Tag Archives: Social media

by swhartley | Tuesday, July 23, 2024 · 7:26 am

A Different Type of Phone – The Light Phone III

Want to kick your social media addiction? Then try The Light Phone III with its minimalist design and approach. And when we say ‘minimal’ that’s what we mean. This phone does not have access to social media, the Internet, or email.

If this sounds opposite of other smart phones such as Apple and Google, you are right. Instead of building more technology into a phone, Light is subtracting apps from its phone and packs a lot into a small footprint. It’s about the width of an iPhone, but shorter – like a BlackBerry.

This is the third generation Light Phone which originally started as a Kickstarter campaign; the company has sold more than 100,000 phones to date.

Lest you think the Light Phone is devoid of all usability, it does have maps, music, texting, notes, a calendar, timer, alarm, calculator, and a flashlight. It also has a large OLED display, plus a camera and an NFC chip for future payment tools. What is doesn’t have is pesky social media apps, clickbait news, and Internet browsing. In other words, it’s a ‘non-smartphone’ that gets users back to the basics of communication without a lot of distractions.

Call me.

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

Poll students: How do they use their smartphones?
What could they live without? Would they be interested in a simpler phone?
Show video about The Light Phone: https://youtu.be/RnltPjVK9wk?si=9dVZytMj7x3OvT2h
Show The Light Phone website: https://www.thelightphone.com/
Divide students into teams. Have each team define a target market, including psychographics, demographics, lifestyle, etc.
Have teams identify how to reach this target market.
What promotions should be used?

Source: Karcz, A. (18 June 2024). Light Phone III challenges what is means to have a smartphone. Forbes; Perez, S. (11 June 2024). Light introduces its latest minimalist phone, now with an OLED screen but still no addictive apps. TechCrunch; Pierce. D. (11 June 2024). The Light Phone 3 is a little less light – but a lot more useful. The Verge.

Rebranding: Twitter Becomes “X”

Marketers love branding, and branding is a critical part of the marketing process. Branding is when an organization uses an image, name, design, or symbol to clearly identify its products. Brands help companies stand apart and help distinguish one product (or service) from another. We can picture brand icons in our minds – and these help us recall the product purpose and usage.

Think about it for a minute. If someone says “Nike” a consumer can easily picture the logo and the products that Nike offers. The same can be true of services. If we say “Facebook,” it quickly conjures an image of the Facebook logo and its services.

Brands also have personality linked to their icons and images. What do we mean by personality? It’s a set of human-type characteristics and we associate with a brand name. Again, think about Nike. What characteristics might you say Nike represents? Facebook?

In general terms, brand names should suggest the product benefits, be distinctive, fit the company image, be simple and even emotional.

So why did Twitter recently rebrand itself as “X” from its traditional blue bird? According to Elon Musk (new owner of Twitter) he wants to use Twitter as the basic foundation of an “everything app” known as “X.com.” X will eventually include audio, video, messaging, and even banking capabilities – none of which were part of Twitter. (Twitter has also filed to rename the company to X Corp.)

Mr. Musk has used “X” as other names for his companies. He had formerly run financial company PayPal which started as X.com, his space ship company also uses and X as in the name “SpaceX,” and a new artificial intelligence business is also includes an X in “xAI.” The overall corporate entity created to purchase and control Twitter also has an X as in “X Holdings.”

Will the branding change benefit the company? Time will tell.

P.S. Do we still say “tweeted” when posting on X?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

Show video about the change from Twitter to X: https://www.wsj.com/video/elon-musk-rolls-out-new-x-logo-as-twitter-rebrands/0F91130A-ED9D-497B-A282-F26CCCF5DD91.html
Show the website: https://twitter.com/
Poll students: What are their favorite brands?
Divide students into teams. Can each team draw the brand icon for these favorites?
Also have students define the brand personalities for their favorite brands.
Will Twitter’s rebranding help its standing as global brand?
OPTIONAL: Show Interbrands’ Top Global Brands list: https://interbrand.com/best-global-brands/

Source: Corse, A., Eaton, C., and Purnell, N. (24 July 2023). Elon Musk replaces Twitter’s blue bird with an ‘X’. Wall Street Journal.; Scheiber, N., Mac, R. (23 July 2023). Elon Musk changes Twitter logo to an X. New York Times; other news sources.

Meta launches ‘Threads’

X (previously known as Twitter) is under attack from Meta’s new app called ‘Threads.’ In less than a week after its launch in July, Threads signed up more than 100 million users. (It’s even a trending topic on X/Twitter.) While this level of new users is good news for Meta, the key will be getting people to use Threads long-term. What is Threads? Threads is a social media app and microblogging tool. While it isn’t taking advertising placement – yet – it has access to all Facebook’s users plus Instagram and WhatsApp users. Threads allows users to log in using their Instagram or Facebook accounts, making the sign up process fast and easy. So easy that it signed up 30 million users in the first 24-hours of launch. As a direct competitor to X, X’s lawyers immediately alleged that Meta hired X employees to help build Threads. X is used to controversy and, with recent limits on posts viewed daily and content moderation, no stranger to users ire at it. The biggest problem though is X’s loss of advertisers. Threads is similar to X in many areas, including posts up to 500 text characters, reposting others’ threads, and posting photos and videos up to five minutes long. Threads is also free compared to users paying $8.00 per month for a X Blue subscription. Another allure of Threads is its quick connection to all your friends on Instagram. However, Threads does not have direct messaging yet, which keeps all posts in the public domain. Time will tell how the marketplace, and eventually advertisers, bonds with Threads. What do you think? Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

Poll students: Who has used Threads? Why? What is the experience?
Show information about Threads: https://about.fb.com/news/2023/07/introducing-threads-new-app-text-sharing/
View video about Threads: https://youtu.be/hbMJSn5GyOE (there are many other videos also).
What will move users to Threads from X/Twitter? What will move advertisers?
Who are the competitors for Threads? (ex: BlueSky and Mastodon)
Review key aspects of developing a product positioning map, including determining the axis labels for positioning.
How should Threads position itself to beat out competitors?
Divide students into teams and have each team develop a positioning map for Threads.

Source: Chen, B., and Issac, M. (12 July 2023). Threads review: How Meta’s new app stacks up against Twitter. New York Times; Jackson, K., and Aguilar, N. (14 July 2023). Threads keeps growing, and new updates have arrived: What you need to know. CNET; Rodriguez, S., and Haggin, P. (6 July 2023). Meta’s Threads app see early success, drawing advertiser interest and Twitter’s ire. Wall Street Journal; Rodriguez, S. (6 July 2023). Day after Threads launches, Twitter accuses Meta of using its trade secrets. Wall Street Journal; other news sources.

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