Browsing Tag

Indigo

4 Reasons I Love Twitter

I’m officially a university graduate now and the day after convocation, the celebration continues: today is my fourth anniversary on Twitter.

That means it’s been four years since I first tweeted “Jewellery is not a toy” after a beaded necklace that I made broke. I still have those grey beads in a ziploc bag. Today, the manager who worked at Toronto’s Bead Cafe is engaged to a family friend. As Twitter reminds us every day, it’s a small world!

To celebrate this exciting occasion, I’ve created a list of 4 reasons I love Twitter:

1. Twitter Contests

Twitter is responsible for helping me win many products and experiences. Contest prizes have included touchscreen gloves from Target Canada, an Aroma gift card, and a Rob Thomas concert DVD. More recently, I won a free hour of bowling from The Ballroom, which I have yet to redeem. The most amazing prize, however, came from MuchMusic, who gave me tickets to see Arcade Fire!

Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire

2. Job Opportunities

To apply for my current marketing role, I submitted links to my social media profiles, not a resume. And like the characters of The Internship, they hired me following an interview on Google+ Hangouts. Social media is a crucial part of the hiring process now and I’m curious to see how the relationship between social media and HR continues evolving. Twitter helps you showcase your industry knowledge and personality, so share your commentary and keep it clean!

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June 20, 2013 by

Eat, Read and Discuss: Amor Towles Tweet Up

As I’ve said before, what’s a Toronto visit without an Indigo event? This time my trip home coincided with another Indigo tweet up at the classy downtown French restaurant Biff’s Bistro. I was one of four winners selected to have dinner with the bestselling author Amor Towles, who was in town for the International Festival of Authors.

Amor Towles’ debut novel Rules of Civility (2011) has been well received by critics whose praise matches my impression of him. Rules of Civility‘s 1930s New York setting led the tweet up attendees to discuss history, including commentary about how students learn about previous decades through textbook summaries, often leading us to generalize how people lived in the past.

Grey nails for dinner in Biff’s Grey Room

The tweet up was organized by Indigo’s events team and Penguin Group (Canada), Amor’s publisher. Amor sat in the middle of the table, making it easier for everyone to ask him questions. Amor primarily works in investments in New York, so his stories about writing the manuscript and approving the final content while juggling a full-time job on Wall Street was interesting to hear about.

Although the earlier topics of conversation were directly linked to books, such as Kobos, reviews and book clubs, I enjoyed when the discussion shifted to marketing. It was nice to talk about word of mouth marketing as it relates to publishing and learn about how often the avid readers at the table make decisions based on friends’ recommendations.

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October 23, 2012 by

Behind the Brand: Zellers

It’s one thing to “Like” a store on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

It’s quite another to learn about how Zellers uses social media while in Liquidation mode.

Name: Jennifer Zedic  

Position: Director of Marketing – In Store and Social Media

Employer: Zellers

Education: Fashion Marketing and Merchandising, Ryerson University

Favourite Zellers purchase: Pure by Alfred Sung knit scarf (I liked it so much I bought 5 different colours!)

Professional role model: Heather Reisman – Indigo: I love how she has taken the book store and made it a shopping experience and how she did not back away from technology when it threatens the business, but instead embraced it. She has built a strong and reliable brand and owns the market in Canada.

What makes Zellers a uniquely Canadian store?

History and memories only found in Canada make Zellers a uniquely Canadian store.  The fans’ comments from our Facebook page talk about their experience with Zellers growing up in Canadian communities and how the great Canadians who work at those stores made a difference in a lot of their lives.

How has the marketing department’s role and responsibilities changed since learning that Zellers stores will close?

The marketing team is focused on continuing to build great flyer deals that our customers are expecting. We have pulled away from other forms of marketing, such as TV, radio and specialty print but maintained our flyer program and invested heavily in social media. For our Liquidation stores, we are using an extensive amount of ROP’s in local markets to highlight the weekly deals to the customer.

How does Zellers decide which social media channels are worth the investment?

Social media strategy for us is to provide information to the community on what they want to hear about as it relates to Zellers.  We chose to invest in Facebook since it is the best way for us to communicate to our customer on a more personalized level and to the largest audience.

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October 17, 2012 by

Jian Ghomeshi Visits London

When someone famous visits London, take note because from what I can tell, it doesn’t happen often. However, CBC host Jian Ghomeshi visited the Forest City today to promote his new memoir 1982. Rather than telling his life story “from womb to tomb,” Jian chose to share coming of age stories about fitting in as a young immigrant to Canada, focusing on the awkward year that was grade nine. His fan base immediately bought the book  – enough to ensure it debuted as the nation’s #1 bestselling non-fiction book, which is a huge accomplishment.

Taking a break from Western Homecoming festivities, I went to Chapters South London for Jian’s book signing. Delighted by the chance to have a seat without waiting hours beforehand, I eagerly waited for him to come out of the green room. Once on stage, Jian talked about 1982 and his memories of London, such as performing with Moxy Fruvous at Western Fair and drinking at the Spoke. Then he read aloud 2 stories about men watching sprinklers in Thornhill and his parents’ disapproval of his fashion sense inspired by David Bowie.

The Q&A that followed covered Q interviews such as Billy Bob Thornton and Harrison Ford, his transition from musician to broadcaster and tips for preparing for interviews. Jian emphasized the importance of doing in-depth research about guests, adding that he insists on knowing his guests’ work well before doing a ‘dance’ with them, as that’s how he metaphorically described the routine between interviewer-interviewee. I found it interesting when he talked about how his show disproves that listeners and viewers suffering from attention defecits are uninterested in longer content. People don’t tend to turn off Q 3 minutes in to the show!

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September 29, 2012 by

Some Kind of Wonderful Summer

My Facebook album featuring summer 2012 highlights is called Paradise, after the hit song by Coldplay, which captures my sentiment this summer. Here’s why:

Walt Disney once said, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” Going backstage at a concert has been a dream ever since meeting a Marianas Trench band member working the merchandise table at their 2009 Western O-Week show. 

Ian Casselman, Marianas Trench (September 2009)

Saturday afternoon, I managed to meet Jesse Labelle, a 2012 headliner at the same show. Leaving that tent afterwards broke my heart, but at least I also got to meet my mitZine editor IRL for the first time!

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September 9, 2012 by