On Oct. 24 in the basement of Shpeen Hall, members of Rowan’s Ad Club gathered to hear presentations from several advertising professionals in a presentation called “Pitch Perfect.”
The presentation was centered mostly on digital media and marketing. Throughout the evening, presenters talked about how to engage customers on social media platforms. After the presentations were finished, the presenters took questions from the audience on a variety of topics related to advertising.
Natalya Velky, who presented during the evening, works for the marketing arm of graphics company One Trick Pony. She says that digital marketing has one big advantage.
“Its instant access,” Velky, a Rowan alumna, said. “You can get access to it, it can go out the very next day and be fed to the entire world very quickly, so I think that’s probably one of the best things about it.”
One of One Trick Pony’s customers is the Virgin Group, headed by Richard Branson. During their presentation, Velky gave several examples of how the firm engaged with customers on social media.
Velky also noted, however, that there is a big drawback to digital marketing too.
“It goes out and can go viral instantly,” she said. “That can be terrible if it’s something that you don’t want out there.”
Chris Lukach, who works with the Anne Kline Communications Group, said that digital content has drastically changed how the firm goes about its business.
“Digital changes everything,” Lukach said. “And just about every element of the marketing mix. Digital, especially social media means we have to move faster. It means that everyone has an equal share of voice. It means that crisis can evolve in ways that we never could have anticipated.”
He also said digital media has a big effect on crisis management, which is what his firm specializes in.
“It really has changed how much we need to be prepared,” he said. “More than anything. We invest more in preparing for crises knowing that when they actually happen, we don’t have the luxury of time to plan our response anymore. We have to be responding nearly instantaneously. And you can’t make yourselves move faster, so you have to make yourself more prepared than you ever have been.”
Christa Wisnyi, a senior advertising major, said that this was a required attendance for her advertising strategies senior seminar class. However, she did gain valuable information about how to utilize social media.
“I knew that social media is becoming more apparent, but there’s more strategies to be developed and to learn upon,” Wisnyi said.
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