Blippr: Microblogging brought to reviews

Next time you are standing at Blockbuster (or in my case, Redbox) wondering what movie you should rent, just get on Blippr!

All you need to do is get online to find reviews, but they can be long-winded when all you want to know is, "Is this movie worth my time?" Blippr is an quick and easy way to figure out what the majority of people are thinking about whatever you want to know. They have everything from books to movies to music to apps.

You can quickly rank different things by clicking Loved it! :D , Liked it :), Disliked it :|, Hated it! :(. Mashable recently acquired Blippr and has started to incorporate it in their posts. An example is here. They have already added a plug-in for Wordpress blogs and other blogs are supposed to follow soon.

Another thing I like about Blippr is you can sign in using a pre existing account with Twitter, Facebook, Google, Yahoo, etc. In a world where you have enough login ids and password to make your head spin, it's nice to not have to add another to the mix!

I went ahead and tested it. I reviewed Hootsuite, which I love, it was simple and took about the same time as a tweet. When I finished with my review, links to review other websites popped up:

As a PR girl, I immediately see the usefulness of Blippr if it takes off. This could give you a quick glimse into what the general opinion about your company is in real time! I can only hope that it will expand to include companies as well!

Overall, I think this is going to be a great addition to the social media world. It is simple and feels a lot like Twitter which is great because it's a platform we all know.

'Til inspiration strikes,

Cari

...but it's just a robe backwards?

If you can't tell from the title this blog post is about the Snuggie. I was cleaning today and I found the box for my dog's Snuggie (Yes, I bought my dog a snuggie. In my defense, he's pushing 4 pounds and gets cold easily so I thought it would help). This got me thinking.

Why did the Snuggie blow up like it did? According to the NY Times they sold 5 million in the first year! There were predecessors such as the Slanket or the Freedom Blanket. These glorified robes didn't have nearly the sales of the Snuggie. The Snuggie is a huge success. There are now Designer Snuggies, Couples Snuggies, Collegiate Prints, Snuggies for Kids, Snuggies for Dogs and more. There are even Snuggie Pub Crawls! But Why?!

I can't tell you the exact reason but I can tell you what I think was the most important factor: Humor.

I can't stand to watch that commercial again but if you have been living under a rock you can watch it here.

We all know about branding.

Most companies want to be taken seriously and take measures to ensure that the public understands the perfectly crafted image of their company. Snuggie knew they were ridiculous (They did put a video of an old lady knitting in the commercial). One of the lines in the commercial is "Blankets are okay but they can slip and slide, and when you need to reach for something you are trapped inside!"

They spent minimal money on a commercial and what did they get? 100s of parodies that act as free advertising! When I searched to find the original commercial I searched for "Snuggie" in YouTube; I got 7,140 "snuggie" results. The most famous is the CollegeHumor parody "The WTF Blanket". CollegeHumor calls it "the blanket that will ruin your sex life!"

Other sites mention that they also bought a lot of ad space in a bad economy when ad sales were down. This, of course, is true and important to the success story. If they would have just put this in SkyMall (see Slanket), it would have never taken off the way it did.

There is also the issue of price. The Snuggie comes in at $15 when the Slanket is $30. Most people are only half serious when they buy one so it makes sense they are only willing to pay half the price of "the original blanket with sleeves." Plus the Snuggie comes with a FREE BOOK LIGHT!!

I respect the Snuggie and what it brings to branding. The Snuggie reminds us that we shouldn't try to be something that we aren't. Sometimes companies, or people, try to package themselves in ways that don't reflect their true nature. I believe this is something that we should all keep in mind!

OH! And I would be remiss if I didn't embarass my brother when I have the opportunity. So folks, here is my brother Cory in his Snuggie!

Doesn't he look warm?

NOTE: Sorry about the resolution but I had to be sneaky and use my camera phone

'Til Inspiration Strikes,

Cari

Life=Risk

The other day in class our teacher was really frustrated with us. No one in the class was speaking up and there was just a general laziness in the room. He decided to show us a video that honestly spoke to us. It's called "Famous Failures" by A Sabbath Blog.

All of these people changed the world that we live in today. Can you imagine being a child and growing up without Disney? Even if you never visited Disney World you would still be without some of your favorite childhood movies! What would basketball be without Michael Jordan? Or Music without the Beatles? Not to mention Thomas Edison or Abraham Lincoln!

This video could not be more applicable to my life and the life of those seniors around me. We are all about to embark on yet another journey soon. There have been internship applications I passed up because they were too far from home or too intimidating. More than any other time in my life it is time to step up to take risks!

This video truly is motivating because society has started to tell us that fail is wrong and scary. But if you never try then you will not only never fail; you'll never succeed!!!!

'Til Inspiration Strikes,

Cari

Getting to Know Me!

Hey All!

I guess I will start of with an introduction. I am Cari Ellison. I grew up in the beautiful Tampa, FL. The youngest of three, I spent most of my time at my two older brothers ball games. I blame my love of sports on growing up with my brothers and their seemingly endless string of friends.

I loved my life in Tampa. Growing up there definitely fostered my love of water, the beach and more generally the outdoors. While I was in grade school, I spent every second I could riding bikes and playing outside with my friends.

Up until I was 12, I played soccer, basketball, and baseball. Baseball not softball. I played with the boys until I went into middle school. I was one of two girls that refused to go play softball like we were supposed to.

When I was about 4, my dad got me my first putter. I was so short that the grip sat flush with the head of the club. I won my first tournament, even if it was a community league, when I was about 6. I played on my highschool team and was MVP two years in a row and captain my senior year.

I went to an all-girls Catholic school called Academy of the Holy Names for highschool. My love for service came to a front here. For two years, I organized the Relay For Life and Making Strides Against Breast Cancer teams for my entire highschool.

After 18 years and an acceptance letter, I packed up everything I owned and left Tampa and moved to Auburn, AL. I had no idea what to expect when I came to Auburn, I was a born and raised Tampa girl thrown into a small town in Alabama.

What I found in Auburn was an extended family. When I say family I mean not only the friends I met here but the university as a whole. I understand that sounds cliché but it really is true. I have loved my time at this school more than I can put into words.

It took about three years before I decided what I wanted to do. I wanted to do anything that involved communication. This was spurred on by my work with Red Bull. For two years I was the Red Bull Student Brand Manager. It was the best job in the world. I was the liason between Red Bull and the university. I planned events for Red Bull as well as making sure the students always had "wings". And before you ask, No I did not drive the car. I was responsible for knowing what was going on not just on campus but in the town so that car would know where to go though! The job was an amazing opportunity and a look into the world of public relations and marketing as well as brand management.

I have been very involved on campus and I think that is why I think it is so great. I worked for four years with the University Program Council (UPC). UPC is the student entertainment board on campus. I was on council for two years. It was a great learning experience and something I will remember for the rest of my life.

Now, I am looking to the future. As long as I find an internship this summer, I will graduate in August. It's overwhelming to think about leaving this place I have called home for the last four and a half years but I think I am ready. I really think that my classes and experiences both on and off campus have prepared me for the future. I am ready to get out there and get my hands dirty! I saw a great quote the other day and I thought I would share it here. It's an important idea to remember as a senior on their way out.

"As for the future, your task is not to foresee it, but to enable it."

As seniors, it is hard not to focus on the future and getting an internship/job. I am guilty of this as well, but this quote reminds us to stay in the present and make sure we will have a future.

This is my first ever blog! I appreciate any comments you have and any tips for future blogs. You can also follow me on Twitter. Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you will be back for future posts! :)