May – 2009 – Creative Journal: Marketing and Creativity

Sports

How To Be Kobe Bryant In The Workplace

May 23, 2009

If you were to take away the Hollywood sign, most everyone would notice and panic. Similar to that sentiment, if Kobe Bryant were to play basketball in any city other than Los Angeles, people would be in disarray and begin a ‘bring Kobe back’ campaign. While Kobe leaving LA may seem like a far off issue, Kobe has become such an established brand in Los Angeles, that Los Angeles without Kobe is like a sandwich with no bread. While the average fan can only imagine being Kobe Bryant and making the clutch shot in the last moments of a game, that doesn’t mean you can’t be Kobe Bryant in the workplace.

When Kobe entered the NBA he was just 17 years old at the time. As a rookie, scouts and NBA analysts saw flashes of brilliance, but also saw streaks of immaturity and lack of discipline. For most of us, we too go through something similar to what Kobe had to go through. When starting a job, we try to do the best we can, but that doesn’t mean we always do it right. Kobe’s role during his first year was to learn and play the role he was given which was off the bench at the time. When starting with a company it is important to spend time learning the in’s and out’s of how the company runs and also to perform your tasks to the best of your abilities. Doing so will guarantee you more ‘playing time’ later on as you gain the the respect of your peers and seniors. Continue Reading…

Social Media

Your Career And Social Voyeurism

May 14, 2009

When you apply for a job, one of the first things that employers will do is take a look at your resume. Traditionally, this along with a face to face interviews were the steps to getting a job. With the ability to now get information within seconds, traditional steps to getting a job are being substituted by other methods. What it says on paper is no longer enough information for employers. With information becoming easier to gather, employers want to get as much information as they can on possible candidates. Using sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, employers can now find out when you first started a job, who you know, as well as other information you may not want them to know like where you went last night or that ‘one crazy night’ during college.

Mind If I Stalk You?

Launched in early 2004, Facebook is now the 3rd most visited website according to Compete.com and has not only helped users reconnect with old friends and make new ones, but sparked a new culture that can be described as “social voyeurism.” Another word that I have heard used to describe it is “social network stalking.” While many argue that it is unfair for employers to use your Facebook account as basis for being qualified for a job, what people need to realize is that whatever you put online becomes part of the world wide web. Privacy is a myth. No matter how much privacy you put on your Facebook account, there are ways for employers to get that information. From companies having current employees already in your network to ‘dummy’ accounts that friend potential candidates, for one to believe their Facebook accounts are private is wrong.
Continue Reading…

Social Media, Sports

How NBA Stars Are Using Twitter To Brand Themselves

May 11, 2009

Ever wanted to know what Shaquille O’neal does before a game or where Baron Davis likes to go on his off days? Thanks to Twitter, now you can. For the last 4 months, I have been watching the accounts of players like Shaquille O’neal and Baron Davis and have been paying careful attention to the number of followers that they have. The amount of influence that athletes like Baron and Shaq have accumulated in just the past few months is impressive

In the last 3 months, Shaquille O’neal, better known as The_Real_Shaq on Twitter, has gone from 50,000 followers to nearly 1 million. At first glance, you may think that it is the “Shaq Brand” that has drawn in the large number of followers, but that is not entirely true. Companies like Dell and Woot.com have all tried to do what Shaq has done with Twitter, but they can’t because of what Shaq and other NBA stars have been doing.

Yes, Shaquille O’neal is a world famous athlete, but he is also a brand in himself. Like the Nike swoop that has become an iconic figure in sports, Shaquille’s personality is the same. NBA stars are branding themselves not as just athletes, but as ‘real people.’ If you look at what NBA players are tweeting about, they aren’t talking about how many points they scored or if a referee got a play wrong, they are tweeting about what regular people like you and I would tweet about. From Shaq’s thoughts on the recent Manny Ramirez drug suspension to Derek Fisher’s NCAA Bracket results, when you are following an NBA star you feel like you are following a real person.
Continue Reading…

Career

Aspire To Be The Leader, Not The Follower

May 4, 2009

When you first enter a job, one of the first things that you need to understand is your role within the company. Are you the leader or are you the follower. While their are obviously more followers than leaders in a company, that doesn’t mean you should accept that role and not try to be more. One of the biggest complaints that I hear people say is that they hate their job because their is no chance for them move up. To this I ask: Have you done everything you can?

If they answered yes, that means that you have put in the extra hours, you have offered to help out in areas that aren’t your own responsibility and you have taken an active role within the company to try and bring value. If not, then it you need to ask yourself: Why? While their is nothing wrong with being a follower, people remember leaders, not followers. In the workplace when a project has positive results, typically the leader of the project will get most of the credit. It is true that those involved in the project get some credit as well, but the bulk of the credit will go to the leader. When a project goes bad, the opposite will happen. Someone has to take responsibility for a failure and that means one of the ‘followers’ are subject to scrutiny.

Why Be The Leader?