who like or comment on their posts.

YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/user/SAVEonfilm

Perhaps they are not very successful in YouTube yet, because they joined YouTube recently on 10 April 2009. They currently have 6 subscribers and 1 friend.

Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/suicideawareness/

They currently have 9 photo albums on Flickr, and 4 contacts.

All information taken from: http://www.save.org/

Final Project, Research Findings 4 – About SOS in details, current situation and research

About the organization

Who are they?

They are a group of people willing to help lend a listening ear to people who are suicidal, people who know someone who is suicidal.

Vision: To be an available lifeline to anyone in crisis

Mission: SOS provides 24-hour confidential emotional support by trained volunteers  to people in crisis, thinking of suicide or affected by suicide.

Goals: To prevent suicide by talks, workshops and Annual Suicide awareness week. To intervene directly with a suicidal person through the 24-hour hotline, face-to-face counselling sessions and emergency situations. To support suicide survivors.

Source: http://www.samaritans.org.sg/index1.html

What do they do?

They listen to people who are calling in to the hotline, distressed, despaired and suicidal. They volunteer out their own free will, to commit time without expecting any reward.

Source: http://www.samaritans.org.sg/index1.html

What do they provide?

They provide trainings for volunteers, 24-hour emotional support to suicidal people and suicide survivors.

What do they need?

They need even more volunteers as not many are committed enough to stay, not all are suitable for volunteering.

Who are their “clients”?

Their clients are the people who are suicidal.

Information in their website

http://www.samaritans.org.sg/index1.html

1. History

The history has an introduction which talks about how they started out, in which country and by whom. They have information on how their name “Samaritans” came about and basically how they became international.

It then moves on to talk about their office in Singapore. It’s about the SOS starting training classes for volunteers, and receiving registration by the Singapore Registry of Societies. Lastly, about their premises expanding and relocation.

2. About Us

The About Us tells visitors of the website basically who they are, what they aim to do, their vision and mission. They have a link on Frequently Asked Questions and the .pdf files for downloading of the Annual Report and Financial Report.

3. Goals

They have 3 goals, Prevention (How they prevent suicide), Intervention (How they intervene directly with a suicidal person) and Postvention (Providing emotional support to suicidal people and suicide survivors).

4. Samlistens, requirements to be a volunteer, benefits

Samlistens is telling people to volunteer to help the suicidal people by volunteering if they love to listen and are ready to lend their ears anytime.

The requirements are qualities needed to be a volunteer.

The benefits are what you will or can gain from the experience of being a volunteer.

5. Survivors, facts about suicide

Survivors talks about people who survived from suicide and telling them not to hesitate calling the hotline when they need emotional support.

Facts about suicide is about facts which some people do not know about. For example, how crisis can occur anytime, and what suicidal people do to convey their intentions.

6. Statistics, annual report, financial report

These sections are about how many suicide attempts and how often or regular is it.

7. The ‘Do’s and ‘Don’t's

This section tells us what we should do and what we should not do upon facing a suicidal person.

8. Myths and facts about suicide

Myths are some sayings that people normally question about, and the facts tell us the truth.

9. Services

This section tells us about the services they provide, like face-to-face counselling, Local outreach to suicide etc.

Current situation

Do they have web presence?

They do have a website but its presence is not very well-known in this society.

Is it effective or practical?

Although they do provide a lot of information on their website, it isn’t effective enough as they are still lacking of volunteers, and so it leads to some being unable to reach them due to the limited number of calls they could take or receive.

Is their website up to date?

Yes. So far, The latest information they have on their annual report that can be found on their website is from year 2009.

Any updates?

No. The information on their annual report would only be updated after 2010 has passed.

What is lacking?

Their text are all image-based, that makes it harder to search for the website as the words in the text would not appear in Google unless “Samaritans of Singapore” is the search term.

They do not use web 2.0 or new media tools to create awareness of their organization.

Any other similar organizations? Their success? Any areas for improvement?

A similar organization, providing support for suicidal people is the Baton Rouge Crisis Intervention Center.

Source: http://www.brcic.org/

An area of improvement for this website would be the colors used for this website. The colors used are not eye-catchy, although the design is simple, easy to navigate.

This organization is not well known too, I guess they need web 2.0. They didn’t really use the new media tools. to create awareness.

Final Project, Research Findings 3 – SOS advertisement in a magazine

Lifestyle, December 2009

While flipping through magazines, I found this advertisement of  Samaritans of Singapore in the Lifestyle Magazine, spreading the word to those who need a listening ear, or someone to talk to.

and SOS wanting more volunteers..

Final Project, Research Findings 2 – Offsite visit to the Samaritans of Singapore

Source: http://samaritansofsingapore.blogspot.com/

The Samaritans of Singapore office is located at Outram park. It is a less than a half an hour walk from the Mass Rapid Transit station to the office itself. As this is our very first time visiting the Samaritans of Singapore office, my group mates and I had a very hard time finding our way there.

Along our way there, we referred to the map outside the Mass Rapid Transit station many times, trying to figure out which is the correct direction to go, we asked many people for directions and few really know where is the office located.

Somewhere near the office, there is a signboard pointing towards the direction of the office. We followed that direction and we have to pass by some HDB flats before reaching the office.

Upon reaching the office, we requested to take a look around the office.  There are a few rooms for face-to-face counselling, and a few rooms for activities and events to be conducted. The phone room for the volunteers to answer calls are is out of bounds as the identities of the volunteers are confidential.

Viral marketing, immersive

What is viral marketing?

Definition: Marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message.

Source: http://www.ask.com/bar?q=viral+marketing&page=1&qsrc=2891&dm=all&ab=3&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.marketingterms.com%2Fdictionary%2Fviral_marketing%2F&sg=r9rFJiBd9rYaPnMu1kiCO8m6Uf3Fya%2B1dVbUFbsedN8%3D&tsp=1264250697385

What is immersive?

Definition: become deeply involved

Source: http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/immerse

Case 1 – Youtube

Source: http://www.youtube.com/

“In its short existence, YouTube has become a classic example of a modern internet phenomenon. It is a video-sharing website that is used on a daily basis by people all over the world. It has been used to embarrass celebrities, to cause political storms, for entertainment, for self-promotion and for thousands of other reasons.“

Questions

1. What kind of customer value does YouTube provide in the marketplace?

YouTube is a platform that allows users to watch and share video content. Instead of having users to download special software to view videos, an easier way was created so that videos could be viewed directly on the web. All of YouTube’s videos were put into a format that could be played by the Flash player found on all PCs.

Users do not need to become members of the website in order to view the videos posted.

2. How do businesses like YouTube alter the ways that organizations and customers interact?

YouTube allows users to send a link through email to their friends, which led to a community of users. It also allows bloggers and others to easily ‘grab’ a video and place it on their own web pages. Users decide which videos were worth viewing by rating.

3. What are the challenges facing YouTube in the future?

One of the most important challenges facing YouTube is generating revenue. This is hard for the company as it doesn’t want to alienate its current client base.

YouTube thought deeply about whether it would be obtained by Google. It was losing money brought upon oneself the costs of storing and delivering videos, and also risked other additional costs due to potential copyright lawsuits.

Copyright issue caused YouTube to be ordered to remove a large number of videos from its site.

Many other websites launched are sharing video content. Large companies have cultivated online video offerings. Big content creators have loaded their most well-known videos on their own websites, which are free to watch.

Metacafe makes an attempt to only advertise ‘good’ videos on its homepage. It rejects copies, uses 100,000 volunteers as film critics and analyses vlips using its VideoRank algorithm.

Final Project, Research Findings 1 – Samaritans of Singapore

Source: http://www.samaritans.org.sg/index1.html

The Samaritans of Singapore first came into existence in 1953 in the United Kingdom and was founded by Reverend Chad Varah. SOS began its services in Singapore in 29 July 1969. It shifted to Cantonment Close in June 2001 and the office was formally opened by Mr Mah Bow Tan, Minister for National Development and Patron of SOS, in January 2002.

Source: http://www.samaritans.org.sg/index1.html

Upon taking a look at the website, the first thing that managed to capture my group’s attention was the design and the layout of the website. Being curious people, we proceeded to read more about the SOS. We found out that they aimed to be able to lend a listening ear to people who are in crisis, people who are in despair, distress, or having thoughts about committing suicide.

They lend listening ears to people who are suicidal and let them know that they are always there for them, whenever they need someone to talk to. They also encourage people around them to give them their support so that they would have the courage to carry on living.

Volunteers are encouraged to listen to their problems without any form of judgment or giving any form of advise as what these people need most is just moral support from their listening ears and also from their families.

I think that an organization like this needs more people as their volunteers as suicide attempt and suicide death are extremely important issues. As mentioned in their website, the number of calls they have is limited by the number of volunteers available to answer those calls. Callers who are unable to get through their hotline would not receive support from them or pour their sorrows to them. Times like these, it is important to help them by being their volunteers. They need more people who are able to provide emotional support.

In my opinion, I think that non-profitable organizations need people’s support, let alone an organization who provides support for people who are suicidal. What’s a good way to let others know about this organization will be discussed by my group and I.

I think through this project, we will learn to be more emotionally mature, and be more open to people who need a listening ear or moral support. We never know, maybe just by being there for them, we might be able to help people who truly needs our care and concern at that point of time.

Reflection, New Media Landscape

“Lionel Chin is the co-founder of Ripplewerkz, which is an all in one design house which offers high quality Web, Blog, Print and Corporate ID development. Boasting an impressive portfolio of projects such as Nuffnang, Prominent bloggers/Celebrities (eg. Allan Wu (The Amazing Race Asia), Wong Lilin (Mediacorp), Nico Chua (FM 933 DJ), Lunch Actually, Airtrade and The Eurasian Association (Singapore) etc, the name Lionel Chin certainly resonates in the digital industry.”

5 key points mentioned during presentation

Firstly, Twitter is a very important new media tool in the society now.

I think Twitter is a very important tool, regardless of what is it used for. Business, entertainment, advertising, social networking, networking, e-learning, etc. As it is and has the  fastest growing population, people would definitely benefit from it if  they know how to use it. Since everyone is using it to market themselves, making use of the new media tools, we should get used to the society now that almost everything is new media. We should also learn from others how to make good use of the new media tools in order to “survive” in this society, in the industry, in this world. Further down the years, who knows what happens? Things will be different from now as Singapore will be advancing further, and new media will be further improved. Therefore I guess it is important for us to keep up with this fast-paced society.

Secondly, We should get used to the fact that the real world is much tougher.

True, the real world is very much tougher. I think we cannot be demoralized just because clients do not like our work, or clients want something more creative, something fresher and newer and because of all these our work is rejected. I think we should learn and be able to learn from our mistakes and get up from where we fall. It is also important for us to accept criticisms and think of how to improve our work instead of just feeling all our efforts have gone to waste. Instead of wasting time feeling depressed, rejected, we should make use of all the time we have to keep trying, until the clients are satisfied with our work. We should stay strong and not be defeated so easily as it is not easy to “survive” in the industry, we don’t know what other people are thinking, we cannot count on them, we can only trust ourselves and really familiarize ourselves with this tough and real  world.

Thirdly, Our portfolio is very important.

I agree that our portfolio is important, as it is required to show our portfolio before clients can believe that we are able to give them what they want. If we don’t have a portfolio, clients wouldn’t believe that we are up to their standard or even have the rights to produce what they ask for. We should build our portfolio along the years slowly, as we do not know when do we have to actually show it, and we might as well be prepared all times. Portfolio will also help us more when we need to be chosen between one with qualifications but without portfolio. The one with portfolio might win easily because they have all their works compiled together and it is easy to be shown as proof that they are able to produce what the clients want. Unlike the one without portfolio, they cannot show what they have, they cannot easily tell the clients that they are able to produce what they want because the clients have no chance to see their portfolio. Therefore, i really agree that portfolio is very important.

Fourthly, It would be good if we start out as a freelancer.

Freelancing would help us get some clients and if they were to appreciate our work, they may recommend us to others and other clients would start coming in. Of course, when we first start out, it wouldn’t be that easy so we need to be patient. Freelancing may help us with our experience as we wouldn’t know what it is like to have clients and asking us if we could produce what they want, being a freelancer would let us experience that. Also, it would help us when we look for jobs. We could answer that we have done freelancing before, and it would be better than we go look for a job directly with no experience and no freelancing experience. Lastly, freelancing help us get a taste of the real world. As we would have already experienced it, we would be able to handle the criticisms, heavy workload and limited time shoved to us. Hence, I seriously think that freelancing would give us an experience.

Lastly, We must know how to market ourselves.

I think it is important that we know how to market ourselves, and in this advancing society, things have been made easier as new media is used everywhere. If we do not know how to market ourselves, it wouldn’t be easy for us to “survive” as everybody in the same industry is competitive. We are all fighting for the same thing, so if we do not do it fast and do it the right way, we might just lose even before we start. We can market ourselves through Search Engine Optimization, Banner Ads and Google Ad works. We can market ourselves through the new media tools like Facebook and Twitter. As long as we know how to market ourselves, we know that at least we still stand a chance and there’s still hope that we will get clients. Furthermore, in this society today we no longer wait for clients to look for us, we must look for them. Therefore, that makes marketing important.

3 things that has inspired me from this lecture

1. In the real world, life is not easy and is much tougher.
2. People will be satisfied with and appreciate your work if you’ve put effort in it.
3. If we know how to make use of advertisements, we can use it to earn money by placing them at our blogs and we might earn more than what we expect.

Do you think its useful to have a guest speaker to share their expertise, experience and “Tips & Tricks” of the trade? (Explain)

Yes, it’s useful.

To have a guest speaker share their expertise, experience and “Tips & Tricks” of the trade is almost the same as having a hands-on practical lab session. Instead of listening to the theory, try it myself to understand it better. Instead of listening to the theory from lectures and PowerPoint slides, listen to someone who is experienced to share their experience.

Without a guest speaker to share their experience, I wouldn’t know what it’s like to work in the real world. I wouldn’t know what is expected and what kind of thinking and attitude should I have, what should I do and not do. I wouldn’t know what I should start out as and how should I decide my path.

With a guest speaker sharing their experience, I would know what is actually going on in the real world, in the industry now. I would be able to know how to apply the skills we learn, how to be confident with ourselves and our works.

National Archives and Records Administration

Source: http://www.archives.gov/

Background of Organization

• What is an Archives?

“An archives is a place where people can go to gather firsthand facts, data, and evidence from letters, reports, notes, memos, photographs, and other primary sources.“

Source: http://www.archives.gov/about/info/whats-an-archives.html

The National Archives has the U.S. Government’s collection of documents that contains the significant events in American history.

Tha National Archives and Records Administration is the Government agency’s safeguarding and keeping of these materials and allow them to be available for studies.

• Who are they?

David S. Ferriero is the Archivist of the United States, he is the head of the National Arichives agency, appointed by the President of the United States.

“Archivists are specially trained in preserving the original material and helping people obtain it.“

Source: http://www.archives.gov/about/info/whats-an-archivist.html

The National Archives and Records Administration is actually an organization with people of different positions who search for past old documents and store them. They are also the ones who organized past records that are messy and not being left around casually,  and many times, being exposed to fire, insects, heat, water, and sunlight caused them damages.

• What do they do?

The National Archives and Records Administration keeps the nation’s records. They are the government agency who ensures that people have access to the information other than maintaining the documents and materials related to the united states.

• What type of services they provide?

They provide jobs, student jobs, internships, and volunteering opportunities at the National Archives.

Grants are also provided for assistance with studies of the Federal Records or Presidential Papers. They can also be applied to gather, maintain and share the documents that are of significance to the history of Americans.

Do they use any Social Media & Web 2.0 technologies for public communication & education?

Yes, they do.

“The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has launched some Web 2.0 technologies and has signed agreements to create NARA sites on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and Flickr.  NARA is using these tools and sites to create new ways of communicating with the public and look forward to your feedback.”

Source: http://www.archives.gov/social-media/

Some of the tools they use for communication:

-Blog

Source: http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/

The National Archives and Records Administrations has blogs to communicate to the public and one of these blogs is the NARAtions, it is a blog for public access to the records for the U.S. National Archives online.

-Facebook

Source: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nationwide/US-National-Archives/128463482993

They are also on Facebook to update the public about their news and events in a faster way.

-Flickr

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/usnationalarchives/

Historical photographs and other photographs are shared on their Flickr.

-Twitter

Source: http://twitter.com/archivesnews

The National Archives and Records Administration shares Archives news, events and exhibitions on Twitter.

-Youtube

Source: http://www.youtube.com/USNationalArchives

On Youtube, the National Archives and Records Administration shares historical films and updates about the latest films that they have.