Blink Advertising

Advertisement today is greatly influenced by a principle called the Blink Theory. It has been implemented with huge success over the past decade or so. The foundation of the Blink Theory is shorter, more effective ads. The theory states that a person can develop an opinion of a product “in the blink of an eye”. The challenge that advertisers face is creating an ad, commercial, or packaging that can trigger someone’s mind in a short burst of less than two seconds. Surprisingly enough, this association can be stored for long periods of time, so that two or three days later a customer will vaguely remember a blink ad he saw recently.
People already have many thoughts, ideas, and memories floating around in their heads. The Blink advertising tries to associate target thoughts with the product in a nearly instantaneous fashion. The customer walks in, sees the package with a touching picture of a mother and her son. At this point the customer unwillingly and immediately associates the product with his own memories and thoughts of a mother-son relationship, which tend to be warm and comforting.
Because Blink advertising is not time intensive, producers no longer look for more exposure time. They simply try to get their ad viewed as many times as possible. Originally this method became much more cost effective for advertisers, but the industry eventually realized that the number of exposures is much more important than the amount of time. The challenge we face as consumers is in how to sort through the bombardment of information. We already receive much more information from ads than we can possibly store and process. The Blink principle makes it that much harder for a person to find a quality product. It contributes to the general idea that the only effective way to find a good product is to do personal research, seeing as how Blink ads have very little or no informational content. They simply operate through association. Clear Channel was one of the first to adapt to blink ads, and they now offer many of the short commercials in their broadcasts.

The MinnPost

Although the MinnPost website is very new, from what I’ve seen, it is definitely worth looking into as a regular part of my news intake. One of the most important factors that makes this site reliable is the well-established journalists. The stories on the site will be handled by journalists who have already proven themselves in the industry, and therefore are very reliable. The experience they bring to the table will allow the MinnPost site to start out at a high level of operation, so it will not have a desperate need to constantly grow and become better. This will allow the site to be a competitor in the market as soon as it starts up.
In addition to the journalists, the site seems to be well operated. The layout is organized and easy to use. And all of the stories seem to be very relevant to MinnPost’s target audience. I took a quick glance at each of the stories in some of the site’s earlier posts, and they seem to be well-written. I think that MinnPost is a very good idea because there isn’t a whole lot like it in the MN news market. It’s a quick and easy to read way to get very worthwhile stories. The ability to get the MinnPost in print is also a very handy tool that has been added to the site. I expect to see a lot of success from this site as it seems to have been well-thought out before it was initiated, and it looks like it is already being well managed. The site actually reminds me of the Daily, although MinnPost has more established journalists.

Internet: A Secure Marketplace

Over the past few years, there has been evidence that the internet, in addition to its infinite efficiency, is becoming a more secure market place. A great example of this would be E-Bay, the world’s most common online market. Purchases made online are backed by fraudulent purchase protection through credit card companies, credit being the major payment tool of the online market. Also, online buyers are provided with a secure network connection to the server that receives funds, insuring no outside source has access to the identity sensitive information. This makes the transaction untouchable to all but the most skilled of those who participate in illegal online computing.
Online banking has become a more secure way to manage funds as well. Online transactions between a customer and his bank are becoming more frequent in the online market. Many people currently manage their funds entirely online, as opposed to mail and physical trips to the bank. In online banking, one has major account functions available at the click of his mouse, such as: wire transactions, direct paycheck deposits, direct bill payment, and statement inquiries. Technology such as IP address recognition allows the bank to discriminate your computer from others and notices suspicious imperfections in the transactions. If you take your computer from a different location, you will be suspect to security questioning to ensure you identity. Banks have also included fraudulent online charges in their protection packages, so that the notification of suspicious activity would deactivate accounts and transactions, much the same way you can notify your credit company of a lost credit card to freeze your account. Paypal is currently one of the more secure methods of online payment and protection.

News Preferences

I wouldn’t say that I trust any news network before any other one. They just each have their own benefits. They are all a little different. I personally favor local stations over national just because they target my area more. Most local stations cover local news, which will apply more directly to my life, and any very important national news stories. When I go online for my news, I prefer MSNBC. I think they do a very good job covering important stories (and covering them well), and I like the ease and method of navigation throughout the site.
I find the major benefit of television over radio and newspaper as a vehicle of news to be the moving picture. I think that the moving people on screen make the news more real, and allow people to connect more with the news. I also think that it is more convenient than either radio or newspaper. You can listen and watch it, it takes less effort to watch than to read a paper, and TV’s are usually more accessible than a radio. There is also the matter of payment. If you pay for a TV, you get what you get and pay for it, no matter what you actually watched. If you pay to get a paper, and don’t get a chance to read it, its wasted money.
I do find that the local stations I prefer that are affiliated with larger networks tend to be better quality. I think this is mostly because I like to hear about national news and the larger networks have access to more quality reporters focused on national news. This way I get all the benefits of local news plus good national coverage.