Online Marketing

Online Marketing to me can be defined essentially as creating brand awareness and targeting consumers through different forms of online media. This can include, but is not limited to, media such as social networks, online games, blogs, etc.

The basis of online marketing is still very much the same as traditional marketing. What differs between them is the outlets through which the consumers are reached. Traditional marketing would use tools such as print advertisements in magazines or posters, direct mail cards, RF chips, surveys and other more tangible methods. Online marketing utilizes the extreme rise is technology to build a consumer base. Tools such as Search Engine Optimization, Re-marketing, PPC Analytics, Online Advertisement generation and the like to reach people. For example, Amazon uses purchase tracking to give customers a series of related purchases and other items that they might be interested in to gain more purchase power. Search Engine Optimization hones in on certain keywords and phrases to boost the visibility of a site during a search and drives more consumers to one site over another. I have been working for an eCommerce marketing firm myself since June and have seen a lot of what goes into making this happen. There is an immense amount of work that goes into keeping information updated and the tracking behind all of this. Personally, my job is to make sure that everything looks good on the site graphically. This can have a big impact from one site to another and can be a factor that allows the site to thrive or not. Making the site look visually appealing to the viewer can keep them interested and start them toward building brand trust.

This is what Online Marketing is to me. Hope to hear some interesting insight from the rest of you.

Fair Use Law

Fair Use has always been a tricky subject. Not only is it set of laws and regulations, but it also relies heavily on personal discretion. A creator of something doesn't necessarily have to take action toward someone else using their work.

The mash up dj Girl Talk is a great example of this. He consistently uses bits and pieces from other artists' work. There is always a constant thought that the original creators of the songs he uses could come to him later asking for royalties which could turn into an exorbitant amount of money depending on the popularity of the artist or the song in general. Fair Use regulations would technically state that he can't use this music without having the right to.

Some would state that this could also be constituted as transformative use based on how much of a song he actually uses. Sometimes he may also use one little drum hit or a piece of a horn or something like that. Yes he did take these things from a copyrighted recording, but it may not really be enough to warrant reaction from the original artist.

All of these considerations make for a very controversial argument about Girl Talk's case. Hopefully, for the sake of his fan base, there won't be any prosecution of his work for copyrights. While his work isn't as relevant now as it used to be, he does have 5 albums out that haven't been touched. I suppose we will have to see in the future.