Digital Technology and Ethical Uncertainties in Strategic Marketing

Digital technologies have transformed the media landscape and are integral to virtually every industry and field, and marketing is no exception. Today, marketers must integrate both the creative aspects of the discipline with more technical aspects. Data-driven marketing strategies have become fundamental to the new marketing model. Emerging technologies have accelerated the speed, reach, and relevancy of marketing campaigns and inadvertently opened a virtual pandora’s box of ethical uncertainties that cause us to call into question issues of privacy versus convenience.

Ethical issues in marketing stem from a disconnect in the set of expectations between businesses and consumers. The direct impact on the consumer and the repercussions for the marketer, should their practices be deemed unethical, can undermine brand trust. Consequently, it is fundamentally important for marketers to navigate the ethical tightrope, recognize potential implications behind the use of digital technologies, and develop deep clarity on ethical issues when creating socially responsible and sustainable marketing strategies.

Listen to this episode live July 18 at 1 pm Eastern as host, Matthew Cummings welcomes his guest, Amy Teller.

Want Content Marketing to Work? Know Your Customers.

Content Marketing has become a trending household name in the world of marketers but really what does it take to make content marketing work for your organization. The bottom line is customers. Understanding your brands distinct demographic is the only way to create the best content for them which leads to ROI for you.

About Michael's guest:

Teaches at West Virginia University IMC 639 – Content Marketing

Kristin Meeks is a consultant that specializes in the integration of digital and traditional marketing practices.

Meeks is the owner of  WV Social Media,  located in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and the founder of the Social Media Marketing Made Simple Training Academy. Her specialty is helping clients and academy members find the strategy behind their social media practices. WV Social Media serves clients from coast to coast, assessing their social media needs, facilitating marketing training and most importantly helping marketers plan and execute strategic marketing practices.

Protecting the brand: The role of brand standards in IMC

It is difficult enough for a brand to build trust among consumers these days. Having a consistent appearance and tone throughout a brand’s integrated marketing communications is critical to that mission, but it can be difficult to maintain. With large marketing departments and multiple sources producing content, it’s essential to have standards and oversight to ensure a brand speaks with one voice. In this podcast, we will learn how a governing set of brand guidelines can help to protect the brand, preserve uniformity, and ultimately build trust.

About Nathan's guest:

David Hazelton has over 30 years of professional experience in design, branding, and marketing. As design director for ProShares, David is responsible for brand consistency across all channels of the company’s marketing, advertising, and corporate communications.

Prior to joining ProShares, David spent over a decade in boutique agencies. During that time, he used his branding and marketing talents to enhance the brand image of clients like OSHA, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Why Most SEO Initiatives Fail and How to Get Marketing and Web Dev Teams on the Same Page

Today’s guest on WVU Marketing Communications Today is Laurie Beasley, co-founder, and president of Beasley Direct and Online Marketing, Inc. She and host, Cyndi Greenglass, will be discussing search engine optimization (SEO) best practices and challenges, including what prompts an SEO audit. After the break, they will dive deeper into Google rankings and what web development teams need to know to get it right, as well as the new requirement for newly registered domains to have mobile-first designed pages. 

About Cyndi's guest:

LAURIE B. BEASLEY is co-founder and president of Beasley Direct and Online Marketing, Inc., which provides services in inbound and outbound marketing including:  content creation, email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, Amazon Marketing Services (AMS), website design, media planning/public relations, direct mail marketing, lead generation and nurture campaigns, marketing automation management, and database management for both B2B and B2C companies. Ms. Beasley serves as president and online marketing certification instructor for the Direct Marketing Association of Northern California. She also speaks on online marketing and demand generation topics for several marketing organizations, including the DMA, BMA, and AMA.

Social Media for Social Change

Today’s guest on WVU Marketing Communications Today is Kelly Ann Collins, CEO, and founder of Vult Lab, a digital marketing agency that focuses on social media management for companies, orgs and thought leaders -- and campaigns for social good. She and host, Michael Lynch, will be diving into cause marketing for corporations, the issues nonprofits currently face, and how to use influencers to expand reach.

About our guest:

Kelly Ann Collins is a WVU alumnus and has also completed programs at MIT and Cornell. She was the managing editor of The Daily Athenaeum, starting out her career as a reporter, and then editor.

As a journalist, Kelly Ann Collins made the move from print to digital when she helped launch USAToday.com. Then, she ventured off into the land of tech PR during the dotcom boom (and crash). During that time she met tech giants and co-founded a VC platform.

She also became a blogging pioneer as, some argue, the first person to put her life online in blog and cam form. When Blogger launched she became one of its first bloggers—which meant fun perks, like her choice of Gmail address for being a Blogger / Google influencer (except the word “influencer” didn’t exist back then).

Later, she took the skills gained from her endeavors to help launch and grow 50 editorial and social products at AOL co-founder Steve Case’s Revolution. Then, in 2008, she founded a pop politics blog with a focus on the 2012 presidential election that gained 3 million readers in one year. It was the first of its kind to get White House credentials and invites to events with world leaders, and personalities, like LMFAO and Clint Eastwood.

Now, she’s using her knowledge at Vult Lab to create social tools, launch initiatives, and startups, and build robust communities for her clients.

Kelly Ann and her team members have been working within the USA (and beyond) on projects involving brands you know and love—including Easter Seals, OZY, Conservation International, Starbucks, Results for Development, HP, Adobe, Disneynature, Jamba Juice, Prince William's Royal Foundation, the Washington Capitals, The Washington Times, and more.

She’s also on several boards (Conversations Unbound - connects refugees and U.S. college students studying Arabic and Spanish - for native language tutoring; and the International Association of Pop Culture Entrepreneurs, a partner organization of The Creative Coalition, which works to help entertainment industry influencers grow their businesses).

She is also a Capital One partner, an Adobe Insider, and a UN Global Compact Global Opportunity Lab participant, United Nations Association member. Vult Lab is a part of Pledge 1%. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also chose Kelly Ann as a “Goalkeeper” (of the Sustainable Development Goals). She attended the Goalkeepers event in NYC with Malala Yousafzai (of Malala Fund), Barack Obama, Justin Trudeau, and others. She was also invited to collaborate at the “Gates Social” event in Washington, D.C., to discuss the future of giving back with experts from Facebook Social Good, GlobalGiving, Smithsonian, Giving What We Can and others.

Currently, Vult Lab’s partners and clients work in 50+ countries around the globe.

Recently, Kelly has worked on campaigns and projects involving the following organizations:

• Easter Seals - Local campaign with micro influencers, and macro influencers Dan Brokaw and Gary Sinise. Worked on the annual Advocacy Awards fundraiser, which generated more than $400,000 to support Easter Seals services for veterans, the highest total in the event’s history.
• Third Eye Blind (with The Syndicate) Social good campaign for the band
• Lonely Whale (ambassador)
• Adobe - Adobe's "Tweet For Good" - Goal: Raise $10,000 for Conservation International (CI) in 24 hours. Every mention of the hashtag #CreateChange was worth a $7 donation to CI on June 5 (World Environment Day). The campaign resulted in more than 1,600 mentions of the hashtag -- and a $10,000 donation to CI by Adobe.
• Conservation International - Campaign with HP that raised $1 million for conservation projects
• Results for Development - Variety of campaigns for R4D with Open Government Partnership, World Bank, USAID, Save the Children, and more.
• Starbucks - “Journey To 100% Ethically Sourced Coffee” - Worked on the Starbucks 99% sustainable coffee announcement with Conservation International.
• The Toolbox - Women’s rights campaign (data collection) for The Elders, presented by Peter Gabriel
• Jamba Juice - Campaigns in Washington, D.C., and NYC to help the homeless
• Disneynature's Monkey Kingdom - Conservation International fundraiser; a portion of the film's opening week ticket sales were donated to conservation programs in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and Indonesia.

The Heart. The Craft. The Journey.

Today’s guest on WVU Marketing Communications Today is John Auge, creative director and co-owner of Auge+Gray+Drake Collective Works. He and host, Michael Lynch, will be diving into the creative industry, discussing the changes to the profession, the creative approach, as well as the exciting opportunities for people in the industry. Auge will share his insights and experiences on key projects he has worked on including the Dulles and Reagan National Airport branding, WVU logotype brand development and the West Virginia 150^th Celebration event graphic.

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