A City Tech OpenLab Course Site

Author: Luis Jaramillo (Page 2 of 3)

Homework 10/19

Redbord, Ari. “Tom Brady and Other A-Listers Sued for Fumbling FTX Endorsements.” Forbes, www.forbes.com/sites/ariredbord/2023/02/01/tom-brady-and-other-a-listers-fumble-ftx-endorsements-but-will-they-be-held-liable/?sh=42c425157d8c.

Summary.

In this Forbes article written by Ari Redbord,  the Head of Legal

and Government Affairs at TRM Labs, a blockchain intelligence

company. Former Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary and

the Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at

the United States Treasury. Redbord dives into the endorsements superstar celebrities made to the cryptocurrency exchange FTX in December of 2022. In the wake of the crypto exchange collapse.

According to Ari Rebord, “Lawyers filed a class action lawsuit against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and a host of celebrities like Brady and David.” And added later in another paragraph “These celebrity endorsers include supermodel Gisele Bündchen, NBA star Stephen Curry, tennis phenom Naomi Osaka, former baseball superstar David “Big Papi” Ortiz, and Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary. They are all implicated for appearing in paid advertising campaigns and endorsing the exchange.”

This showcases how diverse these celebrities are. We have athletes from basketball, football, tennis, to supermodels, and well-known investors.

These celebrities have a very large audience and fans who support their endeavors. So let’s put into perspective how much impact an endorsement like this had on their audience and their economics.

In words by Redbord, “The complaint specifically argues that FTX’s customers, through engaging with the FTX platform, were buying and selling “unregistered securities,” regulated by the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC). Therefore, Brady and the other celebrity endorsers were required to reveal the details of their financial agreements with FTX.” These celebrities had no idea, or what they were promoting but took their large sums of checks and smile on their face.

As mentioned by Redbord “It could also set a precedent for celebrities being legally responsible for the products and services they endorse. Let’s break down this argument based on the legal precedent that already exists today.”

But this was not the only cryptocurrency that fumbled and had been endorsed by celebrities. Later on in his article Redbord adds “In December 2022, a federal judge in California dismissed a lawsuit from investors accusing Kim Kardashian, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. and others of endorsing a cryptocurrency known as EthereumMax (EMAX).”

Many more celebrities endorse other cryptocurrencies just to make extra money, in my opinion out of greed. Without having a single clue of what they were attaching their names to. Thankfully this case did make celebrities pay fines for their misinformation. But that’s not enough many people put their funds into these cryptos thinking it was going to change their lives, even if they had no understanding of what it was. And never received any of their money.

Reflection and Analysis.

Celebrities have so much influence over the masses who idolize them, as they find them successful. But a lot of time were opportunities to multiply their funds and their wealth. They will take it without educating themselves in order to fully understand what they’re marketing to their audiences. As we read in this article lots of their audience money was lost and these celebrities were not held accountable by the law.

These celebrities paid fines that just nicked their wealth but what about the lives of their fans who believed in their word, were clueless, and invested large sums of their wealth to hopefully live a better life?

The government dropped the class actions. And there was no accountability for what they endorsed.

As I mentioned in my summary the niches that the celebrities touched were all over the place! We have athletes in football, basketball, and tennis. It also includes supermodels and celebrities well-known for investing. Around 15 million people felt enough trust from these endorsements that the cryptocurrency exchange mishandled $8 billion in customer deposits.

All the celebrities paid fines for the lack of disclosure to the audiences.

But it will never return the money “invested” to those who believed in the cryptocurrency exchange. I believe Sam Bankman-Fried was very clever for using paying celebrities to endorse his project since the results backed the idea that consumers will trust celebrities and their actions.

Consumers are naive as they see celebrities as “new age gods”.

And not realizing that their just consumers, a tool that they can work in order to gain any leverage. Taking on opportunities to maximize their wealth without taking into consideration the responsibility that comes with endorsing lifestyles, products, and other services without fully understanding how it will affect their audiences as long as they’re profiting.

Homework 10/17

Entry 1.

“The Marketing Psychology Behind Celebrity Endorsements.” Knowledge at Wharton, 30 May 2023, knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/the-marketing-psychology-behind-celebrity-endorsements/.

Introduction

Angie Basiouny is a writer and editor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Wrote a complex paper in which she dives into the celebrity marketing enigma. As she and her colleagues Elizabeth (Zab) Johnson, Managing Director, Wharton Neuroscience Initiative, and, Michael Platt, James S. Riepe University Professor, Professor of Marketing, Professor of Psychology, Professor of Neuroscience. They research the Neuroscience Behind Consumer Choices.

Quote

“The researchers believe the ability of celebrities to persuade is rooted in evolution and biology. Both humans and primates will follow the lead of high-status, high-prestige individuals in their group by aligning their gaze or copying their decisions. This behavior is seen in the wild, when monkeys turn to look at whatever a higher-status monkey is looking at in the trees, or in the office, when employees model their work after the top-rated employee. When the leader is successful, others require less evidence to make the same choice”

Interpretation

The passage describes how the persuasive influence of celebrities is connected to our evolutionary and biological tendencies. It showcases that both humans and primates have a natural inclination to imitate or follow the actions of individuals who hold high status or prestige within their social group. Overall, the passage highlights the intrinsic human and primate behavior of mimicking high-status individuals, illustrating how this inclination contributes to the persuasive power of celebrities and influential figures. It underscores the impact of perceived success and authority in reducing the need for extensive evidence or reasoning when making decisions within a social group.

Analyze

This highlights an intriguing connection between the persuasive power of celebrities and an innate behavior observed in both humans and primates, emphasizing the influence of high-status individuals in decision-making processes.

It remarked four different key points for my research. One is the evolutionary and biological stand as it parallels humans and privatives. Two are social influence and mimicry take an enormous role in decision-making in our current world. Three is the conjunction of leadership and decision-making, as individuals are very likely to follow the footsteps of leaders or high statues who are successful, affecting the choices of the masses who admire and idolize these successful figures. And last would be how socially powerful individuals create credibility for products. This points to a phenomenon where individuals may rely on the perceived success or credibility of the leader rather than independently evaluating the decision.

Apply

Overall, this text highlights the social dynamics and behavioral tendencies that suggest a link between the persuasive power of celebrities and inherent evolutionary inclinations among humans and primates to follow high-status individuals. It emphasizes the impact of influential figures on decision-making processes and the reduced need for evidence when these figures are perceived as successful or high-status. This reinforces my belief that celebrities are very influential in the marketing process and that they should be more responsible with the products, lifestyles, and trends they endorse. Sharing them with their audiences has a major impact on consumers’ lives and economies.

Entry 2

“Playlist Celeb Brand Collabs Created by @Hannahzook.” TikTok, www.tiktok.com/@hannahzookpop/playlist/celeb%20brand%20collabs-7094681596514650923?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc.

Summary:

In this collection of TikTok videos named “celeb brand collabs”, The platform creator Hannah Zook explores brand partnerships between a large variety of brands that market clothing, beverages, skincare, makeup, luggage, cars, streaming services, and many more products with celebrities. She has about 30 TikTok videos in which she shares her opinions with her audience, as she is a small creator sharing her honest opinions on the topic. She teaches her audience about past, and current marketing in which celebrities endorse products.

In one of her videos, Hannah Hook comments on Influencer Emma Chamberlin’s collaboration with Aritzia for its Fall 2022 collection. Hook comments on how this collaboration fits Emma’s audience very well as quoted by Hook “It’s such a genius thing for Aritzia to do, Emma has been known for her, quiet luxury sense of fashion for like a really long time now. And the amount of trends Emma has started, pushed over the past few years.”

In another of her videos, Hook comments oh Rare Beauty owned by Singer and Actress Selena Gomez teams with Hulu Show: Only Murders In The Building” starring Selena herself.

Hook comments “I’m constantly talking about Rare Beauty because they do everything so well but listen, I’ll stop talking to them once Selena and her team stop making the best decision. They did put together a Mabel Morris must-haves collection, which is Selena’s character.” She also mentions “ It’s smart because Rare Beauty skews a little bit into the younger side and a lot of older people like Only Murders In The Building so this might be the introduction to the brand.” She later adds in awe video “This is amazing to tap into a new market”.

Later in her video collection, she dedicates a few videos talking about “Got milk?”

In one of them, she starts off “in the early 2000’s literally the way you’d know if someone famous of If they made it, was if they were in a Got Milk? Ad. It wasn’t just actresses or singers” She said. Adding later into her video “ I also need to know if any other company has paid as much money as they have for like Celebrity endorsement, they had no bound”

Rhetorical Analysis

Utilizing a TikTok video collection seems a bit risky because it’s such a fast-paced platform, in terms of video length, and also the fact that is very accessible by just anyone with access to the internet, anyone can create an account a post videos. But to me, the creator Hannah Hook, seems to be commenting on many of the brand partnerships I was not aware of and also commenting on them as she gave her point of view to her audience so it felt very honest and conducive as she just a regular woman who consumes content and likes to discuss it online.

It is not a newsletter platform, not a college professor or a scientist. It’s just a common individual. It gives me a sense of credibility because she’s not getting paid to talk about this.

She hits a lot of the same thoughts, I had as she mentioned many partnerships.

How they might’ve been fit for what she believes is the target audience of this advertising.

Or she suggests what might’ve been alternatives that would’ve been more successful.

In my opinion, she’s doing a good job of creating education and awareness about advertising and marketing to the common people. Discussion of her beliefs and ideas Hannah has made over 30+ videos on brand partnerships between celebrities and commercial brands.

She also discusses money that came and went out of these campaigns. Which was one of the main points of this research. The amount of money that would be required to be able to bring celebrities into the brand campaigns, and get them to sign the contracts for the likelihood and audience management in order to promote these products. Some of these endorsements cost more than what a common human being might’ve seen in their entire lives.

Also, the money that might’ve been gained by adding these celebrities as the face of such brands expands the company’s consumer audience, increasing loyalty, and of course generating more sells.

Homework 10/12

Q- What is celebrities’ responsibility for introducing technology to the public?

Key words: Celebrities, Technology.

Sources:
Gao, Peng, and Liang Zhao. “Study on Deep Learning Technology to Construct E-Commerce Industry Marketing Promotion Model.” Security and Communication Networks, vol. 2022, 11 Oct. 2022, pp. 1–11, https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/9958398.

Olenski, Steve. “How Brands Should Use Celebrities for Endorsements.” Forbes, www.forbes.com/sites/steveolenski/2016/07/20/how-brands-should-use-celebrities-for-endorsements/?sh=1236925d5593. Accessed 7 Nov. 2023.
‌


Summary
Gao, Peng, and Liang Zhao. “Study on Deep Learning Technology to Construct E-Commerce Industry Marketing Promotion Model.”

In recent years, the Internet has completely changed the way we live and do business. It’s like a new technological revolution that has affected the entire world economy. Many industries are now using Internet technology to achieve great success. One major impact of this is the rise of e-commerce, which has changed how we shop and how companies market their products. Traditional marketing methods no longer work as effectively as they used to.

Network marketing, which involves promoting and selling products on the Internet, has become increasingly important for businesses. They are trying to figure out how to use it effectively alongside traditional marketing methods. With the growth of the internet, e-commerce has also embraced live broadcasting, where people can watch and buy products in real time. This has created a whole new way of shopping and marketing.

The internet has also made it easier for individuals to have a say in what they want, reducing the imbalance of information. This means that consumers have more power than ever before.

Traditionally, network marketing involves a lot of advertising and pop-ups. But companies have started using new tactics, like sharing red envelopes, to reduce costs and improve the effectiveness of their marketing. Live broadcasting is another big change, where internet celebrities show and talk about products, helping consumers make choices.

Before live broadcasting, TV shopping was a popular way of selling products online. Now, it’s similar to watching a TV show where the hosts convince viewers to buy by using exciting language and demonstrations. Network marketing is like using a “shotgun” approach, trying to reach a wide audience, while direct sales are more targeted.

Precision marketing is a powerful and low-cost way to find the right customers and make a profit. It’s widely used in many industries, but it’s still relatively new in the world of e-commerce, especially when it comes to selling unique products like agricultural goods. This article compares traditional and online marketing, explores emotional responses using the AdaBoost algorithm, and introduces a new network marketing approach that combines live broadcasting and e-commerce.

« Older posts Newer posts »