Revolutionizing the World: How AI platforms are shaping the future

10 ways to utilize ChatGPT today

Artificial Intelligence (AI) isn’t new – and it’s been impacting our economy, society, and culture for years. Some of the most frequently utilized tech tools, including virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Home and recommendation systems used on streaming services already integrate AI.

 

What’s new is the power, ease, accessibility, usability, flexibility, integrability, and approachability of open AI tools like ChatGPT (Generative Pretrained Transformer) from OpenAI and Bard from Google. Both are chatbots that take a more “human-like” approach and have a strikingly wide range of applications.  Thanks to these advances, more than 2000 new AI tools have been launched during the past 30 days.

 

Certainly, there are legitimate and serious economic, ethical, accuracy, and social concerns related to AI. That said, the reality is that AI won’t be going away, so we need to prepare ourselves for what’s to come.  As Darwin said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

 

Used properly and ethically, artificial intelligence has the potential to become an integral part of our problem-solving process.

 

My contribution to this discussion isn’t my AI expertise — quite the opposite, in fact. Rather, I can only offer my readiness to learn. And with that said, here are 10 ways I’ve attempted to integrate ChatGPT and Bard into my work and life:

 

  1. Research, ranging from simple questions to detailed data dumps. I’ve used it to help explain complex topics and make sense of data I’ve pulled from various sources.
  2. Validate work, asking it to review content to align messaging and information.
  3. Simulation role play, to identify different perspectives and outcomes
  4. Enhance engagement and outreach, to discover new influencers, partners, and collaborators.
  5. Plan, from developing checklists to travel plans.
  6. Generate ideas, helping to spark strategies and action.
  7. Create content, offering both updates and enhancements.
  8. Jump-start a project, offering tips for assignments or tasks.
  9. Broaden my perspective, through prompts enabling me to “dialogue” with defined characters.
  10. Train, test, and quiz with specific prompts

 

What can be accomplished with AI is limited primarily by our creativity in generating effective prompts, as well as by the accuracy of available information and by the ethical questions that have already begun to arise.

 

For those organizations that may wish to benefit from our initial experiments with AI, we’d be happy to discuss – just reach out to us at scgadv.com

Using Social Media for Recruitment: Is Your Next Hire One Meme Away?

Did you know?

  • 96% of employers use social media to hire talent
  • 86% of job seekers use social media to search and apply for jobs
  • 63% of job seekers look at social media for information about a company’s workplace diversity
  • 65% of job seekers read at least 5 reviews about an employer before applying
  • 75% of potential hires are not actively seeking jobs on job boards

Social Media Recruiting– an asset many companies know they should be using social media for, but are unsure where to begin. Some assume getting started would be as simple as creating a social media profile, but really, the first step should be determining your objectives and developing a strategy.

In order to use social media recruiting to effectively hire candidates and promote your employer brand, organizations need to develop a clearly defined strategy, build relevant and engaging content, and have the bandwidth to monitor interactions and track performance– all while ensuring an accurate and professional representation of your brand.

 

 

If you’re thinking about getting started, here are 10 tips to jumpstart your recruitment efforts on social.

  1. Tell your employer brand story

 

  1. Don’t say it, show it.

 

  1. Stay ahead of the curve

 

  1. Engage. Engage

 

  1. Be authentic

 

  1. Empower your team

 

  1. Plan ahead

 

  1. Understand your audience

 

  1. Get leadership buy-in

 

  1. Commit resources

 

 

Contact SCG today to learn more about how we help our clients use social media to reach job seekers and build a candidate pipeline.

SCG Trendwatch: MarCom Industry News – June 2022

Trendwatch Marketing

Welcome to your monthly round-up for busy MarCom professionals. Each month, we share the latest news, strategies, tools and trends affecting the industry landscape. Check-in for the latest updates from all over the web.  

Google reimagines search beyond ’10 blue links’

At its Marketing Live event, the tech giant expressed a desire to steer digital advertising toward more interactive features, including AR shopping ads in search results. The digital boom of the pandemic is showing signs of slowing, but tech companies are still priming themselves for a future where habits adopted over the period stick around. At its annual Marketing Live event Tuesday, Google addressed the emergence of what it calls “omnibuyers”: consumers who more intensively research and browse on their shopping journeys both online and in-store. Read more…

NFTs are taking off on Instagram

Non-fungible tokens are finding their place on the social media network. But are marketers taking advantage?  With influencers and digital artists leading the way, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are taking Meta’s Instagram by storm.

Data from influencer marketing platform HypeAuditor shows:
  • Over 20,00 accounts with “NFT” in the bio, most (over 40%) U.S.-based.
  • Over 900 million followers for those accounts.
  • Over 100,000 posts monthly using the hashtag #NFT.   Read more…

Is Google Analytics going away? What marketers need to know

Universal Analytics will be retired on July 1, 2023. What does that mean for you? Here’s what you need to know about getting your website ready for the brave new world. Third-party cookies are going the way of the dodo. The looming cookieless world has many marketers more than a little nervous. With Universal Analytics sunsetting and the rise of what’s being called Google Analytics 4 in its place, digital marketing analytics can be a confusing place, so let’s make things clear… and know that I even got some input from Google digital marketing evangelist Avinash Kaushik too!  Read more…

2022: the year micro-influencer marketing meets big data

With companies looking to build meaningful relationships with longer-term customers before and after transaction, micro-influencers look set to become a permanent fixture of their communications strategies long into 2022 and beyond. Ryan Dean, head of PR strategy at Jaywing, is seeing big brands seek to work with micro-influencers in the name of effectiveness.
With a greater focus than ever on customer loyalty, effectiveness and ROI, how can brands leverage data to better plan, execute and – most importantly – measure the success of their micro-influencer campaigns?  Read more…

Creating New Audiences and Building Community With Creators

The importance and market momentum of creators is growing by the day. Their ability to engage and create moments with audiences can be used by marketers to leverage these masters of the social space and their unprecedented connections with their followers. Meta’s vp, Americas, global business group, Nada Stirratt, and Adore Me’s founder and CEO, Morgan Hermand, joined Adweek’s Social Media Week for a fireside chat about how brands can use creators to attract new audiences, break down barriers and engage with their communities in more personal ways.  Read more…

Marriott launches hospitality industry’s first media network

Marriott International launched the Marriott Media Network, an omnichannel cross-platform ad solution for marketers, according to a press release. The network will initially target travelers in the U.S. and Canada before expanding globally to encompass more than 164 million members of the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program. Once fully deployed, the network will carry inventory that spans Marriott’s owned channels, including display, mobile, video, email and digital out-of-home, the latter of which features in-room television and digital screens. The Marriott Media Network is a full-stack collaboration that leverages Yahoo’s sell-side platform (SSP) and demand-side platform (DSP). The launch, which Marriott claims is a first for the hospitality industry, follows explosive growth in the retail media space as advertisers look to better target and track consumers amid a tightening of data privacy rules on other digital platforms.  Read more…
Trendwatch-R-16x9

SCG Trendwatch: Recruitment Industry News – March 2021

Trendwatch

Welcome to your monthly round-up for busy HR professionals. Each month, we share the latest news, strategies, tools and trends affecting the recruitment landscape. Check in each month for the latest updates from all over the web.

Digital Transformation Can Help Manage Any Workforce Approach

We’ve talked before about how digital transformation can improve manager effectiveness and the employee experience. But things are a little different right now. Many organizations are planning their workforce strategies around multiple approaches. It could be fully on-site, fully remote or a hybrid model, with both on-site and remote employees. Does digital transformation still apply in all three of these workforce models? Absolutely!  Read more…

Top Questions To Ask Employees During Performance Reviews

Performance reviews aren’t simply a time to discuss performance. It’s a valuable development conversation that can uncover an employee’s unique strengths, align them with the company’s mission, and empower continuous development. But that’s no simple feat.

A successful performance review cycle includes HR leaders working in lock-step with managers to gain accurate insight on team performance, but to do that, managers must be given a structure for having these conversations–especially when it comes to asking the right questions.  Read more…

4 Details to Include in Your New Job Ads During COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the importance of workplace safety. Unfortunately, as cities and businesses begin to open up again after lockdown, fewer employees report confidence in workplace conditions.

According to a Gallup survey, only 65 percent of workers feel completely satisfied with their physical safety as of September 2020.  Read more…

Finding Fluidity: Hiring for a Skills-Based Culture

As uncertainty persists and market demands continue to shift, the people we hire today may very well need to be reallocated or reskilled tomorrow. This was certainly the reality that emerged during the pandemic. In order to meet changing customer needs, companies across all industries adjusted their talent strategies to accommodate business change — from enabling new operating models to addressing compliance and safety concerns to reassigning people to new business units or regions.

While the initial global shock of the pandemic is behind us, we’re still operating in an environment of uncertainty where change is the norm.  Read more…

Can Ageism and A.I. Coexist?

Bias is practiced every day by everyone, starting with personal preference for morning coffee and what goes in it, to our taste in cars (Tesla), to what to buy on Amazon, and more.

We also have strong biases in technology preference: Mac or PC, iPhone or Galaxy, Samsung, or LG?

When it comes to talent selection practices, however, we are trained to actively ignore bias. This is often easier said than done, particularly for those downstream of TA. Try as they might, hiring managers often hold preconceived ideas of what their ideal candidate will look, walk, talk, and act like, technical qualifications aside.  Read more…

Top 4 Marketing Automation Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Work smarter, not harder. This new productivity mantra has become increasingly popular among marketers, especially since they can streamline a great portion of their work using some widely available marketing automation tools. The truth is that marketing consists of a number of repetitive, tedious tasks that play an important part in every effective campaign.

What’s even worse, all these seemingly low-level tasks are time-consuming, which means that marketers can’t properly focus on the more creative aspect of their work. Read more…

Trendwatch-R-16x9

SCG Trendwatch: Recruitment Industry News – January 2021

TrendwatchWelcome to your monthly round-up for busy HR professionals. Each month, we share the latest news, strategies, tools and trends affecting the recruitment landscape. Check in each month for the latest updates from all over the web.

Want to Improve the Candidate Experience? Start with Communication

Employers have a lot on their plates, to say the least, as companies continue to deal with the fallout from COVID-19. From addressing employee health and safety concerns to navigating remote work, and ensuring business survival. Nevertheless, hiring goes on.

Amidst the chaos, however, it’s easy to let recruiting best practices slip.

Maybe you downsized your HR staff earlier this year, and you don’t have the resources to devote to strategic hiring. Or maybe you desperately need to get people in the door to keep your business afloat after reopening. Regardless of whether candidates check all the boxes.

In these cases, you might be able to get away with writing a shorter job ad, skipping the second round of interviews, or calling every reference an applicant provides. But there is no excuse to overlook delivering a positive candidate experience.  Read more…

Strategy: Who’s Behind the Curtain of Your Recruiting Process?

Whenever organizations look to improve the candidate experience, they tend to focus on process. After all, inefficiencies in the recruiting process can lead to frustrations for everyone — recruiters, hiring managers, and applicants alike. I’ve even written about ways to improve the process at the functional level.

Focusing on the steps in the process is all well and good, but if you fail to consider the people shepherding this process, you’re missing out on some serious improvement potential. The people I’m referring to are, of course, the recruiters.  Read more…

Must-Have Characteristics of a Good Recruiting Video

The world has evolved so much over the past years and modernized so swiftly that it is hard to believe the progress. The internet boom, the advent of social media, the use of Artificial intelligence, and significant technological advancements have made life so much easier.

In between the changes, the corporate world and organizations have also progressed in recruiting top candidates. Out of the many tactics present for recruitment, the use of recruiting videos has gained popularity. Videos are a great way to deliver the message you want in the ways you want.

But what does it take to make a good video that will attract talented candidates for the organization? Let us delve in and make the perfect video that will be both engaging and appealing.  Read more…

Why Remote Work is the Best Opportunity for Diversity & Inclusion Yet

As someone who loves the comradery of office life, I almost hate to admit that I’ve learned a lot by working remotely. No doubt my employees would say the same. Together, we’ve learned that productivity doesn’t have to suffer with distance. We’ve learned to be accepting of interruptions during calls. We’ve learned that turning your camera on for team meetings boosts morale.

But, even beyond such obvious and practical considerations, I’ve learned something bigger: remote work opens the door to new and transformative opportunities.  In fact, more specifically, it creates new opportunities for achieving diversity & inclusion goals—a top priority for nearly all companies today.  Read more…

Creative And Innovative Appreciation Ideas For 2021

According to 2020 statistics from smallbiztrends, a full third of employees say they are  minimally committed to their jobs. Several factors can explain this decline in productivity,  including the global Covid-19 crisis.

However, 2021 brings new opportunities to rekindle employee engagement and get businesses  back on track. Appreciation is a powerful tool in this regard, as it can reward employees for  their hard work and motivate others to do the same.

But traditional recognition means won’t work — they are dated, old fashioned, and too  predictable. Instead, try out these 15 innovative ideas for recognizing hard workers in your  organization. Read more…

HR statistics and trends: Demystifying 2020

This year was a weird one. There’s no need to explain the reason — you already know why. However, apart from weird, it was also an interesting one. Let’s take a closer look at what actually happened and be mindful of what’s coming up. We present to you a selection of HR statistics and trends we gathered for 2020. Read more…

SCG Trendwatch: MarCom Industry News – January 2021

Trendwatch Marketing

Welcome to your monthly round-up for busy MarCom professionals. Each month, we share the latest news, strategies, tools and trends affecting the industry landscape. Check-in for the latest updates from all over the web.  

Super Bowl Viewers Support Social Justice Ads, Study Says

It’s too early to tell whether this month’s rollout of COVID-19 vaccines will affect people’s plans to gather to watch the game, though 70% said they don’t plan to attend a Super Bowl party, according to Morning Consult’s Dec. 10-13 survey. Despite potential changes to watch parties and additional uncertainty around when the game will be held, it is likely that, as in the past, viewers will pay close attention to the ads. However, Morning Consult’s survey raises the question of whether Super Bowl LV ads will focus more on social issues in a reflection of how marketing evolved during 2020.  Read more…

One View Of The Future Of Events: Niche And Hybrid

We’re all still trying to work out virtual events, as well as looking forward to next year when the COVID vaccine might ultimately herald a return of in-person engagement, perhaps in tandem with virtual content. Everyone has an opinion, not least Ben Hindman, CEO at event marketing platform Splash.

Earlier this month, he raised some hackles on LinkedIn by predicting that COVID would break the addiction to massive events, and that the shift to “bite size” is underway. Splash followed up Hindman’s opinion piece with some supporting data in their report “Online, Shorter, and Here to Stay: An Outlook on Virtual and Hybrid Events in 2021.”  Read more…

How Marketers Can Get The Highest ROI Out Of Podcasts

The new at-home lifestyle brought about by the onset of COVID has driven a significant increase in the numbers of listeners and the numbers of programs in the podcasting and audio-streaming space, and where the channel was a secondary or tertiary option for most marketers, having a podcast strategy is now part of many marketing plans for 2021.

“Podcasting is still a vast, open space that brands are smart to jump into,” said Lindsay Tjepkema, CEO of Casted, a podcast-centered marketing platform. “When you consider there are about 1 million podcasts, but more than 600 million blogs, you can see how much opportunity still exists for brands to own their own space,” she continued. “And listenership continues to rise dramatically, even in the midst of a pandemic, as people are actively seeking connection. Podcasts that offer that ability to connect an audience with a brand like not other form of content can and, in doing so, build trust and loyalty.”   Read more…

Facebook Reportedly Developing Cameo Copy To Key Into Custom Celeb Video Boom

Super is still in internal testing, according to Bloomberg, and NPE’s mission is centered on smaller digital experiments that Facebook acknowledges aren’t always likely to take off. Still, moving to capitalize on a trend driven by apps like Cameo wouldn’t be surprising for the social network: If it gains traction, Super could provide a powerful way for the social media giant to leverage a livestreaming boom in tandem with a broad network of creators and celebrities who already use Facebook-owned apps like Instagram to stay in touch with fans.

Cameo has continued an upward trajectory during the pandemic, serving as a moneymaking tool for celebrities who have seen work slow with production challenges related to COVID-19 and the shuttering of entertainment venues. Read more…

Marketing The COVID Vaccine Faces Familiar Challenges

Not only is the COVID vaccination effort the biggest in U.S. history; the public education campaign launched by DHHS — effectively to market the vaccination — is also large-scale. The Department has budgeted $250 million against a background of widespread mistrust. Some one in four Americans are currently reluctant to take the shots.

It’s a situation familiar to marketers. There’s a vast audience out there, but it’s unlikely to be responsive to just one, singular message (or, for that matter, to a single spokesperson). To better understand the challenge facing this campaign, we spoke with the founder and CEO of DeepIntent, a former Memorial Sloane-Kettering Cancer Center data scientist, Chris Paquette.

It comes down to empathy. “The campaign is in the planning stages right now,” said Paquette, “and they’re launching wave one in January.”  Read more…

Technology Saving Retail Businesses From Going Under

The pandemic is changing the game for retail, and fast. Not only is the competition fiercer than ever before, but the coronavirus has been the cause of a dramatic decrease in in-store traffic, making it difficult for retailers to stand out from the crowd.

While the situation has forced some companies to shut down, many have realized that if they want to break through and maximize profits, they will need to adapt to more flexible business models with the adoption of new technologies. In order to remain competitive, online and offline experiences must “wow” the consumer. Having a great product is not sufficient to satisfy today’s buyer profile.

In order to master the art of selling in a COVID era, one must first focus on addressing the negative aspects of traditional shopping. Waiting in long queues to settle transactions and being immersed in large crowds are the most obvious customer pain points. Retailers need to understand that shopping experiences need to be quick and painless. Checkout processes must be safe and convenient. Extra effort should be put especially into converting a customer into a loyal one.  Read more…

How To Safely Hold A Job Fair In The Era of Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Talent Acquisition Departments, like the rest of the world, are facing a new dynamic – how to recruit in the age of a pandemic like the Coronavirus. Virtural job fairs are the easy answer.

 

The public has been encouraged to avoid gatherings of large groups of people, to stay home as much as possible in order to stay safe. Conferences have been canceled. Employees are being asked to work remotely. Sporting events are being held without a live audience. The world has changed in the face of this new disease, and we have to change with it.

 

In days gone by, job fairs were an effective way to hire large numbers of employees quickly and efficiently. But in this new world, people are discouraged from gathering in large numbers – so how are you going to make the number of hires you need in a timely manner while respecting the new health guidelines?

With virtual career fairs, the answer is literally at your fingertips.

With virtual career fairs, the answer is literally at your fingertips. Current technology allows us to custom design your events, and provide you with strategic home pages, mobile registration – including screening questions and automated responses to your candidates, streaming video, ATS integration and real-time analytics – all designed to work around YOUR needs – YOUR schedule –YOUR budget – AND, most importantly, allowing your staff and your applicants to stay safe.

 

Virtual career fairs allow your team to remain at their desks, whether at home or the office, and interact personally with pre-screened applicants in real-time, creating an experience for applicants that immediately furthers your brand, creates a real relationship between applicant and recruiter, and establishes your company as both technologically savvy and socially aware.

 

Whether you want to hold a one-off event, or to take a deep dive and hold multiple monthly events, we have a solution for you. For more information, we invite you to view our case study and contact us for more information.

SCG Trendwatch: MarCom Industry News – February 2020

Trendwatch Marketing

Welcome to your monthly round-up for busy MarCom professionals. Each month, we share the latest news, strategies, tools and trends affecting the industry landscape. Check-in for the latest updates from all over the web.  

Despite Super Bowl LIV’s marketing deja vu, several ads break out

Multibrand spots, ads supporting women, “Groundhog Day” and yes, the resurrection of Mr. Peanut, caused some of the biggest stir this year.

Super Bowl LIV made for a tense showdown between the San Francisco 49ers and the victorious Kansas City Chiefs, but few marketing surprises turned up during a night that leaned heavily on humor, multibrand team-ups, and newcomers in areas like politics and women’s representation. Read more…

Google plans crackdown on ‘disruptive’ video ads

Google’s Chrome web browser on Aug. 5 will stop showing all ads on sites that repeatedly have “disruptive” video ads, as defined by new standards from the Coalition for Better Ads (CBA)  Read more…

How Coke, Reese’s turned Super Bowl ads into Amazon sales after the game

Market share for some products advertised in Super Bowl commercial spiked on Amazon during and after the game, according to a Profitero report shared with Marketing Dive. Coke Energy and its zero sugar version saw surges of 111% and 197%, respectively. Read more…

The death of the marketing campaign: Why brands should rethink the dynamics of customer relationship

The marketing sector can be a complicated place as new marketing tools and techniques are launched, almost on a weekly basis.  Ever-evolving marketing technology and the proliferation of communication channels means that ‘communicating,’ or getting your message out there, has never been easier. Read more...

SCG Trendwatch: MarCom Industry News – January 2020

Trendwatch Marketing

Welcome to your monthly round-up for busy MarCom professionals. Each month, we share the latest news, strategies, tools and trends affecting the industry landscape. Check-in for the latest updates from all over the web.  

Why Design and Marketing Should Become Strategic Partners

Brands across the marketing spectrum are reaping the rewards of joining forces with design at the start of the strategic process.  Read more…

Ben & Jerry’s CEO On Why Too Much Marketing Research Can Cause ‘Mediocrity’

Ben and Jerry’s CEO discusses embracing different ways of doing business from side-stepping research to prioritising activism.  Ben & Jerry’s CEO Matthew McCarthy has been in his role for a little more than a year but, from side-stepping research to prioritising activism, he is fully embracing the different ways the ice cream maker does business.  Read more…

What’s the Worst That Could Happen With My Phone Data? Our Journalists Answer Your Questions

The New York Times Opinion desk published an investigation last week into the location data industry, showing how companies quietly collect and profit off the precise movements of smartphone users.  Read more…

8 Digital Marketing Trends for 2020

2019 was a busy year for marketers. With dozens of new marketing tech flooding the market, hundreds of courses on marketing mastery and thousands of sales funnel videos, predicting marketing trends for 2020 became as hard as cooking a perfect macaron. We wanted to share our perspective, as a pioneer in the MarTech space, a community with hundreds of successful digital marketing agencies around the world.   Read more…

Instagram User Growth in the US Will Drop to Single Digits For the First Time

In 2019, Instagram’s US user growth rate will have dropped to single digits for the first time to 6.7%, down from 10.1% in 2018. Starting in 2020, and through the end of our forecast period in 2023, we estimate that the social media platform will grow slower than previously expected.  Read more...

The Changing Role of Webinars

Who would have thought that webinars – the bleeding edge technology innovation when they were introduced in 1996 by Microsoft’s NetMeeting and Xerox PARC’s PlaceWare – would have such staying power? In the past 20 years in marketing have taught me anything, it’s been to never doubt the good ol’, tried and true webinar. They have proven ability to boost organizations’ training, marketing, sales and customer engagements.  Read more…

SCG Trendwatch: MarCom Industry News – September 2019

Trendwatch Marketing

Welcome to your monthly round-up for busy MarCom professionals. Each month, we share the latest news, strategies, tools and trends affecting the industry landscape. Check-in for the latest updates from all over the web.  

YouTube masthead ads hit TV app

YouTube is rolling out masthead ads for TV screens, offering brands prominent placement within its TV app. Same as YouTube’s desktop and mobile feed masthead ads, the masthead ads for TV screens can be purchased on a cost-per-impression (CPM) basis and will be available via reserved placements.

The masthead ads will autoplay a few seconds after being served up, and brands will be able to target the ads to customized audiences.  Read more…

Facebook Publishes New Report on the Benefits of Combining Facebook and Outdoor Advertising

Outdoor ads – including bus shelter campaigns and billboards – might not be within the budget of most SMBs. But for those businesses that can afford it, there can be significant benefits to running outdoor campaigns in combination with Facebook promotions.  Read more…

Macy’s back-to-school push debuts with Snapchat shopping, TikTok challenge

Macy’s back-to-school promotion includes its first shoppable commercials on Snapchat and a video-sharing challenge on TikTok. The department store’s “All Brand New” campaign also includes digital and TV spots aimed at celebrating kids’ individuality and self-expression. Read more…

Fanta targets mobile-savvy teens with Snapchat-powered OOH campaign

Coca-Cola’s Fanta brand of fruit-flavored sodas paired its traditional out-of-home (OOH) advertising with Snap’s augmented reality (AR) technology for an immersive campaign. The “It’s a Thing” campaign lets Snapchat users point their smartphones at Fanta’s billboards and posters to unlock digital content including shareable AR filters and sticker packs, per an announcement shared with Mobile Marketer. Read more…

Engaging students in a post-email world

Too much email?

Each Texas A&M student has a dedicated email address. After years of using email as the primary way to communicate with students, we started to encounter some challenges: many students began to only monitor their personal email address, spending little to no time checking their university email address. It resulted in them not completing important administrative tasks such as signing up for direct deposit, and failing to meet important deadlines and requirements such as submitting a photograph for their identification (ID) cards or to complete financial agreements.  Read more...

Photorealistic CGI product placement ads could soon invade your favorite movies

We’re all used to personalized advertising in the age of the internet. Known as “identity marketing,” this brave new world of selling means we are shown only advertisements considered likely to appeal to us. Whether it’s Amazon recommending a new book, Netflix suggesting a particular movie, or Google selling us on a certain holiday after something we mentioned in an email, advertisers draw on information about individuals and use this to decide whether to bother targeting us with a particular ad.  Read more…