Marketing Sociology

Posted on by Dr Zuleyka Zevallos

Do you see the purple booth in the far background? That marks the beginning of this line, for a free (seemingly empty) purple stocking by a chocolate company. I was also impressed at a similar booth where you could get “free” chocolate for liking a brand on Facebook or following them on Instagram. I heard the workers talking and they said they’d hit half a million likes with their promotion.

I’ve been thinking a bit about social marketing lately because I’ve being managing communications and media for research organisations and not for profits for many years now. In general, the social sciences don’t do marketing well and this is especially the case in my field of sociology. Continue reading Marketing Sociology

Building Communities on Google Plus

Posted on by Dr Zuleyka Zevallos

Here’s a marketing perspective on Google+ as a place for building communities amongst people who “got tired of all the other discussion groups out there.” Maddie Grant sees that Google+ is similar to Twitter in that it is focused on interests, but that it is different from Facebook and LinkedIn because these networks are about making connections to people you already know. Grant sees Google+ as a potential place for training and development through Google Hangouts.

I see Google+ a little differently – a place where I can discuss and learn about sociology, science and other research in more depth with other specialists. I see this as a place for collaboration and hopefully a place to grow public science. It will be interesting to see how marketing companies capitalise on Google+. 

 

Corporatisation of Che Guevara’s Image

Posted on by Dr Zuleyka Zevallos
image
This iconic image of Che Guevara is widely known in many parts of the world. I see it used a lot by sociology students who are eagerly exploring their sociological imaginations. As far as visual sociology goes, this image continues to inspire interest in Marxist sociology and it is used frequently in political protests, such as the Occupy movement. Stephen Colbert even dressed as Che in spoof as he set out to Occupy Occupy Wall Street. Che’s image has also been amalgamated with the unofficial face of the Occupy movement, Guy Fawkes (hero of V for Vendetta) and repacked as an Occupy t-shirt.

Continue reading Corporatisation of Che Guevara’s Image