It reads as follows:

Exactly. #singlegirlproblems #valentinesday

But then I started to really think about this tweet and how far off from reality it really is. Whether we admit it or not (which we usually don’t) single girls freak out about Valentine’s Day. No matter how much we tweet about how we love being single or about how excited we are that our Valentine’s date is either our best friend or a bottle of wine, we all know we’d rather be with a dude.

So why are so many of us in denial? I’m not saying we have to get all depressed and drown in our sorrows, but let’s at least not lie to the world and be all proud that we’re single. Therefore, this Valentine’s Day I propose that all of us single ladies tweet what we are really thinking – love sucks unless you are in love, then it’s incredibly awesome.

Try something like this:

I’m desperate. #singlegirlproblems #valentinesday

Who’s with me?!

For my post I decided to focus on my time in the office and what made JB Chicago different from other agencies I’ve visited. As it turns out, having visitors write a blog is different. A blog post about a blog post in a blog…straight out of Inception.

So, why is a guest blog post important? Having visitors contribute to The Fizz captures the office culture: everybody has ideas, everybody is involved, and everybody can do great work.

It seems JB Chicago recognizes that good work can come from anywhere, including outsiders. Visitors have something to offer, whether it’s describing their time in the office or a new marketing trend or their puppy (I get the feeling the office has a lot of dog lovers). Everybody feels welcome (or at least I did), rather than just somebody taking up time and space.

Being given the opportunity to post this blog really gave me the best sense of what makes JB Chicago different.

Louis Klieger

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 2013

Advertising | Informatics

LKorigins.com

I have a new obsession, and its name is Pinterest! This new sharing website takes Tumblr and stumbleupon.com and organizes your thoughts and interests into a personal bulletin board. You simply pin something you come across online, or repin what other people are posting. It’s addicting, it’s creative, and it’s time consuming.

The site being relatively new, it still requires an invite to begin sharing. While it may not be very hard to get an invite, the fact that you have to even go through this process adds exclusivity to the product that is reminiscent of the old Facebook settings and the more recent Google+ beginnings. Once “in”, you discover a world of images and ideas that are chaotically presented like a bulletin board you would find in one’s dorm. Images are randomly “pinned” and then organized through the use of keywords and categorized pinboards.

This new vehicle is almost like a personal and virtual magazine to share with thousands of followers. It isn’t just about sharing your ideas with a limited group of friends like on Facebook. You have access to everyone’s posts. By following someone on Pinterest, you are getting an in-depth look at what they are drawn to and what they are thinking.

As it is a new website, there are a few bugs that need to be worked out. For instance, the only source of notifications is through your e-mail, which can get very annoying and add clutter to your inbox.  Another feature that is commonly forgotten when posting is that most of these images actually lead to another blog or website with more information on the topic. While it is a very image-based vehicle, it can lead you to some great sources of similar information. If Pinterest can increase the awareness of this function, it could compete with the large-scale sharing websites. Additionally, the numbers are never up to date. You get an e-mail that someone new is following you, and it might not show up for a few days on your profile.  But hey, everyone has their issues and this guy has a lot of time to work the kinks out.

Probably the most substantial contribution Pinterest has made is its “Pin it” toolbar button. After adding the button to your bookmarks, you can pin images from your favorite websites to your toolbar without ever leaving the website. The more original pins you have like this, the more you will get repinned by other users.

It is one of the more fun social media websites out there because it doesn’t just stop at your friend’s updates for the day. You can go further and stay on for hours, finding new posts on virtually every interest you may find. But beware: it is EXTREMELY addicting. Pinterest will probably be the new choice procrastination tool in 2012. Mark my words.

But while you are on there, make sure to check out JB’s page! http://pinterest.com/jbchicago/

I first heard about Klout scores in one of my public relations classes this past semester when we were talking about a company’s influence in the social media atmosphere. I obviously wasn’t paying attention to it very closely because it came up in conversation again during my internship and had no clue what anyone was talking about. I decided to look into it and found some interesting….and somewhat creepy information.

So you log onto to this website, http://klout.com  and you authorize all your social media accounts to be analyzed. Once the data is collected they project your personal Klout score. This score is based from 1 to 100 and ranked by your influence in the social media atmosphere. The average score is around 20. You are then categorized by your “reach” and your “amplification” and are also labeled as a type of influencer.

The first time I signed on, I got a 22 which I was fine with since it was determined average. Then I went back to check on it a couple weeks later and it had skyrocketed to 52. This is when I started to question things. My activity in the social media sphere had not changed drastically at all in the time span between my two logins. It brings to question whether you can really trust their analytics. After doing some research most conclusions were skeptical since they give no real data to base their claims on.

If it were to be accurate, this could be a beneficial tool because it gives you the option to see who you are influencing and on what topics. Therefore, you could gage your messaging towards certain topics to truly become an expert on a topic. If you wanted to be a different type of influencer, you could cater your messaging towards that arena.

It seems like a great tool to use, and if it is accurate then I can see this becoming more popular in upcoming years as social media continues to grow in its dominance.

To find out your Klout score check out http://klout.com

I truly do love getting into the holiday spirit. Whether it’s listening to Mariah Carey’s holiday classic “All I Want for Christmas is You” or decorating the Christmas tree, I can’t help but smile. As much as individuals like myself are getting into the spirit, so too are retail stores and internet sites. BING—a web search engine from Microsoft— has launched its new holiday marketing campaign which features everyone’s favorite red nose reindeer…Rudolph! Rudolph and his friends are displayed in four advertisements for BING doing things such as popping bubble wrap and hot yoga. It’s a lighthearted marketing strategy set to reach a global audience on many different platforms during the holiday season. At the end of each ad, BING’s promotion is clear. It should come as no surprise that companies are busting out their best holiday marketing ideas to hook potential customers and set them apart from the competition. This time of year, new and creative ideas built around “holiday cheer” will flourish. BING is a great example of this. Don’t believe me, see it for yourself: Here is one of BING’s ads for your holiday enjoyment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6-KJui_meA&feature=related.

Attention all Coca-Cola lovers! Have you seen the latest Coca-Cola can logo? If you haven’t you better read this blog. Starting November 1st, Coca-Cola will release 1.4 billion white Coke cans in the U.S. and Canada. This temporary redesign features polar bears against a field of white and is part of a campaign to protect the arctic territory in which our friends the polar bears reside in. The campaign is a joint effort with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Between Coca-Cola and the WWF organization, fundraising will take place to affirm why the iconic polar bears that our nation has grown to love deserves a longer chance at life. Due to global warming, the predictions for the polar bear population to go extinct is as soon as 2050. Let’s come together to preserve the survival of these awe-inspiring animals. Get in on the fight to
save the majestic polar bear.

You can show your support on Facebook or Twitter. Check it out TODAY!

Drum roll please…. introducing the new intern Nadvia at JB Chicago!

Wassup Everyone! This is Nadvia coming to you live from the front desk. I recently became the new Marketing and Communication Intern here at JB Chicago about a month ago and I thought it would be fitting to tell you a little bit about myself. I’m originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota and recently moved to the Windy City to pursue my masters degree in Journalism. In addition to pursuing my masters degree I wanted to gain some working experience. From there I applied to various companies throughout Chicago and was blessed with an opportunity to join the JB Chicago family. Already I have begun learning what it means to work for an integrated marketing firm where advanced social media and exclusive graphic designs stand on the forefront.  I look forward to soaking in all the tricks of the marketing trade from the dynamic team of Steve, Carly, Sara, Connor, Christina and Jonathan. Hope you enjoy the blog postings I’ll be putting up throughout the fall.

Peace out. Nadvia

Competitors have used similar strategies, including Sears and Kmart whose stores opened Thanksgiving morning last year for the first time. Also Toys R Us stores opened at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, and Wal-Mart opened many stores by midnight the evening of Thanksgiving. So far Target has already announced its Black Friday hours this year.

Consumers won’t want to miss deals on the usual flat screen TVs, DVDs and Christmas toys alike. Stay tuned for the release of other retailers hours and deals within the next week! Wherever you plan to shop on Black Friday, remember to wake up early, trap on your fanny pack and race to the doors. Let the Black Friday shopping frenzy begin!

It was only a matter of time, but social media has hit the marathon scene full speed in the last few weeks. Now marathon participants can multi-task when they’ve signed up for free social media messaging services which debuted October 16^th at the Marine Corps Marathon, a national organization. This event introduced a new timing system that will send an automatic message every 10 miles to your followers on Facebook or Twitter while tracking runners in the race. Now instead of cheering on your friend at the finish line, you can cheer from your comfortable plush couch. Although I’ll have to admit, posting to Facebook or tweeting while running 26.2 miles doesn’t sound like an easy task, but these tech-savvy runners show it can be done.

Even though the latest runner-tracking technology has been launched, there are still kinks that need to be worked out to perfect the system. So far with the mobile apps it’s never guaranteed that race pace texts, e-mails or Twitter and Facebook alerts will show up on time — if at all. The fact that free mobile tracking apps and GPS devices have reached social media platforms is a huge advancement in of itself.

Keep an eye out for new updates that allow spectators to track runners live. And who knows, this time next year when you have a friend who’s running in the Chicago Marathon while posting to Facebook in the middle of the race, don’t be surprised! For more information check out Marinemarathon.com for social media messaging and Mcmlocator.com for directions to mile markers, water points and other race landmarks.

One of the innovative features of Google+ that has given it the social media website so much hype is Google+ Circles. It is an easy way to manage who you follow and what they can see; serving as the answer to Facebook’s complicated privacy settings. I haven’t gotten into Google + as much as everyone else seems to have – partly because I’m too lazy – but on Facebook it was always frustrating managing what your family members, coworkers, employers and friends saw. With this recent Google update, Facebook has retaliated with its new feature, “Lists”.  This feature provides essentially the same benefits that made Google+ so intriguing. Now that Facebook has provided an alternative to their complicated privacy settings, my fear is that Google+ will become obsolete. I’m sure there are more features being developed and other positives of Google + but I am not sure it can still compete. But what do I know! Do you think Google+ will become obsolete with this new features development for Facebook?