Blog 3: Social Networking and eWOM with Oreo Buscuits!

Here is a prime example of how eWOM has taken effect for the Oreo biscuit company. http://on.mash.to/ZIZ4CA Oreo has over 32 million fans over Facebook, more then 76,000 followers on Twitter and has even recently been introduced to Instagram which had a huge increased of 87,000 followers after Super Bowl game.

When an online debate began amongst fellow 'Social Networkers' over Facebook and Twitter, the online activity was monitored by the company which then encouraged an online Youtube campaign. The team responsible for advertising Oreo biscuits has used Youtube campaigns to encourage the brand name and to keep fans 'engaged and excited'.

This article is a brilliant example to show how all different types of social networking is embedded with eWOM, it appears that Facebook, Twitter, Instragram and Youtube have a powerful influence in the marketing industry. But there are also many questions raised, could it be that this is the new way for company's to carry out their advertising and marketing campaigns? And would the campaigns be just as powerful without using all of the social networking methods and perhaps only using one or two of them such as only Facebook and Youtube? Is the online marketing adding healthy competition within the industry? How sustainable is online marketing?

Oreo have really grasped the concept of using social networking as a form of marketing and found a fantastic way to engage with its fans and to also encourage non-fans to become fans too!

It is certain that companies have found a new way to monitor and interact with their fans and there are even more opportunities to ensure that companies find efficient ways to compete in the marketing industry, currently social networking certainly seems to be the way!

Can Gamification Save Our Broken Education System?

Earlier I saw my 9year old cousin playing on his iPad, and he told me it was an 'Educational Game' so I thought to myself, could it be that games are the new way of educating children? Surely, not?

However, I was wrong. Found this article on Forbes http://onforb.es/UOc1s1 which argues whether Gamification will be the new way to save the 'broken education system'.  It is a debatable topic whether video games provide the sufficient systems that the traditional method aims to provide. The traditional method of using games has always been a good way to motivate, test and encourage communication in the learning process, but this is now seen as outdated. It can be argued that advances in technology now make it possible to create video games that allow kids to feel motivated whilst still testing the appropriate skills at different levels. However using video games in forms of education could also isolate other skills such as human interaction and development of vital social skills. Whilst technology continues to grow it is inevitable that such systems will start to interact into every aspect of life, including the education system. The main problem is creating a sufficient balance between the two, video gaming with the traditional methods of education.... So is there a balance or will video gaming take over and will this be beneficial to the future generation?

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