No Smartphone for This Girl!

I know that it may be hard to believe, but you can still by non-"smartphones"! I am living proof! I am one of the (very) few people that have not given in to the smartphone craze; I am currently using a state of the art Nokia flip phone...

So, maybe it doesn't look exactly like this one but it is a fairly simple piece of machinery. I can call on it, text, and even take pictures!



But lately, I have been thinking about this difference that technological advances has created between myself and most of my friends (i.e. smart vs dumb phone). While my phone is only a connection between those people that I know and me, my friends' phones are a connection between them and anything you can possible imagine.

Like the commercial says, "There are over a half of a million apps and counting"; this allows smartphone users to do anything and stay connected to anything they could imagine. These apps not only let smartphone users stay connected to the outside world, it also lets companies connect to these smartphone users. This incredible innovation in technology has (yet again) started a new trend with marketers to avoid clutter, yet still get their brand and product to their target market and the world in general. 

Pinterest: The adult way to create an imaginary world....

Recently, ALL (and when I say all, I mean all!) of my friends have been using a new "Internet" verb; pinning (and for those of you that don't know what this word is referring to, it has nothing to do with real needles or pins). So, while I like to be the rebel and not give in to every trendy new thing out there on our all consuming world wide web, I finally caved in and began exploring Pinterest, to see what all of the fuss was about.

It turns out that it is every girls (and some boys) fantasy world played out in pictures! The body every girl wishes to one day have, the best looking and most creative food, inspirational and funny quotes, everything you could ever need to plan a wedding, and so much more! I was amazed!

And while I, myself, still do not have a Pinterest account (so that I do not get seriously addicted) I have visited the site a number of times since my first encounter. This immediate addiction got me thinking, people see the things on this website as aspirational and fantasies, what if a company was able to get their product up on this type of website (in a good light). This website has persuaded many people I know, as well as around the world in general, to begin using the products displayed, and making the food, etc. already; what if marketers could use this website to persuade consumer behavior in their favor?