http://www.mlive.com/spartans/index.ssf/2010/01/tom_izzo_offers_support_for_sp.html

I didn't hear about the MSU logo change until my friends started posting angry statuses about it on Facebook. Then they started joining groups opposing the design, and threatening to not buy anything associated with the new logo. Upon all this I decided to check out the new design. Personally, I didn't really like it either. Maybe it's because of the whole stretched out, pointedness shape of it all. Or maybe it's because I don't like change.

I think that was the main concern most people had with this new logo. Change. Everything I heard was about keeping tradition. Throwing away a perfectly good logo because Nike wants some money is no good reason to do so.

Tom Izzo brought up a good question though. What is tradition? All the teams would be the same, as would the State jerseys and colors. And throughout the years, State has had many logo changes. Why is this one so much different?

After reading the article and considering this, I think, from a marketing standpoint, this logo change is a good move.

First, it gives State a stronger brand. Branding is so important and sometimes branding needs to change to keep up with the times. And besides, branding is so much more the experience and reputation a team gives than just a logo.

It gives them an identity. State was one of the few schools who got this opportunity with Nike. Maybe this will be the one that sticks. It's different and modern yet it's still the same logo and holds the same history of State's brand.

I think people will get used to this eventually. People always cause an uproar when something is changed, but eventually they get used to it and accepting it. This will be no different.

http://mashable.com/2010/01/23/local-trends-analysis/

Many online services are now pushing to know a user's location. Twitter, being among them, has many advantages in doing this.

Just like FourSquare, which we talked about in class, allowing people to know where you are by updating your status helps businesses. Personally, if I want to know where someone is, I'd just ask them. But businesses can't do that. If they know someone is heading to their bar, shop, or restaurant, they can help make it more personal. They can welcome them inside, help them out with what they need, and help them have a positive experience. It's kind of like knowing how to help a person before you meet them.

But the advantages of known-location don't stop there. Twitter is believed to be getting advertising soon. If someone has their location posted, advertisements can be tailored to places nearby, possibly growing their business. This reminds me of the ads on Facebook that are tailored to fit my "interests" and "activities" that I post on my profile.

Trending topics are also a big part of Twitter. Now users can see what their local area is talking about. Maybe there's a big sports game downtown everyone is going to. Or maybe a celebrity was spotted in a local restaurant. The large-scale trending topics obviously won't have those things listed. But if it's a big deal in your local town, you could find out instantly from your local trending-topics. All this because of location-based apps.

More of my thoughts on all this:

1. I think it's amazing how much Twitter has grown. What was originally a basic status updating website is now one of the most popular means of communication, advertising, business growing, blog growing,(and more) phenomenon. Now with this added feature, who knows what Twitter will be like in 5 years.

2. Although I see the advantages of knowing someones locations for friends and businesses, I'm not sure if I'd want everyone knowing where I was every second. It'd be cool at times, but I see this as a perfect way for stalking. How much easier could it get? Online predators anyone? What's happened to that big fear we hear about all the time?

3. Sometimes I think technology and new trends are growing so fast we don't even know what's going on. Sure this might be cool, but is it necessary? If you are just using Location-apps to let people know where you are, why not just call someone? A lot of this social media stuff has turned into "look at me everyone, look what I'm doing." Everyday I see people posting model-like pics on Facebook to get attention, just waiting for that "OMG you look gorgeous" comment. Or the people who post statuses such as: "getting black-out drunk tonight!!!" or "Hate my life" Why do we need to know this? Why do we feel the urge the share it? Besides the obvious advantages this new location-feature has for advertisers and businesses, I just don't know if users actually NEED it. Just my two-cents.

This is my first post for my Sports Marketing Blog. I'm a junior at GVSU studying film/video production. Marketing/advertising through the internet is something I'm interested in, too. I'm a big fan of running, working out, and just staying in shape.

Feeds I'm following:

CNN Sports
Yahoo Sports
Mashable
Crush It
Marc Cuban
Cool Running
Running
Red Wings

I chose the first two because they are general feeds for sports. I chose Mashable and Crush It for non-sport, marketing strategies. As I said earlier, I'm a runner so I wanted to follow some running blogs. I also like the Red Wings so I followed their official blog.