Yahoo Buys Tumblr: 13 Years-Olds Everywhere Confused on What This Means for Their Fan Blogs

david karp, marissa mayer, tumblr, yahoo, advertising

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, announced its purchase of beloved internet microblog Tumblr this morning accompanied with an interesting comment that they “won’t screw it up,” and a gif.

They’re trying!

The way the public feels about the acquisition is still to be determined at this point – although leaning towards the negative a petition was made , and many many users have resorted to the tumblr fashion of expressing their feelings in gifs…

Accompanied with the caption “F*CK YAHOO.” on one Tumblr post today.

The main concern is advertising and if it will take over the now fairly advert free space. Additionally the regular fears of having a corporate company take over anything that feels “underground;” censorship, diluted content, restricted access, etc.

Interestingly enough though the press release from Yahoo doesn’t really name any specifics in regard to change. David Karp, Tumblr CEO, will remain at his post, and apparently on the same track as he had intended for the Tumblr mission. Mayer claims that the acquisition will allow users to access Yahoo’s “media network and search experiences.” Yahoo hopes this will help their now older age group audience freshen up, by bringing in the young crowd that uses tumblr, and gives them a social media component to their online reach.

Karp himself posted this gif on his personal tumblr in response, and also was quoted saying how “awesome” it was. Forbes thinks it’s a great idea too. Karp has deliberated over how to make Tumblr more profitable for some time, and even more so on how to incorporate advertising into the equation.

What do you think? Are you going to sign the petition? Or are you going to Keep Calm and Carry on Yodeling? I think I’ll wait it out a bit before forming some kind of anit-Yahoo alliance. Facebook doesn’t seem to have ruined Instagram yet, maybe Yahoo can learn something.

 

Just for fun here is the most popular Tumblr’s out there.

About Christina Pfeffer

Christina attended the University of Cincinnati where she majored in Communications (with a focus in Mass Media and Rhetoric) and minored in Fine Arts and Art History. She worked at the Cincinnati Art Museum in Institutional Advancement where she managed volunteers and fundraisers, until jumping ship to advertising.

Your Brand Needs to Make Content Relevant to Your Consumer

Here’s a wonderful children’s book/Slideshare from Mash+Studio in NYC about why your brand needs to produce content that is relevant to your customer. When you just talk about yourself, you lose.

About Sean Biehle

I’m a Taurus who enjoys rainy Sunday afternoons, open source technology, and unicorns.

The Great Vine

Of all the brands out there, who woulda thought that Lowe’s would be the one to show brands just how to use Twitter’s 6-second video platform, Vine?

Under the hashtag #lowesfixinsix, the home improvement superstore (with the help of BBDO/NY) is tweeting out little lifehacks to make your life easier.

About Sean Biehle

I’m a Taurus who enjoys rainy Sunday afternoons, open source technology, and unicorns.

JCPenny: Turning Sense Into Dollars

JCPenny releases a stirring new advertisment to try to get consumers back, but the follow though is what is truly newsworthy.  JCPenny apologizes pretty blatantly to it’s consumers – or former consumers – and basically begs them to give them another try in the spot.

The voiceover asks viewers to give feedback in addition to their returning to the failing department store. “It’s no secret. Recently, JCPenney changed. Some changes you liked, and some you didn’t. But what matters with mistakes is what we learn. We learned a very simple thing: to listen to you. To hear what you need to make your life more beautiful. Come back to JCPenney. We heard you. Now, we’d love to see you.”

However,  even more interesting than their almost pathetic plea is the comments they got in return. Certainly Youtube and Facebook comments to corporations can always be enlightening on an anthropological level but, JCPenny followed through and has (at time of publishing) responded to EVERY single comment. All 14,000+. That’s pretty impressive.

This is all certainly financially necessary on their part, but does this make you want to go back? (Or there in the first place if you’re under 25.)

About Christina Pfeffer

Christina attended the University of Cincinnati where she majored in Communications (with a focus in Mass Media and Rhetoric) and minored in Fine Arts and Art History. She worked at the Cincinnati Art Museum in Institutional Advancement where she managed volunteers and fundraisers, until jumping ship to advertising.

Fast Friends

Budweiser has created a cup that upon cheering with friends, acquaintances, randoms at the bar, you send friend requests to each other on Facebook; so instead of clicking, you can now “clink” a friend request. Thus successfully (I guess) taking out the creepy lurking portion of going out and meeting new people. No need to feel like a creep the next day tracking down “Geoff” (Or was it “Jeff”?!) you’ve already sent friend requests so you can safely figure out whatever persona they’ve created for you on the social networking site.

Is this good for budweiser though? Beyond the initial purchase? I think I would refill my cup with Sierra Nevada, or Stella depending on my mood. Budweiser is generally reserved for cookouts and ballgames. With people I already know.

How I cheers.

There is a QR code that links to the Budweiser app and your facebook on the bottom (seems like that could get messy after a few beers?). But again, a Budweiser app? I don’t see a need for that personally, but maybe I’m wrong. I’ll have to wait until it’s in the US.

It’s only in Brazil right now. When it gets here I’m sure we’ll all want one the same way we want a Twilight novelty cup from the Cineplex. I’ll use it that night, get annoyed I have to remember to take it home and then throw it in a cabinet with all the other “intensely needed collectibles” I can’t bring myself to relinquish until I move again.

About Christina Pfeffer

Christina attended the University of Cincinnati where she majored in Communications (with a focus in Mass Media and Rhetoric) and minored in Fine Arts and Art History. She worked at the Cincinnati Art Museum in Institutional Advancement where she managed volunteers and fundraisers, until jumping ship to advertising.