Claymation: Clay-Animation

Claymation is the most amazing type of animation to me, in terms of the level of difficulty. Back in the day, before computers were in every household, animations could be created by taking actual clay figures as the 'actors,' and photographs of them as the frames for the movie!

Claymation is a form of stopmotion, because after each motion made in the clay, you have to stop to take a picture: The way this worked is a clay scene was set up, then it was photographed 360 degrees around (to get all angles), and then whichever objects/clay figures had to move next were moved a tiny bit, and the photographs were taken all over again. In the end, you had a zillion pictures, and each set for each frame was for only 1/24 of a second ... so for a movie 100 minutes long, you had 8,640,000 pictures! Now, I'm sure that number was decreased if a clay's pose was the same for multiple seconds, but still, it was a lot of work!

To give you an example of what claymation looks like, here are some examples:

Wallace and Gromit

[source]

Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

[source]

Anyways, I hope you appreciate the artists behind the next movie you watch that has been done using clay animation, because they sure did spend a lot of time to make the movie great!

Job Searching

Almost everyone has tried to search for a job. In my father's words, "looking for a job is a job in itself." So what does job hunting have to do with marketing?

Well, I am currently looking for a marketing job! :) And there are many branches in marketing and business, so I'd like to share with you some of my favorite job titles in marketing.

Marketing Manager
This title is very broad, but wouldn't it sound great to be a manager? You can be in charge of keeping things organized, and overlooking the "big picture" of the marketing department. You might work with functions such as training, presentations, technical analyses, and other leadership roles.

Social Media Coordinator
If you love Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, this is the job for you. You'll manage the social media of your company, by planning the content, the calendar, and all else social. Setting up the time/date for posts seems easy, but across multiple platforms and with huge audiences responding with comments - it can get busy and scrambled! (This job is best for the organized marketers out there!)

Digital Media Analyst
This is for those of you who can look at large amounts of data and be able to see trends, problems, opportunities, and other relationships. You'll look at analytics and tracking sources to help your company find new ways to improve the media launches, new content promotions, and other infrastructures.

Anything else?
If you have a favorite marketing job title, comment here and let me know! Plus, I'll keep everyone updated on my job searches! :)


From iconstaff

Google Atari Breakout

Google has done it again with a new game featuring Atari! Just type in "Atari breakout" on the Google Images page and you'll start a classic Atari game!

Can you beat my high score of 477? Good luck & Have fun! (Don't waste too much time!)

Atari Breakout!

Pinterest

Hey everyone!

I wanted to let y'all know that I have connected my blog with Pinterest! There is a neat feature where you enter some code into your website, and Pinterest verifies it, so you get to have a red check-mark by your name. It also gives you access to Analytics, and they're neat so far - it even gives impressions and reach stats! (Note: The analytics is available after you've updated your Pinterest to the new look. Check KludgyMom's blog for more info.)

As for today's neat marketing topic, I wanted to show a pin I found on Pinterest. It looks at Google Advertising and how HUGE Google really is!

The most startling thing for me is that 97% of their revenue is from advertising!

Here's the image and the source. Enjoy! 

Source: Wordstream

When to Post Your Social Media Links

Do marketers really ever sleep?
The world never stops revolving, and there is always someone awake. Sure, marketers schedule their big announcements or hot new prices at the "best times" of the day. But when are these best times?

The fact is, each industry is different. For example, the pizza industry gets much more traffic on Friday and Saturday, but the insurance industry gets more hits on the weekdays. Simple to understand, right? But what about the hour in the day; how do we know which hour to post our Twitter message so that the most users will see it?

Most companies have found these results rather quickly. Through trial and error, and some common sense, the best times to post are at 12 noon and 6pm, which are during the "best times" for social media users because they are on a lunch break or are returning home!

Thanks to Modea, this visual shows the click-through rate of Twitter links. The data is from last year, but the concept remains the same for 2013.

From Social Media: Not a 9-5 Profession

Don't Rely Only on What Others Say
Since this is generic information, the best way to select a time is by your own company's trial and error. For example, noon is not the best time to post an advertisement about insomnia (but you should try midnight instead).

One last tip: your Twitter followers can also help you decide when to post your link or new message. Find out if your followers are students, in the workplace, or are international; these demographics can help you choose Tweet times to fit their schedules.

Or better yet, try out these Twitter Analytics and Visualization Tools by a great blogger, Garin Kilpatrick.

Until next time, have a wonderful new week in this lovely month of April :)