What is it? - Coe Collegepublic.coe.edu/~jhall/tumblr_activity_sp18.pdfWhat is it? •Tumblr enables users to easily create a blog. •Blog comes from the words Web and Log. • A

What is it?

• Tumblr enables users to easily create a blog.

• Blog comes from the words Web and Log.

• A microblog is a blog that enables users to share small amounts of content, like

just a picture or link at a time.

• You can easily share images, videos, links, and other things on your personalized blog.

• You can follow other blogs, too.

• Content can be easily uploaded by a Smartphone, computer, or tablet.

The masthead of the

Whole Foods Tumblr

blog.

http://wholefoods.tumblr.com/

You’ll be able to select

from free themes that

look similar to this,

and also have a built-

in search feature.

How Do Businesses

Successfully Use It?

• IBM http://ibmblr.tumblr.com

• This IBM Tumblr blog gives several examples of IBM success

stories, as well as curious short articles, all in an easy to

navigate interface.

The masthead of

this IBM blog.

http://ibmblr.tumblr.com/

IBM posts mini-

articles about

interesting,

contemporary

topics.

Readers may

develop an affinity

for the curious

articles, and

subsequently

develop a positive

impression of the

brand.

How Do Businesses


• Specific examples of what IBM is posting on their blog:

IBM is now

trying to

develop

hardware

and

software

that enable

computers

to smell.

IBM

developed a

microphone

as sensitive

as a bat’s

hearing. Bats

have very

sensitive

hearing

because they

are nocturnal

animals.

How Do Businesses


• As suggested by a student: Vans Shoes http://vans.tumblr.com

• The Vans Tumblr blog helps give the brand a specific identity (branding) and provides

visual examples of their products in action, including videos.

Their masthead

features many

calls to action,

including multiple

links to their main

website: vans.com

Video

How Do Businesses


• Examples of what Vans is posting on their blog:

These examples help

the viewer understand

the spirit of Vans

products. Who buys

the products? What

types of activities are

they engaged in?

Answers can be found

in the imagery and

videos. Perhaps they

are suggesting that

Vans users are:

- Adventurous

- Creative

How Do Businesses



Vans organizes and

supports international

projects and events.

How Do Businesses



Vans supports young

artists and posts

selected content on

the Tumblr blog.

How Do Businesses



Vans supports young artists

and posts selected content on

the Tumblr blog.

Ultimately the diverse selection

of content helps the viewer

understand what Vans is

about, and develop a strong

memory of the brand. Some

content might be inspirational.

How Do Businesses


• An especially interesting example is the Lexus campaign entitled “The

Signal”. http://sendthemasignal.tumblr.com/

• “With the edgy “The Signal” campaign, Lexus focused on creating ads that

more closely resembled fashion ads, as opposed to just another automobile

Tumblr account.” – SearchEngineJournal.com

• The Tumblr page doesn’t appear as an outright promotion of a specific

brand – it takes some viewing to realize all of the automobiles depicted in

the ads are produced by Lexus.

• The impression is that many creative designers are excited about the

Lexus brand – excited to such a degree that they are independently

creating beautiful advertisements featuring Lexus cars.

“Making a statement

without saying a word.”

How Do Businesses


• You have to select the “About” link to see that this is focused on the Lexus

brand.

• There is a call to action to their main website.

How Do Businesses


• Some examples from “The Signal” blog http://sendthemasignal.tumblr.com/

• Most of these images are produced from a template, and fully realized

only in post-production.

• The artist’s name or logo usually appears in the image somewhere.

http://sendthemasignal.tumblr.com/

How Do Businesses


• Some examples from “The Signal” blog http://sendthemasignal.tumblr.com/

• Most of these images are produced from a template, and fully realized

only in post-production.

• The artist’s name or logo usually appears in the image somewhere.

On rollover

http://sendthemasignal.tumblr.com/

How Do Businesses


• According to SearchEngineJournal.com:

Why This Is Effective: When Lexus released the IS, it wanted to reach

people mainly under the age of 46. The problem? The brand realized that it

“was increasingly losing relevance” to this target audience. It also took

“declining appeal and lackluster sales” for Lexus to realize that its brand no

longer stood out. To appeal to their target audience, Lexus designed a

vehicle that Gen X and Y would want to drive; and they used Tumblr to

deliver that message. As a result, “The Signal” successfully was able to

reach that demographic, with visitors to the blog indexing highest in the 25

– 34 age range, followed by 18 – 24.

Activity (30 Minutes): Get a

Tumblr blog and Start

Building a Blog for a

Fictitious Business, Add

Image, Video, and Text

(10 Points)

Fictitious Business Tumblr Blog

• Go to https://www.tumblr.com/, create a new account.

The main page

features an ever-

changing

background image.

https://www.tumblr.com/






Go Through the Sign-Up Steps


• Eventually you should arrive at your dashboard:


• Verify your email address:


1.

2.

3.

• Select the person icon, then click on ‘Edit Appearance’:


• Your public URL is visible. Write it down, you’ll need to send it to me later:


You can change the

public URL if you

want.

• Click on Edit Theme:


• Select browse themes:


• Select free themes:


.

• Think of a small business idea (Lawn Care, for example). I recommend

using your business idea from the Business Websites portion of the class.

• Scroll to the top of the themes (it usually puts you at the bottom by default)

and check out the free blog themes you can use. You need to pick one by

selecting ‘Use’. Pick one that goes with your small business idea:


.

• I think Observer is pretty good:


.

• Pick a theme and select Use:


The Avatar will show up as

the Favicon on your blog

page. It should be a high-

contrast image. I used this

avatar from the internet:

• Give your blog a title:


• You can adjust the appearance of the template in

multiple ways:


• Save and exit:


• Check out your blog by using the Public URL you wrote down earlier.

Copy and past the Public URL into a new browser window:


The avatar

displays here.

• Select the person icon again, and then select your blog:


• Your new blog needs a few things. Use the dashboard to add the following

required entries:

• Blog Entries Required (One of Each is Required):

• Text (A bit about your business. Just a couple sentences.)

• Photo (Grab a related photo from online.)

• Link (A link to a website related to your business idea.)

• Video (Add a video from the web (YouTube).






• Choose to post the content immediately.

• Note: By pressing the arrow you can set the post to upload at a later time.


• View your updated public URL with the new posts. I posted the text last, so at the

moment it is at the top:


• What to submit:

• When you are finished with today’s in-class activity send me an email with

your Public URL. Your small business blog should have a Free Template

design selected, a Title, an Avatar, and 4 posts (Photo, Link, Video, Text).

• To check out your blog online, go to your Public Tumblr URL.

• Your Public URL should look something like this:

• https://practiceexample.tumblr.com/

• Paste your public Tumblr URL in the email body.

• Send to: [email protected]

• Worth 10 Points, Due by End of Class 3/22


mailto:[email protected]

Documents

What is it? - Coe Collegepublic.coe.edu/~jhall/tumblr_activity_sp18.pdfWhat is it? •Tumblr enables users to easily create a blog. •Blog comes from the words Web and Log. • A