Final Reflection on Blogging

Blogging is the verb which has been coined by people to refer to the act of adding entries to a blog. Alexandrou (2010). Anything and everything can be blogged about as it is a good way to show emotion, rant and describe what the person is feeling. In 2002 it was estimated that there were around 41,000 blogs online, however it is now estimated that a new blog is created every 40 seconds, with around 160,000 created in just one month. Caslon Analytics (2009).

Blogging has recently been playing an important role in businesses. Businesses are taking full advantage of the blogs’ reach to people to market their products. Blogging has just given marketers a new way of doing what they do. By using blogs, companies can update internal employees with product updates or deliver product support information or company information to stakeholders. Brassington and Petit (2006). Everything is turning digital, and with a couple of clicks photos, videos and messages can be sent into a blog. So much can be done with blogs, hyperlinks onto other sites or other parts of the current site are as if the business if coming out the screen and shaking the consumer to get them to take notice. Small businesses are probably the main people to benefit from the blogging system as they cannot afford the marketing other, bigger businesses do. Blogging allows them to show the public their company and what it does.

Blogs are also a great way to start up businesses and help launch a career. Recently it has come to show how blogs have launched careers, mainly in fashion and beauty but in other areas too, such as photography. By posting blogs on websites and showing what people can do on sites such as youtube, people have managed to get their own make up ranges and shoot some stunning shoots for magazines such as Teen Vogue. This just shows how much blogging has changed business.

There wasn’t a lot of strengths to the assignment. The main one was the effect the blogs had on learning ability. Blogs allow people to go over what they have already learnt before, this makes sure that it is in the student’s mind constantly, in short or long term memory. This means that the information learnt can be applied to future work and have a successful result in the end. They also had a positive to learning as going through the work again made sure that the information was understood to the most it can be. Through pictures and videos it is easier to understand what the blog is on about.
The blog allowed personality to come through so the blogs could be informal. This meant that students didn’t have to worry about things like referencing as much as in an essay assignment. Student’s could write how they would normally write and find it easier to show what they mean.
The main weakness in the blogging was time management. Throughout the assignment, it seemed like there was a lot more time to do it in then there actually was, so as a result they were rushed at the end. These made the blogs defiantly less thought out and have not as much content as there could have been. Individually, there was a lack of motivation to do the blogs so as a result, they were left to the last few weeks to complete them. This is something to improve upon for the nest year.
Another one of the main weaknesses was the lack of computer skills. As there had been no experience with Blogger or any other websites like it, i found it hard to put images or videos on the blogs. The ability to put pictures up was sorted after a change of computer, however the way to put videos only became clear after another student showed the way to do it a few weeks before the due date. This was defiantly a downfall of Blogger itself as it occasionally did not agree with the sort of video i wanted to put up, and as a result played around with the set up of the blog.

When looking back on the blogging experience, i tihnk it is easy to see why people blog their feelings and thoughts. It was a good way to get us to go over what we already had learnt and learn a little bit more as well. On the other hand, blogging is not the same for everyone and some may decide that blogging is not for them. It can make some student’s want to blog more as it is a good learning tool. Also, it may give student’s experience of blogging for businesses as it is increasingly becoming one of the better marketing tool.

Charity Research

A charity is something which is created to promote the public good, and is not for individuals but a group of people. Worldnet. Charities mean different things to different people, they react to charities in different ways and they give to charity in different ways.

For coursework, in groups, we had to determine what people thought about charity. Focus groups were run with 2 different age groups (studnets and over 30's) to find out just what concerned them about charitable giving. The same questions were asked to both groups as we had to compare the findings between the two groups. Running a focus group was harder then the group thought, there were so many little details that weren't exactly done and deciding who was going to do what was a trouble for the group. Focus groups have their downfalls as well. As there weren't very many people in the groups, it can create an inaccurate picture of what the group believe and could also be too consumer focused due to the vunerability to delivering what we wanted to hear. Gofton. The focus groups could have been more varied, the people in all of them tended to be girls rather than an even mixture of both genders. This would have created a bigger picture of opinions of people.

Studies by Mintel have said that as 'there are so many charities trying to acomplish the same thing, it would be hard to see the results of the market share anywhere within the market.

The results from the focus groups showed that both groups were quite similar in their thoughts of charities. The participant's all agreed that they feel more comfotable giving to well-known charities rather then just smaller ones who may not be as trusted. Charities like Cancer Research UK and the NSPCC are two of the biggest charities in the UK, these are also the ones who had the most market share in 2008. Charities like the Donkey Sanctuary are the ones that both groups said they would never give to, not only because their adverts are awful but because they didn't know exaclty where the money was going to, which was another major concern of both groups.

However, there are some significant differences as well. The student group said that they would rather participate in something then just give money, so they can feel a sense of accomplishment, and also as it would probably not be their money they were giving. These sorts of ways would be through activities they would typically do, such as drinking and gaining attention to themselves e.g. through sky diving or activities such as these. They were also more likely to give to charities maybe that their parents support or ones which they have heard of. The over 30's group however, would rather give money themselves, through giving money to a charity box or debit accounts. They are the ones also who are more likely to give to smaller, local charities. The over 30's group were also more a like to the Mintel research on who gives to charity and who doesn't. The males in the group were just like the sceptic's described (males, usually over 50 with no children, but on occasion have children but not many). The findings also showed what the over 30's thought of giving to third world countries. These results were that they were more likely then the students to give to these causes, but would much rather give to a UK charity so they can perhaps benefit from it one day or at least see it being put into action.

In the next few years, as the amount of older generation people will increase, research shows that people may start to think that it is their duty to give to charity rather then just live for themselves.

Adverts didn't have a major place in the decision making process of which charity people were going to give to. The participants mentioned about adverts like the Donkey Sanctuary not appealing to them what so ever. They said as adverts are becoming so similar for third world coountries, they are increasingly becoming less likely to give to them as it's hard to differentiate between all of them.

When asked about what adverts did affect them, the interviewees mentioned Cancer Research UK with the advert saying that they 'shouldn't be here'. These are the ones which can affect them or have affected them before.

Social Class

There is no det definition of social class in today's society. Many things can define where a person stands in the social class system, for example, income, job status and family. There are three 'main' classes, upper class, middle class and working class. Today though, this has split up into many different catergories.


Perceptions of class tend to be based on products, colours, family structure, etc. These can all make a difference in what a person thinks of another person. Collages were made of the three main social class groups, to show the perceptions people have of each class.


Working Class

The working class collage shows typical working class values and products. The newspaper 'The Sun' featured heavily in the collage, and its headlines, such as ' Girl pregnant at 10'. These are the sort of headlines that are typically associated with the working class as they are looked down upon for this sort of anti-social behaviour. The family structure of the working class was also featured in the collage. It is perceived that it is mainly divorced families, with lots of children who are in the working class catargory. This is meant to be because the state gives more benefits to families with larger amounts of children. Products that are associated with the class are beans, cheap alcohol and frozen ready meals.

Middle Class


The collage which was done for the middle class consisted of a news article about David Cameron. David Cameron could be considered middle class as his policies and values are said to relfect middle class ideas and benefit the middle class the most. The National Trust also featured in the collage. This is because it is percieved that the middle class join membership clubs such as this, which gives them access to places where others are not allowed if they are not part of the club, such as stately homes and places of historical interest. This could be thought to be because it provides an exclusivity which only they have. The colour purple was also in the mood board. Colours have different meanings to each other colour. Rich, full colours such as purple suggest a richness which is not quite rich but not poor either.


Within the middle class, there are two sub-sections, upper middle and lower middle, which are determined due to a persons perception of class. Advertisers target the middle class as a whole. Adverts such as the Waitrose picnic advert show what is perceived to be a typical activity of a middle class family.




Household items are also said to be able to give some sort of indication to a person's class. Middle class home's are associated with top of the range items, which would not be found in places like Comet or Currys but instead in stores which deal especially with that area of the house.


Upper Class


The upper class are the top of the social class hierarchy. They are associated with wealth and good looks. Within the collage made for this class, were stores such as Harrods, Baker and Town & Country. These are typically posh, expensive stores which only the very best can afford. The colours of these stores and other upper class stores are typically colours associated with the rich. Racing green, gold and silver show expense and represent the very best. Perceptions of the upper class lead to people believing they only buy the finest items, for example things from Chanel or Selfridges, and do not shop on the high street like the working and middle classes might do. All of the pictures on the collage showed wealth. There was a picture of sparkling white teeth which shows cosmetic surgery, which could only be afforded by the upper class who have more disposable income to spend. Animals represent wealth too. Animals such as pure breed dogs, horses and tigers show wealth and royality. Accent is also perceived to be a big give away of class. Upper class people are meant to speak 'poshly' as they usually live in wealthy areas just outisde cities, which are usually in the south.




This Chanel advert shows a flawless, famous celebrity, who is perceived to be upper class due to her accent and income, wearing a designer down to advertise the perfume. The setting in an expensive looking apartment, the dress and the make up of Keira Knightly all say 'im upper class' as it is all flawless and what people percieve to be upper class.





Classes are all perceived to be different. This 'Frost Report' is a comedy take on the differences within the classes. It shows the attitude differences, what each class is believed to think about the other classes and different looks between the classes. Even though it was done many years ago, the sketch could still be applicable due to the news, and peoples upbringing in certain classes.

Marketing to Children

Tweens and Teens are the main generations that are always changing. What it means to be a child has changed dramatically. Until technology started to develop and become readily avaliable, children would go out to the park, make mud pies and find bugs and worms facinating. These days, children are always watching television or on the computer, taking a walk seems like so much to them. Everything about kids have changed, books written for them, tv shows, even the way they are treated has changed.

There are many factors which may have lead to this are mainly to do with the family structure. Having divorced parents means that children end up with more family to spoil them, more presents and attention. This may also give them older siblings for them to look up to, and as they would proberbly be into older things, the little ones would want to be like them and copy them. Also, parents are now having children later in their life. This could affect the way the children are brought up as parents may feel guilty for the children for having old parents and give them too many treats and let them get away with anything as a result. Mintel's reaseach shows that the number of children saying that mummy and daddy give them anything they want is increasing throught the social classes. The poorer classes are shwon to give their kids more then the classes A and B.

What adverts go on the television and in magazines has to be wary of children. The Advertising Standards Authroity (ASA) states that ad's must not take advantage of children, in their inexperience of life or vunerability. Toy adverts must contain some sort of price inidcation, food adverts should be aimed at the parents instead of the children, especially if it is unhealthy food as they promote an unhealthy lifestyle for the kids. Prices and promotional offers should not affect smaller children, nursery or begining of school. Also, adverts should not cause any harm to children, mental or physical, or promote any type of bullying in any way.

This is the type of advert that the ASA approves of as it does not contain anything which would harm children or go against their rules.

Digital marketing is becoming the biggest problem when it comes to children. Digital marketing is becoming harder to police, as not everything that is marketed digitally can be looked at before it goes on. ASA has been looking into the problem for 2 years now and so far have not come to a solution. Even politicans have become involved. David Cameron has spoke out saying that marketers and advertisers need to show more restraint in the way they operate when it comes to children.

Kids represent a huge demographic to marketers, due to the ability they have to persuade their parents to buy something they want rather then what the parents themselves want. Parents are more willing to buy things for their children as family sizes have shrunk and that older parents have more disposable income so they can lavish presents on their kids whenever they feel like. Pester Power also plays a role within marketing. According to Barbara Martino they are 'relying on the kids to pester their parents rather then going straight to the parents themselves.' Research has proven that this method works better as kids are able to get their parents to buy these products more then if they did not pester their parents.

School playgrounds are also a great way for marketers to get kids to buy their products. Although peer pressure may not affect the children greatly until later on in life, this doesn't mean that it does not affect them at all when they are younger. Kids are easily swayed by other children in their behaviour, so this also affects what they want. If a child see's another child with something and they're all showing off with it, it may make the child without it want whatever it is that that child has. This would make the child use pester power to get the product from their parents. When it comes to this, marketing is particularly aimed at kids for this reason.